Homing

Every year at Axhayes we see almost 1000 cats come through the centre - everything from kittens to oldies, abandoned cats, micro chipped strays or feral cats to TNR and re-site. Being one of Cats Protection's 3 main aims the homing of these cats is our upmost importance and so we are streamlining our process to ensure cats are not spending longer in care than absolutely necessary.

Cats are great animals to have at home and bring lots of character and entertainment with them. All cats are very different to one another and whereas one cat may love children and other pets, some prefer to be solitary and live alone in a quieter home with a single human companion.

When cats arrive at the centre from owners we can ask them many questions about their likes, dislikes and sociability so we can easily match them to new owners. However strays come with no history but often make lovable pets in all kinds of households. A common reason why cats come into care is due to landlords not allowing the tenants to keep pets - it is therefore essential for us to see landlord permission when potential adopters come in.

Cats also come into care due to behaviour or medical issues and so it is then down to Cats Protection and our supporters to help these cats overcome or manage these problems so we can find homes for them. One of our core values is to never put a healthy cat to sleep.

A cat coming in to the centre will be fully vet checked and any previous vet history looked into, once neutered, micro chipped and vaccinated they can then be advertised for homing. Some cats can stay in care for a few months with ongoing medical issues whereas some come in neutered and can be ready to go as soon as they have had a once over from the vet. Once up for homing our cats can take anything from 5 minutes to 3 months to find their forever home but all the while receiving cuddles from our cat socialisers.


Difficult to home cats can spend longer in the centre as they are looking for a special kind of home. A cat that has been admitted with over grooming signs from stress of living with another animal would be best suited to a home on its own – to home this cat with other pets would be against the welfare needs of this cat and it is likely to return to the centre. We want to minimise chance of cats returning to care and so we take pride in finding the right cat for the right home.

At Axhayes we strive to help cats in our local communities and further afield often receiving cats from wales and northern England. Areas which have a far denser population relatively have a denser cat population and so there are many more cats in need of new homes. The centres in these locations simply can’t keep up with the need for shelter space and so require the help of other areas.

If you are looking for a feline companion for your home please visit our adopt a cat page.