I understand your feeling. We have a blind cat, who is so sweet and adorable and curious and playful, and if he had to go for adoption, he would have been quite out of luck.
We have had to do some creative problem-solving, and he has some behavior issues (like inappropriate peeing if the boxes aren't exactly right) but it's not what I would call a hardship -- compared to taking care of elderly, diabetic and kitties with other health issues, Geordie is a breeze.
I think there's nothing wrong with taking the "advanced course" in cat-raising. It is a noble calling. But, it can be taken too far--I wouldn't want to take a cat who has anger-management issues or who won't be happy here no matter what we do. We're choosing the level of effort that's right for us, probably more than most cat people would want to take on, but less than others. I think for us the key is, can we take in a problem child and still have him be a positive addition to our lives. If it were all sacrifice and no upside, honestly I would say no, because there are still way too many cats and way too few good, safe homes.
Definitely try to ask a few neighbors, or put up the picture with a throw-away phone number. I found a cat who was clearly a stray a couple years ago and put up a sign -- turned out that her cat had escaped and trekked several miles, to end up close to the home she just moved out of, and she was quite grateful to get her kitty back. Might or might not have happened if he had been taken to the shelter... who knows.
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We have had to do some creative problem-solving, and he has some behavior issues (like inappropriate peeing if the boxes aren't exactly right) but it's not what I would call a hardship -- compared to taking care of elderly, diabetic and kitties with other health issues, Geordie is a breeze.
I think there's nothing wrong with taking the "advanced course" in cat-raising. It is a noble calling. But, it can be taken too far--I wouldn't want to take a cat who has anger-management issues or who won't be happy here no matter what we do. We're choosing the level of effort that's right for us, probably more than most cat people would want to take on, but less than others. I think for us the key is, can we take in a problem child and still have him be a positive addition to our lives. If it were all sacrifice and no upside, honestly I would say no, because there are still way too many cats and way too few good, safe homes.
Definitely try to ask a few neighbors, or put up the picture with a throw-away phone number. I found a cat who was clearly a stray a couple years ago and put up a sign -- turned out that her cat had escaped and trekked several miles, to end up close to the home she just moved out of, and she was quite grateful to get her kitty back. Might or might not have happened if he had been taken to the shelter... who knows.