FAQs | London Inner City Kitties

We have put together this list of FAQs to help. Please read these FAQs thoroughly about adopting a L.I.C.K. kitty before applying to adopt. Out of consideration for the time and energy of our small adoptions team, we ask that you apply only when certain that you are ready and able to adopt. Please ensure you have the appropriate permissions to receive a kitty into your home and you have discussed thoroughly with your family or housemates/flatmates and everyone agrees to commit to provide a forever home for the kitty.

Adoptions are done by cat not by applicant. We can receive dozens of applications for a kitty and when he/she is considered for adoption all the applications are reviewed to select the best match. This process is done thoroughly by our adoption team and can take some time when there is a large number of applications. Therefore it is very difficult to provide a fixed time period but we work as quickly as possible so our kitties can move into their new forever homes. If your application is not selected, we will keep it in case we find another possible match. However, if you want to ensure that you are considered for other kitties, please message us on social media so we can ammend your application.

Once a cat is ready to be adopted, they will appear with a summary of their personality/traits on our website. We consider applicants in the order in which they applied and on a cat by cat basis, however, we will prioritise the best match for each kitty. When we find a good possible match, we reach out for an initial phone screen to talk more about why you are looking to adopt a kitty, what plans you have for the kitty (e.g. pet insurance, vet, etc) and about the environment in which the kitty will live (e.g. who will he/she live with and where). Once that is cleared, you will be set-up for a visit to meet the kitty at the foster's house (during COVID-19 this will be done via a video call). If you are approved and you are happy with the kitty, we will email you the adoption paperwork to be filled in and signed and details of our bank account for transfer of the Adoption Donation. A member of our team will then bring your kitty to your home where a home check will be carried out. The process can be halted at any stage if a member of the team has any concerns about the suitability of the adoption or environment. Our sole concern is the welfare of the cat. If the physical meeting of kitty and adopter is not successful we will immediately take back the kitty.

We encourage you to give yourself and your new feline friend adequate time to adjust to the new living arrangement, especially if you have existing cat(s). There are a number of steps you can take to practically aid with the adjustment. Please have a look at the link here for some tips and the link here if you are looking to adopt but already have a kitty. If your new kitty is unable to settle into your home well, or if for any other reason, things don’t work out, L.I.C.K is happy to take the kitty back for rehoming. Please ensure you follow the necessary guidelines to ensure your kitty has the optimum experience moving into their own home. Please have a look at the link here for some tips.

The adoption donation for an adult or kitten is £100, or £170 to adopt two. Of course, if you’re feeling generous or wish to include L.I.C.K in your annual charitable giving, we will always gladly accept additional donations. 100% of donations go to vet bills and are tax deductible, which can be made through PayPal Giving Fund, the DONATE button on our Facebook profile, the DONATE button on our Instagram Profile or if you prefer to transfer, please contact us to obtain the bank details.

With the current pet welfare crisis there is a huge number of kitties in need of help. We don't have the capacity to be able to provide the extra 2 trips and vet appointments needed for vaccinations. Therefore, we are not able to do vaccinations at the moment. We ask that the adopters book cats in for vaccinations along with registering the cats. All cats are de-wormed and de-flead but we suggest re-inforcing regularly. Please consult your vet.

We are a charity that focuses on the London area. With our current resources, this allows us to rehome the greatest number of kitties and ensure that they can all receive proper veterinary attention before they are adopted. In rare cases, we have been able to find an incredibly loving home for a kitty in London’s surrounding areas for some of our more difficult to adopt kitties. But it may not be possible to rehome outside London as we have to focus our efforts locally. We might also consider a home outside of London for outdoor cats who are looking for safe outdoor space or cat proofed garden/catio far away from busy roads. However, please keep in mind that the majority of our cats are rehomed strictly as indoor cats. If you live outside London and you are looking to adopt or foster a cat, please check out CatChat.org for a list of shelters and rescue organisations in your area.

Thank you for applying! We currently have many more applications than kitties available for fostering, and we may not be able to come back to you individually in the short term. Please bear in mind that we will keep your details in our system, and we will be in touch with you if we find a good match. However, please keep in mind, that we are currently only able to accept fosterers to the current areas: E1, E2, E5, E8, E9, E13, E15, E20, N1, N5, N7, N16. This helps us ensure that we are logistically able to pick up a kitty for any vet visits within a reasonable distance.

Thank you for applying! We are currently busy at work processing a high volume of applications and so there may be a delay in coming back to you. We have your details in our system, and we will reach out if we find a good match for an initial phone screening. If this initial phone screening were to be successful, we would then put you in touch with the fosterer so you can meet the kitty. This Is currently done via a video call. We try to make this process as speedy as we can, but as some kitties can get a lot of attention and others very little or none, this can have an effect on timelines.

We are considering all applications on an individual basis for each kitty, in the order that applications come in. Our priority is always the kitty’s well-being, and finding the best home for them. Please keep in mind that preference will be given to an adopter that best matches the kitty, e.g. if a specific kitty is best to be rehomed to a home with other kitties. We will also consider house safety (plants, windows, balconies), busy roads for outdoor cats and we may also take location into account due to Covid travel restrictions. If you see a kitty on our website that you would like to be considered for, please message us on social media.

If you adopt a kitty with L.I.C.K., our hope and expectation is that you prepare your home for your new family member. For foster cats, we will provide the cat and will pick them up with a carrier from the charity. If not done beforehand or if they are needed, we will provide deworm and de flea treatments as well as any medication the cat needs. The fosterers are required to provide litter, litter tray, water, food and care. Adopters are required to provide litter, a suitable litter tray, water, food and care for the kitty. We suggest looking into vets as well as pet insurance.

There are many security measures to consider: windows, doors, chimneys, plants, balconies.

Cat proofing balconies will be required. Kitties can be injured from falling from even as low as a first floor apartment. For any windows that may be opened (even from time to time), please look into getting a protective screen - kitties of all ages are very inquisitive and can easily get out of windows. Chimneys are also dangerous as kitties can try to hide there and get stuck. Lastly - please be extra careful with your household plants and food. Many household plants are toxic to kitties - lilies in particular, can kill! For list of toxic plants to be aware of, please see this guidance from PetMD.

Here are a few options for cat proofing:

Protect a pet (affiliate link)
Flat cats
Kat Zecure
Nets for cats (no drilling option shipped from Germany)
Trixie Pole set for Net set-up from Zooplus for balconies (No drilling)
NEEZ poles for cable nets no drilling
Screen solutions for doors
Omlet Balcony Enclosure
Some more ideas here, here, here and here

L.I.C.K. keeps kittens in pairs, especially if they are bonded. Sometimes this means we also aim to keep a kitten with its mother. Cat learn cat behaviours by socialising with other cats, so it is always best for kitties to have a friend from a young age.

Kittens are highly social animals, and form important bonds with friends and siblings, so we always pair kittens for adoption whenever possible. Kittens who are solo will be adopted only into homes where another young cat is already present. This helps ensure our kittens will have a rich social life and a lifelong friend. Additionally, kittens are highly adaptable when they are young and this reduces with age. Kittens homed on their own risk having behavioural issues when they grow up like bitting and scratching, a kitten friend helps them understand their boundaries. These behavioural issue is one of the main reasons why people rehome single cats. If you are looking to home one kitten, please think about the reasons why you want to rehome 1 kitten and consider rehoming two instead. This will give the pair a better chance at a healthier and happier life in the longterm. Read more about the importance of kittens growing up in pairs here.

Our stance is that it may not be in the best interest of every cat to be an outdoor kitty due to all the health and safety risks they face in a busy urban setting such as London. We have seen cats who have had terrible run-ins with animals, cars, and even malicious humans and we always consider the wellbeing of the cat as a priority. Unless a cat has a good reason to be outdoors, and a safe outdoor space (catio or cat fence) in which to do so, then we advise against it. There is lots of evidence that shows cats can live healthy, full lives indoors and that this can potentially even increase their longevity. We do get certain kitties who are accustomed to going outdoors, and in these cases we will find them an adopter who can safely offer them this option, we assess this based on their background as well as observations during their time with their fosterer. If you have an outdoor space and are looking to adopt, we will require cat proofing the area.

We are aware that this is a complicated and controversial debate and one that needs to continue to happen as there are very good arguments on both sides. We can break our stance on homing (mainly) indoor cats to the following two points;

1 - Safety. The number of kitties that we’ve had to scrape off the roads as well as sad stories from homes without cat-proofed gardens that we’ve adopted to in the past became too heartbreaking. The number pre-covid was approx 230k cats hit by cars a year in the UK, not to mention the terrible fates that some outdoor cats suffer at the hands of humans and other animals. For us, it became too much of a risk, so we now prefer gardens/terraces/patios if any to be cat-proofed.

2 - Population numbers VS number of homes that have gardens. While we understand the reasons that most shelters require gardens for cats, the number of cats in shelters is becoming unmanageable. The cost of living and people giving up ‘lockdown’ pets means that there are more kitties than ever in need of homes and shelters are at bursting point. Because of this, it is becoming unviable to ensure every cat goes to a home with a garden in London or even outside of London, when there are so many families that are able to give cats an enriched life indoors. Our strong application process means that we can make sure that every family we adopt to is given the guidance they need to make sure that their indoors kitties live a fulfilled life. We do get a lot of people that have the perfect environment for a cat but are not allowed to adopt in other rescues because they don't have a garden but the kitties are sometimes kept in pens for months or even years. We place our kitties in foster homes as soon as we can and reduce our use of pens as much as possible to give them personal care where we analyse their well being and health to ensure that indoor life is right for the kitty as well as giving them a warm loving home while they wait to be matched to their forever home.

We are committed to helping any kitty in need. If you or someone you know are no longer able to take care of your/their kitties, we can assist with finding them a new home. PLEASE don't abandon kitties! We are a small volunteer-run charity and we do not have a dedicated rescue team, but we work with a network of trappers and rescuers who may be able to support. If you are in urgent need, we would direct you to look at rescue centres listed on CatChat.org. We are currently we are over capacity and are unable to take in any more cats - please get in touch with CatChat.org if there is a kitty that needs help. If you are concerned about a cat outside that is un-hurt, please do not take them in if you don't have space for them, until you have established that a charity has room for them.

Under current circumstances we had to stop “meet the kitty” visits between potential adopters and fosterers. Potential adopters can meet their kitty through a video call with his/her fosterer instead. House checks will also be done mostly through videos and photos.

If you have been successfully approved for adoption, one of our volunteers will bring the kitty to your home, they will be following our covid risk assessment guidelines to ensure the following of government guidelines. Please let us know if you are not comfortable with the volunteer coming into your home.

L.I.C.K. is an entirely volunteer run not-for-profit charity. L.I.C.K. makes no profit, and no funds go towards any administrative costs. All donations go directly towards funding the cost of veterinary visits and care for the cats and kittens. L.I.C.K. maintains a special relationship with a vet that offers charity prices in order to make the donations cover as many costs as possible for the benefit of the cats. All donations towards L.I.C.K. are tax deductible.

Mia and Lily

How do I know which kitties are up for adoption or which kitties have already been adopted?

I am interested in adopting a kitty, what should I consider before applying?"

How long will my application take?

How does the adoption application work?

I want to adopt a kitty; how much will it cost me?

Are kitties neutered?

Will the kitty be vaccinated, de-wormed and de flead when I get them?"

Will you rehome outside London?

I’ve applied to foster. When will I hear back?

I’ve applied to adopt but I haven’t heard anything?

If I adopt a kitty through L.I.C.K what will you provide?

When should I neuter my cat?

What safety measures should I consider?

How often should I deflea and deworm my kitty?

Does an indoor kitty need regular flea treatments?

Does my cat need insurance?

Do I need to register my kitty with the vet?

Do you have a policy on adopting kittens together in pairs or on their own? I just want to adopt one kitten. Can I still apply?

Do you rehome kitties indoor or outdoor? Most of the charities in London require adopters to have a garden, but I notice most of the cats for adoption are listed as indoor only, how come?"

Do kitties get FiV / FeLV tested?

I want to edit my application, should I submit a new one?"

I rent my home, am I able to adopt?"

Do you have a shelter or adoption centre?

I have a cat that needs rescuing or rehoming. Can you help?

How have you adapted the adoption and fostering processes to meet government guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Where do my donations go to?

What is foster to adopt?