I Found A Cat

With thousands of stray and abandoned cats and kittens in gardens, parking lots and even rubbish bins around Shanghai, SCAA receives many emails requesting help.

SCAA’s directors and its group of dedicated volunteer foster parents often have a full-time career and a busy family in addition to caring for stray and abandoned cats and kittens in their home. 

At any given time, SCAA has between 30 and 50 foster cats and kittens under our care.  We spend an average of RMB 12,000 a month on Western-standard veterinary care for foster cat/kittens, at our vet partner PAW.
 
If you have found a cat or kitten and wish to find a good permanent home through SCAA, please read the SCAA fostering and donation policies below before contacting us for assistance.

To accept new cats or kittens into SCAA’s foster care program, SCAA requests rescuers to:

1. foster your own rescue for as long as feasible;
2. pay an SCAA discounted initial PAW vet consultation fee and nominal costs for worming and flea / mite treatment; and
3. donate to SCAA on the cat/kitten’s adoption through SCAA or upon SCAA placing the cat/kitten into an SCAA foster home, if one is available (whichever comes first).  Donations go towards foster animal medical care and fund rescue work.

 
Please see the table below for vet consultation and foster care / adoption donation details.

Step 1: fostering your own rescue
As a rescuer, you should be prepared to become a foster parent to your rescue, even for a short time.  Access to SCAA’s network of cat foster homes is only available when a rescuer cannot foster their own rescue and is willing to donate to SCAA for this service.  During peak kitten season and busy holiday travel times, there may not be any foster home available at all.

If you already own a pet or have mild allergies, we can offer some helpful tips for managing in the short-term.  Many foster parents who own pets or have a mild cat allergy assist SCAA with rescued cats, so it is not unfair to ask rescuers to make the same sacrifices.

If you have a pet cat, then you should follow immediate quarantine procedures to ensure the cat or kitten you rescued does not pass any contagious diseases.   Reasonable precautions (separate room, litter box and food), rather than unfounded panic over disease, are the recommended approach.

If you have a mild cat allergy, keeping your rescued cat out of your bedroom, taking over-the-counter antihistamines and vacuuming or sweeping your home often will alleviate symptoms.

Step 2: initial PAW vet consultation
Once SCAA has confirmed a rescuer agrees to our cat re-homing fostering and donation policies, SCAA will arrange for an SCAA discounted vet consultation with our vet partner, PAW.

Rescuers book their own appointment at PAW, advise SCAA of the date and time, and SCAA will ensure the discount is given and the cat registered as an SCAA foster cat.

From this point on, your rescued cat will be an SCAA foster cat and SCAA will be responsible for all medical care costs and decisions as well as finalizing the cat/kitten’s adoption.

Step 3: posting photos on the website and attending Adoption Day
Photos and a story of the foster cat/kitten will be posted on SCAA’s website adoption gallery and SCAA will field all adoption queries.

The cat/kitten must attend all SCAA Adoption Days.  Without a shelter, SCAA animals need a central place to meet potential adopters.  Foster parents need to bring their foster cat/kitten to Adoption Day, held every other Sunday afternoon, to help find the foster animals a good permanent home.

Step 4: donation
If you have fostered your own rescue until finding a good permanent home through SCAA, then your donation is requested at this time.

Donations go toward the particular cat/kitten’s vet care costs (medicines, vaccinations, spey / neuter if ready) and may help fund future animal rescues.

PAW vet consultation, fostering and adoption donation policies:

Re-Homing Process	Donation Needed to Support SCAA Rescue Activities
Initial *PAW Medical Check-Up (*mandatory to access Adoption Day and / or Foster Care)	Discounted 100RMB vet consultation fee + small cost of basic medicines (e.g. usually flea/mite and worming treatment) SCAA must confirm discount with PAW beforehand
Access to SCAA Website and Adoption Day	Free posting (by SCAA) of animal’s photos and profile on our website. Foster animal should attend regular SCAA Adoption Day
Donation on Adoption or Access to Foster Care (whichever comes first)	500RMB donation to help cover some initial & ongoing health care costs and fund future animal rescues

If you have found a cat or kitten and wish to follow the above procedures for finding a good permanent home through SCAA, please email Foster Care Director Lee-Anne Armstrong at foster@scaashanghai.org to discuss what resources we have available to help.