The Montgomery County Animal shelter will take back any pet, no questions asked. You can also sign up to foster, if you prefer to start that way.

A tip that someone gave us: I have three young kids and adopted a pair of two-year-old cats last year. What helped tremendously was giving the cats a safe area where the kids (and our dog) could not follow, but that the cats could enter and leave at will. For us that’s a part of the basement and a high cat tower that the kids are not permitted to touch. It’s worked great. Good luck OP!

Yes, definitely looking for an adult cat rather than a kitten.

I might also consider an adult cat in this situation.

Reputable adoption places are defacto foster to adopt. If you can't keep the cat, they will take it back. You're out your fees but that seems reasonable. Our cat rescue assured me if our dog and the cat didn't start getting along after a month or so they would take the cat back. Within week 2, cat and dog are besties!

Homeward Trails

Anonymous wrote:I had great luck with Lost Dog and Cat Rescue. I adopted with a 3 year old and they wouldn’t give me a kitten because my lease would only allow one animal, but they told me about a cat in their care who loved children and would be a great fit. 12 years later and this old cat still seeks out small children whenever they’re in the house. So I would suggest submitting an application with the relevant info (kids ages, what you’re looking for), and ask a rescue to help identify a good fit.

My cat had been in a foster home, so the rescue knew he adored children (literally, my son drove matchbox cars on the cat, cat just purred happily). Cats that love kids do exist, they’re just harder to find.

I am a volunteer and cat foster for this organization! So glad you had a good experience and can confirm that we do try and make good matches. There is also a two week trial period where you can evaluate if the cat is a good fit for your home.

I had great luck with Lost Dog and Cat Rescue. I adopted with a 3 year old and they wouldn’t give me a kitten because my lease would only allow one animal, but they told me about a cat in their care who loved children and would be a great fit. 12 years later and this old cat still seeks out small children whenever they’re in the house. So I would suggest submitting an application with the relevant info (kids ages, what you’re looking for), and ask a rescue to help identify a good fit.

My cat had been in a foster home, so the rescue knew he adored children (literally, my son drove matchbox cars on the cat, cat just purred happily). Cats that love kids do exist, they’re just harder to find.

We’ve had great experiences with Wolftrap Animal Rescue, but may not be geographically convenient for you.

Sorry AWLA

Awls

Check Lucky dog animal rescue

City Dogs and City Kitties does foster to adopt and I believe requires it for families with kids.

Try King Street Cats in Alexandria.

Are there places in the DC area where we could foster a cat with the option of either adopting it or not? If so, any specific recommendations? We live in Montgomery County, if that matters.

For background, I have 2 kids and the youngest is a very energetic and loud 5 year old... he's really done an amazing job lately of being calm and gentle around relatives' cats, but I know he can't keep that up 24/7 at home. And honestly both kids can get pretty wild and noisy when they're in a goofy mood. I wouldn't want us to end up with a cat who'd be stressed out and unhappy living in a house like ours. Ideally we could find an organization that knows their cats well enough to place one with us who they think would be able to handle and thrive in our home, but also be able to do a trial run fostering the kitty so if it turns out it's not a good match they can move on to a more suitable permanent home. Any thoughts on that?

(Or if the answer is really that we ought to wait another year or two until the kids mature more, I'll accept that, it would just be a bummer since I think we'd all really enjoy a cat right now.)