Adopt A Cat

Colony kittens, foster cats and house cats being rehomed:

who is passing the cat on tells you most of what to ask. A kitten from a street colony learns indoor life well if it is taken in before about eight weeks. An adult born outside may never settle in an apartment, and an honest rescuer says so. A cat living in a volunteer’s foster home has been watched day to day, so the foster carer can tell you whether it uses the tray, hides from visitors or puts up with other cats. A house cat rehomed by its owner comes with a history: its age, its vet card and the habits it will bring. If the cat you picked up may already have a family, post it in animals lost and found before offering it for adoption. Litter, a scratching post and a carrier for the first vet visit are in cat supplies, and if your household is still weighing a cat against a dog, look at adopt a dog too.

A mixed-breed kitten, an adult cat or a Persian:

a kitten under four months wants company for most of the day. An adult of two or more has a settled character and suits a small flat, or a house with a toddler. Most mixed-breed cats here are short-haired and ask little in grooming. A Persian is a different commitment: the coat mats without daily brushing, the flat face brings runny eyes and breathing trouble, and the breed carries an inherited kidney disease, so ask whether the parents were scanned for it. Two kittens from the same litter often settle better than one on its own, because they keep each other busy while you are out.

Sterilisation and the contribution a rescuer asks for:

the cat itself carries no price. What a rescuer may ask back is the vet work already paid for. Foundation-run clinics sterilise a mixed-breed cat for around $15 and take low-cost sterilisation days out to neighbourhoods, while a private clinic charges several times that. A contribution that lines up with sterilisation, deworming and a first vaccine is normal. One that runs to hundreds of dollars for a Persian or a Siamese is not an adoption, whatever the listing calls it.

A rescued cat’s ears, coat and gums:

see the cat where it lives and handle it before deciding. Dark, crumbly wax and constant head-shaking point to ear mites, common in colony kittens and passed easily to other pets. Round patches of missing fur can be ringworm, which spreads to people as well as cats. Lift the lip: pale gums can mean a heavy flea load, red gums and bad breath mean dental trouble in an older cat. An unneutered male still shows testicles under the tail and has strong-smelling urine. For a female, ask for the date and the clinic, because the scar disappears under the fur within weeks. The vaccination card is the one piece of paper that should go home with the cat.

Rehoming a cat from Boquete, Gorgona or the city:

describe the cat the way an adopter will meet it. Give its age and sex, whether it is sterilised and where, which vaccines it has had, and whether it has lived with dogs or children. Say whether it is used to going out, because a cat that has roamed a garden in the Boquete hills will struggle shut in a city apartment. Add daylight photos of the face and whole body, and a short clip of it playing. Name your town: someone in Panama City will drive to Coronado or Chitré for the right cat, but wants to know the distance first and should arrive with a closed carrier, not a plan to hold the cat on their lap. If you are rehoming a litter, some low-cost clinics sterilise kittens from six weeks, so they can leave already done and you will not be finding homes for their kittens a year from now.