Charity celebrates as lockdown homing proves ‘more successful than imagined’ 

Cats Protection is celebrating the first anniversary of a pioneering online adoption process which has rehomed over 20,000 cats around the UK.

The milestone figure coincides with National Pet Month (April) and the one-year anniversary of the launch of Hands Free Homing, a new way of homing cats and kittens which was created in response to the coronavirus restrictions. It has been more popular than the charity could have predicted. 

David and Daniel Barratt adopted Neptune from Cats Protection Exeter Axhayes Adoption Centre. 

David says: “We adopted Neptune during lockdown last year. Whilst we couldn’t meet in person, we were able to choose our new family member by viewing videos of the cats online. 

“Neptune was extremely nervous and shy when we first welcomed him into our home. In fact, he spent the first few weeks hiding under our bed. Many rehomed cats need a lot of patience and understanding in order to regain confidence and make sense of their surroundings and Neptune, being a particularly nervous cat, was no exception. 

“We allowed him to take things at his own pace and gradually he began to emerge and start to explore his safe room, before building up the courage explore the rest of the house. Eventually, he began tentatively to step into our garden. There were some set-backs: he once went missing for a few days but, again, the wonderfully supportive Cats Protection were on hand to help us and we soon found him and brought him home.” 

Neptune was dropped off at his new home in May 2020 and like all Cats Protection cats was fully vaccinated and microchipped. 

Dan adds: “Rehoming a cat as nervous as Neptune is not easy – it takes a great deal of patience and commitment - but the end result is so rewarding. One year on and Neptune has built such a strong bond with my husband and me, and his love has really helped us get through lockdown. 

“He even joins us on Zoom calls with our friends! It has been wonderful to see him build his confidence, develop his own personality and extend his territory. It’s really incredible, the progress he has made. I would definitely recommend adoption - be prepared for some hard work but also for an incredibly rewarding and loving experience.” 

Hands-Free Homing means the whole adoption process has moved online. Prospective owners browse the available cats via the charity’s website and once their application has been received, they complete a series of welfare checks and are matched with the best cat for them and their home. The cats are then delivered to their new homes by a member of the Cats Protection team. 

Susie Pritchard, Cats Protection’s Head of Operations, said: “We worked incredibly hard to get Hands-Free Homing off the ground when our centres closed so that we could continue to rehome the cats in our care, but it’s been more successful than we ever imagined.

“Not only have 20,000 cats found their forever homes, but we’ve been able to provide thousands of people with some much needed companionship during lockdown.”

Further details of cats in need of homes nationwide can be found at www.cats.org.uk/adopt-a-cat with those at Exeter Axhayes Adoption Centre visible at www.cats.org.uk/axhayes or by calling 01395 232377.