• Enquire. If you have found a cat on our website that you are interested in homing, send an enquiry through by telephoning us on 01438 228877 OR clicking on the ‘contact us’ button and one of our Home Visitors or Adoption Team Leader will be in contact with you. If you do more than one, this will cause a delay in being contacted as it duplicates the number of enquiries we receive.  
• Home Visit.  You will be offered a face to face or virtual home visit so we can talk to you about cat care, look at the area where you live and give any advice needed.  Our Home Visitors will ask to see consent from your Landlord if you live in a rented property or if you own a leasehold property. 
• Reserve your cat. Our Adoption Team Leader will be in contact with you to arrange for you to see the cat/kitten before you make a final decision to adopt.  Once you have made your decision, the cat/kitten you have chosen will be placed on reserve until the adoption paperwork and adoption fee have been received. We ask for reservations to be no longer than a week.
• Adopt. Once you have reserved your cat/kitten, you can either complete the paperwork with the Fosterer and pay the Fosterer the adoption fee by cash or cheque OR our Adoption Team Leader can send you the paperwork to sign by email or post.   We will also be able to accept payments direct into our Bank Account, but you will be not able to take your new family member home until the paperwork is in place and the adoption fee received. 

This Adoption Fee includes your new family member having had any necessary medical treatment, being neutered (either before they are homed or when they are old enough), microchipped and vaccinated.  You will also receive 4 weeks free Petplan Insurance as well as being provided with information when they have had their latest flea and worm treatment.  Please note that this Adoption Fee does not cover the cost of the cat whilst it has been in our care, but will help towards the costs we have spent. 

If you are able to give us a donation on top of paying the Adoption Fee, this will help towards the care and treatment of the next cat we take into our care. For any added donation, we would be grateful if you tick the Gift Aid box on the Adoption Form. This would also help neglected, unwanted, lost or stray cats in North Hertfordshire for the future.

• Bringing your cat home. Once the paperwork and fee have been finalised, you can either collect your cat or kitten from the Fosterer’s home, or we can arrange for a driver to bring your cat safely to your home, as long as you live in our catchment area. 
• Be supported. You will receive a follow-up call approximately a week after you have taken your new family member home and again at around 3 weeks to check that your new arrival has settled in. You can also find help and advice on the Cats Protection website at www.cats.org.uk/advice  

OTHER POINTS TO NOTE

• Adopting a kitten - Please note that we do not re-home kittens under 6 months of age to families with children under 5 years old. Also, when adopting a kitten from Cats Protection you must agree to have the kitten neutered at between 4 and 6 months of age.  If you or your family are out at work all day, we would prefer you to adopt a pair of kittens or a slightly older / adult cat or pair of cats. 
• Existing pets in the home - We do not home any cats to homes where the existing pet(s) is(are) not up to date with their vaccinations as this could cause a potential risk of passing cat flu or other illnesses between the new and existing pet(s).
• Busy roads - It is our policy not to place our cats in homes which are on, or close to, busy or main roads.  We would recommend an indoor cat in these circumstances. We do not home kittens as indoor only unless there is a medical reason to do so.
• Free access via a catflap - Apart from cats who have special needs, we would like all of our cats and kittens to go to homes where they will have free access to the outdoors where they can exhibit their natural behaviours. 
• Our catchment area - To adopt from our Branch, you will generally need to live within our catchment area, which covers postcodes SG1 to SG7 and parts of SG8. If you live outside this area and are interested in a specific cat, please give us a call so we can arrange a virtual home visit or a face to face home visit by your local Branch/Centre.  However, if the distance is too great for the cat or kitten to travel we would refer you to your local Branch/Centre and suggest you home from them or a nearer Branch/Centre. 
• Holidays - If you are going to be on holiday within 2 months of wanting to adopt, we would recommend you wait until you return.  Moving to a new home is stressful enough without their new family leaving them alone so soon after adoption.  They need to be fully settled before any changes are implemented.
• Christmas - Our Branch is closed from around 15th to 17th December to 3rd or 4th January every year as it is our policy not to home cats or kittens during the festive period as this is normally the busiest time for families to get together and we do not encourage cats being given as presents.

You can find out more about adopting a cat from Cats Protection here