Adopting a cat from a pet rescue place, some questions

Hi all!

I don't know if this is the proper place to put this, so please feel free to move it if needed, but I had some questions about adopting a cat from a place that fosters cats. All of ours were strays, either from my work or our own backyard, so we just took them in and took them to the vets to get checked out, but having 9 (it was 10 for many years) I admit we don't get them to the vets on a steady basis unless they need care, some of them we couldn't even catch without tearing the house up, they don't get shots although a woman that I work with has 40 (yes, forty) indoor and outdoor cats and doesn't take them unless needed either, but they are all healthy and indoors and loved and in good health. Here's my question-we saw a picture of a cat up for adoption at a local foster "agency" that looks like a mixture of Sebastian and Simon the two boys that we lost in the last 1.5 years, and this of course tugged at my heartstrings plus he is only 10 weeks old, and despite the fact that we have been saying that we want to cut down on the cat population and to save money we are thinking of contacting them about him, but it says on their website that someone from the agency would come and look at your house, check things out to make sure you are serious and will provide a good home, not throw them out etc., but we are wondering do they check with your vets to see if all of the others are up to date on shots and appointments? If they do, would they hold it against us that we don't take them unless needed, even though we just spent over $1,400 on Sebastian plus taking the others when needed? Or do you think they don't even check that?

Any advice/help would be appreciated....I don't want to get my hopes up only to have them come and say "no"......

Thank you!

I think it depends on the individual adoption agency what their policies are. We have helped a number of strays as well and it is very difficult to get them to the vets, especially since we are so low on money right now. In fact, the only cat we take to the vet is our indoor cat, Nym. We did take Genny to the vet for surgery on her tail when she got hit by a car and the others have been neutered/spayed. We also have a couple friends who are vets and actually offered to help us get the vaccinations we needed for free. When we have questions we talk to them, which is very nice.

I know you've taken wonderful care of your cats, so I hope that they will understand that as well and let you adopt the kitten.

Best of luck!

Rescues that foster all of their cats can be quite picky.

They want indoor only homes. Questions asked about that and they will likely inspect any windows and doors and the condition and type of screen in them.  Do you have any aggressive cats that might hurt the kitten.  Do you have more cats than allowed by any ordinance in your area ?  Your situation could be a yes or a no depending on meeting other standards like being indoors etc.  On the bad side your cat's do not see a vet yearly. You have a large population of cats already. The plus is you are obviously a cat lover and willing to go the extra mile when your cat needed medical attention.

I will say from my perspective your cats would be the biggest indicator if this was a good home for the kitten. Are they happy, healthy and if not reasonably human friendly social with the other cats.  Are they willing to work with you to meet their requirements. Being honest is your best chance. Good Luck.

I agree with the above posters and it really depends on the rescue organization.

For the rescue I work with, we do vet checks. We check to see if current animals spayed/neutered and up to date on vaccines. If the answer to the last is no, then we find out if the animals at least go in for yearly physicals. If no to the latter, we find out from the owner why.

If there are already multiple cats in the home, we want to find out how well they get along with each other, if there is adequate space for all (is the home size physically large enough to accommodate, are there cat trees/other vertical space available...), and upon home check, are things relatively clean and in sanitary conditions.

For you, how do you anticipate your current cats to adapt to a new kitten? Do you have space to devote a room to the kitten only for proper introductions to be done? How long are you willing to give the cats proper time to adapt? Have all the cats been combo tested (FIV/Leukemia)? Would you comply with having the new kitten go in for yearly checkups?

Thanks for the replies and the great advice. I also called a woman that works for a local rescue agency who helped us trap several of our current cats years ago, told her the story, and she said the same thing "just be up front and honest with them" and said "the worst they can say is no, and if they are "cat people" they would understand". This place is small, they only have 25 cats and 3 dogs listed on their website, so that might play into it too. All of our cats get along very well, 7 of the 9 were a "family" out back before we took them in, they all stay indoors, they would accept this guy who is only 10 weeks old because they accepted Stanley 1.5 years ago and he is just over 2 now, there would be other cats to play with like Stanley (the ad says he plays a lot), we ARE 3 cats over what our borough allows though, they legally allow 6. But they all get along, and honestly whenever anyone comes to visit us they only see Stanley and Sugar, the rest all hide so much that people say "are you SURE that you have 9 cats?" HA!

Thanks for the replies, we are thinking about it, and perhaps I will call them tomorrow to just inquire about him. 

Thank you all!

Well I called the adoption place yesterday, explained my situation and they said they wouldn't recommend that I try to adopt him because we have 9 now, and maybe a stray that really needs our help will come my way, and a few other reasons, so that is out. Like I said he looks like a combination of the last two boys that died, that's why I was so interested in getting him, but I guess it won't happen!

It was nice that they noticed you helped so many strays though. Maybe it is best to wait until the perfect little guy comes to you instead of going out to look for one. I know it can be hard, but there are so many cats out there that need help that aren't in shelters.

I'm sorry you didn't get the kitten, but don't forget you've helped so many cats before.

GitaBooks said:

 
It was nice that they noticed you helped so many strays though. Maybe it is best to wait until the perfect little guy comes to you instead of going out to look for one. I know it can be hard, but there are so many cats out there that need help that aren't in shelters.

I'm sorry you didn't get the kitten, but don't forget you've helped so many cats before.

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Thanks for the kind words. I just REALLY wanted this one because like I said he looks like a combination of Sebastian and Simon, the two boys that we lost over the last 1.6 years.