How to rehome your cat

Cats Protection. Contact your local branch or centre, not its charity shops, which can’t help with rehoming. It will check you’ve explored your options, then arrange a time to bring your cat to a centre or a volunteer fosterer. “There can often be waiting lists”, so start early. Its Home to Home scheme lets your cat stay at home during rehoming, with no specific fee.

Blue Cross. Home Direct keeps your cat with you while Blue Cross finds a new owner; call pet admissions on 0300 777 1960 or use its online form.

Battersea (London and the South East) takes cats through an online form, with a waiting list and a suggested £50 donation.

List your cat on LocalPetFinder. Free, checked by a person before it goes live, and adopters message you through the site, so your email and phone stay private. Your cat stays with you until you’ve met and chosen the new owner.

In England, cats must be microchipped by 20 weeks, and a cat can’t be passed to a new keeper unless it’s chipped; the new keeper must update the database (2023 Regulations, reg. 9). Microchipping cats is optional in Scotland and Wales. Either way, transfer the chip on a government-approved database at the handover.

Cats Protection asks owners not to advertise a cat “for free online”, because free listings attract the wrong people. If you list privately, a modest rehoming fee paid at the handover, and meeting adopters in person, both help.

Tell adopters the truth about your cat: indoor or outdoor, how they are with children, dogs and other cats, any health needs. An honest listing is the one that lasts.

• Keep bonded cats together if you can.
• Hand over your cat’s vet and vaccination records.
• Meet the adopter in person, at home or somewhere you’re comfortable, and never by courier.