Kat Miller: Hi! I am Dr. Kat Miller at the ASPCA and we are talking about how to find and adopt the shelter cat. Now we will talk about planning your trip to the adoption center. There maybe more than one adoption center near your. Check the Yellow Pages and the Internet to find all of the choices. Check out their websites or give them a call to get more information. Ask them about their pre and post adoption services, for example, do they provide veterinary exams and veterinary care? What about vaccinations or spay neurosurgeries? Do they microchip the cats before you adopt them as a permanent means of identification? What about behavior evaluations and counseling?

Behavior evaluation can let you know more about the personality of the cats that you are interested in. What about a post-adoption helpline? If you have questions after your adoption on medical or behavioral concerns, they may have a place that you can get in touch and ask the questions in person or maybe online by email? Do they have an acquainted area where you can get to know the cats for a little while?

Remember you want to spend a little while getting to know each cat to make sure the personality is the right fit for you. Ask them about their adoption process. What sort of paper work will you fill out? What questions will they ask? And what are the usual adoption fees? Do they do same day adoptions? Some animal rescue groups and adoption centers like to do home visits and that means they may need to ask you to come back to bring your cat home on other day.

A good place to find out this information and more are the websites for the animal adoption centers that are near you. Also on those websites, you might be able to find the cats that they have available for adoption and start to narrow down your choices before you even arrive. Now we have talked about locating adoption center near you that you will go to, to adopt your cat. Next we will talk about what to except and what to bring.