A Purrrfect Match

Finding the perfect feline mate just got a little easier – and a little more scientific

By Sharon L. Peters
CTW Features

Getting an aerial gymnast when what you wanted was a lounge lover, or a vocal diva when you were expecting the reserved, silent type can be a cat-astrophe.

There’s less chance of that happening now if you adopt a cat from some shelters.

A new program from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (www.aspca.org), New York City, that’s being offered to shelters around the country aims to help ensure that folks wind up with a feline that meshes well with their lives and expectations.

Called “Meet Your Match: Feline-ality,” it quizzes prospective owners and also assesses cats to help create a successful match.

“It has proven to be a quick and efficient way of pointing adopters to cats that are good matches for them,” says Susan Britt, operations director at the Animal Refuge League of the Greater Portland (Maine) area, one of five shelters nationwide that have been testing the cat-match program for more than a year.

The feline personality program launched nationally last month, and the ASPCA’s Dr. Emily Weiss, who developed it, projects that at least 100 shelters will be using it by the end of the year.

The Feline-ality program is a spin-off of a similar research-based adoption program for dogs and puppies used successfully in dozens of shelters.

Here’s how Feline-ality works: Shelter cats are put through an assessment process that places them into one of three different color codes that categorizes them by how they’ll act when you take them home. A cat that is classified in the green category, for example, will be adventurous, savvy and unflappable, according to Weiss. Those that are classified as orange are dependable companion cats, and those that fall into the purple category are quiet, highly affectionate and not likely to seek out trouble.

Within each color category, cats are further divided into three even more specific descriptors such as “party animal” or “love bug.”

Meanwhile, would-be cat owners complete a five-minute survey at the shelter. It is instantly scored and indicates which of the three colors best fits with their lifestyle and expectations. Once the humans have ascertained their own color, they can stroll through the facility and tell by color-coded cards posted on each cage which cats are best suited to them.

The program was developed to accomplish two things:

• To increase adoptions by providing the cautious, mystery-averse person reliable information about just exactly what kind of creature she’s winding up with; and

• To reduce the number of cats returned because the adopter concludes she just can’t live with the kind of feline she wound up with. The unhappy reality is that at some shelters as many as 20 out of every 100 dogs and cats adopted are returned, often because of elements of the animal’s personality or behavior that are intrinsic to the animal.

The Feline-ality program, which was two years in the making, is patterned after Canine-ality and Puppy-ality, which Weiss also developed. Canine-ality, created more than five years ago, is now being used in more than 100 shelters across the country, Weiss says, and Puppy-ality, which was launched about two years ago, is in about one-third that many shelters.

“At some shelters, puppies are adopted almost as quickly as they arrive, and they do not feel the need for additional adoption tools,” Weiss says.

If a would-be adopter of either canine or feline falls in love with an animal that is labeled with a color her survey results indicate would not be ideal, she is not prevented from adopting that animal. The client is simply told the characteristics that will not mesh perfectly with her life, Weiss says, and given information and tools to help deal with that. Most times, says, Britt, the person makes it work, since there aren’t surprises and she’s already prepared to have to deal with specific issues.

So far, the Meet Your Match programs have proven highly effective. Adoptions have increased by about 46 percent and returns and euthanasia rates have decreased by as much as 40 percent, the ASPCA reports.

Officials are hopeful that as the cat program becomes more widely used, the euthanasia figures will drop even more. Cats are especially vulnerable when they wind up homeless, as there are millions more of them than people wish to adopt. About 70 percent of the five to nine million shelter animals euthanized every year are cats, according to the ASPCA.

Britt says that at her Maine facility, the return rate for cats has decreased to 6 percent since they began testing Feline-ality. And they’re having huge success in finding homes for even older cats, which, in most shelters have historically stood very little chance of getting adopted.

The program is free to shelters whose personnel participate in the training program, compliments of a grant from pet food manufacturer, Iams.

What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, training and loving your pet. E-mail Sharon@Pets2008.com.

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