Cat adoption: when did it become so difficult?

[Anonymous]

Some shelters are strict. They just want the cats going to a good home. Period.

I volunteer with Pet’s Mart adoption center in Moco who partners with Last Chance Animal Rescue and they do same day adoptions. This organization primarily takes in cats from more than 40 high-kill shelters in eight states and provides disaster-relief services for small pets. If people want to see how the cats/kittens get along with their pets at home, we encourage them to bring in their pet to a private area at the store to meet the cat. It is required that they get along and the individual must sign an agreement to not declaw the cat, to visit a vet within a week, and keep them indoors. Adoptions are approved through a series of questions and possessing a legitimate ID. Volunteers are very good at steering people towards cats who fit their situation and personality (social / quiet / active / etc). If cats come to us bonded, we require that they be adopted together, otherwise, we will adopt them out separately. If for any reason the adoption doesn’t work out, they are to bring them back to us at Pet’s Mart. Yes, we keep a list of people who we are not allowed to adopt to. This includes known hoarders and/or known bad pet owners.

https://www.lastchanceanimalrescue.org/adoption-locations/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We haven’t owned a cat for about ten years and just began trying to adopt. Oh my goodness! We have now gone through two local rescue organizations that approved our applications, strung us along for weeks, and then flaked.

I’m so confused. We are reliable, well employed, and love animals. But I’m actually finding myself looking at breeders due to the disorganization and weird standards of local rescues.

Issues: our last pet was a gerbil. He was very happy and died of old age. But one rescue was upset with us for not having his vet records. He... was a gerbil. He had no health problems before passing of old age.

Second problem: We have no vet now because we have no pet now. This also seems to raise eyebrows, even when we reassured rescues that of course we would find a vet immediately upon adoption, and that we would love local recommendations from them.

Finally, one rescue turned us down because we wanted only one cat. I understand cats do better in pairs, but are cats no longer adopted as singletons?

I’m sad and frustrated. Aren’t there supposed to be millions of unwanted cats who need good homes? Why are we treated with such suspicion and lack of tact?

I had zero issues. Adopted a kitten and brought home the same day. She's a single cat and is quite happy. She hops in ANY lap and is in mine right now purring loudly.

We also have kids and because she was socialized as a young kitten she is a ragdoll in anyone hands. She will also allow herself to be pushed around in a baby carriage and will tolerate being dressed up....in clothes. Never has she hissed, bit, or brought out the claws. Up until she was 2 she wrestled something crazy with our lab. Now both are too lazy and prefer to be curled up together on the dog bed.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:You can absolutely adopt a singleton cat, just not a kitten. Kittens suffer if they aren't socialized properly and are usually very active and playful. Thus the shift to requiring they be adopted in pairs. If you're not willing to adopt a cat that's one year old+, that's your issue and an indication that you're only thinking of your own interests vs. a baby animal's well being.

That is a myth that cats need to live in pairs.

My experience is that if they are in pairs they tend to bond more with each other than the human. The only thing is you have to be up for some serious kitten rowdiness (which I would have no problem with).

This hasn't been our experience. Our two kittens were adopted together and never bonded together. Flash forward to a few years later where we adopted two sister kittens off the street and our one kitty has bonded with them!

Yep. You'd think I'd learn this ^ since I've had multiple cats for 30 years. You really can't predict which cats are going to be bonded partners and which aren't.

We got a 2nd cat to be a friend to 1st cat when 1st cat was 1-yr old and pestering the hell out of the dog to play cat games. 1st cat stopped torturing the dog, switched to provoking the new 2nd cat, and never bonded with 2nd cat.

2nd cat — alone, young, and without cat friends — bonded deeply with the …. dog. 2nd cat thinks he's a dog.

Two cats who were not from the same litter rarely bond. They will most likely hate each other. Cats are not pack animals, but often (but now always) they will be pals and playmates with littermates. It’s not a good idea to get a second cat ‘later’ as a companion to the first.

^ that is 100% false

if you've ever had more than one cat, you'd know how much they socialize - they play, they sleep together, they do all kinds of things. they are friends. and, no, not just if they came form the same litter!

Exactly, this is insanity! My dog and cat sleep in the dog bed curled up together. They are not even the same SPECIES and they groom each other, play with each other, and sleep together. My dog is older than my cat and I'm already so worried about the day our dog dies because our cat will be so so depressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can absolutely adopt a singleton cat, just not a kitten. Kittens suffer if they aren't socialized properly and are usually very active and playful. Thus the shift to requiring they be adopted in pairs. If you're not willing to adopt a cat that's one year old+, that's your issue and an indication that you're only thinking of your own interests vs. a baby animal's well being.

That is a myth that cats need to live in pairs.

My experience is that if they are in pairs they tend to bond more with each other than the human. The only thing is you have to be up for some serious kitten rowdiness (which I would have no problem with).

This hasn't been our experience. Our two kittens were adopted together and never bonded together. Flash forward to a few years later where we adopted two sister kittens off the street and our one kitty has bonded with them!

Yep. You'd think I'd learn this ^ since I've had multiple cats for 30 years. You really can't predict which cats are going to be bonded partners and which aren't.

We got a 2nd cat to be a friend to 1st cat when 1st cat was 1-yr old and pestering the hell out of the dog to play cat games. 1st cat stopped torturing the dog, switched to provoking the new 2nd cat, and never bonded with 2nd cat.

2nd cat — alone, young, and without cat friends — bonded deeply with the …. dog. 2nd cat thinks he's a dog.

Two cats who were not from the same litter rarely bond. They will most likely hate each other. Cats are not pack animals, but often (but now always) they will be pals and playmates with littermates. It’s not a good idea to get a second cat ‘later’ as a companion to the first.

^ that is 100% false

if you've ever had more than one cat, you'd know how much they socialize - they play, they sleep together, they do all kinds of things. they are friends. and, no, not just if they came form the same litter!

Exactly, this is insanity! My dog and cat sleep in the dog bed curled up together. They are not even the same SPECIES and they groom each other, play with each other, and sleep together. My dog is older than my cat and I'm already so worried about the day our dog dies because our cat will be so so depressed.

<3 that is so sweet to think of your cat's emotional wellbeing like that. I wish our pets would live forever.

[Anonymous]

My cat hated other cats and other animals..she would try to attack them each time they came near our house. Taking her to the vet was exciting, she didn't mind the vet but hated all the other animals in the waiting room and would hiss and attack the sides of the carrier until she was just around humans again. I would have to cover the carrier in the waiting room and the other owners would watch it bounce around while she attacked the sides.

So, not all cats are the same and bond with other cats or dogs.

And, I've never had a problem adopting a cat from a county shelter, including Montgomery County. Usually they want the animals to go home and are not as picky and demanding as the cat rescues.