How to find a new home for two cute kitties.

January 4, 2007 8:12 AM

Two cats need a new home in or around NYC. Shelters not an option. Please help!

About three years ago, I gave my then girlfriend a pair of sweet little kittens. Three years later, they're still sweet, but they've kind of outgrown their space. Her little Manhattan apartment is just too tight and they seem to be reacting poorly to the space issues. One litter box is not enough for them and there's not enough space to get a second one.

She loves these cats, but it's become too much of a problem. She considered giving away just one of them, but I think it's a bad idea to separate them. They're brothers and have been together since birth. Shelters are not an option. Does anyone know of a place or service that will find these two cats a loving, caring home?

Any help in the matter is greatly appreciated!

posted by kmtiszen to pets & animals (16 comments total)

Craig's list?
posted by MarkLark at 8:36 AM on January 4, 2007

I know a lot of dog rescue groups have members that also foster cats. Try looking around for cat rescue groups that foster, or dog rescue groups that might have members who foster cats. Good luck!
posted by gokart4xmas at 8:48 AM on January 4, 2007

It's almost impossible that you are going to find a home to keep together 2 adult cats, when this seems from my Craigslist reading over the past several months to be a near impossibility even for kittens which are naturally much more attractice.

Try to write a really pathetic, sad Craigslist post, include pictures, and don't dare mention on Craigslist that (a) these were a gift to someone else who now can't keep them, (b) that it's a space issue - because everyone there will jump down your throat for being selfish and immature in getting the cats in a small apartment in the first place. I am not criticizing or judging you at all, but if you review the Craigslist pets section you'll see I'm really underestimating the amount of attitude you are going to get there, as well as the herculean nature of the task you're planning (i.e. adopting out two adult housecats together to someone who won't abuse/kill/euthanise them). The best thing to do - and no I don't advocate lying but if you really want to achieve keeping these cats alive without the help of professionals - would be to present a really sad sob story that someone will hopefully believe. A death in the family. Terminal illness. I've seen the entire Craiglist pets board jump down someone's throat and flay them alive because "I just had a baby and can't care for the cats" or "My mother just moved in and she's allergic to cats" aren't good enough.

Take the cats to the vet now, get certification that they are spayed/neutered, in excellent health, etc (and ask the vet for any options, suggestions - sometimes the vets can find homes!). Read the Craigslist opinions regarding charging adoption fees or not and good ways to weed out animal hoarders/abusers, and use your own judgment to draw a conclusion.

You say shelters are not an option - is this because you are assuming the animals would be euthanised or because the no-kill shelters (i.e. North Shore Animal League, BARC, etc.) are all full right now and can't take on anymore adult housecats who can't be kept home but absolutely must be kept together? Are the cats plain old American Housecats? If they are special breeds (Persian, Maine Coon, Siamese) you might be able to find a breed-based rescue that will take them and commit to keep them together. Google the breed + rescue + NYC.

Good luck, I really hope you can find a great new home for the kitties where you can be confident and satisfied that they can continue to lead long, happy, healthy and fun lives.
posted by bunnycup at 8:53 AM on January 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Shelters, at this point, are not an option because we want the cats to be able to roam free, play and pretty much live normal lives without being cooped up in cages.
posted by kmtiszen at 9:00 AM on January 4, 2007

Also, would it be totally terrible to separate the two?
posted by kmtiszen at 9:03 AM on January 4, 2007

Yes it would be terrible to separate the two. They are socialized to one another and cats do best when they have a companion, which these two have always had. You need to find them a home together.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 9:21 AM on January 4, 2007

Also, try using Petfinder to find them a home or a foster home. You may want to think about charging an adoption fee to ensure that the person who takes the cats is serious about them -- I think Petfinder has something written about this. I know several people who have found cats and dogs off Petfinder, and they have all been very happy with the process.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 9:24 AM on January 4, 2007

Most Petco's have an adoption group that sets up shop in their lobby. Go talk to them. Most are rescue groups. The Petfinder idea is a good one. I almost adopted from this group last week. They will likely keep them together too. We saw some kittens that had to be kept together as bro and sis if they were to be adopted.

Although it is a random longshot, consider calling a nursing home or home for the aged. They will sometimes want a few pets on the premises.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:42 AM on January 4, 2007

What about finding a new home for all four of you? (Assuming you & your gf live together, otherwise then all 3 of them.)

Adopting or buying a pet is a committment. Most likely you're not going to find someone who will take a pair of adult cats off of your hands. If the space is too tight to accommodate your family, then maybe it's time to trade up. This strikes me as a strange and irresponsible reason to get rid of two cats you've had for 3 years.
posted by tastybrains at 10:52 AM on January 4, 2007

Also, I have to ask if the main reason she's trying to get rid of the cats are the litterbox issues you alluded to. Are they peeing/spraying all over? That's going to make it a lot harder to adopt them out, but it's also a problem that can be solved in most cases.

First & foremost, if they're not neutered, that's your problem right there. But even neutered males living together may display some territorial spraying habits.
posted by tastybrains at 11:05 AM on January 4, 2007

I assume you have already done this, but here are links for cat rescues in NYC.
posted by gokart4xmas at 11:12 AM on January 4, 2007

It will be a lot easier to solve the litter box issue than to find a home for two adult cats, even more so with your insistence that the cats be free to roam during the adoption search.

If the reason they have to go is truly tied to the litter box issue, I can vouch for automated litter boxes in multi-cat homes. One of my cats is a poo-factory, his sister refuses to use a box that has even a hint of previous use but the problem was solved with one of those auto-scooping cat boxes. They aren't that much bigger than a regular litter box.
posted by jamaro at 11:29 AM on January 4, 2007

Try to write a really pathetic, sad Craigslist post, include pictures, and don't dare mention on Craigslist that (a) these were a gift to someone else who now can't keep them, (b) that it's a space issue - because everyone there will jump down your throat for being selfish and immature in getting the cats in a small apartment in the first place.

This is 100% right. The Craigslist Pet board is brutal about this sort of thing.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:37 AM on January 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

We have two cats and not enough room for two litter boxes. The solution has been to keep the litter box clean, and I mean clean clean. We've both been incredibly lazy about this in the past, and tried two different varieties of the automatic boxes, but found that they made a nasty mess (poop getting stuck in prongs and along the tracks, for example). What has worked well is putting the litter box next to the toilet and filling it with flushable litter. When we go to the bathroom, we take a couple of extra seconds to scoop whatever is in the litter box and flush it away. Every once in a while, I restore the litter level. When the litter begins to smell, it immediately gets dumped and replaced.

Scooping several times a day sounds like a pain, but it has actually made things so much easier. Instead of it being a huge project to clean the litter box, it's a matter of afterthought. Our house does not smell of cat, and there are no related kitty issues.

If this is the central issue with the cats, and your girlfriend loves the cats and would prefer to keep them, it's worth looking into. There are additional ways to address it, and a lot of people here who will give you advice on solving litter box problems. I hate to be so pessimistic, but if they get put in the system, they're probably going to be there for a long while. Our current pair was in the system for well over a year.
posted by moira at 12:22 PM on January 4, 2007

Contact this animal rescue group and see if they can help. They are based out west somewhere but have a "coast to coast" network of volunteers.
posted by anastasiav at 12:24 PM on January 4, 2007

I know that this question is a few days older now and you might not be reviewing new responses, but one more suggestion popped into my head. I'm looking to adopt/rescue a second dog so I've been running through Craigslist, Petfinder, etc. a lot now.

Shelters and rescue groups (BARC, NSAL, etc.) MAY PERHAPS be willing to assist you with the adoption by listing your cats and including them in their adoption events, but allow you to in essence continue to home the cats with you as an interim, foster home since that saves space in the shelter for needier cats? Perhaps you can negotiate a compromise where they in essence sponsor the cats, refer interested people to you, they screen/background check prospective new families, you bring the cats to their weekly events, etc - which might increase your chances of finding a good home. I really don't know if they would allow this, but since we adopted our dog through a rescue which placed in foster homes rather than caged at the shelter office it occurred to me as a good solution for you.

You might offer them a small donation to cover expenses, or just call them to work with them and see. I have no idea whether they'd go for it but it could be worth a try.
posted by bunnycup at 9:11 AM on January 6, 2007