Frequently Asked Questions

CC4C operates a Cat Hospital for cats in our program, which provides routine spay/neuter and medical services, and non-urgent surgeries. If you are located in Contra Costa County and wish to request S/N assistance for a stray/feral/homeless cat that you have found, you may use the Contact Us form.

The clinic is not open to the public nor owned-cats. See our Spay/Neuter Assistance page for more information.

See our Spay/Neuter Assistance or Medical Financial Assitance pages.

No, CC4C’s Cat Hospital is not open to the publicn or owned-cats. 

There are some resources to organizations offering funding or financing for sick or injured animals. An application form must be submitted and, if approved, it can cover all or part of the cost of the vet care. For more information see our Spay/Neuter Assistance and Medical Financial Assistance pages.

• Spay/neuter
• Microchip
• FVRCP (distemper) and Rabies vaccinations appropriate to age
• Flea treatment
• Deworming
• Any medical treatment that was deemed necessary prior to adoption

Our cats stay with their foster homes until they are adopted. We do not euthanize cats for lack of space and no adoptable animal is ever given a time limit.

Assume 2-6 months if you volunteer to foster. It will depend on the age, health, and socialization needs of the kittens or cat. Baby kittens must be at least 8 weeks old, healthy, and started vaccinations before they are eligible for adoption. Older kittens (over 4 months) and cats must also be spayed/neutered before they are eligible for adoption.

If 2-6 months is not a commitment you can make at this time, consider the following temporary support.

• Quarantine support: Newly rescued kitties are typically quarantined for 10-14 days before being mixed with other foster kitties. If a single kitten is found, we like to move them in with another litter for appropriate social development and companionship after initial quarantine. Adult cats are sometimes housed at Cat Lane, but also need to be quarantined before they are integrated with other foster-residents. For such a short stay, newly rescued kittens that need taming will be caged, where friendly ones can be in a bathroom or spare room.
• Vacation support: Help foster-families for a week or two during the summer months. For such a short stay, the kitties would stay in one bedroom/office in your home and would not be integrated into your household.
• Feral recovery: Females are typically recovered 3-5 days after spay in a cage before returning to their outdoor homes. Ferals requiring other surgery or medical intervention, may also need recovery support for a few days to a couple weeks in a cage.

See our Volunteer page.

Children over the age of 13 may also volunteer at our thrift store, Rescued Treasures, with a parent present. Please contact the manager at 925-682-3201.

See our Volunteer page for more information.

No, CC4C’s Cat Hospital is not open to the public nor owned-cats and cannot vaccinate cats that are not in our foster-system. 

Note: CC4C provides the first set of vaccinations for adoptable cats and kittens in our system; and does not vaccinate cats once they are current on these shots and have been adopted by you.

See our Spay/Neuter Assistance or Medical Financial Assitance pages.

No, CC4C’s Cat Hospital is not open to the publicn or owned-cats. 

There are some resources to organizations offering funding or financing for sick or injured animals. An application form must be submitted and, if approved, it can cover all or part of the cost of the vet care. For more information see our Spay/Neuter Assistance and Medical Financial Assistance pages.

No, CC4C does not have a shelter and cannot accept surrendered cats that have been pets. CC4C’s mission is to help homeless and abandoned cats, which are fostered in our homes, and space is always limited.

Giving up part of your family should be your last resort. Before you decide to surrender your cat, consider the reason for the rehoming. CC4C strongly recommends that you do everything possible to keep your cat, e.g., work through behavior problems, take the cat for a physical checkup, find an apartment that does take pets, find a boarding kennel that accepts pets, etc., because re-homing is challenging and may not provide a better or safer home than your cat already has with you.Please note that CC4C does not have a shelter and cannot accept surrendered cats that have been pets. If you are considering surrender due to…

• • a behavioral problem, see Behavior Modification or Litter Box Behavior
  • transitioning between housing, 
    • contact your family and friends to see if they can house your pet until your situation changes and you are able to take your pet back,
    • call veterinarian offices or boarding facilities to see if they offer savings for a lengthier stay
    • contact qualified pet sitters to see if they might assist you
  • medical or financial hardship, see Medical Financial Assistance, Joybound – Assistance with Keeping Your Pet

If you must rehome your cat…

• • Notify friends, family members, neighbors, and coworkers that you need to re-home your cat. If you choose to advertise on Nextdoor or rehome to someone you do not know, always charge at least a $50 adoption fee to ensure it is not used for snake food, dog fighting, sold to a laboratory for testing, or other ill intent. 
  • If you are able to continue housing the cat and it is spayed/neutered, then a CC4C member may be able to sponsor you to bring the cat to our adoption site on the weekends or provide a courtesy posting online.
  • Check other organizations for assistance: 
    • Joybound – Assistance with Keeping Your Pet – offers rehoming hub, temporary boarding, assistance with pet rental deposit, etc.
    • East Bay SPCA surrender program
    • Contra Costa Humane society– offers rehoming ads on their website
    • Rehome by Adopt-A-Pet – Shares your pet’s profile with Adopt-A-Pet’s millions of viewers.
  • We recommend that you surrender your pet to a shelter ONLY as your last option.

Do not abandon your cat by leaving it outside, thinking it will survive on its own. Abandoned cats typically do not survive outside, and die of starvation, disease, dehydration, accidents, being attacked by a wild animal, suffer injuries, and are helpless.

No, CC4C does not have a shelter and cannot temporarily house your pet for you.

Contact your family and friends to see if they can house your pet until your situation changes and you are able to take your pet back. Call veterinarian offices and compare prices. Some may offer a savings for a lengthier stay. Your veterinarian may have a list of qualified pet sitters and/or kennels who might assist you.

See our Lost/Missing Cat page.

CC4C operates a Cat Hospital for cats in our program, which provides routine spay/neuter and medical services, and non-urgent surgeries. If you are located in Contra Costa County and wish to request S/N assistance for a stray/feral/homeless cat that you have found, you may use the Contact Us form.

The clinic is not open to the public nor owned-cats. See our Spay/Neuter Assistance page for more information.

Some CC4C members are willing to loan equipment that they are not currently using. Please e-mail us and state what equipment you would like to borrow, for how long, and where you are located. You may be required to put a deposit down on the equipment and sign an agreement form that includes your contact information.

Please also see our Trapping Tips for other helpful information.

Feral cats:
CC4C has limited foster space and because feral cats are extremely difficult, often impossible to tame, most fosters cannot take feral cats.  CC4C may be able to help with the TNR (trap, neuter, return, and return) of the cat. Please e-mail or call our hotline and state what assistance you need and how you can help.  Feral cats are part of the community, and it is expected that you will continue to care for the cat by providing water and feeding the cat to keep it is as an “outdoor” cat.

If cat is tame (or young kittens):
CC4C is limited on foster space and we fill up quickly due to high demand each kitten season. We can help more cats if you are able to foster the cat/kittens yourself at your home with CC4C support. We cannot provide food and litter but we do provide medical support that includes defleaing, deworming, vaccinations, leukemia testing, spay or neuter, and veterinarian visits, arranged by your CC4C sponsor, if necessary. Please e-mail or call our hotline and state your location, number of cat/kittens, approximate ages, and if you are able to foster or not.  If you would like to keep the cat/kittens but need help to catch or trap them, please e-mail or call our hotline with that information.

If the kittens are very young (bottle-babies) and there is no mama-cat:
CC4C is very limited on fosters that are able to bottle-feed kittens. If you would like to commit to bottle-feeding, we can support you with that very rewarding experience. See our information on Bottle Babies. Please e-mail or call our hotline and state your location, number of kittens, approximate ages, and if you are able to foster or not. If bottle babies are taken to the shelter, they are likely to be euthanized because they are not weaned and cannot eat on their own.

CC4C operates within Contra Costa County. If you are not located within Contra Costa County, you may locate a list of local rescue groups through PetFinder.com, PetHarbor.com, or by contacting your local County’s Animal Shelter.

No, CC4C cannot take a cat that may be owned; it is best if you house the cat yourself and attempt to locate its owner.   A cat who looks healthy with good body condition and coat is most likely an indoor/outdoor pet.

If you are unable to locate the owner (see list below), CC4C may be able to help you find a home for the cat if you can continue to foster it.

1. Check the cat for a microchip through your local vet, or the shelter clinic. If unsure, CC4C can help scan the cat for a microchip. If the cat is chipped, visit www.petmicrochiplookup.org to research a microchip number.  If the chip is unregistered, ask the microchip provider to “track back” the purchaser’s contact information. Often times, the rescue group or shelter will have adoption records to track down the owner.
2. Try to contact the owner by putting a break-away collar on the cat and wrapping a note around the collar with your name and phone number. Add “Please call me.” If the cat appears healthy and well-fed, it may have a home in your neighborhood and be an outside cat or roaming. If the cat is owned, you will likely get a call within a day or two when they notice a strange collar on their cat.
3. Post flyers in the neighborhood where the cat was found. 
4. Notify the County Animal Shelter (see Contra Costa Animal Services, Found Cat page). You must notify and hold the cat for 30-days before you can rehome it. 
   • Please note that Contra Costa Animal Services’ website states that it does “not admit healthy free-roaming cats to the shelter.” If they do impound an animal, then it will be held a minimum of 3 business days. That hold is extended to 5 business days with some form of identification, and 10 business days with their current Contra Costa County license tag. Once the holding period has ended, that animal may be made available for adoption, transferred to another shelter or rescue, or euthanized. An animal may be euthanized immediately if the animal is suffering from a serious medical condition or injury and/or is not responding to treatment.
5. Submit a “Found Pet Notice” with 24 Pet Connect. Submit a Lost or Found Pet Report and upload a clear image of the animal. Your information will be sent to Contra Costa Animal Services (and other shelters, based on your selection), and you will receive daily email notifications when an animal matching your request is reported in the area. You can edit or cancel your request
   at any time.
6. Post the cat as “found” on Pawsboost, FidoAlert, Nextdoor.com, or other similar neighborhood websites.