Who Can Adopt a Cat Sanctuary Cat?

Yes, people who want to adopt a Cat Sanctuary cat do have to meet certain qualifications...but I think it may be helpful to compare our (short) list with the long, intrusive policies maintained by some animal shelters, many of which fail to place most of the animals they claim to be trying to place in good homes.

The Cat Sanctuary is neither a full-sized shelter nor a commercial breeder. It's a place where local people can send a pet if they can't keep the animal but don't want to subject it to "processing" through a shelter. We routinely accept injured or disabled animals; we don't knowingly accept animals with infectious diseases. Cats, and occasionally other animals, become available for adoption from time to time; usually they're adopted within a week. If you are looking for a cat or kitten, consider your answers to these questions before adding your name to our list.

Should You Adopt a Cat? Question #1. Does a cat like you? You don't have to do volunteer work here, or have a close relative who does, to move onto the short list...although, due to the small number of animals involved, that hypothesis has been advanced, and being a volunteer does help. You do need to establish a friendly relationship with an animal before taking it home.

Should You Adopt a Cat? Question #2. Can you offer the cat a stable, loving home? The question here is not whether you're rich or poor. Low-income homes can be excellent homes. I don't need or want to know how much money you make, how much rent you pay, how much your house cost, etc. I would hesitate to place an animal with a family that included someone who was violent, subject to mood swings, addicted, on psychiatric medication, etc., or even with a family that changed addresses often.

Should You Adopt a Cat? Question #3. Do you have a reasonable understanding of what the cat will need from you? "Reasonable" is a keyword here. Some animals have come with the stipulation that they will or will not be sterilized, given vaccinations in addition to the rabies vaccine required by law, confined or allowed to roam, etc. Those stipulations weren't mine, although I abide by them if I've agreed to them. I would have concerns about someone who thought cats could be trained to eat a vegetarian diet, thought outdoor cats didn't need any food beyond what they could catch, etc.

Should You Adopt a Cat? Question #4. What is your emergency backup plan for the cat's care? I don't have age limits; disabilities can start at any time in life. I don't actually mind sending animals to live with people who are eighty or ninety years old, on the understanding that the animals are likely to outlive these humans and, if they do, the animals can come back to the Cat Sanctuary. Children, seniors, and people with disabilities need pets more than other humans do. I do like to encourage anyone who adopts an animal to consider the possibility that s/he might need help to care for the animal, and have some sort of plan in mind.
Should You Adopt a Cat? Question #5. Let's stay in touch. I don't allocate much of my time to "visiting" and "hanging out" with humans, much less with animals...but I've formed a relationship with each animal who's lived here, and am interested in its future. It's always interesting to see how long different individuals remember me. Some Cat Sanctuary "graduates" have been placed by other family volunteers, with people whom they know personally but I don't; I've not tried to visit those people. But I do like to know that, while Graymina seemed to forget all about me within a week after leaving the Cat Sanctuary, Dusty has never forgotten who rescued her from the shelter, and so on.
 
When so-called animal welfare organizations have longer lists of more intrusive questions and official rules, and take longer to place animals, it is just possible that they have something to learn from the Cat Sanctuary's approach to animal welfare.