NOT the shelter. You have to be committed to finding good
forever homes. Adoptions are hard work. I understand the temptation
to just close up shop and keep the ones you have but if you do that
there comes a point when you have to stop taking in anyone new. And
there are too many out there whose lives depend on getting into a
foster/rescue situation.
I don't do caged petstore adoptions. The cats do not show well
unnder those conditions and it just isn't an efficient use of time.
Here's what I do:
1. Craigslist.org -- Everyone -- kittens, seniors, special
needs -- gets listed on craigslist. There are craigslist boards across
the country. Some are more active than others. I'm in the San
Francisco area with a very active craigslist and I do most of my
adoptions through craigslist. (Also recruit foster homes via
craigslist.) Listing is free. Take great photos.
2. Pennysaver and other newspapers -- I'm looking at the
Pennysaver newspaper for cats in foster homes in the Sacramento area.
That craigslist is less active. A friend in the Los Angeles area has
great success with adoptions via the Pennysaver so I'm thinking about
using it in Sacramento too.
3. Network -- This is especially helpful with harder-to-place
cats. (a) A friend who works at a medical university is posting my
epileptic kitten there for adoption. I figure the right home for
Connie will be someone who is epileptic or who has an epileptic family
member or perhaps has had a dog that is of a breed prone to epilepsy.
It will be someone who understands how easily controllable this is.
(b) This same friend has an FIV+ foster cat and we are looking for a
home together for that cat and an FIV+ Siamese mix who is coming my
way. (c) Another friend helped me place a senior 12+ year old Himi
last year with a retired couple that she knew.
4. Get creative -- Senior cats are a good fit for seniors and
retirees, a population less likely to be online. Find the pet-friendly
retirement communities in your area and see if they have a bulletin
board where you can list senior cats. Again, take great photos.
5. Online resources -- My FeLV+ girl is now listed online at a
couple of places that feature special needs cats. (
http://tinyurl.com/o553l) And I'm
networking....and getting creative. She's going to be one of the
harder to adopt simply because of the stigma still attached to FeLV.
6. Foster homes -- I've cultivated a few foster homes because
that way (a) I can take more cats and (b) I can separate out
populations. Tiny kittens have no business in my house -- I've seen
too much uri and ringwork over the past couple of years -- so they go
elsewhere. The FeLV+ girl is in an only-cat foster home. I have
another foster home that gets one or two adults who donn't do well in
multi-cat situations. I take the ones who have health or socialization
issues at my house. Foster homes allow me to take in more animals and
to take certain risks that I could not take if all the cats had to come
to my house. The cats are better cared for and get more individualized
attention this way.
I have to do adoptions. If I don't do adoptions I can't do
rescue. I spend my weeks screening potential adopters, clean the house
on Saturday, and have approved adopters come primarily on Sunday,
though sometimes I can have someone come in the evening during the week
if the house is clean enough. (And, yes, I do have a fulltime job and
a social/romantic life. I also have a long-suffering roommate who is a
bigger softie than me and he helps with these guys.)
So, please, reconsider on keeping them all yourself. There are
people who will adopt many of those cats. You just have to rethink
your approach to adoptions so you can find those people. As you get
cats adopted out you make room to take in others. And a good adoptive
home with one or two or three cats in residence and with financial and
other resources not stretched so thin is really a better lifetime
environment for an animal. They get over me awfully fast when I find
them the right forever home. And that is as it should be.
