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Rehoming your cat

Finding Solutions for Pet Care Challenges

If you’re facing a financial burden, health issue, or struggling to find pet-friendly housing, caring for your cat might feel overwhelming. But remember, many challenges are temporary, and there are options available to keep you and your pet together.

Explore Your Options

Before considering rehoming your cat, take some time to consider your options. You know your pet best, so think about what’s best for both of you. Reach out to the animal shelter, rescue, or breeder where you got your pet—they might be able to help you find a solution.

If you adopted the cat from Cat Guardians, we will always accept it if you cannot keep it for any reason. Please call or email Cat Guardians if you need to surrender a cat adopted from Cat Guardians.

Addressing Behavior Issues

Many behavior problems in pets can be linked to treatable medical conditions. Even if there’s no physical cause, there are often simple solutions available. Check out our Resources page for tips on addressing common behavioral issues or consider consulting an animal behaviorist or trainer in your community.

Overcoming Housing Problems

If you’re struggling to find pet-friendly housing or facing other housing-related challenges, check out the Humane Society’s resources on keeping pets welcome in rental housing.

Managing Pet Allergies

Explore our tips on living comfortably with pets, even if you’re allergic to them.

Support for Affording Pet Care

Financial challenges can happen to anyone. If you find yourself struggling to afford your pet, check our resources for pet owners in financial distress for links to organizations that might be able to help.

Welcoming a New Baby

With the right guidance, you can ensure a safe and happy environment for your growing family, including your pets. The Humane Society offers tips for managing toxoplasmosis exposure during pregnancy.

Finding a New Home for Your Pet

If rehoming your pet becomes necessary, know that there are steps you can take to find them a loving new home. First, realize that shelters can be very stressful environments. When a cat is used to living in a home they know and are comfortable in, moving to a shelter or rescue with other pets and people they don’t know may be a big adjustment.

To give your cat the best possible chance you can at finding to a new home, it’s best to try to find them a home yourself. If your cat can stay in your home during the search for a new family, they will be less stressed and most likely have an easier adjustment to their new home.

Here are some tips:

Check out these additional resources from Best Friends Animal Society.

As a last resort, surrendering your pet to a local shelter or rescue organization may be an option. Each organization will have its own process for surrendering a pet, so be sure to research and inquire ahead of time.

While Cat Guardians will always accept the return of a cat adopted from us, we are unable to accept other owner surrenders because we have very limited space and typically are filled to our legal capacity. You can check out listings of area shelters, search for “animal shelters near me” on Google, or find shelters near you on PetFinder and Adopt-a-Pet.

We are aware of the following local shelters who will accept owner surrenders as space allows:

The DuPage County Animal Services website also offers tips for rehoming pets, and will accept any pet surrender from DuPage county residents. They strive to do their best with every animal that enters their shelter. More information is available here.