Animal Welfare Professionals

We use the Stretch & Scratch pads for our cats and move them with the cats. In our shelter, cats move directly from the pre-adopt side to the adoption floor, except for the brief few hours they're in the medical room for s/n (if needed). There's really no point at which they don't have a cage set up for them, so it's easy for us to move their scratcher with them (and all their other belongings - they keep the same bedding, hiding box, Kuranda, litter box, etc., unless they are dirty/damaged and need to be replaced). We even keep their scratchers with them when they go to our satellite adoption facility in PetSmart. We write the cat's name on the scratcher so it stays with the correct cat.

It's not clear to me what the process of moving is in your shelter, but maybe just skipping the surgery room (assuming they're only in there for a brief time) and putting all their stuff directly in their cage on the adoption floor would be better if the surgery room is where the break down is.

We use the Stretch & Scratch pads for our cats and move them with the cats. In our shelter, cats move directly from the pre-adopt side to the adoption floor, except for the brief few hours they're in the medical room for s/n (if needed). There's really no point at which they don't have a cage set up for them, so it's easy for us to move their scratcher with them (and all their other belongings - they keep the same bedding, hiding box, Kuranda, litter box, etc., unless they are dirty/damaged and need to be replaced). We even keep their scratchers with them when they go to our satellite adoption facility in PetSmart. We write the cat's name on the scratcher so it stays with the correct cat.

It's not clear to me what the process of moving is in your shelter, but maybe just skipping the surgery room (assuming they're only in there for a brief time) and putting all their stuff directly in their cage on the adoption floor would be better if the surgery room is where the break down is.

Our cats don't have a specific spot in adoptions set aside for them, and we have a few different types of spaces they could go into: condos that are a little bit bigger than their double kennels in the back rooms, a "villa" which is a small room, and our group rooms that can house 5-10 cats. Cats that are ready for surgery get picked up by our medical staff around 7-8 am and brought over to a separate building where they do surgery (this building is on the same lot as our stray and adoption building so not far) and then in the evening around 4-5pm they are all brought back over to the main building and put in a spot in adopt either by the medical team or volunteers.  All of our kennels are pre set up for the cats with clean towels/bedding, bowls, and toys. 

We use the Stretch & Scratch pads for our cats and move them with the cats. In our shelter, cats move directly from the pre-adopt side to the adoption floor, except for the brief few hours they're in the medical room for s/n (if needed). There's really no point at which they don't have a cage set up for them, so it's easy for us to move their scratcher with them (and all their other belongings - they keep the same bedding, hiding box, Kuranda, litter box, etc., unless they are dirty/damaged and need to be replaced). We even keep their scratchers with them when they go to our satellite adoption facility in PetSmart. We write the cat's name on the scratcher so it stays with the correct cat.

It's not clear to me what the process of moving is in your shelter, but maybe just skipping the surgery room (assuming they're only in there for a brief time) and putting all their stuff directly in their cage on the adoption floor would be better if the surgery room is where the break down is.

Would it be possible to bundle up and label their whatever should stay with the cats and then bring their labeled belongings to the adoptable side? That way staff can easily grab their things when they're moving the cats out of surgery.

Our cats don't have a specific spot in adoptions set aside for them, and we have a few different types of spaces they could go into: condos that are a little bit bigger than their double kennels in the back rooms, a "villa" which is a small room, and our group rooms that can house 5-10 cats. Cats that are ready for surgery get picked up by our medical staff around 7-8 am and brought over to a separate building where they do surgery (this building is on the same lot as our stray and adoption building so not far) and then in the evening around 4-5pm they are all brought back over to the main building and put in a spot in adopt either by the medical team or volunteers.  All of our kennels are pre set up for the cats with clean towels/bedding, bowls, and toys. 

We use the Stretch & Scratch pads for our cats and move them with the cats. In our shelter, cats move directly from the pre-adopt side to the adoption floor, except for the brief few hours they're in the medical room for s/n (if needed). There's really no point at which they don't have a cage set up for them, so it's easy for us to move their scratcher with them (and all their other belongings - they keep the same bedding, hiding box, Kuranda, litter box, etc., unless they are dirty/damaged and need to be replaced). We even keep their scratchers with them when they go to our satellite adoption facility in PetSmart. We write the cat's name on the scratcher so it stays with the correct cat.

It's not clear to me what the process of moving is in your shelter, but maybe just skipping the surgery room (assuming they're only in there for a brief time) and putting all their stuff directly in their cage on the adoption floor would be better if the surgery room is where the break down is.

I think having scratchers is an important thing for cats.  We always recommend new adopters having them as well as try to give out donated ones to fosters and adopters. We also always offer to show how to trim nails to make sure they are comfortable with it.