Good for you on all counts.

...are going to homes where the new guardians (Jackson Galaxy's term, which I really like) will care for them safely and lovingly.

We have had two cats - a female Russian Blue who unfortunately died of Cancer at 14, and a feisty female Calico Shorthair who thinks she's a dog. Both were rescues, and we too faced the questions you asked. Declawing cats is cruel to them, depriving them of a critical part of their anatomy, and in the Pacific Northwest, outdoor cats are prey for coyotes, stray dogs, and the occasional cougar or bear, not to mention opening them up to all kinds of nasty human-induced pathogens. As we've moved around, we've also been very good about keeping licensing and medical records up-to-date. Being a pet guardian is an important responsibility.

You reminded me of an app my daughter has that will try to guess the breed of your cat when you feed it a picture. We have a feisty long-haired calico. When we fed her picture to the app, the answer came back, “We don’t think what you have is a cat. It’s a dog.”

Pumpkin (my eldest daughter is a Nightmare Before Christmas fan) has a very high-pitched meow. She was also brought up around three large dogs. Every so often she barks and howls, about five octaves up. It's the cutest thing.

and we do NOT want them declawed.

Thanks for adopting.

Last edited Mon Aug 4, 2025, 01:49 PM - Edit history (1)

They didn't ask for references, but they did ask if I intended to de-claw them and if they were to be kept indoors or allowed outside. I wanted to keep them inside. I never had a cat de-clawed before so I went on the internet to do some research about it. The more I read, the more horrified I became. When I signed the adoption papers, I, too, had to promise I wouldn't have them de-clawed. No problem.

They have scratching posts; a kitty condo; and various cardboard boxes to scratch on and pretty much scratch where they're supposed to (most of the time!).

Anyway, congratulations on your new kitties! What are their names?

I wanted to name the kitten Franklin after FDR, but my wife disapproved so we named him Harry after Harry S. Truman.

The shelter had a name for him as well but it made no sense to me. He's Harry from here on out.

I hope you have a long, happy life together!

🐈 🐈‍⬛️

if you would take a declawed cat. Thanks for the info.

They asked for our vet’s name and number and then called the vet to see if our current cats were up to date on their vaccinations. They were not, as they’re indoor cats and we don’t think it’s necessary or safe to vaccinate them every year (an opinion backed up by a veterinarian friend of ours). We were flatly denied for adoption. Never mind that the average lifespan of our cats is 17 years, with the latest one dying at 21, and our vet has commented that we must be doing something right. But we wanted the kittens, so we took our two girls in and had them vaccinated (a mistake for one of them, but I won’t go into that now). Then they let us take the kittens.

The foster mom agreed with me that some of the conditions for adoption seem a bit arbitrary, but we definitely agree that they should never be declawed and should be kept indoors. It is strange how those questions were asked, though.

...and medical records. We already had a vet for our last cat -they were extremely compassionate when our last cat died.

We had to agree to take both to a vet for check ups. (The mother is obese.)

Was that I had already mentioned that one of them is hyperthyroid and has to go every 6 months to get checked. I mean… doesn’t that indicate that we get them checked? They didn’t even verify that with the vet’s office.

It was pretty expensive to get her checked and the meds were not cheap. It cost us close to $2000 to keep her going that last year, between vet, tests and meds.

It takes dedicated pet parents to deal with such issues.

But that's not the test of whether you should be allowed to adopt a new one. At least this rescue let us have a dialog with them. The other one simply tossed out our application. You would never know we have a surplus of adoptable cats and in this area.

But we had to get the older girls vaccinated. 10-year-old is fine, but the 5-year-old seems to have had some adverse reactions. She is slowly improving.

Meanwhile, the kittens are growing like weeds. They love their older sisters and are really nice additions to the household.

There are many reasons. I know someone who lives in Hawaii
and their local shelter started a drop-off enclosure for off
hours. They did this because many people said they couldn't
get to the shelter in time. After many weeks of not getting
any dogs the shelter put up a camera to see what was going
on. Turns out people were dropping off dogs, but other people
were taking those dogs before they opened. Many treat pets
as disposable.

who wouldn't make the sort of potty-trained, cuddly lap cats most cat servants want. But they can adapt to life on the farm and help control rodent pests. Better than leaving them feral, 'trap, neuter, and release', or choosing euthanasia. If you trap a feral who is too wild and unfriendly, try to steer it into such a program. Ask local vets to help find one.

Neutering is usually an absolute prerequisite for such programs.

They wouldn't get adopted if someone answered no. I would never declaw a cat, but if there was an unfortunate victim up for adoption it deserves a home.

...adopting a mother and her single kitten. The mother is sweet, affectionate and sedate, but that kitten, well, he's a wild one, fun, but wild.

He does his fair share of scratching and biting, nothing serious, but he's drawn a little blood on my wife's feet. We think we've broken him of that habit, but my wife wears clogs around the house.