TO ADOPT // POUR ADOPTER: See available cats here // voirs chats ici: https://tinyurl.com/Kitties2Adopt. Then // ensuite: [email protected]
TO FOSTER // PROGRAMME DE FOYER D'ACCUEIL: [email protected]
TO REPORT an INJURED cat // CAS D'URGENCE: get the cat straight to a vet near you; do not contact a rescue. // Nous ne sommes pas en mesure d'aider en cas d'urgence. TO REPORT a FERAL (unadoptable) cat in need of sterilisation // Pour STERILISATION des chats ERRANTS: see the SPCA TNRM (trap-neuter-release-maintain) coverage area // voir les regions CSRM (capture/sterilisation/retour/maintien) SPCA: https://www.spca.com/services/capture-sterilisation-retour-maintien/
TO REPORT a stray or abandoned cat in need of rescue/adoption // Pour nous faire part d’un chat dans le besoin, soit errant ou abandonné: We at Cause 4 Paws are not trappers, so please first consult the SPCA foster/adoption coverage areas here: https://www.spca.com/en/sectors-served/. If you are able to catch the cat or cats yourself, or help arrange a trapper, and/or donate to initial vet costs, we may be able to bring the cat/s into our foster programme. If so, email [email protected] with LOCATION, a PHOTO if possible, and how you can contribute (catching, donation, etc.) People often contact us and say "I saw a stray cat - can you take it?" But there is no magic wand for this. We are a small group of unfunded and overwhelmed regular citizens. For every cat we have saved, there are 5,000 more in distress. Until the city robustly funds sterilisation programmes, this problem is too big. Buy a trap at Canadian Tire, take the cat to a vet for deworming and vaccination, do not mix with other cats until the vaccine reaches max capacity, try to socialise the cat, have it sterilised, find a screened home for it (do not give it away for free, because there are hoarders, warehousers, and nefarious people out there; charging a fee to recoup some of your vet costs also protects the cat from rash adopters, abusers, and those who won't be able to care for it long-term). We can talk you through the process or even find it a foster home for you if you meet us halfway. But this small handful of volunteers cannot magically just "come get" all the stray cats out there. This is a crisis, and it will take a village.
________________________________________
THE CAUSE 4 PAWS STORY (francais suit): Twenty years ago, our founder Ursula saw a colony of stray cats behind a restaurant. She learned that there was no-one to help them and so she gathered some friends and helped them herself and has been doing so out of pocket ever since. Cause 4 Paws has between 25 to 100 cats at foster homes throughout the greater Montreal area at any given time. We have a very low incidence of disease and of euthanasia (we only euthanise in the case of suffering with no hope of recovery, i.e. we are no-kill). All of our cats are immediately vaccinated for calici, panleuk, and rhino upon rescue, except in the case of nursing kittens, in which case they are placed in foster homes without other cats and where there has never been feline illness, and vaccinated when old enough. Foster homes that have their own cats must have those cats up to date on their basic vaccines. Cats that are "high-risk" or presenting symptoms are tested for F.I.V. and/or FelV, but we cannot afford to test all of our cats automatically unless symptoms present themselves. Vets sympathetic to our cause offer us discounts on vaccines, consultations, and medications, which helps us keep adoption fees lower. All cats in our rescue are sterilised. In the instance where a kitten is adopted before it is old enough to be sterilised, the adoption contract stipulates that we will arrange for its sterilisation when age-appropriate. When time allows, we can connect people with trappers and Trap-Neuter-Release-Maintain groups to help sterilise, vaccinate, and re-release unadoptable ferals. All of our cats, adopted and re-released, go through a course of deworming and anti-parasite treatments. Our adoption fee of $300 goes toward these and other veterinary treatments, but does not cover them fully. Donations from kind supporters are absolutely vital to our work. We ask for an optional higher adoption fee for pure-bred cats (such as those rescued from kitten mill operations) and for declawed cats (we do not endorse declawing, but we sometimes rescue abandoned cats in this condition). We are able to offer a small discount to those adopting more than one cat at a time. We are always warmly grateful to those willing to choose an older feline companion or one with special needs. Thank you for your continued support.
