Cat rooms

For several years I have been thinking about having a big room attached to the house (probably a converted garage, since I don't have a car). That way I can do what I want to instead of what a local organization wants me to do and adopt them out myself. It is a dream that cannot die.

Of course, I have some big questions about how to start doing that:

1. What is a good cat-to-space ratio?

2. How should I get the cats to foster?

3. Should the cat room have partitions?

4. Is requesting donations a good idea?

5. When should it be open for adoptions?

6. Does it matter who pays for the room?

7. Will I need to recruit an assistant?

8. Are permits usually required for this?

That is just the beginning, of course. Feel free to add anything else you know about such a project.

Well, fosters are ALWAYS needed. It's easiest to foster for an existing rescue organization rather than start your own. :nod: I'd check through http://www.petfinder.com for rescues/foster networks in your area. They most likely wouldn't be able to help pay for development of your cat room (garage), but they do typically pay for the vet care for the fosters.

If you're thinking along the lines of starting your own shelter, then yes, you need to create an LLC or an Inc or some type of company, file all the paperwork, have a Board, get a tax ID number, then apply for charitable status (501(3)c) before asking for donations. You need to have a vet (or vets) lined up to work with, and you ABSOLUTELY need a quarantine room for sick kitties. I'm sure you need permits. And adoptions are typically easier if you find a local pet store - or Petsmart or Petco - and procure time/space from them for showing your cats, though you or a volunteer needs to be there.

You would definitely need a process for "vetting" (so to speak) applicants, adoption contracts, etc.

http://www.petfinder.com/how-to-help-pets/starting-nonprofit-help-animals.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2117271_start-nonprofit-animal-rescue.html

So I can't just advertise my cats in the classified with the house phone number like other people do when they foster cats? I thought I can do that while going through the process of becoming a 501(c)3 organization.

I would love to do what you are doing.  I live in a small one bedroom condo.  If/when I move to a retirement home, I'm buying a two bedroom condo/townhouse so I can foster.

Permits:  check your county/state regulations.  Some counties/states require a license if you have more than X amount of cats, some don't.  If you get "too many" (defined locally), you may have to go through a lot of red tape.  Again, varies jurisdiction to jurisdiction. We did not bother with any kind of permits because we doubted we'd get found out or fined--not a high priority among the animal control officers where I live.

In January 2011, my friend converted a spare room in her hourse into a cattery, and I moved eventually a total of five cats from my feral/stray/dumped colony into her cattery.   We fostered/socialized them, and all but one have been adopted into Forever Homes.  ("Mystique" is still a work in progress, and has improved since we introduced two large dogs to her early this year.  Love at first sight at least on Mystique's part.) 

It is idea if  you can have a partition; mandatory if you don't know the history/background of the cat.  Because I had been taking care of the colony for over a year, I knew that the cats were healthy, and one cat had tested negative for FIV/FELK, so I figured the rest of the cats were negative as well.  We didn't separate the cats for long and the cats all got along for the most part. We lucked out.  

You need an assistant mainly to get the cats use to different people.  The more the merrier.  I went over my friend's house five days a week; after a year, we got burned out.  After over a year of doing this, we're taking a break. 

If you want to socialize abandoned cats, try to find out someone who is feeding a feral cat colony.  The caretaker will know who among the cats have a good chance of being resocialized, and who don't. She/he may also know if there is a litter of kitten(s) that need fostering. 

Because we dealt with adult cats, we had a hard time placing the cats.  My sister works for a huge government agency and most of the successful leads were the result of her posting ads on her agency's intranet.  The first question people asked is, is the cat negative for FIV/FELK?

We didn't ask for donations but didn't refuse them either.  In retrospect, I think we should have requested donations of at least food; it would have weeded out the scammers.  "If you can't afford a donation fee/vet, you can't afford a pet."

We thought briefly of forming a non-profit corporation but the process seemed too involved.  There is a Tax Court decision early last year that states, basically, you can deduct as a charitable contribution the cost of feeding cats (and in the instant case, air purifier, electricity for extra laundry, vet bills, etc.) if you get a letter from a sponsoring organization that says you are supporting their mission.  I obtained such a letter from the TNR organization I go through.

Hope this helps--ask more questions, or pm me for more detailed info.

I want to make feral kittens adoptable instead of put them back in the wild with their moms. At such a young age, they have not had much time to hate people. So yes, socialization is going to be part of this.

Material donations will always be welcome, but accepting food can be tricky because somebody might want to give me something I know is bad for cats. I will worry about that one later.

In case you're wonfering how I plan to remodel a garage, I was thinking of replacing the door with a window the same size, a fan light where the door light is, putting linoleum on the floor, painting the ceiling and walls, adding insulation on all sides, and replacing the back door with a glass door.

EmilyMayWilcha said:

So I can't just advertise my cats in the classified with the house phone number like other people do when they foster cats? I thought I can do that while going through the process of becoming a 501(c)3 organization.

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Oh of course you can.

And I totally forgot to mention, now that Cindy reminded me, you should definitely charge an adoption fee in addition to having some kind of screening process in place and an adoption contract. :nod:

I just want to say.... Gary and I were very involved in rescue for a lot of years. It's expensive. Just make sure you're prepared for vet fees, to make difficult decisions, and for you to become known as a rescuer, and for dumps and drop-offs to happen.

There is already a rescue organization in Gainesville if you want to ask questions of them.

I would not do a front facing door as it is more obvious what you are doing and neighbors may complain more.  If its hidden or on side then don't matter much.

I converted my garage had sheetrock ripped out and new insulation put in and redid walls.  It connects to a sunroom.  Also painted floor with a special paint just for garages(if go that route make sure its done right and floor is fully dry or it will come off in a year or so...trust me.  My guy was a dud).

If you advertise in classified there shouldn't be much issue but I would be wary of people coming in if you have more then a few cats inside.  Or taking them into the area.  You would need at least one nice size cage for intros after tamed and for containing after surgery/monitoring pee or some medical reason like that.As for taming the smaller the better IMO.

Could start talking to a clinic who does spay/neuters or if none a regular vet clinic.  Shelter may be to much to soon but that could be option.

You also will have to research flea control/wormings and things to have on hand so you won't have to go to petstore and pay full price(kmr, cone collar, pain cream, syringes/bottles....) 

catsallaround said:

I would not do a front facing door as it is more obvious what you are doing and neighbors may complain more.  If its hidden or on side then don't matter much.

I converted my garage had sheetrock ripped out and new insulation put in and redid walls.  It connects to a sunroom.  Also painted floor with a special paint just for garages(if go that route make sure its done right and floor is fully dry or it will come off in a year or so...trust me.  My guy was a dud).

If you advertise in classified there shouldn't be much issue but I would be wary of people coming in if you have more then a few cats inside.  Or taking them into the area.  You would need at least one nice size cage for intros after tamed and for containing after surgery/monitoring pee or some medical reason like that.As for taming the smaller the better IMO.

Could start talking to a clinic who does spay/neuters or if none a regular vet clinic.  Shelter may be to much to soon but that could be option.

You also will have to research flea control/wormings and things to have on hand so you won't have to go to petstore and pay full price(kmr, cone collar, pain cream, syringes/bottles....) 

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Thanks for the suggestions catsallaround. Nice user name too.

My mom painted the basement floor in her Ohio house. It is filthy and badly needs a repainting job, so I would rather have linoleum than paint on the floor. Claws make paint chip off too.

Cages for introductions? I think not. My preference is a little room off the garage, which I need anyway for isolating some cats. But for surgery patients, a cage makes sense.

Finding a vet should not be a problem. There is a clinic just for cats in Gainesville.        I plan to ask about rescue discounts.

LDG said:

Oh of course you can.
And I totally forgot to mention, now that Cindy reminded me, you should definitely charge an adoption fee in addition to having some kind of screening process in place and an adoption contract.

I just want to say.... Gary and I were very involved in rescue for a lot of years. It's expensive. Just make sure you're prepared for vet fees, to make difficult decisions, and for you to become known as a rescuer, and for dumps and drop-offs to happen.

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I know about dropoffs. Once 11 kittens without their mom were dropped off when I was at the shelter. They needed KMR and canned food. Of course I thought the Sunday morning dropoff was stupid because people are supposed to call first.

The adoption fee will include spay/neuter, a microchip, all vaccines (remember many come from outside), and topical parasite killers.

catspaw66 said:

There is already a rescue organization in Gainesville if you want to ask questions of them.

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Are you thinking of Gainesville Pet Rescue? I was there once.

There should be at least one window in the cat room with a perch/window sill, so the cats can look outside and be entertained by birds and squirrels.  Plus, they like to sunbath.

Also, make absolutely sure there is no way the cat(s) can escape from the cat room.  The general rule of thumb is, if the cat can fit its head into an opening, he/she can fit their body.

In our cattery, "Buckley" freaked out when he was put into a cat carrier to go to his Forever Home, escaped into the eaves of the house, escaped from the house; and two weeks later and two miles away, was back at my feral/stay/dumped cat colony, from whence he came.  (Mystique was depressed, being all alone, so I scruffed --not trapped-- Buckley, put him into a cat carrier, and returned him to the cattery where he kept Mystique company until he was adopted into a Forever Home.  

And do plan on vet visits, expensive, especially with the younger cats.  I volunteer for a cat rescue organization which has access to drugs, including sub-q fluids.  We started taking the sickest kittens to them (two kittens, not part of the official cattery, dumped at the dumpster).  That saved us a LOT of money and in at least one case, the kitten's life.  My main contribution was financial and some moral support (I earned more money than my friend); Trysh's contribution was her house and the knowledge she gained from 35+ years of having cats, dogs, horses (priceless).

Actually their window will go all the way to the floor, so cats with mobility problems can also look out.

Look into running the flooring up the wall a bit. makes it easier to clean.  I know there are some people who tame in a room and others do a 3 foot cage.  My friend does in room and seems my guys tame in days hers weeks-months.  I use a 6 foot cage for the adults for a day or two for the newcomer to get used to many cats as the storage room has no windows(just tons of litter)  AC your storage area if you do anything like that as food cans can't go in mine when real hot out.

The concrete shield rocks-made just for floors and some stores have used it.  I have seen someone paint a floor with wall paint once...that was bad!

Look into some gloves for the cats that are to wild to tame for the rare times you need to do something or the ones who charge the front of the cage.  Also take them if you need to go to er vet.  usually they have them but better to bring them just in case.

Tongs work well for moving things around.  aldi/bjs/costco have cardboard boxes to turn into huts.  petco has bed mats for 3 dollars each at times(wash out very nicely and dont bulk up and best of all cats cant flip and claw the foam)

Get some pads for adults that are disposable for moving males in the car especially but also for any cat to line the seat/cargo area.  Trap diveder is AWESOME!!!  they will make life alot easier on you and the vet-especially for times you need to go to a vet/er clinic who doesn't get alot of ferals in.

If you have farm store they usually have food/litter, TSC has the best price on tidy cats around me beating BJ's by a few dollars.  Research for the best prices-easier to look now then with a full house

EBAY is great too.  and amazon for supplies

To start, I will just take cats people can't have anymore and strays because untamed ferals would be too hard to work with for somebody who has never done anything with them before. I will start working a lot with feral cats someday, but not before I foster cats people drop off at my house.

Because Amazon never charges sales tax, offers free shipping on orders over $25, and gives people discounts if they use its Visa card, I will order almost everything on that website.

EmilyMayWilcha said:

Are you thinking of Gainesville Pet Rescue? I was there once.

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No, Haile's Angels at 5231 SW 91st. Dr.  out by Haile Plantation Country Club

That sounds like a good plan regarding taking on strays and cats people can't take of.

I will just add that many cats in feral colonies were at one time someone's pet; if a 'feral cat' does not run from you, chances are it's been socialized at one time.

Good luck!

Ritz said:

That sounds like a good plan regarding taking on strays and cats people can't take of.

I will just add that many cats in feral colonies were at one time someone's pet; if a 'feral cat' does not run from you, chances are it's been socialized at one time.

Good luck!

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The definition of feral is "cat born in the wild." If someone used to have a cat and then it lives outside for a while like Wilbur did, it is a stray.

Yeah, that's why I put 'feral' in quotes.  People who don't know a lot about cats may assume the cat is feral (no contact with humans) when in actuality it is a stray (contact with humans).

I don't like cages for taming feral cats because they can climb up the bars. I love watching kittens pretend they are monkeys because it is silly, but if feral cats do that, I have to hold them when 18 claws are out. So instead I plan to use tents for their confinement because they can't hurt me through fabric walls and mesh windows.

Where are you getting that definition from?  I have taken a born outside cat so that is feral too even tho it was raised outside and has never had issue with people???

feral from dictionary.com

1.
existing in a natural state, as animals or plants; not domesticated or cultivated; wild.

2.
having reverted to the wild state, as from domestication: a pack of feral dogs roaming the woods.

3.
of or characteristic of wild animals; ferocious; brutal.

A tent will end with any cat but an extremely laid back cat escaping I will put money on that.  The soft dog cages even state something to the terms of for laid back dogs because a dog can easily escape if it trys.

Plastic cages stop the climbing.  I thought you were going to be doing kittens?  How many cats do you plan to have at one time as they take more time and effort IF they will ever socialize.