Community/Cat Assistance Team (CAT)

Call our Behavior Hotline

Does your cat pee outside of the litterbox? Is your cat often grouchy with family members? Learn about what your cat is trying to communicate to solve issues before they become BIG problems!

Cats communicate to us through their behavior and we owe it to them and to our families to learn what they’re trying to say before a big problem arises, and, learning a new language is fun!

Here are some links to many online articles and resources which can greatly improve your relationship with any cat.

Our cat resource library

If an article does not solve the problem, our CAT Team volunteers are here to help. Please call 916-434-6022 and leave a message or and a volunteer will get back to you.

The reality of the situation is that you stand between this cat’s life and his death. If you can let us partner with you in an effort to keep the cat at your property, you will truly be a community hero!

A stray cat is a socialized, domestic cat that has simply lost its home. Stray cats need to be adopted. Over the years, domestic cats have lost some of their feral instincts for survival and often perish in the wild. It’s important to get these cats off the streets and back into loving homes, where their human companions can provide them with the care they need.

Can you keep feeding? Offer Shelter?

Become a FieldHaven Community Cat Guardian!

Every situation requires a unique solution, and our CAT Team is equipped to help.

As a Cat Guardian you are showing you care for the cat you’ve rescued and want to be part of the solution. If you are able to give the cat shelter and care, this will give us valuable time to find a solution. A Community Cat Guardian is a hero partner!

By partnering with FieldHaven we can come up with a plan for each cat in need. Our CAT volunteers are super creative experts at crafting solutions that will be a win for everyone involved, especially the cat!

Phone 916-434-6022 and leave a message or and a volunteer will get back to you. Please provide us with as much information as possible, including answers to the following questions:

• Where are you and the cat located?
• How did you encounter the cat(s).
• Describe the cat(s) to the best of your knowledge (color, age, sex, condition, tame vs. feral, etc.)
• Is the cat in a safe place?
• Would you or someone you know be willing to foster the cat(s) or become a FieldHaven Community Cat Guardian?

• Feral and Stray Cats – an Important Difference -– Alley Cat Allies
• FieldHaven Resource Library
• How to Live with Cats in Your Neighborhood

For thousands of years, cats have lived outdoors alongside humans. Just because cats don’t live in our homes doesn’t mean they are ‘homeless.’ Yet the current animal control system and even misguided animal welfare organizations believe that taking feral cats to shelters is more humane than leaving cats to live outdoors. The science – and the opinion of most Americans – tells a different story.

Current animal control and shelter policies don’t just kill healthy cats – they violate the humane ethic of most Americans. A 2007 study by Alley Cat Allies found that 81% of people polled consider it more humane to leave a cat outside where it is than to have the cat caught and then killed.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what happens to more than 70% of all pet quality cats brought into shelters, and nearly 100% of feral cats.

The science shows that keeping feral cat colonies intact (trapping, spaying or neutering and returning (TNR) in lieu of trapping and killing) is actually the best practice – removing feral cats from an area will just create a vacuum effect wherein other cats will move in and homestead, so it is best to leave the feral cat colonies where they are as long as they have a food and water source, shelter and are allowed to live their lives in relative peace.

Get more feral cat resources, learn more about the benefits of caring for a feral cat colony, and how FieldHaven can help on our Feral Cat Page.

First consider all other solutions.

We love and understand cats and think that the best possible home for your kitty is your home. After all, you made a commitment to your furry family member who thinks of you as family and we would like to do everything we can to help you honor that commitment.

The sad fact today is that shelters nationwide can only rehome a fraction of the animals brought in. So the direct result of bringing a cat to a shelter is that your cat or another cat will most likely be euthanized. FieldHaven’s shelter capacity including foster homes is 60 cats and we are consistently full. Yet we receive an average of 15 calls per day from folks urgently needing to rehome their cats.

So before making the decision to take your cat to a shelter, please thoughtfully consider the following alternative solutions:

• Are you having a behavioral issue with your pet?
  Our cat resource library has excellent references for how to solve many behavioral issues. Our volunteers are also available for questions and counseling. We urge you to understand what your cat is trying to tell you before a small issue become a big problem.
• Do you need to move and can’t find a place where cats are accepted?
  Start with the "Renting with Pets" section in our resource library.
• Do you have medical issues relating to your cat?
• Are you concerned by hyped-up reports in the media relating cat ownership with certain conditions such as ringworm, roundworm, toxoplasmosis, etc.? Our CAT Team members can help you decipher fact from fiction and teach you how to live safely with your pet cat. See the "Human Health Issues" section in our resource library.
You can enjoy your feline more when you take action to tame your cat allergy symptoms.
--WebMD
• Do you believe that your allergies are caused by your cat? Pet dander is known to be a cause of allergy symptoms; however, there are a number of other causes of similar symptoms to consider:
  
  Many causes of allergy-like symptoms can be related to the home itself. Toxins such as formaldehyde are slowly released into the air from upholstered furniture, drapes, carpet and anything with flame-retardant chemicals. If you do not air out your home regularly, they can build up and cause breathing problems. A buildup of dust or hidden mold can also cause sneezing and problems with breathing. Doing a regular spring clean (with mild cleaning products) can help you, your family, and your pets feel better. A central air cleaner -- as well as filters on the vents themselves -- can help prevent cat dander from circulating through the house.
  
  Allergy Resources
• Allergy- and Asthma-Proof Your Home – WebMD
• Babies Who Live With Pets May Have Fewer Allergies – Healthy Pets with Dr. Karen Becker
• How to Desensitize a Cat Allergy – eHow.com
• Allergy Shots (Immunotherapy) for Allergic Rhinitis - WebMD

Still need to rehome your cat?

• Consider speaking with extended family members or friends to see if they would accept your pet into their home. This way, you can still be involved in your pet’s life even if vicariously. Perhaps by offering monetary support, you can make the idea more acceptable to them – you could fund their monthly cat food bill, pay for toys, or offer to fund your cat’s medical needs.
• Explore other ideas. How to Find Homes for Pets offers you some tips and helpful advice. How to Safely Rehome Your Cat has some useful tips and advice. Gina Spadafori, Pet Columnist for the Sacramento Bee, wrote an excellent article on placing adult cats -- Finding a Home for Adult Cats is Worth the Work. You'll also find many more helpful animal-related information at Gina's website PetConnection (www.petconnection.com). And of course, our CAT Team members are also available for questions and counseling.
• Bring your kitty to our outreach adoption events to meet potential adopters.
We can only accept cats on our Waiting List from the following communities: Lincoln, Sheridan, Newcastle, Wheatland, Penryn and Loomis.
• List your cat on our website and sign up on our shelter Courtesy List. Although generally only one cat per week is adopted from our Website Courtesy Posting, you may list your cat on our website and be added to our waiting list if you live in the following communities: Lincoln, Sheridan, Newcastle, Wheatland, Penryn, and Loomis. Your cat’s photo and particulars will be posted on our website with you as the contact person. Your cat’s name will be prefaced by “WL” as shown on our adoptables page. Your cat will also be listed on the Petfinder website (www.petfinder.com). In order to accept your cat on our website, he or she must be spayed/neutered, up to date on vaccines, and have been tested for FeLV. The donation for listing your cat on our website is $25 if you are not a FieldHaven member. To put a Courtesy Posting on our website and place your cat on our Waiting List, please complete the following:
• Read the Cat Surrender Policy.
• Complete the Courtesy Listing/Surrender Application Survey. (The completed form will be automatically emailed to our CAT volunteers)
• Fax (or have your vet fax) your cat's medical history to 916-644-6415.
• Email pictures of your cat to surrender@fieldhaven.com
• Remit your listing fee of $25 to our PayPal account link below. (This fee is waived for FieldHaven members).
  
  
• As space becomes available at FieldHaven we will accept cats on the Waiting List into the shelter. For owner-surrenders there is a surrender fee of $125 and up, depending on your cat's age, health, etc. which is payable upon entry into our shelter.

Questions? Speak to one of our CAT Team volunteers.

Phone 916-434-6022 and leave a message or and a volunteer will get back to you.

Read our Guidelines on Bequeathing Pets to FieldHaven and learn how FieldHaven can care for the life of your pet should something happen to you.