Surrendering A Cat To Golden Oldies
Golden Oldies Cat Rescue is a resource and advocate for cats, 6 years and older, who reside in Monterey County, CA. We help cats whose guardians can no longer care for them or who are at risk in local shelters. We place these cats into temporary foster homes while searching for their new forever families.
Cats must have a legal guardian who is willing to sign paperwork attesting to ownership or they must belong to a local shelter. We cannot take strays/abandoned/feral cats. If the cat you are contacting us about is a stray, abandoned or feral, you’ll need to contact your local shelter. If you adopted your cat from a rescue, please connect with them first. To be considered for placement, cats MUST use a litter box.
MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS
Do not complete this medical until you have spoken to someone from Golden Oldies.
In order for a cat to be considered for placement with Golden Oldies, we require specific medical exams and lab tests be done to rule out pre-existing conditions. There are some medical conditions that we are unable to take on that may show up in the tests, including but not limited to diabetes, thyroid disease, cancer, advanced kidney disease, FIV, FELV and any terminal illness. Unfortunately, if the exam/blood tests show a cat has any of these we cannot take the cat into our program.
As a start, If your cat has existing medical records please have your vet email them to info@gocatrescue.org. We will review them and see if anything else is needed.
At a minimum, we will need the following to be completed and exam notes and lab test findings emailed to Golden Oldies.
A complete medical exam within the last 60 days
FIV/FELV test
If the veterinary practice does in-house FIV/FELV testing, do this test first and only proceed with the rest of the medical requirements if this test is negative.
If the FIV/FELV test is sent out to a lab, you can choose to also do only the exam and senior labs with T4 that same day and return at a later date for the required vaccines and microchip if the cat is approved after our review of exam notes and lab tests.
Senior blood panel within the last 6 months with T4 thyroid test
Teeth checked and graded for dental disease on a I-IV basis
Scanned for microchip. If the cat has one, please provide the chip number and manufacturer. If not, one will need to be implanted and the manufacturer and chip number provided to us.
A blood pressure screening (only if the veterinarian thinks it’s needed)
We also require the cat:
Be spayed/neutered
Have current FVRCP and rabies vaccines
Be on flea treatment if the cat goes outside at all
Use a litter box
We have multiple partner vets who will offer a discount on the exam and tests if you tell them it’s a prospective Golden Oldies cat. 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.
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) 373-0711
Pacific Grove Animal Hospital, 1023 Austin Ave Pacific Grove (831) 318-0306
Romie Lane Pet Hospital, 755 E. Romie Lane Salinas (831) 424-0863
Tad Hurvitz “The Pet Doc”, mobile vet (831) 288-9999
Animal Internal Medicine Consultants, 3720 Hatton Barn Suite G17 Carmel (Wednesdays/Pawsitive Pets Veterinary Hospital); 2450 17th Avenue Suite 125 Santa Cruz (Thursdays/Harbor Veterinary Hospital); Virtual consultations (Monday/Tuesday/Friday) ((831) 226-1638
Once we receive the medical records from the vet, they will be reviewed by our veterinary consultant. If the cat qualifies for Golden Oldies placement and there is an open foster home, we will make arrangements with you for a transfer. There is a $100 surrender fee (per cat) and you will need to fill out a surrender form. We promise a lifetime commitment to the cats in our care.
If a foster is unavailable, we will make every effort to recruit one but the cat will remain with you (or you need to make other arrangements for its care) until we find a foster. Please note, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE WE WILL FIND A FOSTER and without one we cannot take the cat.
Please let us know if the medical services costs and/or surrender fee will pose an undue financial burden. We never want finances to prevent bringing a cat into our program. We will try to work something out with you or provide additional discounts.
And finally, please respond to us within 14 days of receiving this information or we will assume you have decided to pursue other options.