My Background With Pets & Pet Stores
When I was young I always used to be excited to go to the pet store and see the puppies, if you recall from the About page I grew up with dogs. It was such an exciting experience because they were so fluffy and full of energy. They would run on full for about 30 minutes or so until it seemed like they got so tired they just collapsed where they stood and fell asleep. What adorable little fur balls they were! I had always just made the assumption that’s where we got our pets and that was the place everyone got their pets. Clearly I wasn’t the sharpest pencil in the box :). I came to find out much later that my parents never got any of our dogs through a pet store and never really considered it, instead they liked the idea of adopting animals whenever possible. As I got older I learned a there are a lot of different ways to go about getting a family pet, but if you’re here I’m assuming you’re interested in or at least considering adopting a pet.
Adopting Has Tremendous Benefits
I’m truly glad to see you’re considering adoption in place of a pet store or a breeder. Even though adoption has gained a significant amount of attention in the recent past both in the news and by word of mouth, a lot of people still get their pets through pet stores and breeders. While there are of course great pet stores and great breeders (I’ll have a follow up post specifically on good breeders) that act responsibly, there are also a large number that don’t have the best interest of the pets or of the families buying those pets in mind. Getting a pet from these disreputable types of breeders can result in an incredibly poor experience for both you, your family and the animal you decide to adopt, not to mention the poor animals behind the scenes that are the parents of all of these puppies and kittens. I want you to have the best experience possible with adopting, so I’ve organized some resources below for you to help in your search.
Great Places to Consider for Adopting Cats:
- Overstock.com – As ridiculous as it sounds, Overstock.com is actually a great place to search for a cat up for adoption. You might think at first they are selling cats over the internet, but they actually provide infrastructure & visibility to many smaller organizations enabling people to find cats easily. No joke, this is where I found my first cat and adopted her a week later (check out the About Site page to see Beast). One additional benefit, with Overstock you can also take a look for all sorts of other produts you might need for your future cat!
- RescueMe.org – Another excellent resource for locating cats that are up for adoption is RescueMe.org. The link provided will take you directly to a map of the United States that enables you to look for specific cats on a state by state basis. You can back up and look for specific breeds or even different animals if you’re considering a dog or even a rat!
- PetFinder.com – PetFinder.com is a great source of information for adopting animals in general. It not only enables you to look for cats within a specific geographic region, but it also includes the ability to search by additional filters like breed, age and gender. This lets you hone your search to look for the perfect cat to fit your home.
- International Rescue – If you don’t happen to be in the United States and still happened upon my site I don’t want to leave you high and dry. While I have no experience with with any organizations outside of the USA this website provides a large list of cat rescues available by country across the world. Hopefully it can be helpful to you in your search!
- Craigslist.org – While I love Craigslist, my name is Craig after all, I personally don’t recommend you use Craigslist for adopting a cat. There are simply too many potential concerns to account for where and Craigslist doesn’t provide any level or coverage or security when you meet with someone. If you do decide to pursue a cat adoption through Craigslist make sure you are aware that you are adopting a pet you really have no knowledge about beyond what a complete stranger tells you. You could easily adopt an animal that is very sick or in need of thousands of dollars in care without any knowledge. If you do proceed though, be sure to meet somewhere in public and obviously use cash as the payment method to avoid any potential scams.
Where Else Can I Adopt if None of These Work?
Beyond these major locations I listed above, there are hundreds if not thousands of community organizations that are managed by small local groups. These organizations are made up of tons of people that care deeply about cats just like the larger organizations do. They provide their time, money and homes to take care of cats until they can be adopted out into a new family. You can easily locate these organizations by with a simple Google search, for example “Cat Adoption Organization Chicago Illinois.” No matter which organization you ultimately decide to adopt from, do be sure the read their policies and requirements. Most organizations will require updates on how the cat is doing and some might even require a home visit before allowing you to adopt a cat. These
Helping You Adopt Your Cat…
The rest of the Adoption section is dedicated to helping you select the right cat and to ensure you are fully prepared for bringing a cat home for the first time. If you’re an experienced cat owner, you might know a lot of this information already, but hopefully I’ll provide you with a few nuggets of wisdom you didn’t possess before. You’ll find a couple of key topics covered:
- Adopting vs Purchasing A Cat
- Top 10 Things to Consider When Adopting a Cat
- A Cat Adoption Kit (all the supplies you’ll need to adopt your first cat)
If you have any recommendations on additional information that should be included in the adoption section of this site please don’t hesitate to email me directly with your thoughts or leave a comment below. You can reach me at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com.
