Meow & Forever

It’s a huge decision to give up a pet, no matter what the reason is. Often, people take them to a shelter or rescue for surrender. The reality is if you have the time and ability to find your pet a new home, it will offer a much smoother transition for both of you and spare cats the stressful shelter environment. Meow & Forever is designed to help you find the best family for your cat by offering resources to keep them out of shelters.

How Can We Help You?

• I want to rehome my cat on my own
• I’m looking for short-term rehoming or a short-term foster solution
• I want to learn more about rehoming with Meow & Forever
• I have a barn cat I’m looking to rehome

How to Rehome Your Cat on Your Own

If rehoming is the best solution for you and your pet, here are some ideas and resources to help you rehome your cat on your own.

Prepare Your Pet for a New Home

If you are able to provide the following care, it is important your pet is spayed/neutered, in good health, and up to date on vaccinations. It’s beneficial if they are house-trained and reasonably well-behaved. Then:

Compose a short bio describing the personality, habits, and unique traits that make your pet special. Check out “How to Write Animal Bios to Get Pets into Homes” for tips!

Choose 1 to 3 great photos to feature your pet in advertising. Remember, one blurry photo is like no photo at all! You want people to connect with the image! It has to be crisp, clear, and it should focus on the cat’s face with their eyes open. Take a look at this short, fun video for taking great photos with your cell phone.

Get the Word Out

You know how great your pet is and now you have to share that with others! Advertising your pet is a lot like marketing. You want to help people feel a personal connection with the animal and inspire them to take the next step. Here’s a short list of how to advertise your pet.

Other options include sharing your pet online with your family, friends, and colleagues on free social sites such as:

• Facebook and Instagram, social networks with community pages and groups
• Craigslist, an advertising network
• Nextdoor, a social network for your immediate neighborhood
• LinkedIn, a professional social network for businesses and people

Use well-known online adoption tools and sites specific to pets, such as:

• Rehome by Adopt-A-Pet, the safe, no-cost-way to rehome your pet
• GetYourPet.com, where adopters connect with people needing to rehome a pet

Flyers are inexpensive and often effective. Use PetBond to easily make them. Utilize community contacts (e.g. churches, book clubs, PTA meetings, etc.) and post flyers at businesses, such as grocery stores, pet stores, coffee shops, vet offices, dentists, doctors, etc.

When people begin to reach out, after they’ve seen your marketing for your pet, they are going to want to meet the pet in person. To pick the right adopter, you’ll want to get to know them, be wary of any red flags (a big one of ours is declawing – not a good thing!) and build that relationship with the possible new family. Check out this link to help with screening questions and to see what makes a good home. It will also help guide you through meet and greets.

You can also read through FieldHaven’s adoption survey for ideas of what to ask to guide the rehoming process. Use your instincts and don’t be afraid to build that relationship with a possible adopter so that you can feel more comfortable and keep in touch with them.

Adoption Fees

It is up to you if you wish to ask for or accept an adoption fee, and it is also up to you to determine an amount. You can use a fee to help you feel more comfortable with the adoption (though studies reveal that if someone gets a pet for free they do not value the pet any less nor do they care for them any less – that pet is still family and will be treated as such), or to help you offset any medical care you’ve provided. If you are uncomfortable with that, you can recommend they make a donation to FieldHaven Feline Center, to help more cats in need. Donations may be made online here or they can mail a check to 2754 Ironwood Lane, Lincoln, CA 95648.

Local Resources

• Placer SPCA SOS Program, designed to help Placer County residents keep their companion animals through difficult times
• Placer County Animal Services Center
• Yuba Sutter SPCA
• Front Street Animal Shelter
  • Home to Home by Front Street, giving people who can no longer keep their pets the opportunity to find new homes without sending them to the shelter
  • KeepYourPet.com, helping people and pets stay together
• Sacramento SPCA

Need more help? Check out Petfinder for resources for how to best handle giving up your pet and for finding a home for your pet.

Short-Term Rehoming

If you are rehoming your pet for a short-term need or because of medical/veterinary bills, or need short-term foster care, or something else that could be assisted with help, consider other options instead of rehoming:

Ask for Help

Ask family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and even acquaintances (as your circle to ask their circle because they may have a trusted person who can help!) if they can assist temporarily or long-term with fostering your pet, contributing to vet bills, and/or networking your pet through their groups. If you need a foster agreement, here is a template you can use for peace of mind. You can also use all of the options on this page to help find a temporary foster home, because just as if you needed to give up your pet permanently, finding a foster home requires reaching out and finding someone who can temporarily help by housing your pet.

Fundraise

Consider a GoFundMe to raise money or check out these other financial aid options and ideas.

Pet Boarding

Utilize boarding or long-term daycare for temporary housing. Several local options include: