Entering the cat adoption at The Lost Dogs’ Home can be quite the experience. With so many beautiful, whiskered faces staring at you and little paws stretching out to say hello, it’s hard to know where to start, let alone who to take home with you!

Yet despite the insistent meows coming from each enclosure, often one cat will stand out from the crowd to truly capture your heart. Whether it’s the crazy kitty who loves to play chasey with their toy mouse, the chilled-out old softie who is content to curl up in your arms or the smooch machine who wants to pepper your face in tiny nose kisses, there is a little personality just waiting to become a part of your family.

At present, there are 33 little personalities who are looking for homes. Thirty-one of these are adult cats who, our past adoption figures tell us, have a harder time finding a home than their wiggly kitten cohorts. With the breeding season upon us, we desperately need to find homes for our more mature moggies, as once the kittens start coming in, the older guys tend to get lost in the shadows.

“We have some absolutely gorgeous cats at the moment, but it’s the kittens that are walking out the door,” The Lost Cats’ Home Manager Karina Bailey said. “It’s so hard to see when you know these older cats – most of whom aren’t so far out of kittenhood themselves – could be just as fantastic a companion as the little guys.”

Among the cats who have had a bit of trouble finding a home is Bessie, an eight-year-old domestic shorthair who was once the beloved companion of an elderly owner. Despite being featured in a story on the website two weeks ago, no-one is yet to express an interest in the gentle girl.

“Bessie would be a wonderful companion for another elderly person, as she is very relaxed and happy simply to curl up in a lap for a snooze,” Karina said. “People have been put-off by her age but the average life expectancy for an indoor cat is around 12 – 15 years. So Bessie definitely has plenty of years still ahead of her.”

Another cat who has failed to grab the attention of a prospective owner is the shelter’s biggest cat, aptly named Big Bobby. This gentle giant isn’t fazed by anything, including other cats and would be a welcome second addition to any home; however at seven-years-old, Bobby is often brushed off as being ‘too old’ by adopters.

“Big Bobby is such a special boy, he’s completely relaxed and enjoys the simple things in life,” Karina said. “He’s an enormous cat but so sweet too. He will make a terrific family pet.”

And then there is Lucky, the three-legged wonder cat! When she arrived at the Home with a severely broken leg, vets had no choice but to remove it or else Lucky may not have survived. While we hoped an owner would show up to collect the beautiful girl, no one did and she was put up for adoption.

“We gave her the name Lucky because if she wasn’t found and brought into us when she was, she wouldn’t be here with us today,” Karina said. “Now we just hope she will be lucky enough to find a family who really love her, three legs and all.”

More and more cats are coming in every day and we need to find homes for our current cats now, so please take a moment to look through our adoptions page. There are cats of all sizes, ages, colours and temperament so you will be sure to find the right feline friend for you.

Cats for adoption at The Lost Dogs' Home, North Melbourne

On Tuesday morning, in a disgusting display of cruelty and thoughtlessness, two kittens not yet old enough to be away from their mother were discovered in a courier box by staff at a distribution centre. The box had been collected from a household in Melbourne’s western suburbs the day previous and the kittens had been in the box without food, water or padding to protect them for well over 24 hours.

After making the shocking discovery, staff contacted the City of Melbourne who immediately called upon The Lost Cats’ Home to collect and care for the kittens. Cattery Manager Karina Bailey said she was outraged when she heard about the incident.

“Any number of things could have happened to those kittens while they were in transit,” Karina said. “The box could have been squashed, it could have been dropped or roughly handled, and at such a young age, these kittens are already extremely vulnerable.”

Luckily the young male and female appeared to be unharmed, although they were underweight for what they should be at four-weeks-old. Veterinarians at the Home assessed the pair upon arrival and they have been carefully monitored this week to ensure their health doesn’t deteriorate.

“They should never have been taken away from their mum at this age,” Karina said. “Cats weaned off their mother’s milk too early can often have weak immune systems later on, so we wanted to make sure these kittens are getting lots of nutrition to make up for that.”

With the kittens still too young to be out up for adoption, Karina is appealing for members of the public to act as foster carers for the pair over the next four weeks.

“We want them to be strong and healthy by the time we put them up for adoption, so we need someone who will be able to provide them with the best quality care,” Karina said. “They are eating well and don’t appear to have any medical problems. Fattening them up and making sure they become lovely, socialised cats is the main thing!”

Anyone who believes they can provide a loving, temporary home to the two kittens – or to any of our sick, injured or underage cats and dogs – are encouraged to contact Foster Care Coordinator Amanda Huggins on 9329 2755 or download the foster care application form on www.dogshome.com.

“They are adorable kittens, very sweet and cuddly, which is surprising at their age,” Karina said. “It makes me sick that someone could do something so abhorrent to two innocent kittens. But hopefully we can give them a fresh start to life and they will grow up to become healthy, loving cats.”

An investigation into the incident is currently taking place.

Read more about this story in the Herald Sun (Reporter: Aleks Devic)

The Lost Dogs’ Home is celebrating a very exciting, landmark event – the completion of our newly constructed $2.35 million The Lost Cats’ Home.

The Lost Dogs' Home - Cat Condo (inside)

Its opening marks the culmination of many years of planning, funding, and of course building a structure that is going to mean an enormous change and improvement for cats here at the Home. The facility commenced operation on Wednesday December 22, with a more formal open scheduled for a little later in the year.

“We are very excited by this state of the art, innovative and attractive new cat shelter. We expect to increase the lost cat claim rate and also to increase the adoption rate.” said the Home’s Managing Director Dr Graeme Smith.

The Lost Cats’ Home has been built on the premises after the acquisition of a factory space next door to The Lost Dogs’ Home at 2 Gracie Street North Melbourne, and it will double the number of lost cats we are able to hold.

Here at the Lost Dogs’ Home, we love our feline and canine tenants equally, but the cats have undoubtedly been in need of a bigger and better base from which to have treatment and assessment while they wait for their owners to claim them.

They will now enjoy state of the art facilities, in the form of 200 new air conditioned ‘cat condominiums’. And, we must admit, they will probably breathe a collective sigh of relief to have their own separate shelter, removed from the boisterous barks and yaps coming from the dog-end of town.

Since the Domestic Animals Act was introduced in 1996, there has been a huge increase in the number of cats and kittens being admitted to the Home. Councils began to implement a range of cat collection programs, and this has meant that in recent times we have had years where the number of cats admitted has exceeded the number of dogs. This dramatic rise simply had to be met, and we are thrilled that the support of so many donors and benefactors has enabled us to do this.

When our donors and benefactors learnt of the need to upgrade and improve our cat facilities, the Home was overwhelmed by their giving and their generosity.

The new facility will make a huge difference to the level of care we are able to give to vulnerable cats and kittens. By housing them in our purpose built cat condos – which each house up to four kittens or one adult cat, and have in-built temperature and ventilation controls, as well as en suite bathrooms – we will be able to drastically limit the incidence and spread of cat flu.

WATCH: Channel 10 News – The Lost Dogs’ Home – Cat Condo

Cat flu is a problem in most cat shelters. The cat condos should reduce the incidence of the condition from 15% to 3%! “This world class facility will set a benchmark for the rest of the country,” said Dr Smith.

Having a separate shelter building for our cats and kittens also gives us the perfect opportunity to increase awareness of some of the Home’s less high profile tenants.

We take in approximately 10,000 cats and kittens per year. While previously they may have lived a little in the shadow of the dogs, our new Cats’ Home will ensure that these animals in need have a solid profile in the community.

“I am very proud to see the completion of the vision to both raise the profile of cats here at the Home, and to significantly improve their living condition while they are under our care awaiting their owners to claim the.” Said Dr Smith.

The Lost Dogs' Home - Cat Condo (left side)

The Lost Dogs' Home - Cat Condo (wide)