Home to Home is a process whereby a cat stays in their own home during the homing process rather than coming into cattery care. Home to Home works well for owners who do not need immediate help rehoming their cat and are happy to provide a safe environment for their cat until a suitable home can be found.
Our team work closely with all parties to ensure a smooth and efficient transition for the cat going to their new home.
Completing the homing process this way leaves our cattery pens available for cats that are unable to stay in their homes and ultimately allows us to help more cats.
The process for rehoming your cat through our Home to Home scheme is as follows:
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Initial Discussion
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We will explain the homing process and confirm suitability for the scheme – a cat profile questionnaire and veterinary history will be requested. Please be aware that not all cats will fit our Home to Home criteria.
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Enrollment
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An agreement form will be sent to you for signing plus our guide on taking photos and videos of your cat.
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Veterinary Treatment
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An appointment with our Cats Protection (CP) appointed Vet will be arranged to ensure your cat meets CP homing standards – as a minimum all cats will be neutered, microchipped, vaccinated and given parasite treatment.
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Advertising
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Once your cat has been signed as fit to home by our Vet and we have received your photos and video footage we can start advertising for new homes on our website.
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Adopter Applications
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Any potential adopters can apply online and will be assessed using the information you have provided to allow us to confirm suitability.
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Adoption
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Once your cat has been reserved we will arrange transport from home to home.
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The process for adopting a cat through our Home to Home scheme is identical to our adoption process for cats in our care. You can read more about this here: https://www.cats.org.uk/sthelens/adopt-a-cat
To discuss rehoming your cat call 01744 817718 or email us at sthelens@cats.org.uk
FAQs
How much does it cost?
We do not charge a fee for homing your cat through the Home to Home process.
Being a charity we rely on the support of the public so any donation which you can make towards to the cost of veterinary treatments, transportation etc then this will be greatly appreciated. Your donations help us to continue helping cats both in and out of our care.
If you are adopting a cat which is being homed through our Home to Home scheme you can be rest assured that these cats will have had the same veterinary treatment as our cats in care. Our adoption process remains the same for Home to Home cats and 4 weeks free Petplan insurance is provided, therefore our standard adoption fee applies. Our adoption fee is £85 per cat.
Is there a time scale?
While we will aim to help your cat find their new home as quickly as possible there may be certain factors which slow the homing of your cat. This scheme relies on both parties communicating effectively, by meeting expectations quickly we can begin to advertise your cat sooner. Home to Home works well for owners who do not need immediate help rehoming their cat and are happy to provide a safe environment for their cat until a suitable home can be found. If you do have a deadline on how long you can keep your cat, e.g. you are moving house, then please inform us of this so that alternative arrangements can be made.
Once a suitable home has been found for cats up for adoption either in our care or through Home to Home we aim to complete the adoption process within 7 days. This provides us with the capacity to help more cats in need of rehoming.
Will I meet the other party?
Potential adopters will apply online after viewing the photo and video footage of cats for adoption. By working as an intermediary we will compare the adopter's details against the information provided by the existing owner for us to ensure they are a suitable match for the cat. We do not offer a physical meeting of the cat prior to adoption and have been working successfully with this virtual homing process since the pandemic. For data protection reasons no personal information will be transferred between the relinquishing owner and adopter.
I want to rehome through Home to Home - my cat has all the minimum veterinary requirements, do they still need to visit the vet?
All cats homed from our adoption centre receive a minimum standard of veterinary care and come with 4 weeks free Petplan insurance. It is important we provide the same care for our Home to Home cats and so our CP appointed vet will need to complete the health check in order to create any adoption paperwork. If your cat has received some of the necessary treatments prior to being enrolled this will both speed up the initial process and save the charity money. Should your cat need any further treatments completed by our vet we will discuss these with you.
How does this process benefit my cat?
Catteries are full of unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells, cats are sensitive to change and going into temporary care negatively impacts their welfare. Keeping cats in their own home in a familiar environment eliminates the stress of going into a cattery and reduces the amount of change inflicted on them. Owners are involved in the homing process by providing us with the photos and video footage required to advertise their cat.
The more cats homed through this process the more cattery pens we have available for cats that are unable to stay in their homes and ultimately allows us to help more cats.