RSPCA at CAT-pacity, adoption discounted till Wednesday

waggamick said :

If you can’t afford a $300 upfront fee for a cat, how are you going to pay the vet bill if it gets sick? I don’t understand this logic. If you really can’t afford that fee, you can’t afford a cat. I also don’t understand why someone would be more motivated to buy a pet by a special price offer. The initial cost of a pet is nothing compared to the ongoing costs, and unless you’re planning on euthanasing the pet the second it gets sick, these costs are unavoidable.

I agree. However I can say hand-on-heart that it wasn’t the price reduction motivating us, it was the fact that they needed homes for cats, and we could offer one. We were down one cat through a sad tale I won’t share here, but as I said to my husband, if we’ve agreed we have room for two cats, then we have two cats.

It’s a week today since we adopted our new cat, and the introduction process is going well – I’ve been swapping bedding, beds, “zones”, food bowls etc, and had no hostility until they got within 2m of each other last night and the little one hissed – that was down to my poor management. I’m considering the feliway – great tip re the mozzie repeller, thanks!

Masquara said :

Kimm said :

Re having more than one cat in the house, I remember watching a documentary where they filmed the cats in a village for weeks. Many owners of multiple cats thought their cats got along, but the films shows many only tolerated each other, avoiding each other as best they could. They would often have ‘their’ place in the house. That way they mixed with each other as little as possible. This appeared to be a surprise to their owners, who thought their cats were friends, when they weren’t, and would rather have lived as single cats.
The exception to this was a colony of semi-wild cats on a farm. They were all related and lived as a family. All the other cats in the documentary didn’t appear to want to live with other cats.
I used to have two cats and even though they were kittens together, their relationship was not all plain sailing. At one moment they would be sharing a bed and washing each other, but then one of them in particular would be trying to establish dominance, by biting his fellow cat on the balls, plus spraying in the house. I’m guessing the problem was having two male (both desexed) cats in the same household. It would have been worse, but they were inside/outside cats. This behaviour continued when I replaced one cat who died with another kitten. Perhaps this would work better if there had only been one male cat; ie. one male and one female cat, or perhaps only female cats. Anyway, I vowed never to have two male cats in the house together again.

The one thing I was told/read the most when i looked into this was if I have a female cat, definitely get a younger male cat for the best chance of a match. Everyone said 2 male cats together was the worst combination, and 2 female cats was normally ok but opposite sex mixtures have the best chance of working apparently. This comes from both stuff I read through google and my sister in law who has homed about 12 cats over the past 10 years usually with 2-4 in the house at a time.

I think it really depends on the cats personalities. We had a female cat (she was about 2 years old) when we got our boy kitten and they don’t get along. Well, the girl cat hates the boy cat. They co-exist but have a few spats (not bad enough to cause injury) every now and again haha.

We have a female foster kitten at the moment and she gets on well with the boy cat. The girl cat doesn’t really like her much but they tolerate each other 😛

If you can’t afford a $300 upfront fee for a cat, how are you going to pay the vet bill if it gets sick? I don’t understand this logic. If you really can’t afford that fee, you can’t afford a cat. I also don’t understand why someone would be more motivated to buy a pet by a special price offer. The initial cost of a pet is nothing compared to the ongoing costs, and unless you’re planning on euthanasing the pet the second it gets sick, these costs are unavoidable.

Kimm said :

Re having more than one cat in the house, I remember watching a documentary where they filmed the cats in a village for weeks. Many owners of multiple cats thought their cats got along, but the films shows many only tolerated each other, avoiding each other as best they could. They would often have ‘their’ place in the house. That way they mixed with each other as little as possible. This appeared to be a surprise to their owners, who thought their cats were friends, when they weren’t, and would rather have lived as single cats.
The exception to this was a colony of semi-wild cats on a farm. They were all related and lived as a family. All the other cats in the documentary didn’t appear to want to live with other cats.
I used to have two cats and even though they were kittens together, their relationship was not all plain sailing. At one moment they would be sharing a bed and washing each other, but then one of them in particular would be trying to establish dominance, by biting his fellow cat on the balls, plus spraying in the house. I’m guessing the problem was having two male (both desexed) cats in the same household. It would have been worse, but they were inside/outside cats. This behaviour continued when I replaced one cat who died with another kitten. Perhaps this would work better if there had only been one male cat; ie. one male and one female cat, or perhaps only female cats. Anyway, I vowed never to have two male cats in the house together again.

The one thing I was told/read the most when i looked into this was if I have a female cat, definitely get a younger male cat for the best chance of a match. Everyone said 2 male cats together was the worst combination, and 2 female cats was normally ok but opposite sex mixtures have the best chance of working apparently. This comes from both stuff I read through google and my sister in law who has homed about 12 cats over the past 10 years usually with 2-4 in the house at a time.

Re having more than one cat in the house, I remember watching a documentary where they filmed the cats in a village for weeks. Many owners of multiple cats thought their cats got along, but the films shows many only tolerated each other, avoiding each other as best they could. They would often have ‘their’ place in the house. That way they mixed with each other as little as possible. This appeared to be a surprise to their owners, who thought their cats were friends, when they weren’t, and would rather have lived as single cats.
The exception to this was a colony of semi-wild cats on a farm. They were all related and lived as a family. All the other cats in the documentary didn’t appear to want to live with other cats.
I used to have two cats and even though they were kittens together, their relationship was not all plain sailing. At one moment they would be sharing a bed and washing each other, but then one of them in particular would be trying to establish dominance, by biting his fellow cat on the balls, plus spraying in the house. I’m guessing the problem was having two male (both desexed) cats in the same household. It would have been worse, but they were inside/outside cats. This behaviour continued when I replaced one cat who died with another kitten. Perhaps this would work better if there had only been one male cat; ie. one male and one female cat, or perhaps only female cats. Anyway, I vowed never to have two male cats in the house together again.

Re the feliway diffusers. You can just use a plug in mosquito repeller and buy a feliway refill pack. Works out much cheaper 🙂

Good luck with the kitty intro

No worries at all. Re the diffuser – if you have any friends with cats ask if they have a diffuser you can borrow, sooo many cat owners have them! And you may only need it for a month while they get used to each other 🙂 Alternatively, sometimes Rescue Remedy works! I have a cat with really intense anxiety and I go to The Hierophant in Griffith and they make her up a little Bach Flower remedy for anxiety, fear and trauma. I put a few drops in her water and food and it actually really helps her. You can also just buy the premade Rescue Remedy from pharmacists and I’m told that works well too – and it’s only about $12.
Best of luck with everything! Please report back and tell us how you go at the RSPCA! Getting a new furry friend is soooo exciting 🙂

*Doh, meant to say “too good to pass up”, no idea why I wrote hard. LOL

Thanks Alexandra, I really appreciate the detailed reply. I checked out the 3 places you mention, and although Pickles don’t list exact fees, Leahs lists 180-300 and 250-300 as their price, and Pet Rescue is also 250-300.

I just can’t really afford that much upfront at the moment. I know its how much it costs to get vaccinated, microchipped, desexed, etc.. but that doesn’t change my budget either. $100 for a cat from the RSPCA that I know is already vaccinated, microchipped, desexed, etc is too hard for me to pass up. I’m going to take the chance and just hope I can make it work out with my current cat and the new one.

I have read the guides about introducing cats like I said, I plan to take about 10 days, slowly introducing bit by bit, having them eating on either side of a closed door in their own space, rubbing socks on each of them and leaving it in each others space, swapping them for short periods so they can smell each others scent, etc… I think i’ve got it down pat what I need to do, and I don’t expect them to be friends, although that would be nice, but as long as they can get along well enough without attacking each other is the main goal. I have a fairly spacious 1bdr apartment so theres enough room for 2 cats to co-exist without being on top of each other, i’ll let you know how I go. I’ll think about the diffuser as well, I want to do more research into that before I invest in something thats going to cost me $70 + $30 / month.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Leon said :

MERC600 said :

Why are the kittens more expensive than the cats? Just wondering.

I’d actually been thinking about adopting a kitten recently anyway, so I think I can help the RSPCA free up 1 spot at least. 🙂

I think it’s because everyone wants a kitten. I used to volunteer at the shelter, and they would often reduce the price further for older cats (5+) because it’s so much harder for them to find homes.

I saw the callout on Facebook on Tuesday night, and we adopted a mama cat on Wednesday morning. We already have an 8 month old cat, but so far so good. Cats are so easy, I’d really urge anyone to consider adopting one (as appropriate to their circumstances of course).

I wondered if that was the case. I have an old female cat atm, getting into her elderly years, she won’t be with me much longer most likely. That’s why I was thinking of adopting a kitten, thought that might make it easier for my current cat to get along with the new one, but with the cost differential I might try and get a younger male cat but no longer kitten anymore instead if they have a suitable option for me.

Any tips on introducing 2 cats the first time? I have googled a lot of links and read a bunch of really good instructions and am fairly confident on what I am going to need to do, seems its a 7-10 day process to do properly but if followed I am assured it should at least have them not tearing each others throats out if not becoming friends. Still keen for any tips from anyone who has done this before themselves. Cheers!

I’d suggest you read Cat vs. Cat by Pam Johnson-Bennett. From my own experience and coming from a long line of crazy cat ladies some cats just don’t like other cats and will never get along. Good luck if you decide to go ahead with it though.

Grail said :

Pandy said :

Mysteryman said :

The amount of unwanted animals is atrocious. There is no reason for a companion pet owner to not have their animal speyed. Perhaps if the registration was heavily graded it would alleviate this issue.

– Full (un-neutered) animal – $1000 registration per year.
– Neutered animal – $10.00 per year.

If the government were to offer subsidised (or free) desexing for two years after implementing this, it would not be any real hardship on pet owners.

That way, show and pedigree breeders could pay the registration easily and people just wanting a pet would also have no difficulty.

Cats don’t need to be registered in the ACT, only dogs.

Yep, I’m well aware of that anomalie. No-one has ever been able to tell me why it shouldn’t be changed other than: ‘That’s how it’s always been’, or, the firmly held belief that, as cat owners, they should automatically be exempt to any rule that is imposed upon any other animal owner.

I’d be more than happy to register my cats. And I would welcome the government enforcing all the animal based laws that are in place. The state of animal welfare in the ACT will never change unless we start to see some consequences for those doing the wrong thing.

Pandy said :

Mysteryman said :

The amount of unwanted animals is atrocious. There is no reason for a companion pet owner to not have their animal speyed. Perhaps if the registration was heavily graded it would alleviate this issue.

– Full (un-neutered) animal – $1000 registration per year.
– Neutered animal – $10.00 per year.

If the government were to offer subsidised (or free) desexing for two years after implementing this, it would not be any real hardship on pet owners.

That way, show and pedigree breeders could pay the registration easily and people just wanting a pet would also have no difficulty.

Cats don’t need to be registered in the ACT, only dogs.

Yep, I’m well aware of that anomalie. No-one has ever been able to tell me why it shouldn’t be changed other than: ‘That’s how it’s always been’, or, the firmly held belief that, as cat owners, they should automatically be exempt to any rule that is imposed upon any other animal owner.

Sorry – I should have expanded more on my last comment. The reason why I believe it’s easier to introduce a cat adopted from a small rescue as opposed to the RSPCA is because there is constant support from a rescue group. You can go there and chat about your needs, your cats needs, what type of kitten you’re looking for etc and then they will guide you through the whole process. There’s so much support from these rescue groups and if things don’t work out after a few weeks they will happily take the new kitten back and refund your adoption fee. Don’t get me wrong, the RSPCA does fantastic work, but if you need a hands on approach with a lot of support the rescue groups are definitely the way to go. 🙂

Mysteryman said :

The amount of unwanted animals is atrocious. There is no reason for a companion pet owner to not have their animal speyed. Perhaps if the registration was heavily graded it would alleviate this issue.

– Full (un-neutered) animal – $1000 registration per year.
– Neutered animal – $10.00 per year.

If the government were to offer subsidised (or free) desexing for two years after implementing this, it would not be any real hardship on pet owners.

That way, show and pedigree breeders could pay the registration easily and people just wanting a pet would also have no difficulty.

Cats don’t need to be registered in the ACT, only dogs.

I run a cat desexing program and honestly, the ACT has all these fantastic laws around mandatory desexing and fines for people who backyard breed but they don’t get enforced. There’s no point having these laws if they’re not enforced. It is highly frustrating.

MERC600 said :

Why are the kittens more expensive than the cats? Just wondering.

I’d actually been thinking about adopting a kitten recently anyway, so I think I can help the RSPCA free up 1 spot at least. 🙂

Cats are harder to adopt out – so the cheaper price is to make them a bit more attractive 🙂 If you don’t have any luck at the RSPCA you can also check out some fab local independent rescue groups like Flossie’s Kitten Rescue, Leah’s Pawsitive Future and Pickles Playmates Animal Rescue. They do an excellent job and don’t receive any government funding – they do all their own fundraising 🙂

MERC600 said :

Why are the kittens more expensive than the cats? Just wondering.

I’d actually been thinking about adopting a kitten recently anyway, so I think I can help the RSPCA free up 1 spot at least. 🙂

I think it’s because everyone wants a kitten. I used to volunteer at the shelter, and they would often reduce the price further for older cats (5+) because it’s so much harder for them to find homes.

I saw the callout on Facebook on Tuesday night, and we adopted a mama cat on Wednesday morning. We already have an 8 month old cat, but so far so good. Cats are so easy, I’d really urge anyone to consider adopting one (as appropriate to their circumstances of course).

I wondered if that was the case. I have an old female cat atm, getting into her elderly years, she won’t be with me much longer most likely. That’s why I was thinking of adopting a kitten, thought that might make it easier for my current cat to get along with the new one, but with the cost differential I might try and get a younger male cat but no longer kitten anymore instead if they have a suitable option for me.

Any tips on introducing 2 cats the first time? I have googled a lot of links and read a bunch of really good instructions and am fairly confident on what I am going to need to do, seems its a 7-10 day process to do properly but if followed I am assured it should at least have them not tearing each others throats out if not becoming friends. Still keen for any tips from anyone who has done this before themselves. Cheers!

This is where I would definitely recommend adopting from a small scale rescue rather than the RSPCA. You can do the whole introducing process much easier. I believe the best way to do it is to collect a blanket from the rescue group that your soon-to-be brand new kitty has been sleeping on (about 3 days before bringing him/her home) and allowing your cat to smell it and sus it out. This way when you bring new kitty home it’s not a complete shock to the system for your cat. When kitty comes home, keep them in a bathroom/laundry/other small room for a few days so they can settle. This way they can also meet each other through sniffing under the door. After a day or two of sniffing they can meet face to face. I am paranoid so I always try and have a second person with me in case things go badly (this rarely happens). Don’t be too worried if your cat goes mental at the new kitty. They will probably be angry at you too, but they get over it. I do a few face to face encounters, 10-15 mins each, every day for a few days before I let them have a whole day together. Investing in a Feliway diffuser is also worthwhile. It releases a pheremone into the air that only cats can smell and it calms them down. They’re expensive but the cheapest I’ve found are on Pacific Pets online. Good luck! 🙂

rosscoact said :

I wonder if this segment could be incorporated into the story about pre-made home delivered meals – San choy meow anyone?
Seriously though, with the clamp down on cat ownership in newer suburbs, requirements for extravagant cat containment apparatus and such, the writing was on the wall for these refugees. It is becoming so costly to own a pet and so difficult to keep up with the laws, people are simply doing things illegally or dumping their animal at the nearest reserve, hoping it doesn’t return. You also have the risk of the adopted animal just jumping the fence and never being seen again, unlike MOST dogs who will stay in their yard because they cannot jump that high.

I agree with mew.

Domestic felines represent a total catastrophe for the environment, so it seems completely irrespawnsable for the RSPCA to be purrsuading people to buy more of them by reducing prices.

I wonder if this segment could be incorporated into the story about pre-made home delivered meals – San choy meow anyone?
Seriously though, with the clamp down on cat ownership in newer suburbs, requirements for extravagant cat containment apparatus and such, the writing was on the wall for these refugees. It is becoming so costly to own a pet and so difficult to keep up with the laws, people are simply doing things illegally or dumping their animal at the nearest reserve, hoping it doesn’t return. You also have the risk of the adopted animal just jumping the fence and never being seen again, unlike MOST dogs who will stay in their yard because they cannot jump that high.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Leon said :

MERC600 said :

Why are the kittens more expensive than the cats? Just wondering.

I’d actually been thinking about adopting a kitten recently anyway, so I think I can help the RSPCA free up 1 spot at least. 🙂

I think it’s because everyone wants a kitten. I used to volunteer at the shelter, and they would often reduce the price further for older cats (5+) because it’s so much harder for them to find homes.

I saw the callout on Facebook on Tuesday night, and we adopted a mama cat on Wednesday morning. We already have an 8 month old cat, but so far so good. Cats are so easy, I’d really urge anyone to consider adopting one (as appropriate to their circumstances of course).

I wondered if that was the case. I have an old female cat atm, getting into her elderly years, she won’t be with me much longer most likely. That’s why I was thinking of adopting a kitten, thought that might make it easier for my current cat to get along with the new one, but with the cost differential I might try and get a younger male cat but no longer kitten anymore instead if they have a suitable option for me.

Any tips on introducing 2 cats the first time? I have googled a lot of links and read a bunch of really good instructions and am fairly confident on what I am going to need to do, seems its a 7-10 day process to do properly but if followed I am assured it should at least have them not tearing each others throats out if not becoming friends. Still keen for any tips from anyone who has done this before themselves. Cheers!

I can only report complete failure with getting two cats together in adulthood. We took in a stray, and Cats 1 and 2 ended up dividing up the house and hissing at each other when their paths crossed. I didn’t investigate medication from the vet but perhaps that might have helped. Fortunately, it turned out that the vet’s initial scan hadn’t picked up a chip in cat 2, a stray, because the scanner battery had run out. Six months later the chip was picked up and the cat was reunited with its owner. Cat 1 didn’t have a second cat foisted on it again.

Mysteryman said :

The amount of unwanted animals is atrocious. There is no reason for a companion pet owner to not have their animal speyed. Perhaps if the registration was heavily graded it would alleviate this issue.

– Full (un-neutered) animal – $1000 registration per year.
– Neutered animal – $10.00 per year.

If the government were to offer subsidised (or free) desexing for two years after implementing this, it would not be any real hardship on pet owners.

That way, show and pedigree breeders could pay the registration easily and people just wanting a pet would also have no difficulty.

I like this idea, but you would fine that if ppl hadn’t got the cat neutered, they simply wouldn’t register it either to avoid the cost. Nice in theory, probably wouldn’t work in practice unfortunately.

Leon said :

MERC600 said :

Why are the kittens more expensive than the cats? Just wondering.

I’d actually been thinking about adopting a kitten recently anyway, so I think I can help the RSPCA free up 1 spot at least. 🙂

I think it’s because everyone wants a kitten. I used to volunteer at the shelter, and they would often reduce the price further for older cats (5+) because it’s so much harder for them to find homes.

I saw the callout on Facebook on Tuesday night, and we adopted a mama cat on Wednesday morning. We already have an 8 month old cat, but so far so good. Cats are so easy, I’d really urge anyone to consider adopting one (as appropriate to their circumstances of course).

I wondered if that was the case. I have an old female cat atm, getting into her elderly years, she won’t be with me much longer most likely. That’s why I was thinking of adopting a kitten, thought that might make it easier for my current cat to get along with the new one, but with the cost differential I might try and get a younger male cat but no longer kitten anymore instead if they have a suitable option for me.

Any tips on introducing 2 cats the first time? I have googled a lot of links and read a bunch of really good instructions and am fairly confident on what I am going to need to do, seems its a 7-10 day process to do properly but if followed I am assured it should at least have them not tearing each others throats out if not becoming friends. Still keen for any tips from anyone who has done this before themselves. Cheers!

MERC600 said :

Why are the kittens more expensive than the cats? Just wondering.

I’d actually been thinking about adopting a kitten recently anyway, so I think I can help the RSPCA free up 1 spot at least. 🙂

Look at the cats too – I’ve adopted two older cats – no need to house train them, and mine have been wonderful. If you adopt an adult, their personality has developed which makes choosing one less risky re temperament traits. Plus it’s nice knowing you may have saved them from euthanasia (regardless of what the rescue places tell you, I doubt whether there really is a “no animals are ever euthanised” one).

Leon said :

.. Cats are so easy, I’d really urge anyone to consider adopting one (as appropriate to their circumstances of course).

My neighbour thinks so, too. She lets the damn thing wander around the neighbourhood day and night, urinating all over the place, digging up other people’s gardens, and fighting whenever it feels like it. So easy to look after when you aren’t responsible! (I’m not saying that you aren’t responsible, crackerpants – but there are a lot people think it’s easy because they don’t take any responsibility for their cats)

I suspect her cat will end up at the RSPCA should one of her neighbours decide to trap it.

MERC600 said :

Why are the kittens more expensive than the cats? Just wondering.

I’d actually been thinking about adopting a kitten recently anyway, so I think I can help the RSPCA free up 1 spot at least. 🙂

I think it’s because everyone wants a kitten. I used to volunteer at the shelter, and they would often reduce the price further for older cats (5+) because it’s so much harder for them to find homes.

I saw the callout on Facebook on Tuesday night, and we adopted a mama cat on Wednesday morning. We already have an 8 month old cat, but so far so good. Cats are so easy, I’d really urge anyone to consider adopting one (as appropriate to their circumstances of course).

Why are the kittens more expensive than the cats? Just wondering.

I’d actually been thinking about adopting a kitten recently anyway, so I think I can help the RSPCA free up 1 spot at least. 🙂

The amount of unwanted animals is atrocious. There is no reason for a companion pet owner to not have their animal speyed. Perhaps if the registration was heavily graded it would alleviate this issue.

– Full (un-neutered) animal – $1000 registration per year.
– Neutered animal – $10.00 per year.

If the government were to offer subsidised (or free) desexing for two years after implementing this, it would not be any real hardship on pet owners.

That way, show and pedigree breeders could pay the registration easily and people just wanting a pet would also have no difficulty.