If you need to learn 5 ways to find a home for a cat this post has some great information.
The goal here is to help you find a home for a cat without it getting euthanized, or sent somewhere bad. If you love the cat, please make sure you use an adoption application to avoid many people who aren’t the right fit to watch over the cat. An example application can be downloaded below as a guideline.
The two steps to help achieve this goal are:
1) To properly qualify prospective adopters with an application – you can download an example application to review here.
2) Free or low cost advertising of the cat to the right audience
Importance Of Cat Adoption Application
It can’t be overstated to require an application, and not let the cat go the same day as the application is completed. Please download a sample adoption application here to see some of the questions you may want to ask people interested in adopting a cat.
Why is the cat adoption application so important though? It’s important because it uncovers many red flags, and other facts. The answers given on the application by prospective apdopters could cause your cat to go to a bad home or prematurely euthanized, abandoned or mistreated in the future. It’s very important to screen applicants carefully – the cat’s very life depends on it.
Many people who complete the application wanting to adopt a cat are well intentioned, nice people. The problem is that many of the concerns have little to do with how nice or well intentioned people are. There are many things that can go wrong that may cause the cat to be euthanized early, abused, mistreated or a host of other terrible problems.
It may take slightly longer to find a home for a cat by reducing the number of people who qualify as a result of the application. Keep in mind though that the cat’s very life depends on your best judgement for it’s new life long home. That could be 20+ years depending on the health of the cat. That could be 20 years of misery, abuse, neglect or even torture if you allow the wrong person to adopt the cat. Alternatively, it could also be 20 years of love and nurturing for the kitty and the family that it lives with if it goes to the right home.
Find A Rescue Affiliated With PetFinder.com To Post Your Cat
PetFinder.com works with non-profit rescues, so you will almost certainly need to work with a rescue that is setup with them.
Go to pet finder, search your area, and inquire to a Petfinder.com rescue in your area to see if they will call you to discuss posting your cat. You will likely need to have ownership of the cat transferred to the rescue so they can post it. You can request to foster your cat if that is the case so it is with you until a good home is found.
A Table For The Cat At Local Pet Stores
Some pet stores will allow rescues to setup a table at their location to promote adoption of cats, dogs or other pets. Generally you setup a table for a few hours on whatever days they agree to allow you to exhibit the cats up for adoption. You may or may not need to be a non-profit rescue in order to be approved. If you aren’t a non-profit rescue, ask the pet store for a list of rescues that attend adoption events hosted at the store.
Call the list of rescues, and explain that you are trying to find a good home for the cat. Ask if the rescue will adopt the cat and let you foster it until a good home is found. Explain you would like to become a volunteer to setup a desk at the pet store to find a home for the cat. That way you can personally screen the adoption candidates, and also not cause extra work for the non-profit rescue.
Make sure the cat is spayed / neutered and up to date with shots for rabies, distemper, leukemia fleas, and any other medical treatments necessary for your area. Bring paperwork or tags showing medical compliance as well as ownership of the cat in case an animal officer asks for proof, which really can happen.
Another idea is that if you can’t find a pet store or a rescue that’s willing or able to help you, call other stores with an honest clientele. Ask these stores if they will allow you to setup a desk to try to find a home for your pet. Ideally, the store may sell pet food or supplies, and have a high traffic. If there is a store that doesn’t sell cat food or supplies it still may be a good match – don’t rule such stores out just because they don’t sell animal supplies.
It may take calling several stores, but keep in mind it only takes one good partnership to find a good number of applicants. So don’t give up. Your cat heavily relies on you finding the right home for them, and has no choice of where it goes.
Make sure the cat goes to a good loving home even if it takes working a few shifts at a desk in a store to find the right applicant. Your cat is very vulnerable and is unable to do the search. They greatly depend on you, so please don’t let them down just because it may take a little work and time to find the right home. Isn’t their life worth a few hours of your time? The cat’s new home will have deep reaching life long affects on them, so please make sure it’s going to a loving home.
Posting The Cat On Craigslist.org
While Craigslist can certainly pull responses, they can often be bizarre, questionable or even suspicious.
Some possible occurrences may be people texting you, but not accepting your call if you try to reach them. Other times you may receive a voice mailbox that is full, a disconnected number, or a ring no answer. Of those that answer you may be hung up on, you may be told that you reached the wrong number, or they may even say they don’t recall inquiring about or want a cat.
Some people do, however, make serious inquires about wanting a cat, and that’s great, because they are the ones the ad was posted for. Make extra sure to visit the home of the prospective adopter. Adopting to a stable family will likely reduce chances of it getting dumped.
Craigslist like any other source of prospective cat adopters can be very helpful. Just make sure you do your homework to avert any risks to the cat.
Cat Sign At Non-profit Used Clothing Stores
Imagine seeing a small sign of a cat that needs a loving home while waiting in line with nothing else to do until it’s your turn ring up.
In many situations, people are too busy to stop for a moment and think. Waiting in line is boring with few things to stimulate the customers’ mind. If they see a small 8.5″ x 11″ sign in a plastic stand at the register they might not only have time to think about your offer, but may even have time to call right then and there.
Have you ever shopped at a used clothing store? Many such stores are non-profits. Many such stores also have loyal high customer traffic daily.
The combination of non-profit, and high traffic is a good one.
Non-profits are generally in business to make a difference in society, not just in sales alone. That means they may be more open to helping other humanitarian causes, such as posting a sign to adopt a desperate cat.
High traffic is good because the more eyes that see your sign, the higher the chance of finding a suitable adopting family.
Obviously, the store does not have to be a non-profit, but your chances may be higher of a non-profit high traffic store allowing you to post your sign than a normal retailer. With that said, there are many animal lovers in all types of retail stores. All you need is one who is sympathetic to your cause. Also, match the demographics to pet lovers as well as possible for the best results.
Finally, whether non-profit, or not, offering a small donation may make the difference between a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ from the store manager.
Place Signs On Local Bulletin Boards
Some stores have a bulletin board where people post business cards and other promotional material.
Coffee shops, grocery stores, laundromats, farm supply stores and other local businesses have these setup near entrances or exits.
A small flyer with a picture of the cat, stating “Cat Needs Loving Home – Please Call If Interested” can be added to the bulletin board with a thumb tack. Make sure it’s not so large it steals space from the other promotes, but a 4″ x 6″ piece of paper that you make would work nicely in many cases. You can take a picture of the cat, with the message to call, and numerous tabs with your phone number on it that people can tear off to call you.
You can make copies of the ad and post it at all of the local bulletin boards in your area. When they call you can take the application over the phone to see if they are a good candidate.
As a side note, there is one extra precaution to take if promoting such an ad in a bulletin board in a farm supply store or similar retailer. You need to make extra sure the kitty will not be forced to be a barn cat – but an indoor cat that will live safely indoors only.
Conclusion
It’s sad that sometimes a cat needs to be put in a new home for a variety of reasons. Regardless, if it must be done at least please invest a little bit of time to find the right loving home for the kitty. After all, the kitty has never had a choice in the matter, loves you, and likely does not want to leave. A little inconvenience for you can help secure a good loving home for your cat who never asked for any of this. Please use just a little effort to find the cat a good home.
Please read other articles at Animal Weekly, and return often for further solutions for animal lovers.
Kindest regards,
-Randy / Animal Weekly
