Frequently Asked
Questions
Questions About Donations
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If you are located near our Petsmart North Wales/Montgomeryville location, you can drop off items anytime that the store is open. We have a donations bin located next to the in-store adoption center. Or come by during our weekend adoption hours (11-4 Saturday and Sunday) to give donations directly to a Stray Cat Blues volunteer. Be sure to say hi to the kitties in our adoption center who are waiting for homes!
If you are located near our PetSmart Collegeville location and have items to donate, please email us at contact@straycatblues.org. Because of limited space at that location we need to arrange for a volunteer to meet you to directly accept any donations.
Thank you for your donations!
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Please email contact@straycatblues.org. Include a photo of the item(s) you want to donate, your phone number, and where you are located. We will check with our volunteers and have someone reach out to you about your donation. Thank you!
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If you would like to make the donation by check, mail the donation to:
Stray Cat Blues, PO Box 8, Colmar, PA 18915
Include a note stating who the donation is in honor of. If there is someone else who should be notified of the donation, please include that person’s name and address.
If you would like to make the donation by Paypal/credit card, go to our website -
https://www.straycatblues.org/donate
Click on the yellow “Donate” button. When completing the donation, you can include information in the Special Instructions section. Or alternately, email us at contact@straycatblues.org with the name of the person being honored, and the name and contact information of the person who should receive the donation acknowledgement.
Thank you for your donation.
Questions About Finding A Kitty
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We are continually updating our online listings, with at most a few days lag in noting adoptions. If you are interested in a cat, the best way to proceed would be to fill out our online adoption application - https://www.straycatblues.org/adoption-applications
Once you submit the application, one of our Adoption Representatives would contact you and work with you through the adoption process. They make it easy!
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In order for us to check to see if we have a foster who is able to take the cat, you would need to complete our Help Request Form - https://www.straycatblues.org/found-a-cat-form We are not able to guarantee that we can take the cat you contact us about. Our Intake Team will also send you a list of other area rescues you can also contact about placement. If possible, please bring the cat inside while you work to place them. That will protect them from dangers such as predators and traffic. Be sure to also network with your friends and family to find the cat a home, and post to your social media to get the word out.
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If the mother cat is friendly and you are able, please bring the whole family inside while you work on placing them with a rescue. Be sure to keep them separate from your own pets so as not to disrupt your pets’ routine. Then fill out our Help Request Form - https://www.straycatblues.org/found-a-cat-form
We are not able to guarantee that we can take the cat and kittens you contact us about. Our Help Request Team will also send you a list of other area rescues you can also contact about placement.
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In that case, it is generally better to leave the kittens with the mother cat outside until the kittens are able to eat solid food at about 5-6 weeks old. (Though also consider if there are particular dangers in your area, and watch in case the mother cat abandons the kittens.). Please provide food, water, and shelter for the mother cat and kittens so that the mother cat does not need to leave the kittens as much to seek out food. Once the kittens are able to eat solid food, you will want to catch them and bring them inside while you work to place them with a rescue. Submit a Help Request Form to Stray Cat Blues - https://www.straycatblues.org/found-a-cat-form
We are not able to guarantee that we can take the kittens you contact us about. Our Help Request Team members will also send you a list of other area rescues you can also contact about placement.
Be sure to trap and spay the mother cat once you have brought the kittens inside, so that you do not have more kittens later!
If you have questions not covered above, please email us at contact@straycatblues.org
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Sadly, for feral cats who are not socialized with people, there are limited options for relocating them. We are generally not able to take these cats in, as it is very difficult to find homes to adopt them out to. So, please reconsider if you might be able to co-exist with the cats. Trap, and spay/neuter the cats so that you do not have kittens. If possible provide the cats with food and water, and some sort of outside shelter. Feral cats provide great rodent control!
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If you absolutely do not want the cats around, please utilize humane strategies to get them to avoid your property. Here is a link with ideas of how to do that -
https://www.alleycat.org/resources/how-to-live-with-cats-in-your-neighborhood/
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We have a small number of volunteer trappers who cover limited parts of Bucks and Montgomery Counties. In order for us to check to see if we can assist you, please fill out our Help Request Form, which doubles as a TNR help request - https://www.straycatblues.org/found-a-cat-form
Please note that we are not able to subsidize the cost of spay/neuter and related vet costs. You would be responsible for these costs.
If you have a larger project, or if we do not have a volunteer able to assist you, you may want to contact Forgotten Cats - https://forgottencats.org/tnr-services/
Or consider trying to do the TNR on your own. There are lots of resources online! If you have physical limitations, consider asking friends, family or neighbors to help you.
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You will want to contact the clinic you plan to use for the spay/neuter surgery to make an appointment and see if they have loaner traps, if needed. Here are some clinics, but you can also check with local vets (be sure to ask about pricing up front if the cost is important to you) -
-Animal Lifeline - borrow traps, and vouchers for low income people to spay/neuter their pets - http://animallifelinepa.org
-Alley Cat Allies Feral Friends Network - https://www.alleycat.org/our-work/feral-friends-network/feral-friends-network-connect/
-Forgotten Cats (Willow Grove) - https://forgottencats.org/program-services-fees/
-The Spayed Club 484-540-8436 (Sharon Hill) - www.thespayedclubclinic.org
-Affordable Spay Neuter Clinic (Pottstown) 610-970-4173 – www.affordablespay.com
-No Nonsense Neutering (Allentown, Mahonoy City, Reading) 866-820-2510 – www.nnnlv.org
-Bridge Clinic (Newtown) - https://www.thebridgeclinic.org
-Peaceable Kingdom (Whitehall) - https://www.lvpeaceablekingdom.info
-Brandywine Valley SPCA (Malvern)-https://bvspca.org/for-your-pet/community-cats
For the actual logistics of doing the trapping, there are some great resources on the Alley Cat Allies website - https://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care-category/tnr/
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Great! We are always in need of barn cat homes. Please fill out our Barn Cat Adoption Application -
https://www.straycatblues.org/adoption-applications-1
Once you complete the application, our Barn Cat foster will reach out to you with next steps.
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Send us a picture, your location, and your contact info. We will notify our Help Request Team in case we are contacted by anyone with a “found” cat that matches. We may also be able to post your cat to our Facebook page to have our followers be on the lookout.
Here are some suggestions to be proactive in your search for your cat:-Search the neighborhood. Knock on doors and ask if anyone has seen your cat.
-Report the cat missing to your local SPCA so that if a cat is brought in that matches, they will contact you.
-If the cat is microchipped, contact the chip company.
-Call local vet offices. Sometimes if people find a cat they will bring them to the vet.
-Check with other local rescue groups
-Post on social media groups of lost pets
-Post flyers in your neighborhood - https://petbond.com/flyer-maker/
-Here is also a page with ideas - http://sonic.net/~pauline/indoor.html
We hope your kitty is safe back home very soon!
Questions About Volunteering
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Unfortunately due to liability issues, we are not able to have volunteers who are under 18 working with the cats. Here are some ways kids can help, though:
-Put together a collection for Stray Cat Blues of cat food/supplies (list of suggested items on the Donations page of our website)
-Make cat toys and donate them to Stray Cat Blues (search “homemade cat toys” online for ideas)
-For older teens, make feral cat shelters from plastic bins and donate them - https://www.alleycat.org/resources/how-to-build-an-outdoor-shelter/
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In order for us to check to see if we have a foster who is able to take the cat, you would need to complete our Help Request Form - https://www.straycatblues.org/found-a-cat-form We are not able to guarantee that we can take the cat you contact us about. Our Help Request Team will also send you a list of other area rescues you can also contact about placement. If possible, please bring the cat inside while you work to place them. That will protect them from dangers such as predators and traffic. Be sure to also network with your friends and family to find the cat a home, and post to your social media to get the word out.
Questions About Cats
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We only rarely have cats that have been declawed. If one of our available cats is declawed, it would be noted in their online listing. Please note that if you adopt a cat from us, as part of the legal binding contract you must sign a statement that you will not declaw the cat. Declawing is inhumane and can have negative physical and psychological consequences for a cat. There are great strategies to prevent a cat from scratching, including scratching posts, double sided tape, and re-direction. Contact us at contact@straycatblues.org for more info.
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No, because there are not truly hypoallergenic cats. Individually, however, you may find that a person with allergies responds better or worse to a specific cat. Consult with your family physician/allergist to determine what options are available to minimize allergic responses, which may make it possible for you to adopt a cat.
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First, consider if there is a way to keep your pet. If the cat has a behavioral issue or if you are having allergy issues, email us at contact@straycatblues.org. We may be able to give you a list of suggestions for you and your pet. Also consult with your vet or personal doctor.
If you are moving, there are apartment finder search engines online that will allow you to filter listings for those that allow pets.
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If you are truly unable to keep your pet, we have a few options to recommend.
If the cat was adopted from Stray Cat Blues, please fill out our Return Request Form -
https://www.straycatblues.org/return-a-cat-form
We will see if we have a foster who can accept the cat back, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to take the cat.
If the cat was not adopted from us, check with the rescue you adopted the cat from. Many rescues will take cats back. In general, Stray Cat Blues is not able to take in surrenders of people’s pets that were not originally adopted from us. Our mission is focused on stray and abandoned cats.
Other strategies for placing your cat include:
-Network with friends, family, neighbors and co-workers and ask for help in finding the cat a new home.
-Check with other area rescues, some of which do accept pet surrenders
Always check vet and personal references before placing a cat into a new home to make sure they are going to a safe place!
And check out these online resources -
Best Friends - http://bestfriends.org/resources/rehome-my-dog-cat-or-other-pet
How to find homes for homeless pets - http://bestfriends.org/resources/rehoming-dog-or-cat
Get Your Pet - https://getyourpet.com
Rehome - https://rehome.adoptapet.com