Cat Adoption Team

Sherwood Shelter Hours
Tues-Fri 12 - 7 pm
Sat-Sun 12 - 6 pm
Closed Monday
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Frequently Asked Questions

Click on any question to view its answer.

1. Do you take used cat scratch posts, litter boxes, etc?

To ensure optimal health of the cats in the shelter, CAT cannot accept any used cat items. Our Thrift Store does not accept those items either.

2. Where do your cats come from?

The Cat Adoption Team seeks out and cultivates partnerships with other shelters and organizations in the Portland-area and Willamette Valley, and across Oregon. Through these partnerships, CAT helps them reduce their feline euthanasia rates by transferring cats and kittens to CAT’s shelter for adoption.

  • 73 percent of CAT’s cats come from other shelters, rescue organizations, or veterinary clinics. These include:
    Multnomah County Animal Services Washington County Animal Services: Bonnie L. Hays Small Animal Shelter SW Washington Humane Society DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital Willamette Humane Society
  • 27 percent are relinquished by the cat’s owner or brought to CAT as a stray.

CAT encourages anyone who finds a lost cat to first take the cat to their local animal control. Please read CAT’s lost and found information for more details.

3. Do you ever get purebred cats?

Yes.

You can find purebreds when you search through our cats for adoption. You can search by breed.

It is estimated that about 20 percent of the animals you will find in an animal shelter are purebreds.

4. How long do you keep cats?

The Cat Adoption Team is dedicated to providing each cat who comes to our shelter the best possible care and chances for a new family.

A cat who comes to CAT with no real medical issues may spend up to 25 days at the shelter prior to adoption. Some may be here only for a day or two, others a little longer than the average.

If a cat comes to the shelter with an injury or treatable condition, the Hospital staff will provide appropriate care before that cat is placed into the shelter for adoption. This increases the average time before adoption to 34 days.

CAT has over 88 volunteer foster families who care for newborns, pregnant cats, and recuperating cats until they are ready to be placed up for adoption. In addition, foster families will shelter and care for animals when the shelter is full or if an individual animal needs a break from the stress of staying in the shelter and the other cats. Our foster families directly saved the lives of over 768 animals in 2011 alone.

CAT is an adoption guarantee shelter that saves the lives all the healthy and treatable animals in our care.

5. How do I adopt a cat from CAT?

Congratulations on deciding to adopt a feline friend.

Click here to read CAT’s adoption policies, process, and fees before you visit CAT’s shelter or one of our Portland-area adoption outreach locations.

6. Do you require spaying or neutering of adopted cats?

Yes.

We are committed to ending pet overpopulation and consider spaying and neutering the number one solution to this tragic problem.

Many of our cats are already spayed or neutered before coming to CAT. Those who have not been are spayed/neutered while they are at the shelter. One hundred percent of the cats and kittens adopted are already surgically altered before they go home.

7. How do I bring a cat to you?

CAT accepts cats by appointment only.

You will need to fill out our intake form first. Once that is submitted, our intake counselor will contact you with options.

We want to do everything possible to help you keep your pet.

We also urge pet owners to utilize other resources to find their pet a new home (click here for tips on rehoming).

There may be an intake fee requested of $40 (for testing) and a $35 donation or more.

 

8. Where is the Cat Adoption Team located?

CAT is located in Sherwood, Oregon.

Click here for hours, location, contact information, and directions.

CAT also has several offsite adoption locations across the Portland area.

9. What are CAT’s shelter hours?

The Cat Adoption Team is open:

  • Tuesday through Friday from 12 noon until 7 pm
  • Weekends from 12 noon until 6 pm
  • Closed on Mondays

Please note that we stop processing adoptions 30 minutes prior to closing.

10. How can I contact someone at CAT?

There are several ways to reach someone at the Cat Adoption Team:

By Phone:  (503) 925-8903

  • CAT’s operators are on hand to answer your questions during regular shelter hours, which are Tuesday - Friday from 12 noon until 7 pm and weekends from 12 noon until 6 pm.
  • Closed Mondays
  • You can call anytime and use the directory option to reach a specific person or voice-mail box directly.

By e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

11. How can I volunteer for CAT?

Volunteers are extremely essential to CAT’s success in helping all the felines possible.

If you love cats, are a people-person, and can make a commitment to provide at least eight hours of service a month to CAT for at least six months, please click here for more details on all the volunteer opportunities offered at the Cat Adoption Team.

12. I found a lost/stray cat in my neighborhood. What should I do?

There are several ways you can help this kitty:

  1. Please make sure the cat you found is not an owned, free-roaming cat by checking with neighbors.
  2. Check out our tips for a “found” cat.
  3. Post signs around the neighborhood indicating a cat was found and where the cat is, especially if you decide to take the cat to a shelter. (NOTE: your local animal control agency should be the first shelter you contact. CAT is not a stray hold facility.)
  4. Read CAT’s other tips and advice on how to help this lost cat find his/her owners.

Thank you

13. Help! I’ve lost my cat. What do I do?

Remain calm and start looking right away.

Please click here for helpful advice, tips, and resources that will help you find your cat.

14. Can CAT help if I can’t afford to spay my cat?

Yes.

Qualified cat owners can have their cat/kitten fixed for $10 through the Spay & Save program.

CAT’s Hospital is one of a few clinics in the Portland-area that accepts the Oregon Spay/Neuter Fund discounted coupons. By using one of these coupons, you will significantly reduce the cost of this life-saving surgery. Click here to download a coupon.

Also, check out other resources available to pet owners.

15. Isn’t CAT a no-kill shelter? Why do you say you are “limited admission”?

CAT takes in cats and kittens in a limited capacity – meaning there is a maximum number of cats we can take in and there are criteria for what felines our animal shelter can take in, care for, and find homes for. As a private nonprofit, we must balance the needs of the community and the needs of the cats in our care, while being good stewards of the money voluntarily donated to us.

In order to provide quality care and optimal chances at adoption, CAT does have guidelines on how many FIV+, senior, and special care cats we can have in the shelter. To that end, we limit those admissions to keep the shelter population balanced and healthy.

There is also a limit to the number of cats and kittens our organization can care for. CAT does not want to bring in more felines than we can manage in a healthy, respectful, loving way.

CAT is an adoption guarantee shelter that saves the lives of all the healthy and treatable animals in our care.

CAT does not euthanize for space and is able to provide medical care for cats other animal shelters may not have the resources to care for. This does not mean that CAT never euthanizes. When a medically fragile (terminal) cat can no longer be kept pain-free and the quality of life is severely diminished, CAT’s medical team may elect to humanely euthanize the cat.

Our goal is to provide each cat with the best possible chance of finding a loving home. A home is truly the best place for any domestic cat. 

CAT partners with shelters in the Portland area to make sure no healthy, adoptable cat is ever euthanized. In fact, close to 73 percent of the cats in our care come to us through this network. Through our transfer program, CAT is able to be part of a community-wide effort to end needless feline euthanasia. We also provide re-homing tips for cat owners to use to avoid relinquishing their pet to an animal shelter.