Rehoming your cat or kitten
If you need to rehome your cat or kittens, you can check with a local shelter to see if they will take them and what the waiting period is. If you have the ability to keep them while they are being showcased on the shelter's website, suggest that option, since often the shelter is short on cage space. Check if the shelter is no-kill or not and if they give you an option to take the pet back if it is unadoptable. You can also check with pet stores and vet clinics. Sometimes they take cats to showcase in their place of business. When you are rehoming kittens, wait until the kitten is 8-10 weeks old. Kittens need time with their mom and siblings to learn crucial social skills. Kittens who are separated too early can present with problem behaviors such as inappropriate biting and scratching, chewing on clothes and even litterbox issues.
If you are in a situation where the rehoming is temporary, see if you can find a foster for your cats. Offer some cash for food and litter as an incentive.
If you want to rehome yourself, you can advertise in the paper or Craigslist or other sources but be sure to check out the prospective adopter thoroughly. Charge a fee. This will also offset any shots or spay neuter expenses that you may have for the cat. A free adoption can fall into the wrong hands (snake food, mean people or dog fighting). Put as much information in the ad: age, sex, if up to date on shots/fixed or not, personality and how they get along with other cats, kids, dogs, indoor or outdoor, declawed or not, your timeline for the rehoming. Start early vs. the week you have to do rehome. If the cat has medial or behavior issues, be up front about them. Have several good pictures. Basically you are trying to sell the most awesome cat ever. Ask for the following:
- Landlord contact info. Check with the landlord if cats are allowed, what the deposit it, and there are any age restrictions (e.g. kittens) and if claws are allowed. If the landlord prefers declawed cats, try to convince them to accept the soft paws nail caps
- Vet contact info for current and/or past pets. Ask the vet if the animals were taken care of (vaccinated, treated for any illnesses, etc).
- Ask for employer or source of income, so you can be assured this person has financial resources to take care of the cat.
- Two personal references. Call and ask these references about the adopter as a pet person, how well they did or would take care of the animal. Get a feel of what kind of person the adopter is. Responsible and caring are two words to look for.
- Have the person over and see how they interact with the cat or kitten. Talk to the person and overall ask them what their plans are and how a cat would fit into them. Remind them that a cat is a 15-20 year commitment. If you sense that the prospective adopter has red flags that make you uncomfortable, you do not have to go through with the adoption. You can always say that you decided to keep it or a close friend was interested.
- Deliver the cat to the person's home to make sure that the address and the person are legit and see their set up, point out any hazards like small objects, string, toxic plants, talk about introductions to resident pets and kids. Take a blanket and a few toys, and some food so that the cat can easily transition to its new home.
- This is a Cat Care Basics Guide that you can go over with the new owner and print out so that they have a handy reference. On the last page it has important numbers for Madison/Dane Co area, but there is space to write in ones for your area.