Rescue don't buy ????

I have been trying to get another cat for five months now .
I have had rescued adult cats all my life and I live in a lovely quiet village and I am just on the edge of a golf course .

I have found most rescues just don't bother to get back to me after I phone and email . I have phoned some of them several times but they just don't seem interested . I also have found that the big rescue centres who I live far away form only rehome within their own area .
My vets would provide me with excellent references so I don't what the problem is .

I can fully understand why some people just go on to selling sites and buy a kitten . Being totally against any sort of "kitten farming " I would not do that but I know why people do .

I know there are lots of unwanted cats out there I just don't know how you get one .

It was never a problem before as I lived in a city and there were lots of unwanted cats .

Re: Rescue don't buy ????

Very surprised at this Abbey - could the vet not help further, he must have contacts ....................

Re: Rescue don't buy ????

Do you have a Cats' Protection in your area Abbey?When my daughter and I used to help them out they were always quick to respond to interest.

Re: Rescue don't buy ????

The vets don't know of any cats needing homes at the moment .

I have tried several different cat protection branches . Some of them email and say they have nothing . Some of them don't even bother to phone / email back . Some of them have on their websites they only rehome locally .

I live in the country a two hour drive from the nearest rescue centre and they only rehome locally .

Re: Rescue don't buy ????

My daughter helped out at a local rescue.

She was shocked at the number of returns.
Even though the rescue did its best to educate and vet persepective owners people adopted and then returned animals..
I didnt realise it barked so loud. ( a large lab)
I didnt realise cat poo smelled so much
I didnt think about walking at night (dog)
I didnt think about how often they needed cleaning (rabbits)
They leave hair on the furniture (2 persian cats)

My daughter told me how much the animals suffered when bounced around from one owner to another, how a sound dog turned into a hyper nervous wreck everytime his kennel was opened after he was returned twice.
Its not fair on the animals to have them carted about and returned like a pair of shoes if they dont fit the expectations so although its really frustrating for those of us who are good owners and who are intending to spend whatever time and energy is needed to settle our new furry housemates rescues cant see that by looking at us or reading a form .
The reason for local rehousing is (here at least) the cost involved in checking up on and possibly collecting and unwanted adoptee.
Please dont be put off and I hope you will soon find the perfect feline to share your home with.

Re: Rescue don't buy ????

Seems pretty poor that someone to wants adopt a pet to be facing so many barriers.
I thought that these people were desperate to re-home animals.

Re: Rescue don't buy ????

Abbey, I don't know what part of Scotland you are in, but here is the link for the Cats Protection people, and they have branches in Scotland with cats waiting for new homes.
I have a friend in Lesmahagow, so tried putting her post code in and some nice cats came up in that branch.

http://www.cats.org.uk/adopt-a-cat

Good luck.

Re: Rescue don't buy ????

They are but they want it to be a forever home which is why they are fussy.

You will get there.....

Re: Rescue don't buy ????

Thanks for the link but I have tried several Cat Protection league branches and I am just too far away from them .
The Glasgow CPL has lots of lovely cats some of whom are dog friendly too which would be ideal . Sadly they will only rehome in Glasgow . I live a two hour drive away and would be happy to drive that distance .
My vets know me well and would be more than happy to tell anyone what sort of home I can provide but they are just not interested .
So cats sit in cages waiting for homes and I am here trying to give one a home without success .

Re: Rescue don't buy ????

While these reasons are really stupid and indicate that the person has not thought about all it entails in caring for an animal, I am also familiar with the other side of the coin. Although it is minimised in the extreme in TV Programmes such as "The Dog Rescuers" - a lot of rescue dogs may have intractable behaviour problems due to being mistreated, which may take a long time to resolve, or never resolve.

Whilst in the rescue pound or foster carers' home, they may not emerge, because the dog is too scared to behave badly. They only emerge when taken home by their adopter.

We jumped through the MANY hoops that you have to - in order to give a home to a rescue dog, including two home inspections (our garden fencing was deemed inadequate), met the 5 yr old dog on 2 occasions - she seemed quite docile and friendly. But then the day before we were to take her home, we had a call to say she jumped out of her bed as a child was passing by (ie not teasing the dog, far from it) and had bitten a child in her foster home quite badly on the leg. Did I still want the dog? No, I most certainly didn't, with 3 young visiting grandchildren.
We got a puppy in the end.