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Rehoming Question
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01-02-2013 10:28pm#1Hi All,
I don't really know if this is a question or more just looking for a bit of advice. I'll give a brief outline of my situation. I am the lucky owner of 5 lovely cats but find myself in the position of having to possibly rehome one of them.
It is not by choice and has definitely been a very difficult decision. Basically my husbands job has been moved from Ireland to the U.S. and we are going to be moving there for at least the next 3 years and potentially longer. My initial reaction was to obviously look at bringing them all with us as we love them all and I started my planning assuming they would all be coming with us but it just doesn't look like it is going to be feasible. It's not only the cost of transporting them (which is quite high) but also the difficulty in being able to find a place to live over there with them all. Many of the places we are looking to live are governed by quite strict animal control laws. Almost all of the areas require all domestic animals to be licensed and most of them have restrictions regarding the number of animals you can have (3-4 cats being the max in most cases).
We know which cat we would rehome. It's not due to anything other than he is the youngest and therefore the most rehomable. Also, we think he would be the most adaptable to a new situation . Our second youngest is a socialised feral and definitely not suitable for rehoming as he only trusts me and my husband and the others are just with us too long to bear the idea of parting with.
So. Here comes my real issue. I really really need to know that he would be homed with a seasoned cat owner and someone I could trust would not just hand him off to someone else. Is this even a possibility? The reason I am nervous about it is because of a terrible experience my sister had when rehoming her dog. Less than 2 years ago she emigrated to Australia and couldn't bring her dogs with her. My family took one but she was forced to rehome the other with strangers. Through her sister in law they later discovered that the initial person they rehomed him with couldn't keep him and he was handed off to another person who it turned out totally mistreated and neglected him. When they found him he was in an awful state and starving. They thankfully got him back and got him a good home. However, it sickens my sister (and me) to think of the distress he went through during that year. As if it wasn't traumatic enough for my sister (and her dog) to go through the separation but then to have that lumped on top of it all was just horrific. Every time she has been home she talks about how guilty she still feels.
Anyway, I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself if he ended up being neglected or mistreated in any way. And for my own piece of mind I would need to be confident that the person we gave him to would really look after him. Is this too much to ask for and is it even possible to achieve?
Thanks in advance for any advice.0
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Thanks for your reply. I have exhausted every possibility of family and friends, unfortunately we don't know many cat lovers (or crazy people!) like ourselves.
Also, his story is a little bit unusual. I should have mentioned it initially but the post was getting too long.
He was born to a feral cat that we were looking after until she had her kittens and they were weaned and we could get her spayed. He was the only boy in a litter of four. We noticed after a few days that she kept moving the other kittens away from him and leaving him on his own. We kept putting him back to her and actually had to stay with them to make sure he was suckling. After a few weeks it became obvious something wasn't quite right with him. He was very unstable and his head would bob uncontrollably. After some internet research and talking to our vets we discovered he has cerebellar hypoplasia or 'wobbly kitten' syndrome. We had initially intended rehoming him along with his sisters but because of his condition found it difficult and we ended up getting very attached and holding on to him. One vet actually suggested euthanasia but we absolutley refused.. it isn't a fatal condition, it just make's him a little different! For about the first year he was fairly bad and used to have difficulty with his balance etc. We even had to hold his shoulders so his head would stop bobbing long enough to eat. But he is almost two years old now and you would hardly notice any difference from him to our other cats! We actually have difficulty believing ourselves that there was ever anything wrong with him.
However, because of his condition he would be in no way suitable to being a roaming cat. He has to be kept confined, either indoors or in a secure garden. This wasn't an issue for us as we have had a cat proof fence in our garden to keep all our cats in so he was able to be in and out just like the others. Hence my need for him to go to an experienced cat owner. He would be absolutely fine as an indoor only cat as he is fully litter trained. Actually, we have often said he makes an ideal indoor cat as because of his condition he can't actually jump up on kitchen worktops! He has adapted unbelievably well and like I say except for a few things, like not having the best coordination or balance ever (i.e. running down the stairs and not being able to apply the breaks on time to prevent a collision with the front door
), he is just like any other cat.
His is a very unique little guy and we are totally gutted to have to rehome him. It has been a tough decision to make and I just hope we can sort something out. He deserves to be loved.
Here's a few pictures of Toby aka 'little dude';
Newborn:
Today:
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Sorry, I meant to mention I'm in Cork. I actually have had dealings with some of the local rescues here as me and my husband have been involved in a bit of TNR (very small scale). I know that they already have enough cats/kittens to rehome so didn't want to bother them. I'll put up some posters in a few vets around, you'd never know.
I don't know what I'll do if we don't find someone but I definitely won't be handing him over to a shelter. I'd prefer to sneak him over to the States in my suitcase!
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Hi All,
I just came across this thread and realised in all the chaos and excitement of moving to California that I never updated! I am happy to announce that little dude was able to join us and his 4 brother's and sister on the transatlantic relocation!! He (and his siblings) are happily settled in and loving life state side. We decided we just couldn't part with little dude (a.k.a. little man these days) so I made two trips across to San Francisco, 1st one with him and his oldest brother Ollie, and then went back to Ireland to get Oscar, Ruby and Mylo. There were a few eyebrows raised in the Dept. of Homeland Security over here but they released them all to us eventually... Phew!!! There were a few hoops to jump through but nothing crazy. TOTALLY worth it!
Anyhow, Happy Holidays from California from Ger, Brian, Ollie, Oscar, Ruby, Mylo and Little Dude 
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Hi All,
I just came across this thread and realised in all the chaos and excitement of moving to California that I never updated! I am happy to announce that little dude was able to join us and his 4 brother's and sister on the transatlantic relocation!! He (and his siblings) are happily settled in and loving life state side. We decided we just couldn't part with little dude (a.k.a. little man these days) so I made two trips across to San Francisco, 1st one with him and his oldest brother Ollie, and then went back to Ireland to get Oscar, Ruby and Mylo. There were a few eyebrows raised in the Dept. of Homeland Security over here but they released them all to us eventually... Phew!!! There were a few hoops to jump through but nothing crazy. TOTALLY worth it!
Anyhow, Happy Holidays from California from Ger, Brian, Ollie, Oscar, Ruby, Mylo and Little Dude
Fabulous! That warmed my heart on this cold Irish December afternoon!
Thank you for updating!0 -
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