The Sheffield Cat Shelter helps around 250 cats each year and has had a relationship with Battersea Academy for three years. They have attended sessions across all learning themes, but with most focus on cat behaviour, welfare and shelter management.
The team identified five areas where they could make changes to their ways of working to improve the outcomes for the cats in their care: welfare, intake, rehoming, fostering and working cats.
Most changes were around welfare with revisions to both cleaning protocols and pen set-ups. A traffic light system for cat behaviour observations was introduced, with consistent carers allocated and the introduction of interaction guidelines for staff, volunteers and visitors to follow. These changes, especially to the cleaning protocols, meant that the staff and volunteers have more time to spend with the cats, which the cats have benefitted from.
They added more questions to their intake forms, meaning they get a much clearer picture of the cat’s true personality. Not only has this helped them support cats upon arrival at the shelter, but they have also been able to explore other options, such as offering support which allows the cat to remain in the home. From a waiting list with more than 100 names, introducing the new form saw the list drop as low as 24, although it has crept up again, as they, like so many other shelters, see an increase in the demand for their help.
The team also reviewed their rehoming processes, looking at both the application and aftercare and as a result, in 2024, just eight cats were returned, with all the reasons being owner rather than cat related.
They have expanded their fostering programme with carers specialising in different groups: kittens, inbetweeners, sick and palliative cats and some who will take on any cat they are asked to care for. Fosterers are now supported with a handbook, training materials and weekly check-ins. Those caring for kittens follow a robust socialisation plan, developed after attending an Academy session.
Until joining the Academy, the team at Sheffield were not familiar with the term “inbetweener” and by their own admission found learning about the spectrum of cats revolutionary: “I thought of so many cats we could have done so much for, if we had the knowledge sooner. But we live and learn, and continually learning is so important.” Since launching their working cat initiative in 2024, they have rehomed 16 cats to alternative homes, which they are rightly proud of.
“We really are so grateful for all of the support we have received from Battersea, from the first course in 2022, to the webinars, and the help from your Animal Partnerships team. We were keen to show you what a difference your hard work and investment in smaller rescues has achieved, and the difference it has made to so many lives. You guys do such amazing work and not just directly benefiting your animals but helping to better the lives of animals you never even meet, by sharing your knowledge, experience and research with the rest of us. We can't thank you enough and we hope to collaborate for many more years, helping many, many more animals.”
– Becki Hollingworth, Cat Welfare Manager
Since joining the Academy, the Shelter team has realised that it is more important that each cat gets its ideal outcome and not that they have the highest adoption figures. Shelter metrics and data capture is now embedded across the organisation, allowing them to spot patterns and act on areas they can influence.
It’s from their length of stay figures that they can see the positive impact of many of these changes as the number of cats through the shelter has increased by 9% from 2022 – 2024, but the length of stay has seen a 30% decrease, going from 57 days to 40.
