Putting my cats up for adoption

[lupebaila]

Hello fellow cat lovers,

I love my two cats...but I feel it is time to look for a new, better home for them.

They are both female cats from the same litter and have lived together all their lives- 7 years.

It is really sad for me to give them up...but with my busy lifestyle I barely have time to scoop their litter, leave food for them, or spend any time with them.

Also, I travel a lot and will be away this summer and have no one to care for them...in other words, I feel that they might receive more love and attention from someone else!

Do any of you know of the best way to find a good, loving home for them?

I tried calling a cat adoption center in Chicago...but feel it would be cruel to leave them caged in such a hectic cold setting. It would be frightening for them to be left there!!!

Does anyone have any ideas about the least tramatic way to find a good home for my babies?

I live in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. Does anyone know of any cat organizations near this area or perhaps a different forum for my question.

Thank you!!!

 

[katachtig]

I've moved your thread to the Cats SOS forum where it will receive more focused advice.

 

[ldg]

How terribly sad, I'm so sorry.

The best way to find a home for them is to seek one among family, friends, or co-workers. As older kitties, they have very little chance of finding a home out of a shelter or rescue. It's also a good idea to talk to the staff at your vet practice. Around here, most have adoption books or bulletin boards.

 

[Willowy]

It is veryveryVERY difficult to find new homes for adult cats, sometimes impossible. Please don't leave them at a shelter--they will be extremely frightened and will get even less attention there, and their lives may even be in danger (even a "no-kill" shelter may kill cats they feel are unadoptable). They're probably perfectly happy in your home; many adult cats don't require a lot of attention. It really only takes 5-10 minutes a day to feed and clean up after 2 cats. I think they would be happiest staying with you .

You can list them with a cat rescue (they stay in your house but the rescue tries to find a new home for them) and put up posters at vet's offices and other bulletin boards. Check with family, friends, and everybody else you know. Please be careful to screen the prospective adopters very carefully, as a lot of very unsavory people will answer re-homing ads to get free/cheap animals for their cruel purposes.

 

[ziggy'smom]

If it's the best interest of the cats you are concerned about the best thing for them is to stay where they are. As Willowy said they are probably perfectly content with their lives. They're in their home that they always knew and they have each other. It may not be the greatest home for them since you don't have time to spend with them but I can assure you that it's much, much better than the few alternatives there are.

Finding homes for adult cats, especially if there are two that need to stay together, is extremely difficult and may not be possible at all. I'm with a rescue in the same area as you and it usually takes at least a year for us to find a home for an adult cat and we have more resources than you do. There are just so many cats and nowhere near enough homes for all of them. The few people who do want a cat usually want a kitten or will turn to a rescue or shelter to adopt rather than cats that already have a home. You need to be prepared for the strong possibility that you won't be able to find a new home for your cats. If you can't find a home for your cats you'll be left with two options - keep them or turn them into a shelter (the only shelters in Chicago that accept cats surrendered by owners are kill shelters). You may think keeping them in their current situation is not the best for them but the situation in a shelter is much, much worse. They will get even less care and attention and at 7 years old they are prime candidates for euthanasia. In many shelters that's considered old because most people want to adopt young cats.

I would strongly urge you to keep your cats. Don't feel bad that you don't have much time for them. Cats can be perfectly happy with very little attention, especially if they have a cat buddy as yours have. I understand the difficulty of finding time to take care of the cats but if you can put 15 minutes a day aside you can do the necessary stuff. It really doesn't take that long. When you travel you can get a cat sitter to come by and feed your cats. It is doable.

Keep in mind that cats are very territorial so changing their environment is traumatic for them. If they would have to be split up that would also be extremely traumatic and it's near impossible to find a home for two adult cats.

I think you can do this. My motto is that if there is a will there is a way. You obviously want the best for your cats and I think if you would ask them they would choose to stay with you in a heartbeat. Since you can keep them there is really no reason to turn them into a shelter if you can't find a new home. I'm sure they'll be just fine where they are. Keeping them is the best thing you can do for them.

 

[lupebaila]

Thank you!!1

 

[lupebaila]

Thank you Ziggy's Mom, Willowy, and LDG,

I understand that keeping them would be the best for them... I do love them...but it is also...not the best for me.

I live in a small one bedroom and with little space for a litter box, I guess I want to have my life bit easier now...no more cleaning up after fur balls and dealing with cat hair...I know it sounds horrible. I also have to adjust my schedule for them. I can't travel for more than a month because of them...I can't bear to leave them alone for more than that....and it is difficult for me to find a sitter and I can't bear to board them. That would also be traumatic- for them.

I do love them but for a while now, trying to maintain them has been getting in the way... of my life...if that makes any sense. I know I must sound like a terrible owner. I would feel better about giving them up if I knew they were in a loving environment.

I have been struggling with this decision for some time now...I have given them the best home I could for 7 years and now I would like to pass them along to someone who would love them even more and possibly give them a better home.

Ziggy's mom, would you send me the information on the rescue that you are with? Also, do you know of any good vet offices/places where I could post flyers?

Also, if anyone knows of anyone in the Chicagoland area that might be interested in adopting my kitties. Please let me know!!!

Thank you all for your responses and encouragement!

 

[clpeters23]

I've worked with Cat Guardians in Lombard, IL for quite a few years. They are a no kill shelter which provides exceptional care. Here's their info:

630-543-3395

932 E. St. Charles Road

Lombard, IL 60148

http://www.CatGuardians.org

[email protected]

Good luck!

 

[lupebaila]

Thank you! I just added some pictures of my kitties on my gallery if anyone would like to share these with friends...

 

[ziggy'smom]

Well, that's very selfish of you. Pets are for life. If you are not prepared to make that commitment you should not get them. If you do get pets you have to take the responsibility you chose to take on and provide for them for the rest of their lives. It's not always fun and convenient but that's what you do. We wouldn't have 3 million cats killed every year if people would just take their responsibility and keep their cats.

I hope your cats are luckier than most and actually find new homes. Lucky for you they are pretty. Sadly if they do find new homes a cat sitting in a shelter won't. How sad.

 

[catmom5]

You say that you love them and want what's best for them, but yet you are going to put them in a situation where they will likely be killed (it would NOT be euthanasia unless they were very, very sick or had such severe behavior issues that they were unadoptable). I can't even get my mind around the fact that you simply don't want to be bothered by them any longer.

I hope you rethink this whole decision and let your cats live out their normal lives together in your home. They deserve that, at least. At the very least, please do not take them to shelters or animal control. Their lives there would be awful and the chance of them finding a good home together would be slim to none.

I just don't get it!

catmom5

 

[lupebaila]

I would never leave them at a cat shelter.

That would be so cruel! I could not bear it! I know I must sound selfish, but I really have given a lot to them/for them over the past 7 years...anyone who knows me would tell you the same...I just want to find them a good loving home.

I WILL NOT leave them at a shelter...ideally I want to find a friend or someone I know would take good care of them.

 

[Willowy]

If you can't find a friend or other good home to take them, what will you do? That's the big question. Because, really, finding homes for adult cats is nearly impossible, and the chances of finding someone to take them is very very low. So yes, if you'll keep them until (if ever) you do find someone to take them, fine. But it could take years or never happen, and many people will get tired of waiting and take the cats to a shelter. . .

 

[feralvr]

What a sad situation all the way around. To me, loving an animal is like loving a child. It is for life - a commitment. I really do hope that you can find a friend or family member to take the cat's. I am sure they feel that they are a burden..... I do know of some other organizations, in the Chicago area. BUT I am torn because this does not sound like an emergency and I think the cat's would be better off staying together, with you. The life they know. Hope you can find a good home for them. If anything, they should always stay together.

 

[carolina]

This just breaks my heart.... :disa: After I read this post I just hugged Lucky and promised her, and every one of my kitties I will never, EVER abandon them... leave them....
Like you, I am alone. Like you, I live in a tiny one bedroom apartment, with 3 kitties, not 2. I have my family in another country, and because of the kitties I will only go there for two weeks at a time - and it kills me to leave them behind - I have NO family here - NO ONE.
I have a job the has me traveling all over and now I will be traveling much more.
But unlike you, I made a commitment to them - a commitment for life. It is not even a remote possibility, for any reason, any reason at all, to leave them.
When I got them, I didn't get them thinking that if I got a job with traveling, or if things got tough, or if my apartment go small, I would get rid of them That you do with furniture, with a TV..... but not with a living breathing being that for years depended on you and your love.
Things get tough.... life changes..... yep..... It will always get like this....
If you had a child, would you just give it away because they were in your way? "Oh don't be silly..... these are not kids, they are just cats....." One might say....
To me, it is sad the commitment is not the same. You chose this commitment.... The time to think about this predicament was before committing to them. IMHO, it is time to toughen up, be an adult and deal with it.
I am sorry to say these things..... but to read that you want to give up on these poor babies who have been your family for the last 7 years, just because it is too hard to clean their litterboxes once a day, or to travel for longer than a month at a time..... Because they "they are getting in the way of your life" Yeah.... responsibility does get in the way of life sometimes.... Tough reality of things, you know? Please. Just too much for me to not say anything.
I wish the very best for these babies.... This is just terribly sad

 

[ziggy'smom]

I think that will be one of the hardest parts - keeping the cats together. It's hard enough to find a home for one 7-year old cat but two is even worse. I have a mother and son duo that would greatly benefit of being kept together, especially the son who's a very sensitive little guy. But I have no hopes of placing them together. I may get lucky so it's mentioned in their bios that they would like to stay together in case someone that does want two cats come along but I know it's highly unlikely. I can't even get them adopted separately. They've been with me for a year and a half.

The OP is lucky though that her cats are quite exotic looking and not the run of the mill tabbies my pair are. Exotic looking cats are easier to place so they may just find someone who wants them. But I think that's sad too. That rare home willing to take two adult cats should go to the two sisters sitting down at the pound scheduled to be killed on the 29th, not to two cats whose owner just don't want to be inconvenienced by putting aside 15 minutes a day to care for them.

Pets are for life, not just until it's not fun and convenient anymore. If you care about your pets you make whatever sacrifices that are necessary to ensure that they will always have a home. It's really not that different from kids. Once you choose to have a baby he's yours for life. You can't just decide after 7 years that the kid impedes your lifestyle. It doesn't matter how well you've cared for the child for the first seven years. You have chosen to make a commitment and it's your obligation to stick with that commitment. You made your bed - lie in it. The sacrifices are fairly minor and you can make them if you want to.

I hope for the cats' sake that they find a home for the both of them. Bu I have a feeling that it won't happen in time so the cats will be turned into a shelter or they will be separated and adopted out separately leaving both cats with having lost everything that means something to them - their home, their human and their sister. Talk about trauma! And for what? Convenience?

 

[whynot]

craigslist.com

You might be able to find someone who wants cats on there, its almost like an ad in the paper but online instead.

 

[krz]

I would be extremely cautious of putting an ad on Craigslist, you would really need to check out any potential adopters. There are some sick people out there. I agree with everyone on keeping the cats together and keeping things the way they are, the cats will be fine. Call your vet, usually most vet techs will also do cat sitting, and who better to look after them when you are away?

I would also try family members, co workers, people you know and trust. It is true, they are a ommitment and pets are work, but what they bring to your life in return is no comparison. Please take time to reconsider what is best for both cats.

 

[wendyb]

Life can get crazy.  We had just adopted two greyhounds and we had two adult cats and a baby kitten when my husband died.  I was totally utterly shattered - it's a miracle that the two I kept survived since I didn't do much in terms of taking care of me.  So I do understand life needing to get easier.  To make a long story short - the greyhounds went back to the foster organization we'd adopted from and I used a friend to get the kitten out of the house. 

I kept Precious and still have her, and Osage, who I lost last Christmas. 

It's a tough heart wrenching decision, but you need to keep the two together. 

 

[p3 and the king]

Something to consider is, they are older.  Middle aged.  Most people want to adopt either a kitten or younger cat.  Very few are open to adopting older cats... Together.  It would be more traumatic for them to be separated and they would most likely have a lot of behavior issues come up from it... This could mean that whoever does take them might put them out, or have them put down because of it.  Plus, they may never accept the new home. 

I am not griping or lecturing you but like a lot of people it seems to me as if you are making excuses.  Pets are supposed to be a lifetime commitment.  Too many people do this when it becomes inconvenient for them.  That is why shelters are overcrowded as it is.  You don't like cleaning out the boxes and taking care of them... Well, it seems to me this should have been thought about before you took them on.  Not to be mean in anyway but you really need to think about what is best for them and not what is more convenient for you.  They are your responsibility.  You wouldn't just leave your kid with someone when you got sick of it, would you?  If people thought like this about their pets, the world would be a better place. Please think about this some more.  Friends or neighbors might be willing to look after them while you are gone all you have to do is ask around.