Just a thought

[k-niner47]

Hi.

Just thought i,d mention this.

Seems like when visiting a shelter,if you see cats placed by themselves,then they would be fine being alone more so than a cat placed with other cats in a larger area,and strays offer a lot of affection after being adopted,especially the younger ones.Cats placed with other cats would lead one to assume that they would be okay with other cats if taken home.At least thats my assumption.

 This is all just an observation from visiting the shelter recently,and bringing a 2 yr old stray home with us.

She is very affectionate,and loves to sit on our chests,and lap.

 

[lamiatron]

i thought they placed litter mates together in cages? and all other cats by themselves? stray or surrender?? at least that's what i was told..when i adopted my two cats (both on separate occasions) 

Charlie - 4 mo. old male. the first cat i adopted. He was part of a litter, so he shared his cage with his two sisters. I was only able to adopt Charlie because someone else had already adopted the sisters. He's very social, very curious, and seriously, he's a miracle cat he chose me and my boyfriend. The way he behaves, i swear i thought i ended up getting a dog instead of a cat. He was around people, children and other animals since birth. Him and his sisters were an owner surrenders to the shelter.

Jet - 2 mo. old female. the second cat i adopted. she was a stray, but was she super affectionate!!!! the first time i met her she balled up in my arms and then once i started petting her, she eased up, and started to purr even. didn't know how she would react to being around Charlie, but her and Charlie are now best friends. She learns a lot from Charlie. She must have gotten separated from her mother and the litter at a VERY young age. The shelter told me they only found her, and none of her littler mates or mother. Her behavior and mannerisms are definitely quite different from Charlies, but she is very affectionate, and loves to cuddle..just on her terms. 

Strays can get along with other cats i think, but i have the advantage of getting her while she's young. 

 

[k-niner47]

Cool !

My observations were in some cages,i saw 3 siamese kittens together which was cool,and strays,and surrendered cats were in the same large cubicle area 40-60sq feet,then there were single cats in smaller glass holding areas as opposed to cages with bars which was good to see.

I guess its just my opinion as well.We`ve only had her(Remy) 2 days .Some cats hate being picked up,this one doesn`t mind.

  Since this is our first shelter cat,its perhaps some useful info for those who are thinking about visiting a shelter to adopt,and have never been.

 

[fhicat]

Not replying to any question in particular, but thought I'd post about how my shelter places cats.

We have eight areas where we put cats. Lobby, Admin, Downtown, Uptown, Meow Meadows, Purr Plaza, Kitten Land, and Condo.

Lobby is the first area you see, and only used when there is an excess of cats at the shelter. Normally we put kittens there in cages. Kittens in the lobby gets snatched up within a day or two. Most people walk into the shelter, look at the first few cages, go "OMG CUTE" and take one or two home.

Downtown and Uptown are the caged areas. Downtown is designed in such a way that the cages face each other, but do not face the outer hallway where traffic is. Here we put cats that like quiet. The only time they see people is when people come into the room. Uptown is designed the opposite. Cages face away from each other, but clear view of hallway traffic. We put cats that like a little stimulation from watching people walk by, or watching other cats.

Meow Meadows and Purr Plaza are our communal rooms. We have up to eight cats in each room. There isn't much difference between both rooms. They both have a kitty door that goes to the outside into a big enclosure for cats who may enjoy being outside. Obviously, we put cats who get along well with each other in these rooms. Occasionally there may be hissing, especially if there is a brat there who likes to pester an older cat.

Kitten Land is, well, for kittens.

Condo is for cats who don't get along with other cats. These are glassed areas with more space than the cages. Cats who get stressed out by noise and activity are usually placed here. The glass is soundproof. Each cat gets its own "condo", with food, water, a tree, some toys and beds.

Admin is the administrative offices. There is not much consistency in who we place here, but usually we put cats who have been at the shelter for quite some time. We want to avoid them going for too long without lots of human interaction (all cats get human interaction and playtimes a couple of times a day via volunteer cat comforters like myself), so at the admin offices they get to roam around the place and get pets. Sometimes we may put cats in the admin offices for other reasons - for example, there is a 15 year-old savannah cat who was one of our 88 rescues. She is the oldest in the group, and the shelter has decided that she will spend the rest of the days at the offices. 

We rotate cats regularly, especially cats in the cages. We may move them to the condo if they don't like other cats, or to the communal rooms if they do. Sometimes if they haven't been picked up for some time, we put them in a foster home. I've never seen a cat be inside a cage for more than 2 weeks. Littermates get put together in the same area, and we adopt them together (i.e they must be adopted together - Purrfect Pairs).