Give a Cat a Home (Cats Protection)

Member Name: hellyphant

Product:	Cats Protection
Date:	17/02/05 (3064 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: giving a rescue cat a good, loving home, years of company & entertainment for you and your cat

Disadvantages: none

I’ve always loved cats. When I was five years old, I begged my parents to let me have one. I continued begging and pleading, without success, for the next six years. Then finally, on my 11th birthday, my parents finally gave in.

I no longer live at home now, but I still have cats & I couldn’t imagine a life without them.

I got my first cat, Willow, from a friend of the family, when she was a kitten of 10 weeks old. It took a long time to find Willow - after numerous unsuccessful trips to rescue centres, such as Battersea, visiting pet shops and responding to newspaper adverts. I now wish I had done more research, as I was unaware at the time, that there were other, animal rescue centres who would have been more than happy for me to offer a home to one of their rescue cats.

Last September, when I decided Willow could do with a playmate or two, (honest, I was thinking of her, not me!), I spent a huge amount of time hunting for rescue centres on the internet, and I came across the North London cats Protection who have a rescue centre in Archway. A quick visit to the centre in my lunch break one day, and just two weeks later, I was in a taxi, taking 2 bewildered black and white kittens to their new home.

If you’re looking for a new cat, I would recommend that you start (and hopefully finish) your search with the Cats Protection.

It is the oldest Cat welfare charity in Great Britain and has three main objectives:
1. To rescue stray and unwanted kittens and cats, treating them when necessary and rehoming
2. To encourage the neutering of non-breeding cats.
(I was shocked to read that an un-spayed female cat can be responsible for 20,000 descendants in five years. Mad! And scary)
3. To inform the public on issues of cat and kitten care

Finding your cat
Step 1 – research

Go to the Cats Protection website (http://www.cats.org.uk/) and locate your nearest branch.

Step 2 - Shelter Visit

Simply turn up at the shelter during their visiting hours and ask if you can have a look at the cats that currently need re-homing. No appointments are necessary. Opening hours do vary, so you may want to call up first just to check. North London Cats Protection is open between 12pm and 4pm seven days a week. Also - bear in mind that staff don’t just let anyone pop in for a quick stroke and wander round. You do need to seriously be considering providing a home for one of their cats.

If you see a cat you like, let a member of staff know and they will discuss with you whether or not this particular cat will be suited to you and your lifestyle. They will probably ask you whether you have a garden, any other cats or young children.

Step 3 - Home Visit

An appointment will then be made for somebody to come round to your house for a quick inspection – just to ensure that you don’t live in a complete dive and that your home is as cat friendly as possible. As I already have a very healthy and happy looking cat, I knew I didn’t have too much to worry about in this area. I don’t think anything can be a better guarantee that a new cat will be well treated than an existing cat, sitting in front of the home visitor, glowing with health and purring with contentment.

My house also has access to a garden, and behind the garden is a large graveyard with huge potential for exploration and adventure. The girl who came to inspect my house thought it was great – a cat’s paradise, she said.

Don’t despair if you don’t have a garden though. Not all cats are concerned with the outdoors. Although I personally don’t think it is natural for a cat to spend its life inside, plenty of cats do. Some cats are happy just to have somewhere warm to sleep and some company, especially if they’ve had a rough life. Bear in mind that your choice of cats may be slightly limited if you don’t have a garden, but the Cats Protection certainly won’t turn you away.

The home visitor will ask you a number of routine questions which will be recorded on a series of forms, questions such as do you have a local vet, how did you hear about Cats Protection and what hours do you work during the day.

My home visit was very quick and lasted approximately 10 minutes.

If everything is okay, the home visitor will tell you to give the Cats Protection Shelter a call to arrange a time for you to come and collect your cat. Simple as that!

It’s a very quick process. It has to be really. The Cats Protection Shelter has cats coming in every day of the week, and not enough pens to comfortably accommodate them. The quicker the cats can be homed the better.

Step 4 - Preparation for the arrival of your cat

Things to buy or make...

• Cat food – dry biscuits are best. They are good for cat’s teeth, don’t need to be refridgerated and don’t smell or attract flies. I use Burns. You have to order it online through www.burns.co.uk, but if you buy food in bulk, delivery is free and it works out quite a bit cheaper than your average supermarket Iams or Whiskers. Burns is made from 100% natural ingredients with no added preservatives or chemicals. It’s good for your cat’s teeth, fur and general overall health.

• Litter tray. Your best buy is the ‘litter loo’ which can be purchased from Argos for about £10. It is far better than the bog standard ‘tray’ as it is covered. So unless you actually bend down and peer through the small opening at the front of the loo, everything you wish to remain hidden, does so. Although the same can’t be said for the smell, this can be muted slightly with a sprinkling of...

• Litter fragrance....a light covering over the litter will produce lovely fresh, summer smells that will cover up the pongs of your cats toilet (to an extent)
It is important however that you check your cat’s litter loo frequently and remove any presents that may have been left as often as possible.

• Litter (might be helpful here!!)

• Scratching post (Argos £5.99) This is essential if you don’t want your new cat tearing at your precious sofa or pulling up carpets. This particular scratching post is really quite attractive and I have to admit it looks quite good in the corner of my living room.

• Cat toys. Obviously this depends on how old your cat is. An elderly, grandmotherly type isn’t really going to be interested in chasing a ping pong ball up and down the hall way. Younger cats however, will really appreciate any toys that you may have. There isn’t any need to go out and spend money on cat toys. You can probably make most of them. Suggestions are...a scrunched up handful of foil, empty boxes, a piece of string with a ball attached to the end...

• A bed. This can simply be an old cardboard box with a blanket inside.


Step 5 – Collecting your cat

Collection time at the North London shelter is always in the evening. Don’t forget to bring a cat carrier with you! If you have one, put a soft blanket inside and maybe a few little cat biscuits so that your cat will be as comfortable as possible. Cats hate travelling and the journey back to your house will be distressing enough.

The collection process takes approximately half an hour. After a short wait in reception, I was taken to the manager’s office for a quick chat where I was given details of the injections, worming and flea treatments my kittens had already had, and advice as to when procedures should be repeated. CP won't re-home a kitten unless it's in good health unlike some pet shops.

All cats re-homed by CP are neutered and if you re-home a kitten too young to be neutered you will be given a certificate which needs to be signed by your own vet and returned to CP upon completion. CP have links with several vets in the area if you don’t know of any, and if you are re-homing a kitten, they will arrange for the first 2 sets of injections to be carried out free of charge. If you are on any kind of benefits, you may well also be applicable for their free neutering and spaying service.

Every cat that that the Cats Shelter re-homes is micro-chipped. This means that if your cat goes missing, a quick scan will identify who its owners are.

CP ask for a £30 donation (minimum) for any cat that you re-home from their shelter, so come prepared for this.

Also come prepared to have your photo taken. If you’ve already had a peek at the NLCP website, you’ll have spotted the ‘Adoptee photo gallery’. I don’t know if other CP shelters do this, but I think it’s a really nice idea It enables friends and family to see your new cat and also acts as a lovely, permanent memory of the day your cat started its new life.

And that’s basically it. You’re now free to take your cat home and enjoy! Do however be prepared for hard work, time and effort, and also be aware that your cat will need the following ongoing care:

Annual vaccinations
Worming
Flea control
Insurance

Summary: