Adopt a cat

Welcome to the Adopt a Cat section - we are so pleased to see you here!

We have many cats in our care waiting for their loving forever homes.


At Welwyn Hatfield & District Cats Protection we care deeply about the welfare of the cat and our homing process is designed to ensure a safe home for the cat and for you, the best cat to suit your lifestyle. We ask you to think about the adoption of a cat carefully, as it is a commitment of years no matter the age. 

Before leaving our care, all of our cats and kittens will have been checked thoroughly by a vet for any health issues, given flea and worm treatments, blood tested for FIV/FeLV (feline aids and leukaemia virus), vaccinated, micro-chipped and, if old enough, neutered. For any kittens adopted from us that are not yet neutered, we issue full cost neutering vouchers. Any known medical issues will be discussed during the Home Visit.

Our adoption fee is £85 per cat/kitten and includes 4 weeks free PetPlan Insurance.  We do not make any profit from the re-homing our cats/kittens, as our fee rarely covers the costs of these treatments/procedures and food and litter whilst they are in our care.

We are delighted to hear that you're interested in giving a new, loving home to one of our cats or kittens! Please read through our Hands-Free Adoption Process below, as well as the Other Points to Note. 

Adoption Process - Hands Free Homing

Here is our guide to adopting a cat using hands-free homing

Check you are within the branch region. We cover the postcodes areas AL6 – AL10. If you are outside of this area you can find your nearest branch by typing in your postcode at www.cats.org.uk/find-us 
Enquire. If you find a cat on our website that you’re interested in homing, send an enquiry by clicking on the enquiry form for the cat. We are only taking enquiries for the cats shown below. If you are in a rented or shared ownership property, we will ask for the consent of your landlord.

Reserve your cat. If you’re found to be a match for your chosen cat, you’ll be contacted via phone, Zoom or WhatsApp for a virtual home visit and photos of your home will be requested. Next will be a virtual viewing of your cat in its foster home. If the cat is in an outdoor pen, you will be able to visit the cat. Note: Cats Protection have recently relaxed the Hands-Free Homing process which means that, subject to agreement by the foster, you may be able to view the cat if housed in an indoor foster room.

Adopt. Once you have reserved your cat, you’ll be sent the adoption paperwork to sign and advice on what you’ll need to set-up your home for your cat. You’ll then pay an adoption fee of £85, by bank transfer. If you feel able to make a donation on top of the fee that would, of course, be gratefully received.  Don’t forget to tick the Gift Aid box if you are a UK tax payer. This means that we can reclaim from the government a whopping 25p for every £1 donated at no cost to you!  

Bringing your cat home. Once this is finalised, we’ll arrange for a driver to bring your cat safely to your home.

Be supported. You’ll receive a follow-up call or email around 7 and 21 days after the adoption to check that your new arrival is settled in. You can also find help and advice on the Cats Protection website at www.cats.org.uk/advice

Other points to note

Adopting a kitten
Please note that we do not normally rehome kittens to families with children under 5 years old. Where possible our kittens are homed in pairs, with one of their litter mates. Also, when adopting a kitten from Cats Protection you must agree to get the kitten neutered at around 4 months of age. If you or your family are out at work all day, we would prefer you to adopt an adult cat or pair of cats.

Busy roads & Railways
It's our policy not to place our cats or kittens in homes which are on or close to busy/main roads, bus routes or railways.

Note: From PetPlan advice on roaming - A cautious cat may only ever venture 10 metres from their cat flap, but we found the average roaming distance is just 40-200 metres from home.

In this situation, we would advise you to have an indoor only cat. Alternatively, you might consider cat-proofing your garden.

Holidays
If you are going on holiday within the next 4-6 weeks, please contact us when you have returned from holiday, as we are unable to reserve cats for more than a few days.

Christmas
Our branch will not be homing any cats from 14th December until 2nd January. This allows homed cats a reasonable amount of time to settle into their new homes before the madness of Christmas arrives. We will continue to respond to enquiries over this period.

Finally, if you would like to support us with providing some of the items necessary for the cats and kittens in our care, please take a look at our Amazon Wishlist - Cats Protection Welwyn Hatfield District http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/registry/wishlist/7WBBCNQHZUQG/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_o

Please note that for the present time we are only taking homing enquiries for cats or kittens that are ready for adoption. These will appear on our website. We are currently not holding any waiting lists.