Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi!

Does anyone here adopt out declawed cats to their barn program?  Are there different expectations of the adopter?  How do you handle other people's concerns that they don't have all of their defenses?  Thanks for any input you share!

Bonnie

Feline Care Manager

Wayside Waifs

Bonnie, in my opinion, no declawed cat should be adopted out as a working/barn cat. They should always go to an inside only home. All barn cats or working cats should be adopted out with the expectation of having a caretaker that will provide them with shelter from all weather conditions along with daily food and water. Said caretaker should also be responsible for yearly vetting along with spay and neutering.

Hi SushiBailey !

We consider each pet and their individual needs. If you have a cat that you found outside or transferred in from a shelter or by whichever means you obtained kitty that has behavioral concerns and happens to be declawed, I encourage you to make the best choice for the pet. I get that I am theorizing the situation here but i would consider a barn home that could provide the pets needs(current and future) versus being housed in a kennel for the remainder of his/her life.....I would likely take advantage of a barn home. I am happy to chat further if you would like to share specific details.

Adopters are always looking for cats already declawed in our experience. That declawed cat should easily find an indoor home-where all declawed cats should be. Whenever we post a declawed cat up for adoption it does not last long in the adoption area. Barn cats are usually expected to help control the rodent population and or live in a situation not appropriate for friendlies. Feral cats have experience living out of doors and know how to avoid predators and precarious situations by being able to climb and jump. 

So I would say it all depends on the situation with the cat and the "barn".  We have had barns that were nicer than most homes(with TV etc).  So maybe that would be an okay location for a declawed kitty.  I am thinking maybe this kitty sprays or has a behavior issue that might not make him a good indoor home candidate.  So I am not going to say it is impossible to place a declawed kitty in a "barn" situation, but it would need to be a very special environment where the kitty would be protected much of the time.  I would say you wouldn't want to set this as a guideline, but really look at the candidate and the placement.  We look at relocation as a VERY last resort option so that should also be the case for this kitty too.  Good luck.

We would not place them in a situation where they are expected to be a working barn cat, but would consider placing the kitty in a setting where they can be contained. We have a couple families that have secure sheds, where the cat can be kept safely in a barn type setting. 

We have adopted out a declawed cat as a barn cat because it would not use a litter box and liked to be outside.  The adopter spends a lot of time in the barn each day with livestock and the cat loved the adopter.

We have adopted declawed cats to outdoor homes when an indoor home is not an option. The environment needs to be relatively safe like a garden or yard home. Or a stable/barn where the cat will have a lot of people interaction.