Temp home for our cat?

April 20, 2012 4:48 PM

Do you have any ideas for temporary placement for our cat till we can get a new place that allows cats? no friends or family can help.

My boyfriend and I are stuck in a place for a few more months that doesn't allow cats. We want desperately to keep him, but are beyond broke and have no family or friends who are willing to take him. We are in the Philadelphia suburbs area. Deathly afraid we will just have to give him up to the ASPCA. Are there any resources that might help us?

posted by assasinatdbeauty to pets & animals (9 answers total)

Try googling "cat rescue" - or, if your cat is a particular breed, the breed name's + rescue plus your city/neighborhood/county etc. If they don't have a foster volunteer who can help, they may be able to point you to other resources.

Otherwise, many vets board cats. There are also boarding services not associated with vets or shelters. It's not cheap, but it's an option.
posted by rtha at 4:57 PM on April 20, 2012

Contact your vet, explain your situation, see if you can board your cat there and work out a payment plan.
posted by OsoMeaty at 4:57 PM on April 20, 2012

Reach out to local cat rescue organizations. They frequently place cats in foster homes, and could potentially assist in finding a foster home for you until you figure out your own living situation.
posted by cgg at 5:03 PM on April 20, 2012

Yeah, boarding is probably your only real option for longer-term but still temporary cat-care. But if you can't afford that, for the love of...well, for the love of cats, do not just drop him off at a shelter.

The truly responsible thing to do is take on the legwork yourself of finding the cat a new permanent home. My sister had to do this last year (she had 2 cats and was living in a place that didn't allow them, and then the landlord found out, so her situation was probably somewhat similar to yours). She managed to get them both into awesome new homes within a matter of about 2 weeks, via a combination of working with a local rescue (the type that does adoptions through Petsmart/Petco and whatnot) and asking everyone she knew (co-workers, etc.) if they knew anyone who was looking for a cat.

You really, REALLY don't want to bring a cat to a shelter these days unless it's an absolutely dire situation. The sort of work people tend to think shelters do (screening adopters, scouting out good homes) unfortunately is very resource-intensive and frankly it is only a minority of cats (maybe 30%) whose shelter tenure ends with a wonderful new home rather than a lethal injection. The population of cats being what it currently is, the onus is really on you (the cat's current human) to do whatever it takes to find your cat somewhere to live. In other words, the resources available to you are your wider social network -- not just friends and family, but colleagues and acquaintances and whatnot.
posted by aecorwin at 5:11 PM on April 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

I think it would be helpful if you posted a picture of your cat both here at askme and then around someplace with pet-friendly people like Penn's Vet School.

When you say "a few more months", could you be more specific?
posted by sciencegeek at 5:19 PM on April 20, 2012

Do you live anywhere near Manor College? They have a vet tech program and there is probably a bunch of students who could help you out. I'm not affiliated with Manor, but at my vet tech program we will all bend over backwards to help out a cat in need.
posted by OsoMeaty at 5:20 PM on April 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Nthing all of the above - have you tried Facebook? I've seen friends post about pet adoptions/foster care a few times.
posted by luciddream928 at 8:20 PM on April 20, 2012

Back when I was a student, I really wanted a cat, but my living situation was never permanent enough - I never knew if I would be going overseas the following year, or moving into a new flat that didn't allow pets, or whatever. I would have loved to babysit a cat for a few months, with or without payment. I am sure I am not the only one. Perhaps put up some flyers around your local universities. You'd want to interview potential people thoroughly and maybe get references to rule out total flakes, but I think you might find someone.
posted by lollusc at 8:40 PM on April 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Have you thought about smuggling the cat into your apartment? I've done the "virtual cat" thing before and it worked out just fine. If anyone finds out and asks, just say you're cat sitting for a friend. Also put up some fabric over the bottom of all windows to make sure your cat doesn't reveal his presence to all your neighbours. Obviously this will only work if you have your own apartment (i.e. you're not sharing a house with people).

I know this might sound dodgy to some folks, but it is a short term measure and obviously you'll make sure that if there is any damage done to the property, it is fixed before you move out.
posted by Alice Russel-Wallace at 4:37 AM on April 21, 2012 [2 favorites]