Outdoorsy rescue cats are harder to find a home for than more sociable cats

NEWS AND COMMENT - UK: The RSPCA in the UK has appealed for people who have suitable facilities to rehome outdoorsy cats to mark International Cat Date this week. The sort of place they're considering for these cats, who prefer to be outside because of their background are: riding stables, smallholdings and farms. There are other options too provided the environment allows the rehomed cat to live predominantly outside while being cared for to the same standard as an indoor cat which means providing food, water, shelter and veterinary care when needed.

Experienced barn cats Butters and Grayson. Photo in public domain.

Alice Potter, RSPCA's cat welfare expert, said that cats have a wide variety of personalities and they try and match the personality to the environment in which they place a cat. Their spectrum of rescue cats ranges from the inveterate lap cat through the inbetweener cats who are less likely to sit on a person's lap and who doesn't like to be picked up all the way through to the community cat and feral cat who are happy to live independently from humans but who are ultimately reliant upon humans.

This huge variation in personality probably primarily comes about because of early experiences. Some of their cats have lived for a long time as strays and of course you can rehome feral cats provided they are already semi-domesticated. They can make ideal barn cats on farms. Some domestic cats inherit a desire to live outside but they are relatively rare.

It is unsurprising that the RSPCA find it difficult to rehome these outdoor-loving cat because most adopters want a house cat, which today can often mean a full-time indoor cat, the sort of environment that would be anathema to a feral cat.

The RSPCA say that there is a lack of awareness from the general public about these outdoor-loving cats. The general view of the domestic cat is the one that curls up in front of the fire or sits on your lap keeping you company. However, a lot of cats have never had that luxury and therefore their personality is attuned to a different lifestyle. They're still dependent on human support as mentioned.

What can happen sometimes, in my opinion, is that outdoorsy cats can come inside eventually as they become older. This happens for at least two reasons. Firstly, they become more sensitive to the harsher life of living outside when they're older and want the comforts of indoors. Secondly, in interacting with a person who might own, for example, a smallholding they become more domesticated to people and learn to integrate with the human lifestyle.

In other words, many of these cats are under-socialised which leads to the possibility that they can be socialised when rehomed with a person who is sensitive to those needs. It is the kind of process that can take a number of years but with great rewards for both parties.

The report comes from the Shropshire Star newspaper. Plus, my occasional thoughts.