trying to rehome a cat and having a horrible time

Poor baby, she looks so sweet. I'm sorry you have to lose her. That's sad. If it were me, I would take her to a shelter. Granted, it's not the best but she would at least have a chance to go to a good home. The shelters where I am really screen people well before they give them a kitty.

As far as I can remember as per the landlord tenant board, and the rental company that we rent from, Ontario has a law against denying a tenant a pet (non exotic). This was all 3 years ago, but I've been fairly active in the rescue community around here (dogs) for the past 5 years, so I'm pretty sure I would have heard something about it if it had changed.

Many landlords in Ontario will write it into the lease, even though it is actually illegal to do so (as per landlord tenant board lawyer). Of course, if you sign a lease that says no pets, the landlord will find other reasons to evict you.

Now to the student housing - is it a large house with landlord on site? Or is it that you're renting a room in a house (say 2-5 rooms) with the landlord being offsite? If it's the later, they rarely come around (in my experience, 4 years living in student housing). As long as the other tenants are alright with it, then you really wouldn't have problems (going from your other post that said you could keep her confined to your bedroom).

Have you tried a felaway diffuser/spray/collar? It seems to help the vast majority of cats, from the reviews.

Jeh,
Are you sure there is only one place? That doesn't seem right. There is no Humane Society? Have you searched the internet? Asked people? When are you moving? Could there be a chance that you could take your kitty with you for a short time, until you can figure this all out? You could keep her in your room for a little while. There has to be some place that will take her. Check "no kill" shelters in your area. I'll look too.

There is the Burlington Humane Society. I don't know how far that is from you but it's there. Call them. And call the SPCA. Ask them if they know where you can take your kitty. Tell them you have no choice and have to have a place. They may help you. I would think they would anyway. That is what they are there for. Let us know how you make out.

Try not to let people get to you. I know that some of them make you feel awful. I took a stray cat to our Humane Society once and they made me feel horrible. I couldn't keep the cat. I already had two, and they weren't getting along that great. I searched for the kitty parents on my own before I took the cat in and they still made me feel terrible. Just stand firm with them. You have no choice. That's all you have to tell them. Remember this though, when you are feeling like you want another kitty. Once they are yours they are your responsibility and that's sometimes hard, as you are finding out.

I myself just want to say that you are doing a great job of trying to do what's best for your pet.

Hi there... I am so sorry you are going through this...
Just an idea - Since Ontario has this law against denying pets from living in a place: Could you take the kitty with you? I know she could not roam the house, but she would be ok in you room only... Cats ARE ok in small spaces... you'd be surprised... You can create vertical spaces for her - maybe a cat tree, shelves and such. Put her food and litter box in there, and she would have you. That is all she would really need...
Just an idea... Your roomates wouldn't even notice she is there...
If this doesn't work, I hope you find a home for her... I know how heartbreaking this must be for you... I am so sorry

I never ever recommend that anyone take their pet cat to a shelter (of course there may not be a choice for strays). Kill rates for cats are around 75% at many shelters. . .any cat over 6 months old really doesn't have a chance, especially if she's shy around strangers. Even a lot of "no-kill" shelters will kill a shy cat for being "unadoptable". Unless you had to join the Witness Protection Program or something like that where you HAD to leave in 5 minutes, I could never justify it. And, in many cases it would be more humane to have your vet put her to sleep rather than sending her to languish in a cage at the shelter for 2 weeks before being killed among strangers. Do everything in your power to keep her. . .cats can be quite happy living in one room.

I adopted my girl Tess from a shelter last September. She was 2 when I got her. She had been at the shelter for 9 months before I came along. She is the third adult cat I have adopted from a shelter. I know many people who have adopted adult cats. My brother just did in December. A 1 year old female. I'm sure shelters are all different. Ours here keeps the cats for a very long time. You could come right out and ask them when you speak to them. And of course you would see the place. There's really no perfect answer to your problem other than finding your kitty a home.

I'm sorry you're going through this. I'm sorry your kitty is going through this. I'm sure you have asked everyone you know. Ask again. I wonder too if you have considered keeping her in your room. The poster above who mentioned it (sorry, don't remember the name) is correct in that you can make really good use of vertical space. And she would still have you.

I want to support the point that not all shelters are the same. My 5 cats all came from a shelter, where I volunteer. My cats had been there between 9 months and 3 years. The youngest was over 3 years old. It truly is a "no kill" shelter where medical care is provided by a full time vet and 4 techs. They even send cats to medical specialists at times. They keep cats as long as they live, if they don't get adopted. Hundreds of adult cats are adopted from there each year. They keep cats with FIV and even FIP exposed. They only euthanize very rarely, in cases to end suffering.

So, there are good shelters, and I hope you can find one, if it must come to that. To me, cats are like children, and I can not imagine making the choice to end their life. Nothing would be worth that to me. I could not live with it.

I hope you can find a place for your cat.

Robin

Taking a cat to a shelter that is not truly no-kill (and they are very rare, for cats especially) is the same as ending the cat's life in any other fashion. The only difference being that the owner isn't there to see the cat's death, and doesn't even have to know about it, so they can delude themselves into thinking the cat was adopted.

The sad reality is that sometimes people have no choice.

I know of several no-kill shelters within a few miles of me. So it depends on where you are.

Robin

I feel very sad for you but understand that sometimes these situations do arise in our lives and these changes must take place regardless if we want them or not. I have much empathy for you and know how painful this must be. You probably already did this.......but I would call everyone I knew and spread the word. Post a flyer and her picture at surrounding vets, pet stores and groomers. You can even contact some pet sitting places. Sometimes they know of a client who is looking for a companion for another pet. If you could find a no-kill shelter, even if you had to make a long drive, I would use that as a last resort. She is sweet enough and very pretty that she might just find a home and quickly. I hope you can find her a home, she is absolutely adorable

Have you put her on facebook?

The choice would be to have the cat humanely put to sleep by their own vet, so that it dies peacefully with people it knows. Not terrified and alone, killed (possibly in a not-very humane manner---shelter cats are rarely given the same consideration as the pets of paying customers) by strangers at a shelter.

It does depend where you are. . .larger cities have more resources than smaller towns. But how many of those shelters are open-intake? How many take owner surrenders? How many take cats at all? Finding a truly no-kill shelter with an opening for a shy cat is the hardest part.

Willowy, I'm sorry your experience with shelters has been so bad. But really they are not all so terrible. At the shelter where I am involved, and others I know alot about, owner surrendered cats are taken in every day. At times the shelter is very full, however cats are abandoned there, found on the doorstep at 6 a.m. (in cardboard boxes or carriers) very, very often. So even if the shelter is not accepting adult cats at the time because of space, some people find a way. And, again, all the cats are cared for for the rest of their natural lives, if they aren't adopted.

To condemn this poor cat to death, at the prime of life, for no reason, but just because the owner's circumstances have changed, and not give her a chance for a new life in a home with love, well, I don't believe you mean that. You can't.

And shelters I know of that are "truly" no-kill are located in northern Illinois farm country, 50 miles or more from a big city. So even rural areas can have such places.

Robin

I live in the northeast, in a very small state with no big city. Our Humane Society is small but very nice. The animals are very well cared for and kept for a very long time. The have special needs cats that they absolutely do not kill. They advertise these kitties on the early morning news and in the newspaper. The place is always clean with plenty of volunteers to take care of and play with all the kitties there. No, not all shelters are the same, but there are good ones out there and lots and lots of cats do get adopted.

As a side note; I had to put the best cat in the world to sleep last summer. She had cancer and got to the point where she was not able to eat. It broke my heart to do such a thing. I was absolutely devastated at her passing. I miss her every single day. I would never, ever do such a thing unless I had no choice, as in my cat suffering as she was. It's a horrible thing to go through. I would never tell anyone to do that.

Jeh, let us know how you're doing.

The diffuser could help keep her calm do she doesn't destroy things.

I second Robin's post. I also live about an hour or more from a big city and we have quite a few no-kill shelters (rural areas) to choose from. The one I volunteer for TRULY takes excellent care of all cats, no matter what the circumstances of them being abandoned at the shelter, no matter how sick they are (they treat, even for ringworm whereas some shelters euthanize for ringworm ), no matter how old they are, no matter how bad their temperaments might be, they are cared for and get medical attention until they get new homes or for life if needed.

If you can find a shelter like the ones near me, your cat WILL have a chance. Please don't listen to someone telling you are giving your cat a death sentence if you do this. Your girl has a chance at life that way, and she deserves that. I am hoping you can find a home for her on your own though and just sending you more vibes for that to come true!!

Well, it certainly is nice that so many of you live in places where the cat overpopulation problem is so firmly under control! Must be lovely. However, that's definitely not the case in most areas. Even if there are some no-kill shelters in a given area, usually if you average the cat kill rate of ALL the shelters in that area (because, of course, the cats the limited-intake shelters turn away are just taken to the other shelters), it's almost always very high, 60% at least.

So while individual shelters might be very good at getting adult cats with not-so-adoptable personalities adopted out--and if the owner can find a place like that with an opening to take their cat it could work out favorably for the cat--in general being taken to a shelter is a death sentence for an adult cat, and I will never be comfortable telling anyone it would be fine to take their cat to a shelter, giving them false hope.

If someone were doing research trying to find their options, they would do well to ask for a shelter census from the shelter they're considering, to see the real kill stats (even if the shelter calls itself "no-kill")..

I for one never said the overpopulation problem was under control.
As for the "must be lovely" remark; it was "catty".

No, the cat overpopulation problem is not solved. But what does that have to do with anything we are talking about here? The OP came here to try to get help for the specific problem affecting this specific cat. This cat deserves a chance - as they all do. But we are not talking statistics here. We are talking about this person's long time pet. Seems awfully cold and heartless to tell s/he to kill the cat, under these circumstances.

If the OP can find a good shelter, then that's a much better choice than having the cat killed. Why shouldn't that happen? Because finding a good shelter is too much work?

I hope that society evolves enough so that high kill shelters disappear. Until then, I'll do what I can to save one cat at a time, as so many here do.

The OP did start a new thread asking about how to keep this cat content in one room. I hope s/he is going to try that. That's the best thing for the innocent feline, and for the cat parent, who obviously cares for the cat.

Robin

t

No, not because it's too much work. It's because for the most part finding a good, no-kill shelter to take in your 7-year old tabby is not possible. It simply isn't. It's not that there aren't great shelters out there that adopt out adult cats. There are many. But the problem is that they are all full and don't take in new cats, especially not owner surrenders. Like the OP found out the local shelter don't take in cats at all. When they do it will be the most needy cats that get a spot.
This is not a unique situation. It's extremely common and in any area at any given time there will probably be hundreds or thousands of people wanting to get their cat into a shelter because they are moving. The shelters and rescues get calls and emails every day and they just can't help them all. You may think that this is not about statistics and is just about helping one cat. But all the millions of cats euthanized in the US every year is just one cat that nobody could help. There are so many of them and so few places that will take them so thinking that you can find a good shelter for your cat is not realistic. It may sound mean and cold to recommend euthanasia but with the way reality is it is the most humane option. In my opinion putting a 7-year old cat that has lived in a home her whole life in a shelter is cruel. The majority of shelters keep their cats in small cages and the cat will sit there terrified and miserable until his time is up. That is the reality for the vast majority of cats that come to shelters.
Yes, there are people that adopt adult cats but there aren't four million of them each year and that's what's needed to get all cats adopted.

The cats that are in good, cageless, no-kill shelters or rescues are the very lucky ones. They are a small percentage of the number of cats needing new homes. It bothers me that people don't understand how dire the situation is and that there is no help out there. People really believe that if you just call a shelter and tell them that you have no other options they will help because that's what they are there for. Don't you realize that they get hundreds of calls like that every week? Do you really think these good, no-kill shelters can accept all these hundreds of cats? If they did they would soon have over a thousand cats and there aren't space for that many. There are open intake shelters that do take in every cat that comes to them but to avoid having several thousand cats they have to euthanize and in many areas the euthanasia rate of cats is over 90%. In areas with less of a problem it's 50-60%.

I think if people truly understood how dire the situation is and that if you can't keep your cat there are no other options maybe they would make more of an effort to keep their cats. There are so many people giving up their pets because they are moving. In the majority of situations it really is not necessary. You just have to be proactive in finding a place where you can bring your pets. It's possible even if you don't have a lot of money and not much time. It takes work though but people believe that their cat can just go to one of those nice shelters and everything will be fine. In real life it doesn't work like that.

If you don't believe me why don't you help me find a place to take Goliath, a black and white stray that needs rescue asap. Help me make some phone calls and send some emails to shelters and rescues in your area and see if you can find one to take this one cat that is in desperate need to get off the street. We can arrange transportation if rescue is found for him in another part of the country. So far I've been looking for weeks for a place to take Goliath and most never even respond to my emails. Maybe others would be more lucky in their parts of the country.

Frankly, Ziggy's mom, I didn't read your whole post, but I got the gist after the first paragraph or two. I know all about the whole issue. I'm not misinformed or niave, and I spend 3-6 hours of my life every week giving love and attention to shelter cats, getting them out of cages, playing with them, and generally improving their lives. Many people do this, including members here. It's discouraging at times, but so very worthwhile. I also help get a lot of cats adopted.

If you or others are living someplace where the shelters are so bad that you think death is better than a stay there, then maybe you should take an active role in improving your shelters. There are dozens of shelters in my area where cats are living in clean, healthy environments, with excellent medical care, lots of attention, and stimulating environments.

I'm just appalled that euthanasia is being advised over placement in a decent shelter. I've already addressed the "shelter is full" issue.

Really this is supposed to be a forum to help cats and their owners. You just want to give up on them.

Robin

I didn't see the OP's other post. I'm so glad she is willing to give it a try. I hate the thought of any pet kitty going to a shelter. Worse than that is the thought of any pet kitty being put to sleep. I think there are good shelters and bad shelters. Every cat is not miserable in a shelter. The only cats in cages at our shelter are sick cats so to say they are caged for the rest of their lives is just wrong.

Every cat should have the chance to have a home. Every cat. This person's cat is not sick and does not have behaviors that would prevent her from being adopted. I can't imagine anyone thinking death would be better than life at a shelter. Cats spent thousands of years living together without the help or interference from people. They are not people and I think we need to remember that they have their own set of standards that are not the same as ours.

I got my last kitty Tess from a shelter across the lake in another state. I went there because the place was small and over crowded. Much more so that the shelter near me. Though there was hardly room to walk in that place, they did have an outside enclosure they could go to and every cat was well cared for and loved by the people working there. I doubt very much that you would find a person who gives their time to a shelter to agree that death is the way to go.

Your "solution to the shelter being full" is to abandon the cat outside the shelter without permission? That's illegal (you can be charged with abandonment), and most no-kill shelters will not accept the animals left outside and will just take them to the local kill shelter, otherwise they would be overrun by illegally-left animals once the word spread. I wouldn't consider that "addresssing" the issue at all.

Yes, cats have lived for thousands of years without humans interference, and will continue to do so, but that isn't really relevant here. If they lived without human interference, they didn't live in shelters or cages, and I doubt they would choose to do so. But this is a pet housecat, not a feral, so living in the wild without human interference isn't an option.

I do not think death is the best option here. I think the OP keeping the cat, or finding an appropriate new home for her, would be the best option. I also think that taking the cat to a shelter MEANS death, so if death is inevitable it's better she dies with people she knows. It is not about the conditions at the shelter. . .if they kill her it doesn't really matter how nicely they kept her before she was killed. Maybe living at the shelter is better than death with people she knows, but dying at the shelter, alone and terrified among strangers, is NOT.

I also think that if people knew the kill stats for their local shelters, they would try harder to keep their pets or find them new homes instead of merrily dumping their pets at the shelter for other people to kill, going on their way feeling fine that their kitty will get a nice new home, when it's just not true. Many city Animal Control shelters have close to 100% kill rates for cats (and remember, if the cat is dropped at a full no-kill shelter without permission, the city shelter is the probable end location).

PS: if shelters in a particular area are no longer killing cats and are able to adopt them out easily, this does mean that there is no longer an overpopulation problem in that area.