Home a Cat
Are you
ready to rehome a cat?
If you think you are ready to adopt a cat just take a few minutes to think this through. In particular, cats can live up to 20 years, can you offer a cat a stable home for that long? Depending upon the quality of the food, feeding a cat will cost you between 40 and 75 cents per day for dry food and €1 to €3.5 per day for wet food, plus the cost of litter, toys etc. Veterinary fees will need to be considered and you will need to visit the vet at least once every year for a check-up and booster vaccinations. You may also need to arrange for you cat to be boarded whilst you go on holiday. Can you make this commitment? If you get a long haired cat you will need to set aside regular time for grooming to avoid matting.
If you are able to provide a good home for a needy cat please come and visit us at the Rifugio to discuss your needs and encounter a wide variety of healthy loving cats.
The adoption process
If you are ready to adopt a cat, the procedure is very simple, there is no charge but a donation is welcome. A member of staff will ask you some questions to assess which cat would suit each of you. Having chosen you will then be required to fill in an adoption module where it is clearly stated that if at any time you can no longer care for the cat then it must be returned to the cattery. There will be follow-up telephone calls from the staff to check that the cat is settling in and that its new owner is happy.
Adopt
an older cat
Adult cats come into Cinni for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the owner has moved somewhere that doesn’t allow pets, divorce, a child has allergies, the owner has died or gone into care. Sometimes these cats are the victims of cruelty. These cats have many years of life ahead of them and they are looking for a loving home.
Although people come to Cinni to choose a kitten there are many advantages to adopting an older cat. You can see their personality and if they suit you and your family. Adult cats are less demanding than kittens, they will be neutered which makes them much better pets, litter trained and calmer. An adult cat is much less likely to climb up curtains and break things and therefore they can better be left on their own while you are out.
If you don’t consider an older cat you could be missing out on a very special loving relationship.
Not able to adopt? You can still help us
There are many practical way of helping Cinni and the homeless cats and kittens that come into our care. We provide unwanted cats and kittens with a clean and safe living environment, attentive carers, medical attention and food until such time as they are adopted. There are four key ways you can help support our work:
Adopt
a cat at a distance
If you are unable to accommodate a cat in your home, then you can for €25 a month help to provide practical support for a cat that you choose to ‘adopt at a distance’. Once you have selected a cat to adopt in this way, we will send you a photo with the cat’s name. You would be welcome to visit Cinni during visiting hours to visit your cat when you wish. You will also automatically be put on our mailing list to receive our newsletters and updates.
Sponsor
a cat cabin or run
One area in which a group of people or a business could help would be to sponsor the maintenance and/or running costs of a cat cabin or run, or help with current appeals – for example the new roofing of some of the cat runs and building a new kitten area. For further information see our support us page.
Volunteering
Volunteering is one of the most worthwhile things you can do and at Cinni there are opportunities to help us in a variety of ways, from helping to socialise kittens to help promoting our work or helping at one our fundraising events. If you have practical skills such as building trades, gardening etc we need you.
Organise a fund-raising event
A very social and rewarding way of helping a charity such as ours is to organise a fund raising event. This could be just with a group of friends or a larger event to which the general public are invited. Events might include garden parties, jumble sales, car boot sales, cake sales, plant sales or indeed anything else you can think of!!! We could provide support by helping with advertising and we have items for sale such as t-shirts etc and a large range of second hand books (both Italian and English). If you would like to organise a fund-raising event please get in touch with us.
Success stories
NERO – From
Tuscany to Scotland!
A young couple that were on holiday in Anghiari, Arezzo, saw a distraught little black kitten, thin and totally lost, wandering the streets where they were staying. They didn’t know what to do. It then occurred to them that by phoning the AISPA maybe they could get help. They were promptly put in touch with us and Nero was placed under our protection and the couple expressed their desire to take him back to Scotland. So, after six months of staying with us, we were able to make the necessary preparations for him. They then returned to Italy to take him back to their home. He is now a very happy cat in a loving home with a magnificent garden.
MICHELE
Michele, an 18 year old male tabby in excellent condition, had lived until he came to us with his owner in a flat in Arezzo. After the owner had contracted a very serious illness, he was unable to care for Michele. He reluctantly had to hand Michele over to us. Surprisingly he settled in very quickly and was so delighted with his new surroundings and the smell and excitement of his new world that he quickly became our house cat and enjoys wandering around the grounds freely. He is now considered our mascot.
FAGIOLINO
AND TITA
You should have seen these two (now beautiful adult cats) when, as kittens, they arrived at the cattery... barely 4 weeks old, brother and sister, huddled together in a filthy rotten cardboard box, thin as rakes, weak, full of fleas and obviously starving hungry. The box was found next to a rubbish bin! After receiving full and extensive veterinary care, the two kittens were placed into the quarantine area where they found soft beds, toys and most importantly, regular meals and TLC. Slowly but surely they developed into two very handsome looking healthy adult cats. Eventually an Italian family with 2 children adopted both Fagiolino and Tita, realising that to separate them would have broken their hearts and although the family had come to the cattery to adopt just one cat they absolutely fell in love with these siblings and as you can see from the photos Fagiolino and Tita are extremely happy.
