Finding Homes
For this #WiseWednesday, we want to talk about what JCN advocates for when it comes to the re-homing process.
When you rescue or foster a cat or kitten, you care enough about them to make an effort to save their lives. You invest time, money, and often great emotion. This can make choosing a new home difficult or even stressful. The truth is, we’ll never be completely sure that people can or will care responsibly for a cat over its lifetime. People’s lives change, and sometimes that can lead to unexpected difficulties over the next 15 to 20 years. But, just because there will always be at least a small amount of uncertainty, it doesn’t mean we should lessen our efforts to get rescues into permanent homes. That’s an essential aspect of continuing to make a difference in more lives, as well as in the often desperate animal welfare situation at hand. We can always improve the odds of finding the best match by following a few proven strategies.
1: Put time into the screening process
Ask questions, talk with people via video chat, ask more questions, and give lots of information about the kitty. People who understand the seriousness of the process will be patient and will also be concerned about finding the right cat(s) for their home. They should have questions, too. Good communication can eventually lead to confidence in your decision as well as theirs.
2: Plan a visit to the home (or organization)
JCN requires that posts about re-homing, adoption, or fostering include a statement that all JCN re-homing guidelines will be followed. We do this because we believe that aspects like the home visit help to protect cats and to find safer homes. If an adopter or foster won’t let you visit the home, for any reason, this is not a home that you’ll be able to reliably check back up on. That’s unsafe. The same goes for surrendering to organizations. See the place the cat or kitten would be living, first hand, in order to help determine that the care provided will follow humane standards.
3: Use a contract with stipulations included
An adoption or fostering contract spells out the requirements of both parties involved. It clarifies issues, such as ongoing communication and reporting. When things have gone wrong on re-homing sites, it’s been reported that contracts were not used in most of the cases. Contracts help to indicate that this is not a casual transaction, but the transferring of a very important responsibility. Include a trial period, in case things turn out to be a bad fit, and then be prepared to continue the search.
4: Require an adoption fee in exchange for age-appropriate medical care
“Free cats” is a well established way to put cats in dangerous situations. People may act impulsively, or even plan to sell the cat afterward. It’s also important to get as much medical care done as possible, before re-homing the cat, and this can become expensive if done for multiple rescues. Spay/neuter ensures that the homelessness ends with this cat. Vaccines and FIV/FELV tests protect cats entering multi-cat homes. Invested adopters should be interested in having all of these aspects done, anyway. If you don’t need the financial compensation for medical costs, consider making the re-homing fee a donation to an org that helped connect you with the adopter/foster.
5: Be prepared to wait it out
Don’t rush to find just any home. It’s worth waiting for the best and most suitable home for the particular cat or kitten(s). Bonded pair? Work on keeping them together. Special needs? Find a capable and willing family. If you are patient and able to keep reaching out, the right home does eventually come along. We see that happen time and time again. When people feel desperate and the process is rushed, that’s when things are more likely to go wrong. Don’t feel pressured to place an animal in any situation that you feel uneasy about. There are, in fact, people seeking cats or kittens for bad purposes. Others might have good intentions but are incapable of providing secure homes. Take a deep breath and calmly continue reaching out.
6: Keep in touch
Be there after the kitty goes to the new home to help smooth out any initial difficulties that sometimes happen when cats or kittens change living environments. You may know the kitty best, as the rescuer, which can be helpful when providing advice. You might also have more experience with cats or kittens, over all, and be able to help provide solutions to problems before they become insurmountable. Checking back in, and seeing the cat(s) happy in the new home, is often the most rewarding aspect of rescue.
As rescuers and cat helpers we need to be able to say Yes and we also need to be able to say No. Be open to and positive about connecting with great people and about finding wonderful homes. Be able to firmly refuse situations that you don’t think are suitable for the rescued animal(s) in question or even just seem uncomfortable for you to enter into as a rescuer. Our peace of mind and morale are a big part of what keeps us helping again and again. And, that’s what’s really needed to improve the situation for homeless cats here in Japan. Rescued cats and kittens find excellent homes here every day, and you, too, can be a successful part of this important effort.
Don’t hesitate to ask advice of JCN admin or the community. Check out these additional links for more information: