This doesn't sound difficult...

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/animalshelter/adopt/steps

Steps to Adopting an Animal

Look at adoptable pets online, and when you see one you want to meet and possibly adopt, come in to the shelter to visit with your prospective pet.
Once at the shelter, walk through to see available pets and then visit with the one(s) you are considering adopting. A volunteer or staff member will facilitate the visit and tell you more about the pet you’re visiting.
Once you decide that you would like to adopt, head to the main lobby to complete our brief adoption questionnaire and wait to speak with one of our adoption counselors to go over any questions you might have. We'll go over all of the available behavioral and medical history of the pet you want to adopt.
Complete your adoption! Most pets can go home the day they are adopted, but some must be picked up one or two days later after their spay/neuter appointment.
Notes: 1) Some pets are in foster homes, and that is noted in their bio. If you are interested in a pet who is in a foster home, please email the shelter to arrange a visit. 2) Some special needs animals will be adopted on a best fit basis, rather than the usual first-come first-served.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried going to a shelter? Particularly one that is NOT a no kill shelter? There are too many animals that need homes to be so picky about it. Rescue orgs that don’t have to take in every cat and then figure out what to do with them can be unrealistic.

I would love to try this. But when I’ve contacted local shelters in Fairfax, they’ve referred me to cats housed at private rescue organizations. One of which wanted ongoing home visits plus a friend to sign a contract agreeing to take the cat if we should suddenly, I don’t know, die or dematerialize? The other wouldn’t adopt out any singleton cats.

Which shelter did you visit? Would love to hear about happy adoption experiences....this is so depressing.

Go to Humane Rescue Alliance in DC. They are full of cats right now, and will not put you through the wringer. They are a really good shelter that does heroic work for the community's animals.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:drive to a rural area with lots of horses and cattle. plenty of kittens beung guven away. best pets we've ever had.

You don't even have to do this. Drive 10 minutes in any direction to a suburb that has a kill shelter. Walk in and pick a cat. Give them $15-35. Ta-da, you have a cat.

You shouldn't have to pay for one unless it's already had it's shots and been spayed or neutered.

This place will give you a kitten

http://www.foha.org/index.php?id=75

Put a message on fb that you're looking for a kitten. Someone, somewhere, has some. Spring is a better time to get "good" kittens, though. The ones born off-season sometimes aren't as healthy or nice.

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?

Why do we have to read this type of question every other week? Look it up on here. There are PLENTY of reasons why it is difficult. Chronic understaffing just for starters.

These folks work VERY hard to place these animals in homes that they hope will keep them forever. Know what? Even then, they get returned, dumped, etc. You see the adoption days. You don't see the intake, vetting, training (for dogs), socializing, organizing foster networks, setting up/closing down adoption events, legalities, logistics, fundraising, recruiting volunteers. All done usually by a small number of people.

You want a cat fast and quick? Go to one of the rural shelters or pounds. You'll have your pick immediately. And I mean that sincerely. Those shelters have high kill rates. If you can help one out, I say go for it. Win-win.

Anonymous wrote:drive to a rural area with lots of horses and cattle. plenty of kittens beung guven away. best pets we've ever had.

You don't even have to do this. Drive 10 minutes in any direction to a suburb that has a kill shelter. Walk in and pick a cat. Give them $15-35. Ta-da, you have a cat.

The PetValu in Olney has cats for adoption all the time. Try them.

Anonymous wrote:Craigslist

+1.


Free kitten signs in small stores used to be all over the place when I was a kid.

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).

My personal opinion is that it's better for the cats to be adopted in pairs. I used to feel bad leaving my cats at home for 9 hours a day while I was at work, I would have felt worse if I had left one cat all by itself.

When I was a kid there were a few outdoor cats in my neighborhood, the cat my family had was well socialized. Nowadays, a cat is expected to be locked up for all it's life in a house, so yes, I think another cat to play with is better for the cat(s).

The cat pair thing is made-up human nuttiness.

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).

I grew up in farm country where you could have a hard time giving away a cat or a kitten. I moved to the city, got a kitten (this was many years ago, the cat lived to be 19 and has been deceased for several years). Got her from a free kittens ad in the paper (ads were free if you were giving away the kittens, I don't know if they even do that any more). The lady giving away kittens was a cat lover who gave you a little can of cat food AND insisted on taking your picture with the kitten, she had an album full of pics of kittens with their new owners. Plan was to have her spayed like a responsible pet owner. Around the time she was the right age I lost my job. She was supposed to be an inside cat but she got out when in heat and had kittens. Worried what I was going to do with those kittens. When I advertised to give them away I was astonished how many calls I got.

Some years later, cat died, got mice as cold weather approached. A friend of my son's who worked at a machine shop found this cat, stray, in the cold, hanging around the machine shop for weeks. Caught her, took her to the vet (she needed to be treated for worms and I think mites), gave me to take care of the mice. Cat was also pregnant, had kittens. Ran an ad. Phone ringing off the hook. But also harassed by animal welfare fanatics for having a cat who had kittens. It was pretty awful.

And yes I have heard that it can be very difficult to adopt an animal. Also, my dog is now late middle age and so am I. I'm going to want another dog when he passes on but hear that shelters don't want to let people in their 60s adopt animals.

Anonymous wrote:drive to a rural area with lots of horses and cattle. plenty of kittens beung guven away. best pets we've ever had.

+1

I've adopted 3 kittens. Two I received directly from a farmer who told me that one of her barn cats had given birth. Another I adopted from a rural humane society. No problems adopting.

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.