09/23/2026
This is truly the dilemma every rescue is facing right now. So many people rehoming pets, finding pets, and rescues having low adoption rates. Many rescues are working hard to trap-neuter-release but often get called after the problem has become overwhelming.
WE NEED PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO RESCUE RIGHT NOW.
We are going to say something that may be difficult to hear.
The number of surrender requests coming into rescues has become absolutely overwhelming, while adoption rates have fallen to painfully low levels.
Every day, our inboxes are filled with requests for cats who need somewhere to go. Cats whose owners are moving. Cats whose owners are getting divorced. Cats whose family has a new baby. Cats who are urinating outside the litter box. Cats who don't get along with another cat. Cats who need expensive medical care. Cats who are elderly. Cats who are fearful. Cats who must be the only pet.
And the heartbreaking truth is:
There simply aren't enough homes.
Rescues cannot magically create foster homes, adopters, or space.
And we need people to understand something particularly important:
Not every cat has a place in rescue.
A cat who must be an only cat is extremely difficult for a foster-based rescue to place. Most foster homes already have resident cats. We cannot put a cat who cannot tolerate other animals into a home where it will be frightened or constantly stressed.
Likewise, there is not an endless supply of safe, appropriate places for sick, medically fragile, or very elderly cats.
Putting a 15- or 16-year-old cat with kidney disease, arthritis, or other age-related conditions into a shelter or rescue environment can be devastating. They lose their familiar home, their person, their routine and everything they know. Then they are surrounded by unfamiliar people, unfamiliar smells and, often, other cats.
What happens?
They become scared.
They stop eating.
Their medical problems worsen.
Their stress increases.
And sometimes they decline incredibly quickly.
Rescue is not always the better option.
Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for an elderly or anxious cat is to keep them in a quiet room in your home, away from other pets, and give them a safe, predictable environment. A cat does not need an entire house to be happy. A quiet room filled with their bed, litter box, food, water, familiar smells and, most importantly, their person can be a wonderful quality-of-life solution.
We also need to talk about responsibility.
We understand that life happens.
We understand that circumstances change.
We understand that people can find themselves overwhelmed.
But when you take an animal into your family, you also take on the responsibility of helping that animal through life's difficult moments.
Before surrendering a cat because of a behavioral or medical issue, please:
1 Talk to your veterinarian. A sudden behavior change may have an underlying medical cause.
2 Research the problem. Litter box issues, aggression, anxiety, inappropriate scratching, introductions between cats and many other issues often have solutions.
3 Give your cat time. Cats do not adjust to major changes overnight.
4 Look at your environment. Sometimes a simple change in routine, separation, enrichment, litter box placement or creating a safe room can make an enormous difference.
5 Ask for help before reaching the crisis point. Your veterinarian, reputable behavior resources and experienced cat people can often provide solutions that don't involve surrender.
And please understand this:
Calling a rescue does not guarantee that we have somewhere for your cat to go.
We can love cats tremendously and still be unable to take them.
We can want to help and still have to say no.
We can understand your circumstances and still not have a safe placement.
This isn't because rescues don't care.
It's because we are full.
Our foster homes are full.
Our adopters are scarce.
Our veterinary expenses are enormous.
Our existing cats still need us.
And every empty spot we have is already needed by another cat.
Meanwhile, there are wonderful, highly adoptable cats sitting in foster homes waiting months for someone to choose them.
That is the part people don't always see.
When adoption rates fall, cats don't simply disappear from the system. They remain in foster care. And as those cats remain, there are fewer spaces available for the next cat who needs help.
The entire system backs up.
We desperately need people to ADOPT.
We need people to FOSTER.
We need people to SPAY AND NEUTER.
And we need people to understand that responsible pet ownership doesn't end when things become difficult.
If you are struggling with your cat, please don't wait until you are desperate. Reach out to your veterinarian. Do your research. Ask questions. Look for solutions.
Because right now, the rescue community is drowning.
And the only way we are going to change this is if we stop treating rescue as the automatic solution to every difficult pet situation and start recognizing that keeping animals in loving homes whenever it is safe and possible is one of the most important forms of rescue there is.
Rescue. Rehabilitate. Rehome. Repeat.
But we cannot do it without the community.
Please adopt. Please foster. Please spay and neuter. And please—when things get difficult—fight for your animals before asking a rescue to take them.
— Richardsons Rescue
