Second Chance Cat Rescue

Gosh, I wish I’d seen the reviews before adopting.
The ladies at Second Chance likely have their hearts in the right place and probably work very hard, but add me to the list of people who adopted only to discover the cats were sick.
I thought it was strange they were available to adopt before their stitches from spaying had been removed, but was told it was fine and that they could take out the stitches in a week.
We brought both kittens home, and the smaller one lacked appetite and had diarrhea. We thought it might be the adjustment to a new home and the change in diet. Same thing on day two and three — and she seemed skinnier.
The kitten who had not been well was diagnosed with a serious internal mixed infection (two or more varieties of microorganisms) at the site of the spaying and it was the vet’s opinion that the infection had been present prior to the adoption. (More money for antibiotics and stool testing.) (Update: She kept losing weight despite a good appetite. We had to put her to sleep so she would not starve.)
To their credit, Second Chance has a policy of taking back adopted cats within 14 days, BUT I think most responsible pet owners are not going to trade in a cat after adopting it because it’s not fair to the animal to shuffle it around.
I’d hate to think this group counts on people bonding with animals before realizing they are sick. Maybe they rationalize that they have a better chance of being saved? They seem to use home remedies but they need to give these cats better medical care.

Adopted a wonderful cat with so much personality!

It actually pains me to write this review because I think Terri and Sue are really trying they just might be in over their heads.
I met Terri a couple of Saturdays ago at Petco (Unleashed) in San Leandro. She had many kittens available for adoption but not exactly what I was looking for. I mentioned to Sue I was looking for an all grey, female kitten. Excitedly they had one available but she wasn’t there that day but would be at Petco in Alameda the following Sunday.
Spoke with Terri that Wednesday to let her know that I was serious about adopting her and would be there Sunday to meet the kitten. She let me know the kitten was just spayed the day before and was healing but she’d bring her Sunday, not necessarily to adopt but to at least meet her.
I arrived Sunday and saw this poor little kitten in it’s carrier. She had a drippy eye and was sneezy, her incision on her tummy was infected. I adopted her and took her immediately to my vet. He confirmed she is indeed underweight and should have been «hooded» after her surgery to keep her away from incision. So $ 400 and (3) kinds of antibiotics later…
I know the vet bill is on me because I took her knowing that she wasn’t in 100% good health. But I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night leaving her in there in their care.
I just want to make others aware of what I encountered. Like I said they’re not «bad people» just ill equipped to take on such a huge responsibility.

We adopted a healthy, playful kitten from Second Chance Cat Rescue five years ago and the kitten brought my mother great joy. Now that our mother has passed away, the cat is five years old, and we wanted to find the cat a good home.
We called Second Chance Cat Rescue back, per our contract, and they have appeared more than happy to take him back. Both Susan and Terri have been pleasant to speak with regarding this transaction, and have also offered to provide us with a cage. Please buy a cat from them, because they have too many!

Very, very disappointed. They knowingly sell people sick cats. Our new cat that we got from them has been sick for a month now ever since we got him. It’s sad that they do this and I wish that we would have known prior to adopting from them.
I strongly support adopting cats from the animal shelter and rescue groups. Just NOT from them.

Before I go into my tirade please note that I am not telling anyone to avoid Second Chance Cat Rescue. In fact I would encourage as many people as possible to adopt from them so as to get these cats into permanent, loving homes. BUT I must, in good conscience, warn prospective cat lovers… ADOPTER BEWARE!
We adopted our little Pandora last weekend from Second Chance at Petco and bought her home. Luckily our middle cat had a total fit when we brought the kitten in the house so we took Pandora to the spare room and have kept her there till the other cats in our house get used to her smell. Pretty typical, we were expecting that.
When we adopted her, her foster ladies told us that the dry skin on her ear was just a little dry spot that would clear up and that the discharge from her sneezy nose was from the dry air and the fans they had been running all day in the room. (all the kittens that day had snotty noses and eyes) They assured me that she’d been to a vet and she had a clean bill of health. I admit that my internal radar saw red lights flashing but she was SO FREAKIN’ CUTE. And we’ve adopted from a different Petco rescue in Southern CA before with no issues at all so we gambled on this one.
Well, Pandora is now living up to her name. She was continuously sneezing when we brought her home, yellowish-​green stuff coming out of her nose. And the dry patch on her ear (which was totally visible BTW) was getting worse.
A trip to Providence Veterinary confirmed our fear that she had a fever, some kind of viral infection AND ringworm! Great. The vet was able to figure out the ringworm by waving a black-​light over the skin. Apparently it glows! So now she gets to stay quarantined for 3 weeks while we give her baths and antibiotics. DRAG. Plus there’s the mild threat of exposure to my husband, me and the other two cats in the house since ringworm can, in some cases transfer to humans. Not common but it happens.
Now, I understand that these things happen. I understand that non-​profit animal rescues do the best they can with the limited resources they have to work with. I understand that the sweet, wonderful selfless ladies who are fostering the cats do the best they can as well. They are awesome and I salute them for the work that they do. I just think that maybe you need to be 100% sure that the kitten you are adopting out has a 100% clean bill of health. Not just the FIV test and some shots. I would think that ringworm would be easy to spot by someone who fosters a lot of cats or at least easy to spot by the vet who checks out a lot of foster cats. But like I said, these things happen. It’s not the end of the world but it was an unpleasant surprise.
Of course we’re keeping little Pandora, and we’re ok with taking on the extra cost and work to make her well. That’s what a responsible pet owner does. We love the new addition to our family and can’t wait to let her out of her room so she can socialize with our other cats.
Please go save a cat today!

I believe this group really has their hearts in the right place, but… I recently adopted an adorable kitten from them and I have come to find out that she has chronic tooth and gum problems, earmites, she had not been totally de-​wormed and now I find out from a reputable vet, that she has RINGWORM! I have a 4-​year-​old son and that makes me quite nervous!
Our veterinary DOCTOR said this group has a lot of issues: they get kittens well ENOUGH to adopt and then kind of DON’T tell you the whole story! They don’t lie, but I think they do a lot of home remedies and don’t completely reveal all. For example: this lovely little kitty had ringworm and when I saw the red marks on her, the foster person said it was a reaction to her spaying (untrue says the doctor) and she had been treating it with neosporin!
Therefore, I think that ICRA (Island Cat Rescue) or the local chapter of SPCA would be a better choice for kitten adoption than this group. I have saved kitties from the wild before and I KNOW that not all kitties, sadly enough, have long lives… But why should anyone pay $ 75 a pop to take on a cat that will ultimately cost hundreds of dollars and could potentially make our other cats or our families sick as well? I just don’t believe that this group really has everything completely under control. Please think twice about adopting from Second Chance.