Unsure about adopting another cat

fly-catchers

I love cats and have had cats most of my life. But lost my last one to liver disease last year. 

I have been thinking of adopting another one but the shortage of vets and in my case taxi drivers have made me have second thoughts. Currently it looks as if registering with a vet might not be possible as several have closed and the ones remaining are not taking on new customers.
 And as I don’t drive I have always used taxis. But these are no longer as reliable due to driver shortages and you can’t be sure of even getting one. A further worry is the lack of Out of Hours vets which are now many miles away and even less likely to be served by taxis. In the past a number of my cats had medical emergencies which ultimately were fatal occurring late at night or weekends. But at least I got them there locally and quickly despite the outcome. Now it would be much harder and even more stressful. But I do so miss not having a cat around! So torn between the decision to get one or not. Ironically even the local cat sanctuary and the cat protection group covering my area have closed in the last year or so. Therefore not even sure where you would find one to adopt anyway!

SensibleSarah

It's a tricky one!

I basically only learned to drive/passed my test and bought a car because I wanted to be sure that I could get my pets to places they need to be - it was a real anxiety of mine that I would need to take a dog or cat to the emergency vet in the middle of the night and wouldn't be able to find a taxi that would take us etc. I also gave up drinking for the same reason (although I was never a big drinker anyway) because I always want to be safe/able to drive if I need to. 

It sounds like you might live quite rurally? I live on the outskirts of a city and although there are certainly challenges if you're not already registered with a vet and you might have to go a bit further to find one, there are options still, but sounds like that's maybe not the case for you? 

I think that I would be tempted to go for it anyway. To me, the house doesn't feel like home to me without at least one cat (currently have 3, along with 2 dogs) and apart from a routine annual booster/check up, most of my cats haven't needed much direct vet input for the majority of their lives. Of course, you get the odd thing, but you can probably stack the deck in your favour by adopting an adult cat, who is less likely to get themselves in trouble than a daft kitten. One that has been in rescue for quite a while is also less likely to have any unknown conditions as they would usually have shown themselves. 

In terms of finding a cat needing a home, not sure where abouts you are, but this site has a decent list of rescues across the UK - https://www.catchat.org/index.php/cat-rescue-centres-uk-ireland 

fly-catchers

Thanks for the link.  My nearest is about 30 miles from me so it will depend on getting a taxi willing to go that distance. One that was closest was the cat Protection one where the people running it locally fell out with the charity! With cats it is a bit of luck good or bad. An earlier rescue cat developed a condition where she had to go to a vet monthly for her whole life. She was a lovely cat and when I lost her after 13 years all my other cats just stayed in the front garden day and night for weeks waiting for her. 🙁 Thankfully the taxi service was great in those days. Vets more variable…

Bluebell1000

Have you considered cat fostering? If you are temporarily looking after the cat on behalf of a charity they probably have an agreement with a vet anyway, and someone else may be able to help with vet trips.

KxMx

Many cat charities want you to have a spare room and a car for fostering. Bigger branches may be able to help with transport but smaller ones won't be able too.

You could consider Cats Protection Lifeline fostering if it is available in your area- I've recently made an enquiry as a non driver and the response was positive.
I have numerous vets nearby, friends to help and not too much trouble getting a taxi through.

https://www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/cp-lifeline

cullet

If in doubt…….Don’t 

fly-catchers

I recently took on a young cat that had been found abandoned in a bin shed with a few toys and food bowl. 🙁 very scared and nervous as you can imagine. Hid for a few days when she arrived here. But has settled in really well and adorable. A good outcome for both of us…