We are planning to adopt a kitten and talking to a tierheim currently. They said to us that they have several available cats but they can only give 2 cats together and not possible to adopt 1 cat only, unless you already have one cat at your house.
We plan to leave the cat outside so not planning always to keep him/her inside the house thus prefer only adopting one cat, rather than coupel. And we have many friends who own single cats so i guess it is possible to own single cat by leaving him/her outside during the day.
Does anyone have any experience on this issue and any recommendations how to approach the tierheim to maybe convince them to give us a single cat for adoption?
If I may ask what your motivation would be for getting a single cat that you will mostly leave outside?
A single cat mostly left outside will eventually have to be scraped off the road or will go missing, or meet its end in some unfortunate manner. Cats are sociable and can get depressed alone, can ... of course one can keep a lone cat, but it would be the kind thing to keep it inside and with company.
My advice would be to get two, and keep them inside. Two cats are lower maintenance as they keep each other company and can be left alone for longer periods of time.
I have cats, have always had cats. When one of them has died and the other left alone he got terribly depressed and I had to get him company. I only do cats in pairs.
Again, what is your motivation for wanting a cat? I'm with the Tierheim on this one, I don't think you should convince them to give you a single kitten to be kept outside all the time.
This is my first time to hear adopting two cats together be a requirement. One possible reason for this is to take care of the cats' emotion/feeling. Many people think cats like to be alone. But cats also have feeling of companionship. That means they will feel bad (can be observed from their body/behavior) if other cats/people they are used to suddenly "disappear".
That said, if this is tierheim's logic behind the requirement, then I see unlikely they will agree to your request.
Each Tierheim or rescue group develops policies that they believe, based on their experience and knowledge of the individuals in question, are in the best interest of the animals in their care. You have to understand that they know their animals best, and make these decisions after careful consideration.
If a group has a policy that you cannot adhere to, I'll put on my rescue hat and be blunt: You need to move on. Find another group who do not have that policy.
Yes, adopting in pairs or groups is a fairly common policy here, to meet socialization needs as the posters above have described. But not all groups have that requirement.
There are plenty of cats needing homes, and many groups trying to find the right families for them. You just need to keep looking until you find a group whose policies align with what you can offer - while still holding the best interest of the cat front and center.
HOWEVER - if you find a group that does not have this requirement, I would want to do serious due diligence, to ensure they are an ethical rescue group. Be aware of the Dark Side - and the first sign of that is a 'rehomer' who does not take the best interest of the animal to heart when assessing what you can offer the cat.
And just an FYI - Because so many people want kittens most rescue groups can wait for a family that is a better fit. However, .you might find more flexibility if you are willing to adopt an older cat, or a cat with special needs, rather than a kitten - if that is something you are interested in., and can show a plan to otherwise meet socialization needs.
Hope you find your cat/cats/kitty/kitties soon - and I wish you all the best.
Many cat shelters will only allow adoption of cats that are able to go outside as and when they want. Only cats that have already been raised indoors can be house cats. The government also advise that where possible, do not have indoor only cats.
We adopted two sisters. They had a dominance battle, which ended up us having to give one back to the cat shelter. The probably reason for the issue was that they were neutered too late. It was a shame.
We also adopted a kitten at six weeks who had lost his mum in a car accident.
He had obviously missed out on a lot of the socialisation stuff he would have got from his mum and siblings and he was a biter too. He still is to some extent but nowhere near as bad as he was but it took a lot of time and patience and tips from the vet to get to that stage.
He lived quite happily with us as a single cat for almost 10 years until we go another kitten from a neighbour last year. It took a little while for them to bond but they’re now the best of friends. Our cats have always had access to outside and I think that’s a big consideration for single cats, there’s also been somebody around during the day most of the time so the cats have never had to spend long periods alone.
Indoor cats are best kept in pairs and rescue centres are usually quite insistent on this.
OP If you really want a kitten have a look on noticeboards in supermarkets etc, there are loads of kittens around looking for homes at this time of year.
It sounds like this is just the policy of that tierheim, I would not say it is mandatory for a cat to have a companion and indeed they are quite good at finding companions if they want them. Im pretty sure one of my 2 cats has at least 2 other families that believe they own him (chip aside).
I always owned one cat and had avoided 2 as I felt they would be more likely to spray and mark their terroritory in the house. However over covid we found ourselves with another young cat and I have to say owning 2 cats is quite simply a pleasure. The spraying problem never arose by the way, maybe because they are allowed outdoors. So dont dismiss the idea of 2.
Regarding being outdoors ours have the freedom to come and go, one has a tendency to stay more indoors than the other.
Our Wally was an indoor cat in Japan (where poisonings, fast cars, and other abuse, as well as numerous unspayed feral and semi feral cats were around). He was miserable, as was I trying to keep track of him. He could open most doors of our house too.
In Switzerland, where we are, there appear to be no strays, but five or six well feed and well cared for cats (so less fighting), and our garden joins two others, so he’s got a huge area to roam, not counting the forest (which he avoids) and the cemetery and fields - which he loves - for roaming around. Our street also doesn’t get much traffic, so the cat is a much happier creature here.
Switzerland is also quite good, as there are catteries (?), long and short stay cat hotels, where they can roam and be social if we are away for more than a couple of nights.
This said, I’m considering allowing Wally to adopt a kitten for the colder months, when we won’t be leaving a window open for him at night. Cats are very social, they may want their own space, but also still want the ability to intrude on our space when lonely.
A lot of that behavior also belongs to how they are socialized. But yes, an older cat shows you what you will get and if we find ours makes a friend his age who’s up for adoption, always a consideration.
Opartal, if this will be your first cat while living in Switzerland, you would be well advised to read the BLV's page on keeping cats here, including regulations and suggestions. There is lots of good info in the linked documents, some of which might give you a better understanding of the Tierheim's policies .
The debate here has happened on many occasions- indoors or outdoors. Personally, I would never ever have a cat unless it can live a normal life, coming in and out as it pleases, and living like a cat. Minou has a catflap and does what he wants, when he wants- and comes in, or follows me in the garden- on his terms. This how I always had cats, since I was a young child.
Plenty of kittens, sadly, to be given away at the moment as too many people do not have their cat/s neutered. But the Swiss mentality, overall- is that cats need as safe as poss outside access. Our last 2 lots of kittens in the UK, also came in pairs, and also requested outdoor access, so not just a Swiss thing.