Hermitage Cat Shelter

I love the Hermitage. The cats are free to roam without being locked up in cages and can even go outside in the safety of an enclosed, cat shelter. All of the cats are well taken care of and you are encouraged to spend time with them to get to know their personalities. The staff is ready and willing to help you any way they can. I encourage you to check out the Hermitage Cat Shelter. You may even want to volunteer there.

Unfortunately the self-​promoting posting from their «part-​time» vet may be from one wearing rose-​colored glasses! I recently read on a Jackson Galaxy post (Jan 4 and 10) where they continually obstructed a recent adoption — recently the cat was euthanized by them as they stalled the adoption process for almost one month. It was an unconscionable process!

If you visit the shelter, you’ll count maybe fifty cats (just an estimate based on my last visit). If you visit the shelter’s web page, you’ll see 18 cats. Why aren’t all the cats listed? It’s not that the cats are not yet cleared for adoption, because we’ll frequently be shown cats that are available for adoption that are not shown on the web site. If they want to increase pet adoption, Hermitage should put more effort into keeping their web site up to date.

One of my favorite places in Tucson. I used to volunteer here and adopted one of the shy cats several years ago. They are constantly updating the facilities to make it a wonderful home for all the animals. I can’t speak more highly of them. I love the work that they do for the community.

I was able to get Mazda in the lease for life program. So far, Hermitage has paid for all the vet visits that pertain to her Leukemia condition (including an expensive operation). The vet they use, Kayla Boyer, is top notch.

I have been donating when I can to this foundation, as I am an avid cat lover, I found out about them through their thrift store (I believe it is on speedway next to sprouts) and was immediately sold by their newsletter «Tabby Tabloid» which went into great detail about all the special needs cats, and great advice on advocating TNR I think its a wonderful place and Im thrilled they exist! However I have had trouble with the actual adoption process with the Hermitage I find it unfortunate others have gone through similar problems with them. I can understand why they are so thorough and would not want to discourage anyone from trying to adopt from here, just make sure you have reliable references if you do.

In my next life, I want to come back as a Hermitage cat. This place is kitty heaven with walkways all along the cieilings, all sorts of little nooks and crannies for the cats to hide in and explore, and outside enclosures in every area with easy kitty access for optimum sun bathing time. All the staff and volunteers are very friendly. We were given a tour of every area with a cheerful staff member who seemed to know every cat’s name and story. You can obviously tell that the cats are taken care of here and they all appeared to be very content. This is a great place to adopt! As for the reviews about the adoption process: in this day and age it is wonderful to see a shelter take such measures about who they adopt to. Adopting an animal is a lifetime commitment and shouldnt just be something you do on a whim. They take the process seriously as this is a life that they have invested in and want to see them go to the best possible home. They want to see these cats adopted, but they also have the right to be picky. If you have nothing to hide, then there’s nothing to worry about.

Last November, while working in Prescott, I found a stray cat near the hotel I was staying in. A friend of mine offered to take her in, but after a trip to the vet, found out that she had FeLV, and wasn’t able to keep her with her other three cats. I was in a similar situation, with healthy cats at home. We were devastated, thinking we may have to put her down. We came across a listing for Hermitage and gave them a call. The intake person returned my call promptly, and they agreed to take her in. A couple of weeks later, I drove «Holly» down to Tucson. It was so difficult for me to have to leave her there, but I knew… and they assured me, that she would have a great life and hopefully be adopted out. The shelter is beautiful, clean, colourful, and has indoor and outdoor areas for the cats. The FeLV room is designed so there isn’t direct contact with healthy cats, but still open so they can all see and hear each other… Fabulous! The staff and volunteers are wonderful, kind, and patient. I LOVE that they are a no kill shelter… but that means they need donations to continue to provide such excellent care. PLEASE check them out if you’re interested in adopting… you won’t be sorry. Oh, and please go visit «Holly» in the FeLV ward!

My wife, son, and I saw this beautiful cat at PetsMart near El Con Mall. I started the adoption process by filling out a 4 page application. The PetsMart employee told me the cat was provided and cared for by Hermitage Cat Shelter, and that the shelter would be calling my references to determine if my application was approved. I called on Tuesday, was told by a very rude woman that someone would call me back. No call back. I called on Wednesday, was told someone would call me back. No call back. I called on Thursday, was told someone would call me back. No call back. Thursday afternoon, same thing, and no call back. I went to their shelter on Friday to ask what can I do to help give this cat a home? Twenty five minutes of having to deal with a very rude woman at the front desk, Emma, and I was finally leaving with the cat.
For a business that tries to find homes for cats, they don’t seem to want to try too hard to actually let people adopt them.
I know that my family will be going to Pima Animal Control for our next pet. The people there are a pleasure to work with and really have a passion for the cause.

I am very sad they don’t allow me to take Stella to home as an family member because I am not American people and I don’t have a green card… Why?! Do the cats only have good life in America? I just don’t understand the strange policy… Remember, they don’t welcome foreigners… So, I have to say goodbye to Stella… Good luck, Stella… Wish you have the wonderful time in the rest of life. On the other hand, this place is a good choice of adoption and they have many beautiful cats, if you are American people.

This place opened up very recently in the Speedway/​Swan shopping center next to Sprouts. There is a «Chances Chic Boutique» inside with greeting cards and jewelry and cat-​dog related items (as this is for Hermitage). There’s some books and clothes. It’s new, so there isn’t a great quantity of things, but as this shopping center is walking distance to me, I’ll be going back a lot on the hunt for things and giving away some of my own stuff to them, so I’ll keep reviewing it as I go. I understand their hours are as following as of February, 2014:
Regular store hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p. m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

My husband and I were looking for a second cat, so our first one would have someone to hang out with while we are at work all day. We decided to check out the Hermitage shelter, since they’re no-​kill, and we wanted to help a great cause.
The shelter is located in a small, out-​of-​the way house. They’ve basically taken an entire house and given the cats the run of it, with a few rooms set aside for cats that bite, cats with feline leukemia, etc. The critters have color-​coded collars to indicate aggression, health problems, etc., which is very useful.
We wandered through the house with a volunteer, who was very kind but treated us like we were clueless, even though we indicated (directly and indirectly) that we are knowledgeable and experienced cat owners. There wasn’t much time to get to know any of the cats, since the «tour» was a bit rushed.
Additionally, when we mentioned that we have a dog, a mutt that might have some Shepherd in him someplace, the volunteer became very concerned and said he’d have to speak with a supervisor before letting us adopt, because «Shepherds are aggressive to cats.» Never mind the fact that the dog ALREADY lives with a cat and gets along fine, much less the fact that I’ve never heard this about Shepherds.
In the end, we thanked the volunteer for his time and headed to the Humane Society to adopt our next friend.
The folks at Hermitage obviously care very much about the cats, but the location seems a bit over-​full of critters and they could be considered a little TOO cautious about who they adopt to. It’s a shame, since I’m sure there are many people out there who could give these creatures a good home.