Adopting a cat in a flat

cazs

I'm looking to adopt a cat from a shelter but as I live in a 3rd floor flat with no garden, the RSPCA says they will only let me have a cat with FIV. The Cats Protection League said the same. I am waiting to hear from Battersea but suspect the answer is the same...

Does anyone know of any organisation that lets you adopt a cat or kitten if you live in a flat with no garden and let you have a free choice of cat as it were?

If not, can anyone advise where it's best to go and buy a cat or kitten from?

I'd ideally like to take in a homeless one but it seems their strict criteria more or less counts me out. So where would perhaps be best to go to buy a cat/kitten? I know sometimes people put ads in the paper or there are online websites but don't know which the best place to go is really and which is most trustworthy,

I've not had a pet before. I live in Harrow, NW London.

Any advice / assistance / guidance would be helpful.

HappyMJ

Don't buy a cat or kitten for cash from just anyone. That'll just encourage them to breed the cat again. There are plenty around for free that you can take off peoples hands for no money. Ask around and someone will know of one somewhere.

However, if you are willing to spend a few hundred on a pedigree cat from a reputable breeder then that's OK.

Torry_Quine

I've had cats from CPL and live in a flat. Have never had a problem, my cat is very content to be an indoor cat.

Person_one

Is there any reason why you're opposed to a cat with FIV? Is it the cost of medical care?

I expect they are very hard to home so you'd be giving one a wonderful chance at a nice life that might have been overlooked by everyone else.

cazs

Torry_Quine wrote: »

I've had cats from CPL and live in a flat. Have never had a problem, my cat is very content to be an indoor cat.

Are you a Ground or 1st Floor. They emailed me back yesterday and told me that their cats require access to the outside and the only case they might consider me is if the cat was sick and not allowed to go outside for that reason. They also said I would not be able to open my windows because the cat might get out and be killed from such a height!!

Really really surprised at how difficult they make it. I'd really prefer to go and adopt an unwanted one, particularly given I thought the shelters were heaving at the moment but if they apply this strict criteria to everyone I am less surprised at this being the case.

Poppypig

I wanted to have a cat when I lived in a 3rd floor flat. I did my research and got 2 five year old burmese cats from the Burmese cat society. Burmese cats are better suited to being kept in - they get a lot from the company of people and they had each other to play with. They were wonderful characters, but they needed a lot of time and attention - they are quite dog-like in their characters.

I have 2 friends who bought moggie kittens to live in flats and it ended badly. One friend bought 2 kittens who ran up the walls in her rented flat and tore all the wallpaper down. They were frantic to get out of the flat and she eventually rehomed them happily to a friend with a garden. The other friend just got one kitten, and he too became frantic as he grew up. She felt very guilty about having to keep him in, and ended up moving out of her flat to a caravan to make him happy!

I would advise you to go for an adult cat (preferably 2 to keep each other company) with a proven track record of living indoors - some cats have stronger instincts to get out and hunt and just won't be happy kept inside.

Better still - consider keeping a couple of house rabbits (can be housetrained) or guinea pigs (easy to keep in an open pen). Both rabbits and guinea pigs are best kept in pairs. Rabbits are intelligent and need stimulating play. Guinea pigs are funny, gentle and undemanding given a large pen, huts to hide in and plenty of hay to eat and to play in.

Torry_Quine

cazs wrote: »

Are you a Ground or 1st Floor. They emailed me back yesterday and told me that their cats require access to the outside and the only case they might consider me is if the cat was sick and not allowed to go outside for that reason. They also said I would not be able to open my windows because the cat might get out and be killed from such a height!!

Really really surprised at how difficult they make it. I'd really prefer to go and adopt an unwanted one, particularly given I thought the shelters were heaving at the moment but if they apply this strict criteria to everyone I am less surprised at this being the case.

Ground floor but my cats have never had outside access and that was never a problem. As long as they are kittens or have always been indoor cats there really shouldn't be a problem.

con1888

My brothers cat lives in his flat. Poet eh? hehe.

I got him the cat privately, a friend of a friends cat had kittens and someone brought two back as they scratched her couch. I took both, kept one and gave him one, they were free.

I just put a message on my facebook - 'does anyone know anyone with any kittens'

Had I not got a reply I would have gone to a shelter, I have a house with garden so would have been okay but I'm just emphasising that cats in a flat get on fine. His cat is quite happy playing around the place and has a lot to keep her amused.

Miiri

Paws for life are a small charity based in London - we took on 2 cats from them about 2 years ago and they were more than happy to rehome to a flat as we currently had. It will obviously depend on the cat but they often seem to have indoor cats looking for new homes.
http://www.pawsforlife.org.uk/index.html

Good luck in finding a kitty where ever you look

antw23uk

Hounslow Animal Welfare Society are local to you. (HAWS) Having a cat indoors is always a much discussed subject!

Personally having fostered over 20 cats with strict instructions to keep them indoors (we lived in a 1 bed flat so only had short term fosters) i would say choose VERY wisely. Most cats just dont like being kept indoors and they will drive you insane and it would be cruel to keep them in if they have already enjoyed going outside.

You can however find the right cat so defintaly go with a charity. An older cat which is a known indoor cat is your best bet. buying a kitten will be hit and miss. As far as im concerned regardless of if they have never been out you will get a large amount of kittens who will desperatly want to go out by six months old.

Have you thought about another pet more suitable to a life indoors? How about a couple of ferrets? They are wonderful animals and will certainly keep you on your toes :rotfl:

teeni

Slightly off subject but I remember when we homed 2 cats 25 years ago from the CPL, we were on a very busy road as the house in in the same street as a school so made the decision to keep them both in. After 6 months they did a surprise home visit to check how they were getting on. the lady was very cross that the kittens were indoor cats and told me we were being cruel and to ensure they were let out regularly she told us she would continue to monitor us and if we failed to comply they would take the kittens back, apparently it was in the agreement we signed when we took them. Not wanting to lose them we let them out , these poor souls were really upset adn the sound of a car frightened garfield and he ran down the alley away from me straight under a car and unfortunately was fataly injured. His sister was never let out again and lived with us for a very happy 23 years until she passed away. The words i used when i spoke to the lady from he CPL are not repeatable in print i can tell you.

I hope you get a new puss soon, xxx