Frequently Asked Questions

Here are just a few questions that we have received through the years. If you have another question that is not addressed here, please reach out to us on our social channels below.

Adoption Questions

How can I adopt a cat from your rescue?

You will need to be ready to upload your driver's license and a utility bill with the correct address on them. Proof of residence that has your current address: photo of your driver's license, utility bill, or another business statement that has your address on it for proof of residence. Go HERE to apply!

Please provide three personal references who knows you well, can speak to your good character and who has observed you caring for and interacting with your current or previous pets (or if this is an application for your first pet, how they believe you would be as a pet parent).

None of them should be:
* related to you by blood, marriage or share a household with you

* your significant other
* your current veterinarian (a former retired veterinarian is fine)
* someone you supervise or who reports to you at work

Your “in case of emergency” person can give you a character reference if they are not one of the above. Only one reference may be from a co-worker. At least one reference must be from someone who knows you other than socially (e.g. a current or former teacher, professor, peer or supervisor at work, volunteer at a non profit, neighbor, etc.).

Please be sure to provide both a contact phone number and an e-mail address. We prefer to do the initial reference checks by Text or email for cost reasons but if we do check by phone, it will usually start with a text stating their name and a link to an online form. If they prefer to do it by phone, we can do that as well.

Where can I find a list of the cats or kittens?

To see our current cats and kittens please scroll through our newsfeed or see a complete list on the following links: http://www.adoptapet.com/shelter190984-cats.html Or here: https://sos.rescueme.org/

Do you prioritize adoptions?

Adopters applying for older kittens (5+ months), adults and seniors are prioritized over young kittens. NOTE: IF you are pre-approved for a cat in these categories you will NOT BE ABLE TO SWITCH TO A KITTEN during the process.
SOS Comfort Kitties - If you have a need for an emotional support kitty please put that in the application & you can submit your ESA form as well. Children with emotional needs or disabilities have priority for comfort kitties, then adults.

As a foster, can I adopt a cat or kitten?

Foster families are not eligible to adopt blue-eyed or fluffy cats for the first 6 months of fostering. Fostering is not a shortcut to adoption.

Can I adopt if my current pets are NOT up-to-date on vaccinations?

If your current pet is not up-to-date on their vaccinations, and they are not microchipped or spayed/neutered, please stop here and come back when they are. We cannot adopt any cat into a household where current pets are not the following: spayed/neutered, microchipped, or vaccinated. It's in the best interest of our kittens and/or cats. You will be able to come back to this application and fill in the information to move forward.

What's an SOS Comfort Kitty?

These are kittens who have been bottle raised and hand fed. We think, based on our experiences, and that of some of our adopters, that this allows them to bond with human pheromones rather than cat pheromones. They seem to have an innate understanding of when their humans are distressed, upset, or suffering in some way. They then seek them out to offer love, distraction, purring, cuddling, or play to help their human feel better.
It takes a great deal of time, love and dedication to bottle feed kittens every two hours for several weeks, every three or four hours for several more weeks, to socialize them intensively to allow them to be healthy, loving and human centered kittens. Kitten milk replacer is essential and costly.
Our SOS Comfort Kitties are sometimes blue eyed, or sometimes siblings of our Siamese mix kittens and are non-color pointed kittens. Being siblings, they share many of the characteristics we know and love about this unique breed. They frequently have the Siamese apple shaped head, prominent ears, curiosity, intelligence, loyalty and talkativeness found in the breed.
Thus far we have seen them be great emotional support kitties to people with a wide range of issues including, but not limited to: anxiety, depression, insomnia, complex PTSD, night terrors, autism, trauma from various causes, many disabilities, and military service-related struggles.

What are the adoption fees?

The adoption donation for our cats and kittens are specified on the cat’s post on our Facebook page or will be otherwise communicated to you. Donations range between $75 and $500 according to age and other factors. If for some reason, you have made a deposit and you wish not to adopt a cat/kitten from us, then we will refund your deposit minus the $25 application fee.

See Pricing on our Adopt Page.
The adoption donation represents a donation towards the cost of veterinary care for our rescue cats, which in the case of cats from shelters may also include fees we have to pay to the shelter, getting them spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, FeLV/FIV testing, worm and flea treatment, and of course feeding and looking after them until they are adopted. We receive no funding and all our rescues are treated like our own pets and this includes premium food.
In certain circumstances (e.g. a special needs, very senior or otherwise harder to home cat), the adoption donation may be reduced or waived as appropriate on a discretionary basis and where this applies it will have been communicated to you. The adoption donation will never be less than $75 for any cat where long distance transport costs are not also being incurred by the adopter as we subscribe to the viewpoint that giving animals away for free is generally a bad idea.
If you cat is being pre-adopted, or will remain in our care for several weeks before going home we ask that you will send a food donation or two from our Amazon wish list during this time.

What if I decide to cancel my cat or kitten?

If you wish to cancel an adoption within two weeks after it has been confirmed and transport requested, the adoption fee and any amounts spent on caring for the cat can only be refunded at our discretion. Adoption fees are not refundable under any circumstances for cancellations made more than two weeks after the date the adoption was confirmed and the adoption fee paid. Any amounts paid for a health certificate (if you cancel at the last minute) will not be reimbursable because it is payable to the vet, not us and is valid only for a very short period of time. If you wish to cancel the adoption after a cat or kitten is on its way to you, nothing you have paid will be reimbursable and you will also be responsible for any costs we need to incur in getting the cat boarded and returned to foster care. The only exception to the above is if new, material information emerges about the cat’s health which is communicated to you, and you change your mind above the adoption promptly after being informed of it.

Location & Transport of kittens or cats

Where are the location of the cats or kittens?

Unless stated otherwise, all our cats are in Texas (at our HQ in New Braunfels, or one of our wonderful fosters in Austin, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Spring, Bryan, Houston, Dallas, the Rio Grande Valkey, Laredo or Corpus Christi). We are NOT a brick and mortar organization. We do not set up viewing times before an application is approved as to not create churn for our fosters.

Is in-state transport available?

There are often instate transport options to major Texas cities available for a very modest donation towards gas, depending on the route.

Is there out-of-state transport available?

We accommodate out of state adoptions, and have recently partnered with a canine rescue running transports approximately once a month up the northeast corridor and also to the midwest. The cost for this route is $175. This is paid directly to our partner.

We reserve the right to limit what age younger kittens can travel and may priorize in state adopters due to the delay between adoption and transportation as this means kitties die when we have no foster spaces.

Please read our posts in our newsfeed for up to date information about out transport partners and details.

Is there out-of-state transport outside of the East Coast and Midwest?

If you are not on the east coast or in the Midwest within range of the route, at this time we are unable to arrange transport. A successful adopter would usually need to pick up in person in Texas or arrange transport. We can meet a flight at Austin or San Antonio airport for a modest donation towards gas and parking.
Out of state adopters also need to pay for the interstate health certificate mandated by Texas law to cross state lines (and by many destination states also). Veterinarian charges vary for this but the typical cost is c.$85 to $100 per certificate paid directly to a qualified vet.
Sometimes we have an Air Angel willing to fly a kitty home to you in person in cabin for the price of the flight. Please enquire if interested.
Cargo flights are only possible out of Texas in the cooler months of the year, due to the heat outside while loading the plane. We can accommodate cargo flights out of San Antonio or Austin, but it is not our preference because it is riskier and more traumatic for the kitties and also due to the very early hour we need to be at the airport to drop the kitties off. It is therefore the exception rather than the norm, and tends to be reserved for cats that are harder to home instate or are going to a higher animal welfare destination and where it is impractical for the adopter to pick up in person, such as Canada or Western Europe.
FLORIDA & SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

No adoptions into Florida or southern California. This is due to the high number of homeless Siamese cats and kittens already with rescues and in shelters in those places. We occasionally have cats in Florida with our own fosters and our partner rescues regularly have them.

Exceptions: Adopters with a prescription for an SOS Comfort Kitty/Emotional Support Kitty on a case by case basis.

For Florida adoption resources please see here:
https://www.facebook.com/153267718679780/posts/539122606760954/?d=n

If you are in SoCal, we can refer you to a partner rescue that regularly has Siamese and snowshoe cats and kittens, or we can point you in the right direction to adopt from shelters or direct from private rescuers and TNR groups.

We sometimes have cats in Florida, North Carolina, the Northeast and the Midwest with our own fosters, but this is the exception rather than the rule. When that is the case their locations will be noted on their post. We do not currently have any cats located outside Texas.

About our kittens and cats

Are our kittens and cats tested with dogs and children?

Unless stated otherwise, none of our cats are tested with dogs or children. That is because many of our fosters have neither.

Are our kittens and cats good with other cats?

Unless we specify that a cat needs to be an only cat, it can join a multi-cat household provided the adoptive home agrees to follow the recommended slow introduction process. You can find it on Jackson Galaxy's website here: https://youtube/tsYT7yIOdqQ.

https://www.facebook.com/153267718679780/posts/456186461721236/?d=n

We provide information and support on animal integrations prior to and after adoption.

Are your cats hypoallergenic?

If you have cat allergies and you think some breeds are “hypoallergenic”, please read this:
https://www.facebook.com/153267718679780/posts/567344207272127/?d=n

What do I do if I have further questions?

Please reach out to us at adopt@soscatrescue.org. We are a volunteer team so it might be days before we can respond with an answer.

Are our cats or kittens litter-boxed trained?

Unless you have been advised of a cat’s specific litter habits, you can assume there were no toileting issues in their foster home and any issues are newly arising and therefore being triggered by anxiety in their new home.

Will our cats or kittens scratch your furniture?

You will need to provide plenty of scratching posts. It’s advisable for upholstered furniture that you care about to be suitably covered until they learn to ignore it, or for made to measure fitted loose covers to be made in a tougher fabric.

What if I get home and my cat or kitten is sick?

Please note that a change in environments, allergens and living spaces can affect your cat or kitten. They may get a kitty cold after going home that will need to be monitored and may require a vet visit soon after arrival. This is caused by the stress and temperature changes of travel. If a URI gets past the sneezing stage and the cat’s airways become congested, he or she will need to see a vet for antibiotics in the days following arrival with you, to avoid the risk of the infection turning into bronchitis.

Change in water can cause tummy upsets or diarrhea. We suggest adding canned pumpkin (no sugar added) or sweet potato to their wet food for a few days until their digestive system settles down

Less commonly, a cat may pick up an eye infection as part of a URI which may require eye drops in addition to antibiotics, or an ear infection (requiring ear drops). In very rare cases, a cat may come down with a urinary tract infection due to not drinking enough water on the trip. A UTI will require a vet visit and antibiotics urgently; especially in male cats who are more prone to blockages.

These are minor and easy to treat ailments if treated promptly, but can quickly become serious if left untreated. Antibiotics, eye and ear drops and the like are not expensive medications and the visit can be combined with your first vet visit to register your pet. Please do reach out to us to see if we are able to help.

Is there a good way to acclimate my cat or kitten to its new environment?

This will typically involve putting your new family member with food, water, litter and a comfortable place to sleep in a closed off room until he or she is comfortable being out with you and is not hiding, generally at least TWO weeks. If you are adopting a former feral, there may be additional instructions on how to make the environment less stressful for your new pet. We may also recommend that you buy certain products and have them ready, such as pheromone plug-ins and dietary supplements that can have positive effects on behavior.

Can I change my new cats name?

If a cat is a kitten or has otherwise only been with us a short time (and did not come from a prior owner), any current name will be temporary and in those circumstances the cat can easily handle a name change, none of this will apply, and we will let you know. Otherwise, the below applies. When we name cats and kittens, we try to select names that we hope has a chance of being retained in the cat’s new home, but of course we know that tastes and associations differ. We do our best, but we name so many and we don’t expect you to love every name we pick! Most of our cats were raised by us as kittens (many were orphans and had to be bottle fed) and many of our adults were with us for a number of weeks or months and they know and respond to their names. We are not asking you to keep the name for ever, we simply ask that if the current name is not to your taste, you follow the procedures below to minimize the shock that too many changes at once can cause. Ideally, we ask that you please let us know your new choice of name ahead of time, preferably as soon as possible after the adoption is confirmed. This is so we can start using it while the cat is still with us, initially alternating with the cat’s existing name that it has grown used to. By getting the cat familiar with the new name while still in familiar surroundings, this will help minimize the sudden changes that your cat would have to go through after adoption. If we do this, you should feel free to start using the new name on Day 1, when your cat comes home to you. If you decide to rename your new cat after adoption and we did not have an opportunity to start using the new name ahead of time, we kindly request that you PLEASE do not inflict a name change on your new pet straight away. Unless they are being rehomed with a kitty friend, their name is the only thing they have that is familiar that they take with them to their new home that connects them to their old life in foster care. Using their old name can help them adjust much faster; conversely, not using it can slow down the settling in period. We ask that the cat at least gets to take his or her name to his or her new home until the initial shock has worn off, and that any name change is introduced gradually (for example, by keeping the old name for the first couple of weeks and then mixing the old and new name and using both interchangeably for a while). We know this is more work for the adoptive home, but it is much, much harder on your new pet to change the name along with the home. This applies especially to any adult cat that has been rehabilitated from cruelty or abuse or was socialised by us from a feral or semi feral situation. Using a familiar name will help to prevent them regressing, acting out and being much slower to adapt to their new home. We have had some cats that came from abusive or neglectful situations and were rehabilitated, and they became stressed or sick when a name change was introduced in their new home on Day 1, along with everything else they were trying to process.

Will the cats or kittens be spayed or neutered before they go home?

Yes with all the right paperwork as well.

Are our cats or kittens tested for illnesses?

For every cat or kitten that comes into our shelter, we test them for FIV & FELV. We also automatically treat them for giardia and coccidia. These are very contagious diseases so we want to ensure that every kitten/cat have been treated for these illnesses.