Why Are There So Many Cats Up for Adoption?

29 Oct Why Are There So Many Cats Up for Adoption?

October 29 is National Cat Day, which is all about celebrating cats and helping them to find forever homes. Because we’re a cat rescue organization, for us that means working hard to get all of our kitties up for adoption into loving families.

But we’ll be honest, it’s a hard road sometimes.

Cat Adoptions Are Slow This Year

After a surge during the early days of the pandemic and shutdown, our rate of cat and kitten adoptions has slowed dramatically in the past year or so. And it’s not just cats and kittens affected—the same is true for most pet rescue organizations, whether they’re in San Diego County or across the United States. The problem is that the number of felines looking for homes hasn’t slowed down at all.

The world has a cat overpopulation problem, and the U.S. is no different. In fact, every year, approximately 1.4 million cats in this country are euthanized, according to the National Kitten Coalition, and approximately 80% of them could have been adopted.

The problem isn’t shelter staff, who don’t want to make the choices they have to make. The problem is the sheer number of cats out there. There are simply too many cats in this country—in San Diego County—to find permanent or foster homes for them all. And yes, it’s heartbreaking.

How Adoption Saves Kitties

LYFF’s mission is “giving cats and kittens a second chance at life.” We do so by pulling cats and kittens from shelter euthanasia lists, caring for them until they’re adoptable, and finding them homes. Every cat or kitten adoption means we—and you—are saving two lives: the life of the cat you’re adopting and the cat or kitten we can save because your adoption creates another space at our rescue. We do everything we can to responsibly save every feline possible.

But we, like other cat rescue organizations, also know we can’t adopt our way out of the problem. That’s why LYFF offers a variety of other programs aimed at reducing the cat population, including:

• Love Your Fixed Felines (low-cost spay/neuter for domestic/owned cats)
• TNR or trap-neuter-return support for those willing to trap unfixed community or feral cats
• Barn cat adoption for feral cats in shelters (who are otherwise unadoptable

How Can You Help?

We welcome all good will and help with our mission! Consider adopting a cat or kitten, volunteering to help us care for (or transport or publicize) the felines in care, donating to help us fund the work we do, or simply spreading the word about our cat and kitten adoption events in San Diego County!