08/13/2025
Letās have some fun with a little informational Q&A post! This one may feel a little brutal but itās always prevalent, especially during spring and summerā¦.
Why do we turn people away from surrendering cats and/or kittens to us?
- Truly there are a number of reasons, but the most prevalent one is that we do not have space. While you may question āwhatās one more?ā Or āIām sure you could find a spot in your house (bathroom, spare room, garage), ask a friend, family member, etc.ā First of all, we can ask you the same thingsā¦ š«£ Second, is that we have quite literally expended every avenue we have by the time we tell someone ānoā in regard to taking in an unwanted and/or abandoned cat. The reality is that when we are full, we really mean that we are FULL. Itās not to make you feel bad, itās not to solicit attention, and itās definitely not because we donāt want to help. All we want to do is help. The cats we have in our care are our highest priority and they do come first. Everyone has their limits, and ours are often maxed out. Especially being one of the feline only rescues in Clackamas County.
Why are we slow at responding to messages?
- We canāt keep up 90% of the time. For the past 3 months, we receive at minimum 8 requests per day of people requesting to surrender to us. This floods our messages. If youāre ever frustrated that you havenāt heard back from us, we implore you to reach out again until you do. We unfortunately do not have a phone number to call as we all work during the day and itās not feasible for us at this time. Facebook Messenger or email is the best way to reach us. We try to respond within 48 hours, but we do fall short and bringing your message back up to the top of the list by reaching out again is the best solution for a response.
Why donāt we have a physical business location for people to come meet our feline friends?
- We would love nothing more than to have a true brick and mortar location for anyone to come by and meet our kitties, but we do not have the funding to do soā¦ maybe one day. For now, we schedule meet and greets with potential adopters and the fosters that have the cat/kitten.
For what reasons do we decline adoption applications?
- There are a few reasons we will decline
1. The cat will be 100% outdoors and we donāt feel that itās best suited for them
2. We do not support the use of Companion Pet Clinic in Gresham. If this is your primary vet, please do further research on this clinic, but this is also a reason we have declined people in the past.
3. We will look up adopters and if we see that someone either rehomed and/or has lost their pets, this will result in a decline. This is more circumstantial, however. We do realize that mistakes happen and some things are out of your control.
Why do we have some cats in our care for a REALLY long time?
- They are patiently awaiting their purrrfect furever family to come along to find them. This often happens with adult cats, shy cats, black cats, and tabby cats. At this time, we have about 11 teenage/adult cats we have had in the rescue for over a year.
Why donāt we do more TNR (trap, neuter, release), especially in Clackamas County?
- We try to step in and utilize FCCOās service as much as we can with assisting people in Clackamas County, however, we are already spread so thin with our current day-to-day operations that it can be difficult for us to find a time suitable to get out and trap. We also do not have barn homes lined up for feral cats, so when someone is just wanting to rid themselves of feral cats on their property, we donāt have the ability to place them elsewhere unless prior arrangements are made.
Hopefully this sheds some light into the difficult things we face, primarily on a daily basis. Itās rough out here, and every summer seems to be worse with more and more kittens popping up.
This post isnāt to make anyone feel bad or shameful, itās purely informational, and donāt let this deter you from still reaching out to us. We are happy to help however we can and we do have many resources and information to provide even when we canāt directly help.
