My friend recently rescued a stray tabby cat that had been dumped by their neighbors when the neighbors moved away. They were unable to keep him and the tabby couldn’t travel much outside of their bathroom. My partner and I had been considering getting another cat (to give Goob some company), so we thought, hey! Perfect timing! Goob has lived with other cats before, and from what we’ve heard from our friend, the tabby cat was very friendly. So we took the tabby boy in, named him Toes, and followed all the advice for introducing two cats to one another.

A month later, it was obvious Goob and Toes were not going to get along anytime soon. We tried everything: separate rooms, feeding them between a closed door, switching their spaces to get used to each other’s smells, pheromone collars, pheromone sprays, pheromone diffusers, calming treats, a cat tree (for vertical space), a three-tiered cage, advice from a cat expert; nothing worked. Goob started spraying everywhere and hiding under the table 24/7 as Toes, while lovely with people, was a major bully to our sweet Goob.

We made the difficult decision to seek a new home for Toes.

I have never tried to rehome a cat before. Thankfully, we had a friend who worked with Cat Angel Network, which was able to give us plenty of help and advice in rehoming the new tabby. Advice such as:

Try to Rehab the Cat (Or Remedy the Problem)

Why are you trying to rehome your pet? Is it:

• Behavior issues? Many behavior problems can be caused by a treatable medical condition. Make sure you talk to your vet before determining if your pet needs to be rehomed or not. If it’s a stray you just took in, they may need to be fixed. If they seem to be peeing everywhere suddenly, it may be a urinary tract infection that a veterinarian can diagnose and easily treat. If it’s nothing physical, your vet may be able to give advice for settling your cat’s behavior issues. (Your local animal shelters or rescue groups may offer low-cost veterinary care or training services or be able to refer you to other organizations that offer these services. We got our new cat spayed for free and got animal behavior advice from Cat Angel Network for free.)
• Housing problems?  If you are having trouble finding pet-friendly housing, or are struggling with neighbors making complaints, the humane society has resources on keeping pets welcome in rental housing.
• Do you or a roommate have pet allergies? Many pet lovers and owners have found they are able to have a happy, healthy life even while being allergic to their furry friends. Read our article about how you can tone down the allergies and tone up the cat snuggles. 

Unfortunately, sometimes it just doesn’t workout. Like I mentioned above, we tried everything to rehab our new tabby, but he and our current cat’s personalities just clashed too much. So we moved onto the next step:

Talk to Friends and Family

The #1 way that pets get re-homed is through family and friends. This one seems obvious, right? If you’re trying to rehome a pet, your closest friends and family were probably some of the first people you asked. But there’s a key here in how to do this: check with everyone. Even if they have a cat, or a dog, or have no pets and don’t ever want one. Why? Because while they may not want or be able to take your kitty, they may know of someone who does.

It’s much easier to adopt out through someone close to your circle, and someone who your friend or family member can vouch for. In fact, this ended up being the savior for my partner and I. Our friend who had a puppy saw that we had posted on Facebook to our friends that we needed to rehome our cat. That friend then happened to get into a conversation with a coworker who mentioned that he was looking to adopt, and our friend put us in contact with each other over Facebook messenger. And speaking of Facebook…

Thoroughly Vet Each Applicant

We wanted to get the word out everywhere, so we took advantage of sites like rehome.adoptapet.com, getyourpet.com, and Facebook groups that were made specifically for adopting out pets in our area. All three didn’t have a proper application for vetting potential adopters, so we ended up having to make one (feel free to use it!)  Some of the big things to ask of potential adopters are:

• How many total hours will your new pet be left alone during the day?
• Are you planning on declawing your new cat or kitten? (This is a big red flag.)
• Over the past 5 years, how many pets have you owned?
• If you currently own a pet, how does he/she react to new pets?
• How much are you financially prepared to spend for routine/emergency medical care, etc?
• Are you prepared to commit to a pet for 15 – 20 years (average life span)?
• A Veterinarian reference (you should call references and interview them about the applicant!)
• 3 personal references (you should call references and interview them about the applicant!)

Many animals who have been adopted out without proper vetting of potential owners have wound up victims of abuse and neglect, rehomed unknowingly with backyard breeders, hoarders, dog-fighting rings or other criminal elements. It’s important to make sure you know and trust that the new owner of your pet will take proper care of them.

You’ll note that I didn’t mention Craigslist in the above list of sites. That’s because pets rehomed through Craigslist have been known to end up as sufferers of abuse. Black cats and kittens in particular rehomed through Craigslist have been found tortured to death. Please make sure you rehome your cat through reputable means and with thorough vetting of applicants.

We made sure to interview the applicant’s references on the phone with basic questions like: how long they have known them, have they taken care of a cat before, are they financially responsible to take care of a cat, and do they trust this person with a pet? Once that process was completed, we invited the applicants over to meet our tabby cat and make sure all involved seemed comfortable. Toes’ new owners fell in love with him right away, and he cuddled right up to them!

Never Give Away A Pet For Free

This one might seem counter-productive. You’re no doubt trying to find a place for your pet as soon as possible and, if you’re anything like me, you just want to see them go to a good home. Why put up a barrier for potential adopters by charging a fee?

Well, similar to what I mentioned above, animal abusers take advantage of people looking to rehome their pets. Especially if there’s a deadline for rehoming your pet, criminals know it’s easy to exploit people into letting them adopt the animal.

This is why it’s important to charge a rehoming fee. People looking for animals to abuse usually don’t want to pay a fee. If someone looking to adopt your cat concocts a story about how they really want your kitty but can’t afford the adoption fee, stop them right there. This is a red flag. A pet is a huge commitment, and owners need to be financially prepared to pay for their food, vet visits, vaccines, toys, etc. If a person can’t afford the standard $30-50 adoption fee, how do they expect to properly take care of your pet?

An adoption fee also acts as a hinderance for some people who may adopt your pet on a whim (or as a gift!) and then abandon them when they lose interest.

We followed all of these steps and were lucky enough to adopt out our tabby within two weeks. We received many applications, some from strangers and some from friends, and in the end we were able to find Toes a happy, loving home where he gets to be the king of the household.

If you’re looking to rehome a pet, make sure to follow all the steps above to ensure your pet ends up in a safe home with owners that will care for them.