Home visiting at Cats Protection

Joel Scott, Deputy manager at the National Cat Adoption Centre explains about home visits.

Before any of our cats go to their new loving home the new owners need to have a Home visit.

Our Home visits are not to check how clean someone’s house is or to see if they offer us a cup of tea! It is to match up a person with a cat and a cat with a person.

Some of our cats have very specific needs and have to have the right home to cater to those needs.

Today I am going to see Mrs Mather to see if her home will be suitable for one of our cats Poppy, a Tabby six-month-old female. There is already a dog and a cat in the house so we need to make sure the house is big enough for another cat.

As I arrive I just have a quick look at the type of road to see if it is busy or quiet and whether it will suit Poppy’s needs. Because Poppy is so young this means she will have never been outside and traffic could be a problem.

The road is not too busy so I am happy with that, in fact there is lots of lovely farm land for her to explore when she is old enough and neutered.

Next I have a look at the room where Poppy will be starting off her life at the new home. I see where they will keep the litter tray, her bed and also where her food and water bowl will be.

After realising there is plenty of space for the two cats and dog I move on to the next part of the home visit which is where I explain how long the owners need to keep Poppy inside, when to feed and how much and what we suggest the owner does to make sure Poppy settles in well.

After going through all that I am more than happy to pass Mrs Mather for Poppy and I fill out her certificate! Poppy will arrive at her new home in a couple of days to start her new life with the Mathers!