Read time: 4 mins
What you should know before adopting, rescuing or fostering cats.
With pet ownership at an all time high, we wanted to dig a little deeper into those wonderful heroes who choose to rescue and foster our favourite furries. Whether it’s temporary fostering, giving a golden oldie a second chance at life or quite literally a rescue mission from the side of the road, we heard from 75+ adoption experts (you guys) about the reality behind adopting and rescuing cats.
With a whopping 80% of you either adopting or rescuing your floofs, half of you said that learning their backstory had an influence on whether or not they’d be joining your family.
At first, it could seem a little daunting, bringing a fully grown feline friend into your life, but a whole 98.4% of you said that you would choose to adopt or rescue again, which is surely all the convincing you should need. Someone left us this note – ‘if I have space in my home for a cat, they are welcome here’. We couldn’t agree more!
If you are considering a rescue cat, it might surprise you to know that 87.5% of those surveyed did know the age of their new housemate before taking them home. All rescues will be vet checked before becoming available to adopt, which should mean they can get a good idea of the cat’s health and just how long your cat has walked the earth before crossing your path. Knowing their age may be an influence and help you to choose a new chum, but do we really choose them or is it actually quite the opposite…
Our little cats looking for a second chance in life often do seem to choose their new family. When you know you know, and so do they – the humans we spoke to said that the gut feeling is hard to ignore. ‘She sat on my partner’s lap and started purring as soon as we sat down in her space and gave funny grumpy meows when we tried to move her when we were leaving. She basically chose us.’
Influenced by history or not, it’s an important consideration for how you bed them into their new home. Helping them to feel calm in a new, alien environment is essential whilst they’re settling in, so we asked for your top tips for the first few days – it seems slow and steady wins the race.
Tip 1 – Cats need space
Give them plenty of cosy space to call their own and leaving them to adjust and cope at their own pace is essential. Soft voice, little stress and plenty of cosy corners to hide in whilst they adjust will be key to their comfort.
‘He lived up the back of a sofa and would only come out for food and to use his litter. Within a couple of months he was having belly rubs, playing with toys, sitting on our laps, meowing for us from other rooms in the house. It’s so worth it.’
Tip 2 – Respect your cats boundaries
Respecting their boundaries and knowing it will take time and patience will give your cat the best chance at getting to know you on their own terms, and eventually see them become a part of the family. Rescuing and fostering can be extremely rewarding, but that’s not to say it will be the easiest ride. Though with such a high percentage of our survey saying they would choose to rescue again, it’s got to be worth the hard work.
‘With my experience patience and kindest are key, they have had a bad start to life, they just want someone to love, like all of us, the rewards are joyful ❤️’
Recommended follow on reading – we recently tucked into some popcorn and watched Netflix’s Inside the Mind of a Cat which had some brilliant tips for helping your new cat to trust you.
