Cat Adoption
From LoveToKnow Cats
Ready for a New Cat?
Cat adoption is a big move, so make sure you're ready for it. While your at it, be sure everyone in the household is on board with the whole cat adoption concept. Bringing a cat home and bonding with it, only to have to give it up because of an irate spouse can be traumatic for both you and the cat.
Most shelters and humane societies sponsor 'cat adoption days' at locations around their service area, perhaps at a mall or a pet supply store. You can meet pets at these events, or go to the shelter or society location, but consider yourself warned. At shelters, you may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of pets needing homes and want to take them all home. Steel yourself, find the one that seems like your cat, and promise the rest that you'll send all your pet-loving friends back for them.
Where to Find Your Pet
Adopting from a shelter or humane society is less risky than selecting a pet from a "free kittens" ad in the paper or on the grocery's bulletin board. Shelters and humane societies screen their animals for infectious diseases and make sure they have their baby shots. Many of them also spay or neuter the pets, so that when you adopt, you have one less chore to worry about.
Sometimes a cat or kitten will adopt you. One day you come home to find your porch occupied by a cat who thinks you've invited him over and he'll walk right in and make himself at home. If this happens to you, first make sure the cat hasn't gotten lost from his home. Post signs in the neighborhood describing the cat in case someone is frantic with worry over him. Alert the area vets that you've found a cat. They are fairly familiar with the lost pets in the area and might recognize the description. See Stray Cats for more on this.
If your guest goes unclaimed for a certain period and you want to keep him, congratulations, you have a new cat. Make sure to take him to the vet's for a checkup and all shots before you allow him to associate with your other household pets, just in case he might have an infectious disease.
Kitten or Grown Cat Adoption?
The first question is: do you want a grown cat or a kitten? Most people think they want a kitten, so that it will 'bond' with them. But actually, there's nothing preventing an older cat from bonding with you, and you have a much better idea what type of personality your pet has. Kittens don't seem to develop identifying personality characteristics until ten to twelve weeks, so if you want a calm cat, or a lively cat, you're simply guessing when you pick a kitten.
If you already have one or more cats, it's true that a kitten may integrate into the household more readily than an older cat. Grown cats aren't as threatened by kittens as they are by other adults, and may develop parental affection for a kitten and take it under their protection.
Bringing Kitty Home
When you first bring your new cat home, whether or not you have other pets, you should put him in a separate room with access to a litter box, water bowl and kibble. This allows the cat to explore a single room, find 'defensible positions' and feel like he has one comfortable fortress from which he can venture out to explore the rest of the house and meet the rest of the family.
Be present when the new cat ventures out to meet the other pets, but don't intervene unless fur actually flies. Hissing, arching the back, laying back ears, etc., are all communications between animals negotiating their position in the dominance hierarchy. Interfering unnecessarily can lengthen this process or even short-circuit it altogether, creating lingering resentment between your established pets and the newly adopted cat.
Conclusion
Cat adoption is a wonderful way to add to your feline family. There are so many worthy animals in shelters just waiting for a place to call their own. Is there room in your heart and home for just one more?
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