Adopt A Cat
Find and offer cats for adoption in Guatemala.
Cats here are passed on, not priced: a kitten from a litter born behind a corner shop in Villa Canales, an older house cat whose owner has died and whose family cannot take it in, or a half-wild cat that kept the mice out of a coffee farm and needs another farm or a storeroom rather than a sofa. Rescue volunteers post cats they have already sterilised and vaccinated, and owners post the one cat they can no longer keep. The visit and the handover are arranged directly with whoever has the cat, so ask for daylight photos and a short video before you go to meet it.
The half-wild farm cat and the kitten from next door:
sit at the two ends of what gets rehomed in Guatemala, and they need very different homes. Most cats needing a home are kittens from a litter nobody planned, raised in a house and used to being picked up. Then come the adults, usually a house cat whose owner has died or moved away, and often the easiest match because its habits are already known. At the far end is the cat that grew up half-wild in a market, a warehouse or on a coffee farm. It may never sit on a lap, but it will keep a storeroom or a farm outside Coatepeque clear of mice. Rescue volunteers also care for cats that tested positive for feline leukaemia, which wait longest because they need to be the only cat in the house. A cat found in the street may simply be lost, so post it in animals lost and found before offering it for adoption. The litter box, scratcher and carrier it will need are bought and sold in cat supplies.
Two kittens, one adult and the house they go to:
a single kitten left alone all day turns its energy on ankles and curtains, which is why many rescuers prefer to place kittens in pairs that play with each other and settle faster. If nobody is home until evening, a calm adult is the kinder choice. A cat that spent its foster time under a bed is not necessarily unfriendly; a shy cat often needs a quiet room of its own for its first weeks. With a dog in the house, ask the foster family whether this particular cat has lived with one. A half-wild cat should stay shut in a storeroom or closed room with food, water and a box for its first weeks, or it will set off back towards wherever it came from.
Sneezing, ear mites and the leukaemia test:
see the cat in daylight and hold it yourself. Runny eyes, a crusted nose and sneezing are cat flu, common in kittens from the street. Dark, gritty wax in the ears means ear mites, and a hard, swollen belly on a thin kitten usually means worms. None of that rules a cat out, but it should be treated before the cat meets one you already have. Ask whether it has been tested for feline leukaemia and FIV. A positive result is no reason to walk away; it means the cat should be the only one, or live with other positive cats, and stay indoors. Ask too whether it is sterilised: an unspayed adult female can arrive pregnant, and an entire tomcat sprays and fights.
Passing on a cat that has lived with you for years:
be honest about why. A cat rehomed for spraying, for fighting with a new cat or for scratching a baby will do the same in the next house unless the family knows what they are taking on. Give its age and sex, whether it is sterilised and vaccinated, any test results, what it eats, and whether it has lived indoors, on the roofs or both. Photograph it where it is relaxed and add a short video of how it reacts when a stranger walks in. Meet the new family before you agree, at their house if you can, and see how busy the street outside is and where the cat would sleep. Ask whoever collects the cat to bring a closed, hard carrier; a cat carried in arms or in a cardboard box to a car or a pickup is the one that bolts in the first minute. For a half-wild farm cat, have the carrier lined with a towel and let the person who feeds it put it in, because a cat like that will not let a stranger hold it.