Rehoming

About Adopting

* Please note: We only rehome our cats and kittens on the Isle of Wight. *

When you contact us wanting to adopt, we will guide you towards the cat/ kitten best suited to you, your lifestyle, and your home. We either carry out a home visit first or if you prefer, after you have visited the cats in our care.

The majority of our cats are in foster homes in various parts of the Island. We feel it is much nicer for them to be in a domestic setting while they wait for loving new homes and having lots of individual attention from their foster carers. We do like our prospective adopters to spend quality time with our rescues so their true characters can be seen, so you know whether they will suit you.

Once you have made your choice of who you would like to adopt, we then arrange to bring them to you so when they are first introduced to new surroundings, they have someone familiar with them, either myself and/or their ‘Foster Carer’; this really does give them the confidence they need when everything is new and strange to them. With nervous cats, we do ask you to visit them more than once so they start to get used to you before the adoption.

All our cats and kittens are screened for feline leukaemia and FIV, are neutered/spayed/vaccinated/microchipped/flead & wormed and all necessary treatments e.g. blood testing for older cats – dentals – treatment if sick, injured or have skin conditions etc are also all carried out before rehoming.

Our cats and kittens arrive in their new home with samples of the food that is most suitable for them. This will last several days so you are able to purchase the same food for them, although ideally, you would have stocked up before their arrival. We also take the clean litter from their litter trays to use in their new home and they instantly relate to that as it holds their own scent. Favourite toys/ blanket will also go with them to their new home, in order to reassure them.

We like to keep in touch for the first month after adoption, either by phone or via email, Texting, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and we just love to receive photos and videos!

Access

We ask for access via a cat flap during the day once your cat has been kept totally indoors for 3-4 weeks. Some cats will need longer than this and for kittens, we ask that they are kept indoors totally until they are fully vaccinated, neutered/spayed & microchipped and at least 5-6 months of age.

We also ask cats/kittens be kept in at night at all times for their own safety.

Holiday Periods

We advise you to board your pet at a reputable Boarding Cattery while you are away on holiday. Please go to our link page for recommendations.

Cats behave quite differently when their owners are away from home for any length of time. Some will stray and some will adopt a neighbour as they are missing human contact and interaction, this may result in them ‘sharing’ their time elsewhere even after you return from your break away.

If you can ask someone to move into your home, someone your pet knows, this is really the only safealternative to a Boarding Cattery. They are then not only caring for your furry friend but also your home and your plants!

We will carry out a follow-up visit about 2-3 months after adoption, in fact, we stay in the background throughout your pet’s natural life and are always here for support and advice; nothing is ever too much trouble.

If you are unable to keep your adopted pet, we will take them back into our care, whether it be a few days or years. We ask you to agree never to pass them on to another person or rescue centre at any stage in their life.

Fostering of older/disabled cats

We do in certain situations offer fostering instead of full adoption. This is generally for older cats eg 10 years and over. It could also be a cat who has a chronic condition and needs medication and Veterinary attention from time to time throughout the remainder of their natural life, or a cat who may be difficult to rehome due to a disability, and that we would prefer to stay under our care, but at the same time have a nice comfortable home but with our full support.

Prior to considering a fostering arrangement with you we would come and visit you and discuss the cats needs and whether we think your home is suitable for this particular cat. We would explain to you what the cat would need and whether he/she would require access outside during the day, this would be via a cat flap once completely settled. If the cat was in very advanced years or was disabled we would be looking for a secure garden where the cat could have access and would be safe so still be able to live a natural and fulfilling life.

We provide and pay for all Veterinary treatment for our  foster cats throughout their natural life, we also offer to take them to the Veterinary Surgery when necessary if the fosterer is unable to do this.

The cats who go to foster homes remain the property of Feline Welfare and if our agreement breaks down on either both or one side or if you find you are unable to care for the cat any longer then the cat is returned to us. We also like to keep in touch with the fosterer throughout the cats natural life and are available 24/7 to advise or help in anyway.

We will also provide cat litter  –  food  – toys –  scratch posts – litter trays – cat bed and any other equipment needed. If the foster carer is happy to provide the cat litter and food we are always very grateful for this help.

You will be invited to meet the cat looking for a foster home once you feel sure you would like to take on this commitment.There will be a written agreement to safeguard the cat, the foster carer and the Charity.

All too often we find the older/disabled cats are more difficult to rehome but we strive to give them the chance of living out their natural lives in loving, safe homes, but we also understand that the expense of Veterinary care can be the deciding factor for some prospective homes. This is where our fostering arrangements can really help and can make all the difference for our cats and their foster carer. We would aim for the cat to stay in the foster home throughout their natural life and this would be a mutual agreement between the foster carer and Feline Welfare. We would plan and hope for this to always be pleasurable for the cat and the carer. If the foster carer became unwell or had a change of circumstances we would of course take the cat back into our care as quickly as we could, or immediately, if this was needed.

If you would like to call us anytime on 01983 521778 we would be very happy to talk to you about the possibility of fostering for us and whether we have any cats waiting for this help at the time.

 

If you feel that you would like to adopt or foster one of our cats, please view our current list of cats that need loving homes by clicking here.