Foster Homes Needed!

Shayla, one of our gorgeous cats, is looking for a new foster home.

Chicago Cat Rescue is a foster-based rescue organization, which means we rely on compassionate members of our community to open their hearts and homes to foster cats and kittens in need. Chicago Cat Rescue does not have a facility or shelter space, so the number of cats we can rescue is dependent upon the number of foster homes we have. The more foster homes we have, the more cats we can save!  The quest to secure new, loving foster homes never ends.  On a daily basis, we receive emails and calls about cats in desperate situations.  Sometimes a cat's situation is so dire that we cannot wait until we secure a foster home to act.  Many of our foster parents have decided to foster because they are in a stage of their life where they LOVE cats, but are unable to commit to a feline in their family - such as grad students or temporary Chicago residents.  Quite often, when a foster parent's time is up in Chicago, it means their resident foster feline has to find a new place to call home.  Through no fault of their own, Hattie, Oliver, Patrick, May and Shayla are losing their foster homes at the end of April - which means Chicago Cat Rescue is in full-purrsuit to find them a new place to land!   We are thankful for the current foster parents of these five wonderful cats - but if we don't find new homes for these five soon, we will have to board them in cages at our vet clinic -- something no one wants! Update: May, Hattie and Patrick have been adopted! Congratulations to these lucky cats and their new families. We have several other cats- Domino, Rum Tum, and Phoebe, who are in need of foster homes.

Additionally, we recently pulled three very friendly cats from a feral and homeless cat colony. These three darling cats were far from feral and needed to come in from the cold, harsh streets. They are currently calling cages at our vet home, which is definitely better than life on the streets, but far from an ideal situation.  O'Malley, Orion and Sweet Pea are safe, warm and healthy but are anxious to begin their second chance at life in a warm, loving home.

Additionally we have FOUR moms with kittens who were also pulled off the streets. We simply couldn't leave these moms and their litters in the abandoned cars where they were living! Unfortunately this means we need even more foster homes. Even if you can only foster for a month or two, that can give us enough time to look for a longer term foster home for these kittens.

O'Malley is the perfect cat! Seriously. He is easy going, loves getting attention in the form of chin rubs and playtime. If you have considered adopting or fostering but have never had a cat, O'Malley is just the cat for you. A perfect cat who would make a great "first cat" for anyone. Did we mention he is also a heart throb? Everyone who meets O'Malley falls instantly in love with him.

Orion is a great boy with a loving heart. The first cat pulled from the colony, Orion is simply a doll. A strapping lad with nothing but love to give to everyone who comes his way. He would be happy to have a small bedroom, office or even a bathroom to stretch his legs in.

Sweet Pea was also pulled from the street. Sweet Pea is properly named, she is the sweetest, and is sure to be a wonderful mom. Won't you consider giving Sweet Pea






Fostering can be a great opportunity to help save a cats' life even if you can't adopt. Perhaps you are in Chicago temporarily (anywhere from a few months to a few years) and want a cat, but don't know what life will bring down the line. Fostering is a great way to bring a bit of kitty love into your life for that period! Or, perhaps you have been considering adopting a new cat but aren't sure your current cat will get along with a new friend. You can try a 'foster to adopt'!  There are so many benefits to fostering both for humans and the cats!  If you are interested in learning more, please contact cindy@chicagocatrescue.org / 773-203-0215.

Chicago Cat Rescue Looking for Barns

Chicago Cat Rescue supports the practice of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). We are working with several colony caregivers to help with their colonies. In fact, three of our recent admissions were friendly cats who made their way to this colony! There are too many cats living on the streets, too many unwanted cats and kittens for the shelters to find homes for. The best way we can think of to reduce these numbers is to support TNR. Spaying and Neutering these cats prevents any more unwanted litters from being born and admitted to shelters. Allowing these cats to live out the remainder of their lives on the street, where they  are cared for by dedicated caregivers who feed and provide medical attention for the sick or injured, saves a number of lives. Feral cats are usually unadoptable because of their lack of socialization towards humans. if they are introduced to humans at a young enough age, or worked with by a very dedicated person, many feral cats and most kittens will be grateful housecats. Not only does it save the life of the most likely unadoptable feral cat, it also frees up space in shelters and animal control facilities for adoptable cats who have lost their homes.


Sometimes, even with the best caregivers, a cat cannot go back to their original colony. In these cases the cats are pulled and relocated someplace safe. Relocation is always a last resort, to be done only when it is unsafe for a cat or colony of cats to return to their original location.There are a number of reasons it might be unsafe to return a cat to her colony. Sometimes it is not safe because of an injury the cat has, sometimes the location itself is just not safe for a colony of cats. Relocation is a process, you cannot just plop a feral cat down into a new home and expect everything to be ok. Just like when you introduce a cat to a new home and new cats, you must do a slow introduction process. Because it is a slow processes and the relocated cats will need to be feed daily, it takes a special person and just the right location to relocate feral cats.

Fifi would be happiest living in a barn or other safe place for a feral cat.

Chicago Cat Rescue is looking for just such a person and location right now. We currently have one spayed female cat who is looking for a barn or other such location to be relocated to. She is completely vetted and has no healthy issues. She just cannot return to the area she was trapped in. An ideal location would be a nice barn, perhaps with other cats. Feral cats do make great mousers. Adding a cat  to your barn is a great way to keep the rodents and other pests out of  your barn, away from your crops, tools and other animals.

We are looking for someplace within 100 mile radius of Chicago. A barn, a home with a large, protected swath of land for Fifi to live on (with shelter from the elements of course), anything that would make a good home for a cat. She needs someplace safe to get her out from this cage and back to her life. If you have someplace that might work, or you are interested in learning more about having a feral cat relocated to your property please contact Cindy by email or call her at 773-203-0215.