Golden Oldies Cat Rescue focuses on cats age 6 and older residing in Monterey County, CA only, whose owners can no longer care for them, or who are at-risk in local shelters. All of the cats we take go into foster homes so it’s important they are litter box trained.
If you are outside of Monterey County but still want to list your cat on our website, we offer Courtesy listings for cats 6 and older. Anyone seeing your cat and wanting additional information would contact you directly. We also encourage you to contact your local shelter for rescue resources in your county.
To post any cat on our website, we’ll need to receive a description of the cat to include the cat’s name, age, city of residence, deadline for placement, if the cat is indoor/outdoor/both, if the cat has been with other cats/dogs/children, some personality characteristics of the cat and a contact name and number for publication. We also need at least one good quality photo (multiple photos are appreciated).
If you got your cat from a local rescue, please contact them.
For cats who live in Monterey County and did not come from a local rescue, there are pre-intake medical screenings that need to be done. These are basic diagnostic and preventative exams and labs. Because we are a small organization, there are some medical conditions we are unable to handle — including but not limited to diabetes, thyroid disease, kidney disease, cancer or any terminal illness. If a medical exam/labs shows a cat has one of these we unfortunately cannot take the kitty as a Golden Oldies cat, but we can offer you a Courtesy listing.
DO NOT COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING MEDICAL UNTIL YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO SOMEONE FROM GOLDEN OLDIES. To be considered for Golden Oldies the following requirements must be met:
- A complete medical exam within the last 60 days
- Senior blood panel within the last 6 months WITH thyroid test (T4)
- FIV/FELV test done (needs to be negative)
- FVRCP AND rabies vaccines if the cat is not current on these
- Be microchipped (and provide us with the microchip number and manufacturer)
- Be spayed/neutered
- Have its teeth checked and graded for dental disease on a I-IV basis
- A blood pressure screening (ONLY IF the doctor thinks it’s needed)
- Flea treatment if the cat goes outside at all
If the vet does in-house FIV/FELV testing it should be done first and the rest of the medical completed only if the cat is negative. We cannot take positive cats. If the test is negative, you also have the option of just doing the exam and senior labs with T4 that day and returning at a later date to have the vaccines and microchip done if the cat qualifies for placement with us pending our review of exam notes and labs.
If you take your cat to one of our partner vets and mention it is a prospective Golden Oldies Cat you will receive a discount. Our partner vets are:
- Animal Hospital at Mid Valley, 312 Mid Valley Center, Carmel (831) 624-8509
- Monterey Animal Hospital, 725 Foam Ave Monterey (831) 373-071
- Pacific Grove Animal Hospital, 1023 Austin Ave Pacific Grove (831) 318-0306
- Romie Lane Pet Hospital, 755 E. Romie Lane Salinas (831) 424-0863
PLEASE MENTION IT IS A PROSPECTIVE GOLDEN OLDIES CAT when making the appointment. You also MUST let us know several days in advance of the appointment so we can contact the vet and authorize the discounted services. If you DO NOT let us know in advance you WILL NOT get the discount.
If your cat has existing medical records please have your vet email them to goldenoldiescats@gmail.com. We will review them and see if anything else is needed. If more is needed, once the medical is done those records also need to be emailed to goldenoldiescats@gmail.com.
Once we receive the medical records, our medical consultant will review them. If the cat qualifies for Golden Oldies and we do not already have an available foster we will begin recruiting for a foster but you need to keep the cat or make arrangements for its care until we find a foster. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE WE WILL FIND A FOSTER OR BE ABLE TO PLACE YOUR CAT BUT WE DO OUR BEST.
When we find a foster, we will have you fill out a surrender form. There is a $100 surrender fee per cat. For shelter/rescue/vet transfers we have a transfer form you will fill out and we waive the fee. We promise a lifetime commitment to the cats in our care. They will either be adopted or live out their lives in a loving foster home. If for some reason they ever need to come back to us, we are here for them.
For guardians, if the cost of the medical services and the surrender fee is a financial hardship, PLEASE let us know so we can work with you and offer a discount. We DO NOT want finances to prevent bringing a cat into our program.
We are 100 percent foster-based, which means we can only take cats when we have open foster homes. We are not a shelter and cannot take cats on short notice. Determining if a cat qualifies can take a week or more. And if we do not have a foster home available, the recruitment process can be a long one.
To get started, please call us at 831-200-9700 or send an email to goldenoldiescats@gmail.com.
Note: If your cat has been approved to come into Golden Oldies, please click on the Public Intake Form below, and fill it out (we also can email you a form). DO NOT fill out this form UNLESS you have heard from a Golden Oldies representative that your cat has been cleared medically and we have a foster home.