Tips If You Have to Rehome Your Cat

By Angela Marcus, The Catnip Times

What are you to do if the inconceivable happens and you need to rehome your cat? Unless they are a regular foster parent, no one ever takes a cat into their home thinking, “I’ll have to find you a home one day.” But, too often, the unexpected happens: A family member becomes allergic. Your new job requires a move and the new landlord is opposed to cats. Financial hardships strike. An aging parent passes, leaving you to care for a cat you never planned to have, and your resident cat doesn’t take kindly to the new feline companion.

If these circumstances arise, you should understand your options. Naturally, you want to have a clear conscience that the cat you have cared for will continue to be loved and spoiled.

First, ask yourself:

  • Is there a way to keep my cat if I had some assistance?
  • Would a bag of food help bridge the gap between paydays?
  • Would advice from a cat behavior specialist help?
  • Would just talking to a cat veterinarian help answer your questions and clear up any uncertainty? 

For guidance to address any of these issues, look for community pet help desks in your area. They may or may not be affiliated with your local shelter, but a Google search can likely help you locate a helpful organization quickly and get you some of the answers you may need.

Your Local Shelter

You might think your next best option is your local shelter. But, it really should be your last resort! Shelters are designed to care for stray animals and victims of neglect and abuse and they have limited resources. Try every other alternative before going this route since the shelter environment can expose your sensitive feline to stress, illness and even the possibility of being euthanized.

Family & Friends

Another possibility is to see if you can keep your cat in your extended family or friend community. Reach out to trusted animal lovers that you know personally and see if they might want to adopt your cat.

Adoption Sites

If you can’t find anyone in your immediate network but want to still have an active role in rehoming your cat, try a rehoming and adoption site like getyourpet.com. The home-to-home process of the site bypasses the shelter system by putting the current pet owner (in this case, you,) and potential future adopter in charge. This benefits everyone involved, your cat most of all. If you and the new owner agree, you might be able to stay in touch, get updates and even visit after the adoption.

Whichever option you pursue, if you find yourself in this situation, trust your gut. Do what feels right to you. If you do, you won’t look back and regret your decision.

About the Author

Angela Marcus is the founder of getyourpet.com and a life-long animal advocate who wanted to find a solution to the challenges that exist in the animal sheltering system. By empowering both pet guardians and adopters, Get Your Pet allows pets to go from one good home to another. Throughout her career, Angela has been involved with virtually every aspect of the animal welfare system. She’s worked as a veterinary technician, a Forensic Case Coordinator for PA’s largest Humane Law Enforcement team, a contributing presenter on Animal Planet and the Operations Director for the Pennsylvania SPCA. Angela holds a B.S. in Animal Biotechnology and was born and raised in Upper Black Eddy, Pa. She now lives in New Hope, Pa. with her husband John, stepdaughter Ruby, son Leo and their rescue pets: four dogs and one cat.

RELATED POSTS

Why Does My Cat Groom Itself

October 27th, 2022|0 Comments

Does your cat lick itself constantly and have patches of fur missing or hair loss? If so, your cat might be grooming excessively. Here we'll discuss how to spot signs of excessive grooming, what might be causing it, and how to stop.