Potential owners are quizzed before they are allowed to adopt a cat. If they live on a busy road, we sometimes have cats which prefer to live indoors only. Chelmsford CP does its best to make sure that cat and adopter are well-matched, but we aren t perfect and sometimes a cat genuinely does not settle in and is returned to the shelter. However, it is very disheartening when a cat is returned simply because it scratched the sofa. A CP volunteer often visits the new home a few weeks later to see if there are any settling-in problems and to answer any questions from the new owner.
Feral colonies form near farms and factories.
Colonies are controlled by trapping the cats in box-traps, neutering them and returning them to site. More and more ferals are losing their homes because of building works. They live in spacious enclosures with sleeping sheds until we can find suitable outdoor homes. A very few of them become tame of their own accord and can be rehomed to a patient and experienced person. Feral kittens which are trapped when less than 10 weeks old can be tamed and grow up indistinguishable from pet kittens.