Install
Adopting a Cat terms
Cats and kittens looking for homes: adoptable-cat profiles, adoption drives and the cats that wait longest.
Adopting a FIV-positive catTaking home a cat that tests positive for feline immunodeficiency virus, which many live with for years given good care.Adoption feeThe payment a shelter or rescue asks when you adopt a cat, which usually helps cover its veterinary care and the cost of running the organisation.Animal shelterA facility that takes in stray, lost and surrendered animals, holds them, and works to return them to owners or place them in new homes.Barn catA neutered, usually unsocialised cat placed in a barn, stable or yard with food and shelter, where it helps control rodents.Bonded pairTwo cats with a close attachment to each other, often adopted together by shelters and rescues so they are not separated.Foster careCaring for a shelter or rescue cat in your own home for a limited time until it is adopted, often a kitten, a mother or a recovering cat.Foster-to-adoptAn arrangement in which you take a shelter or rescue cat home for a trial period before deciding to adopt it permanently.No-kill shelterAn animal shelter that saves at least about nine in ten of the animals it takes in, a benchmark often called the 90 percent live release rate.Pet qualityA breeder's label for a pedigree kitten sold as a companion, not for showing or breeding, usually with a neutering agreement.Rescue groupA volunteer-run organisation that takes in cats from shelters, streets and owners, cares for them in foster homes and finds them permanent homes.Special-needs catA cat that needs extra care because of a disability, chronic illness, injury or age, and is often harder to place for adoption.