How to Adopt Cats and Facilitate Adaptation

Some people think cats can easily be abandoned because they can take care of themselves in the streets.

Truth is, domestic cats are dependent on the people who take care of them and are confused and helpless when they´re abandoned.

Most stray cats have had negativeexperiences.

Adoption is a love gesture, but it also requires a lot of patience.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before adopting

1.) Do you want to adopt a kitten, an adult or a senior cat?

If you adopt a kitten know that:

You´ll have to teach him the habits of daily coexistence.

He´s very active and restless.

He cries a lot.

Adult cats on the other hand are calmer and have already learned how to behave in a house.

And senior cats are even calmer and spend more time sleeping.

2.) Does anyone suffer of allergies to cat hair?

It´s one of the most frequent causes for abandonment.

3.) Do you have time to take him to the vet?

4.) Who will stay with him when you´re on a trip?

5.) How many hours a day will he be alone?

6.) Do you have a budget for food, vets and cleaning?

7.) Do you have other pets? You´ll need to inform yourself about how to carry out the adaptation process between them.

Requisites for adopting

It may vary depending on the location and shelter, but here are the most common ones:

Being of legal age.

Filling a form explaining the conditions in which he´ll live and who will assume the responsibility for his care.

Accepting visits from the shelter to verify the cat´s well-being.

Assuming the costs for sterilization and vaccines.

Signing an adoption contract.

Accessories to buy before arriving home

Litter box for relieving himself.

Carrier.

Food and water bowl.

Toys.

Scratcher: it sharpens his nails.

Bed.

How to gain his trust

Adaptation time may take days or weeks.

Don´t pressure him to get near you.

Let him take the initiative.

Motivate him to get near you placing food around you or playing with him.

If he shows aggressiveness, know that it has to do with fear and mistrust.

Don´t yell at him.

Remember, only patience and love will achieve his trust in you.

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CREDITS#1 Flickr / Life inside the cage - wild cat / Emran Kassim

#2 Flickr / cat-on-street / Ryan Lackey

#3 Flickr / cats-on-the-street / Dan DeLuca

#4 Flickr / Cat On My Street / Indi Samarajiva

#5 Flickr / Cat Adoption 1 (7-27-13) / Planned Pethood

#6 Flickr / Relaxing and thinking/ icholas Canup

#7 Flickr / Old cat... /  Freddie Westerhof

      Flickr / Kitten Sitting /  Spring Dew

      Flickr / ADOPTED! Trista / Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue

#8 Flickr / Kittens / William Haas

#9 Flickr / Cat training / Henri Bergius

#10 Flickr / Kitten vs Penguin Wrestling  / guino k

#11 Flickr / Kitten dispenser  / gemot

#12 wikimedia  / Snowshoe (cat) / Cooseman22 at the English Wikipedia project

#13 wikimedia  / RedCat 8727 /Mike Switzerland

#14 Flickr / No273 13 Oct 2009 Sneeze / farlandmo

#15 Flickr / cats-on-the-street-6 /  Dan DeLuca

#16 Flickr / comfy on the scale / indsey Turner

#17 Flickr / Passport and Luggage / Sean MacEntee

#18 Flickr / Abandoned cats - calendar / Stefan Tell

#19 Flickr / dog bow / Joanna Bourne

#20 Flickr / AMBER and Puppies 057 / Sew In Time

#21 Flickr / Feb 20 (Day 51): To Do List / David Machiavello

#22 Flickr / Wood Green Animal Shelter / Lynne Featherstone

#23 Flickr / Vancouver Public Library / Teen Advisory Committee-13

#24 Flickr / Katya Boltanova / A Participant filling out the course evaluation form

#25 Flickr / The dog catcher / Wonderlane

#26  Flickr / Antiskeptics / dynamosquito

#27 Flickr /  Signing on it / Dava Heermoe

#28 Flickr / They share a water bowl, and each get their own food bowl / Wendy Perlson

#29 Wikimedia / Fresh cat litter / CambridgeBayWeather

#30 Flickr / Eris and cat carrier (1) / keith_death

#31 Flickr / rocky's food/water bowl / AC:MP

#32 Flickr / cat toy tutorial 8-jasper / Cheryl

#33 Flickr / Cats will sleep on anything / Kelly Sedinger

#34 Flickr / Dotty Cat Bed / kelp

#35 Flickr / Cat and Owner / James Chidlow

#36 Flickr / Calendar Card - January /  Joe Lanman

#37 Flickr / Finn goes for a walk/drag / Liz

#38 Flickr / Cat / HannahVB

#39 Flickr / ~Feeding the boardwalk cats~ / ~Sage~

#40 Flickr / Very Angry Cat / Sairil

#41 Flickr / Yelling Man / Paul Cross

#42 Flickr / Jethro the cat / Torrey Wiley