Cat Rescuer or Crazy Cat Lady? How to Tell the Difference

Sadly many well meaning people who start out trying to do the right thing, become part of the problem rather than the solution.  So let us begin by defining what is rescue.

RESCUE

A pet rescue is often group of people (but can be individuals) who work together to help stray or abandoned animals.  This group is given accreditation, and is often registered as a non-profit society.  They are public.  Their main goal is to find the pets original home and have it returned to its owner, or to have the cat "adopted" to a new home.  They also generally also try to educate the public towards spaying or neutering their pets.  A rescue takes in all kinds of cats, young, old, cute, ugly.  Depending on their status, they may euthanize those who are unadoptable.

A rescue does not keep any adoptable animals as pets of the group, although they might keep an unadoptable animal, such as a blind cat. 

RESCUER

If a person adopts a pet from a shelter or rescue group then they can truely say they "Rescued" it.  If you find a cat on the street and take it home, you did not rescue it, you may have just stollen somebodies lost kitty.  If you buy a cat from a pet store or private individual, you did not rescue it, you purchased it. 

CAT COLLECTOR

The crazy cat lady, does not have to be a lady, or even crazy, but the one thing that distinguishes a collector from a rescue is that the collector takes in cats, and generally keeps them.  Then often refer to themselves as a "rescuer" but this is not always the case.  The collector does not always look for the cats original or rightful owner.  The collector sometimes is picky about what breed, or color of cat they take in. 

The biggest problem with collectors, is often they lose track of spaying or neutering their cats, and the numbers grow rapidly.  Collectors generally keep every cat, as they are convinced they are a good home.  Their goal is to feel they are doing good.  They do not try to rehome even the most adoptable pets.  A collector becomes an out of control nightmare. 

A collector is a rescue groups worst nightmare, because the collector genuinely thinks they are doing good, and only when things become a huge burden do they look for help, if at all.  By then there are many cats, and kittens, often suffering from medical neglect and poor social skills, since they are surrounded by so many cats, and so few people.

YOU

If you think you are becoming a crazy cat person, the best thing you can do, is spay and neuter all the cats you have.  This way the numbers will not spiral out of control.  It is fine to have several cats, as long as you do not have more than you can afford to look after correctly.  If you cannot get your pet numbers under control surrender the most adoptable, this is usually the youngest, pets to a local shelter or rescue group. 

photo from Wikimedia GNU license