What is Cat Friendly Homing?

Cat Friendly Homing aims to provide those responsible for caring for unowned cats in homing centres with the necessary information and support to ensure that:

1. Cats are kept in a manner that supports optimal health and emotional wellbeing.
2. Suffering of cats is reduced wherever possible.
3. Decisions made about how cats are to be cared for are based on the best possible information.
4. Cats are given the best chance to exhibit their individual behaviours to maximise their homing potential.
5. Length of stay is as short as possible because confinement is inherently stressful for cats.
6. Each cat is given the best possible chance of a good future quality of life appropriate to its particular needs and ability to live with people. This may be as a household pet or as a cat living freely with or without human assistance.

Cat Friendly Homing is not only kind to cats, it is kind to people. International Cat Care respects the work of all the dedicated people in this field and understands the constant pressure they are under with lack of resources and an unending supply of cats needing their help. Cat Friendly Homing will give them the tools to work within their capacity to care for the cats, while maintaining their own wellbeing and that of their colleagues. Cat Friendly Homing can prove that, working in this way, individuals and organisations can actually help more cats than ever before.

Vicky is delighted to be working with her co-lead, Kim Horsford, an experienced chief executive with a career in healthcare, not-for-profit, start-ups and small business development. Kim has extensive experience of working with cat welfare and behaviour, having run a feline charity overseas and as a trustee and then chair of International Cat Care for 10 years.