Hi there FreeCyclers:
The information below fills you in on what to do if you have a stray or pet cat or dog you need to find a home for. The majority of the information is cat-centric but any NYC dog rescue will be glad to fill you in on dog behavior and resources as well! FreeCycle doesn't allow "free to good home" posts for the following reasons in the posts below (warning, may be graphic and upset some readers):
http://tippedearclan.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/help-convict-new-jersey-cat-adopter-who-tortures-and-kills-them/
http://www.animalaidsw.org/free.html
http://www.petrescue.com/library/free-pet.htm
http://ihavenocomment.wordpress.com/2007/09/22/police-say-man-fed-cats-to-his-pit-bulls-yahoo-news/
http://gothamist.com/2007/08/10/63_kittens_poss.php
It's important to carefully screen potential adopters, so that the cat ends up in a safe and permanent home. Some adoption groups will give you guidance and let you use their adoption forms if you vet and foster the cat yourself and just need a reputable organization front the adoption process for your rescued cat. You can find sample adoption applications and agreements at Alley Cat Allies here:
http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/adoption_application.pdf
http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/adoption_contract.pdf
Best Friends is a great resource for adoptions materials and guides as well:
http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/resourcelibrary/adoptionsindex.cfm
The following is a detailed guide for your adoptions options in NYC:
Friend or feral? If the kitty jumped into your arms or let you pet her, she's probably friendly. If she hissed, swatted, and ran away, she's likely feral. For more on what to do about feral cats in Brooklyn, see our website at www.slopestreetcats.com. There is a wide spectrum of timidness to friendliness, even if the cat once lived inside and is an abandoned housecat. See if you can establish trust by regular feeding and gauge how skittish she is arond you.
Kittens 8-12 weeks and under are typically adoptable, with it being increasingly more difficult between the 8-12 week period, depending on the situation (their parents' level of positive exposure to people, their positive exposure to people, their general environment and personality, etc.). Please see the kitten development pictures to get a better idea of how old your kittens are: http://www.angelfire.com/il/kimlance/development.html
With adult cats it is much more difficult to tell. Some abandoned domestic socialized cats revert to feral to try to survive on the streets. Some feral cats who would most likely not prefer indoor-living have learned to associate people with food and appear somewhat friendly. The main indicator is touch - if you can approach and pet the animal, they are most likely friendly. At times, these cats will "imprint" on their foster homes, meaning that they will bond with one person and possibly not trust others. There is a wide spectrum of timidness to friendliness, even if the cat once lived inside and is an abandoned housecat. See if you can establish trust by regular feeding and gauge how skittish she is arond you.
Another tell-tale sign is often whether the cat vocalizes for help/food. Usually, if a cat is vocalizing for help, it means they are conditioned to receive caretaking from people and might have previously have been owned or maintained as an outdoor cat with a lot of positive human experience. It is also entirely possible for a cat to be friendly to a certain point and then plateau.
Please exercise caution in trying to socalize outdoor cats who are borderline friendly -- a lot of times it can be successful but sometimes it is not and you are stuck with a partially friendly unadoptable cat who can no longer be released outside. We recommend having the vet lightly eartip all borderline cats when you are getting them fixed and trying to socialize them for 2 weeks if you think they have a chance to be adoptable. We caution against holding cats for more than 2 weeks in a foster home in case you need to return them to their colony -- in the winter they will start to lose their winter coats indoors due to the increased heat and be ill-adapted for the colder weather upon release. In the more mild seasons physical safety is less a concern but colony placement still is -- you want to make sure that you are not introducing a cat back into a colony that has already readjusted its hierarchy because they might need to fight to re-establish themselves if new cats have moved into their hierarchal placement.
Please read these factsheets for information on socialization:
Alley Cat Allies, Formerly Feral: http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/Congratulations.pdf
Tompkins SPCA, Socialzing Kittens: http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/socializingferal.pdf
Lost or abandoned? If the cat is friendly, there may be an owner anxiously looking for her. Call Animal Care & Control (311), which keeps a database of lost/found pets, and report the cat. Put up "Found Cat" flyers in your neighborhood (but for the cat's safety, ask any potential claimants to bring a photograph to prove ownership). Some people, such as bunchers who sell animals to medical labs or people who use cats as bait in dog fighting rings, claim found cats as their own because they are free.
http://gothamist.com/2007/08/10/63_kittens_poss.php
A bed for the night. Whether the cat is homeless or just lost, she needs a place to stay. Domestic cats are not okay outdoors--they risk starvation, disease, being hit by a car, or worse. If the cat is friendly, please consider taking her in (or ask a neighbor to) for a night or two, until an owner, foster home, or shelter can be located. If you have pets of your own, enclose the cat in a separate room to avoid conflict or spread of illness.
Animal shelters. Try the following list of shelters, but bear in mind that most are full and/or have a waiting list:
www.animalalliancenyc.org/aboutus/participants/atoz.htm
Bear in mind, too, that due to the city's homeless animal crisis, Animal Care & Control does euthanize and therefore should be viewed as a last resort only. If at all possible, bring the cat to a no-kill shelter.
Note that if the kitty has been vetted (tested and vaccinated), she stands a better chance of getting into a shelter. For low-cost vet options, see the Low Cost Vet Services on our website.
Do it yourself. If the cat is friendly, you can find a home for her yourself relatively easily. Flyers, craigslist.org (New York), and Brooklynian.com can be very effective. Take some cute photos and email them to all your friends and coworkers. Before you adopt the kitty out however, please read about the dangers of "free to good home" at the following links:
http://tippedearclan.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/help-convict-new-jersey-cat-adopter-who-tortures-and-kills-them/
http://www.animalaidsw.org/free.html
http://www.petrescue.com/library/free-pet.htm
http://ihavenocomment.wordpress.com/2007/09/22/police-say-man-fed-cats-to-his-pit-bulls-yahoo-news/
It's important to carefully screen potential adopters, so that the cat ends up in a safe and permanent home. Some adoption groups will give you guidance and let you use their adoption forms if you vet and foster the cat yourself and just need a reputable organization front the adoption process for your rescued cat. You can find sample adoption applications and agreements at Alley Cat Allies here:
http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/adoption_application.pdf
http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/adoption_contract.pdf
Best Friends is a great resource for adoptions materials and guides as well:
http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/resourcelibrary/adoptionsindex.cfm
If you cannot find a shelter or foster home to take the cat in, please provide it food and water -- and if the weather is colder, a shelter. You can see shelter examples and cold weather tips for feral cats here:
Shelter: http://www.all-creatures.org/ak/feral-shelter.html
Shelter: http://www.pacthumanesociety.org/core/WinterShelter.htm
Feral Cat Cold Weather Tips: http://www.petfinder.com/journal/index.cgi?article=472
Allergies? Many people write to us with a need to get rid of their companion animals due to the allergies of a loved one. Since no-kill rescue space and potential adoptive parents are very limited, we'd like to give you some information on reducing allergies if that will be at all helpful in letting you keep your pet: http://cats.about.com/od/allergiesandcats/a/allergictocat.htm
New baby? Many people write to us believing the old wives' tale that you need to remove your cats from your home if you are expecting a baby. Many cat-owning women (including a great number of our volunteers) have successfully managed to keep their cats and babies in a harmonious household. If you are concerned about this being an issue, please read information on expecting babies/owning cats here:
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/Pointe/9352/behavior.html (Tally's Cat Behavior Links, scroll down to CATS AND BABIES)
Bad bevavior? If you are at wit's end because your cat is behaving badly (scratching, going outside the litterbox, fighting with other pets, becoming jealous of partners, being too feisty, etc.) please take a look at Tally's Cat Behavior Links. Many many many many things are resolveable with just a little research into cat behavior. They are not humans, they don't think like humans and sometimes we need to get on their level to figure out what they're upset about and why it's happening. There are many categories and many links on that site -it's an invaluable resource. Please read everything with an open mind and please feel free to email us if you have questions - chances are one of our volunteers has dealt with the same behavior in one of their own cats or foster cats.
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/Pointe/9352/behavior.html
Additionally, Pam Johnson Bennett's books have proven to be helpful to us in a number of situations and are usually available at the New York Public Library if you don't want to purchase one. You can see her site here: http://catbehaviorassociates.com/
Her books are more in-depth and better for problem-solving, but she also has a Frequently Asked Questions site here: http://catbehaviorassociates.com/faqs.htm
Thank you for being interested in doing the right thing for NYC's animals!
Jesse
www.slopestreetcats.com
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