Does Petco Take Cats? (No, Here’s What You Need to Do)

Does Petco Take Cats

If you’re here because you’re asking – ‘Does Petco take cats?’ I can help answer this for you.

First of all, we need to find out where your cat came from and why you want to take it to Petco though.

The key thing here is whether or not you picked up your cat from a Petco store. Here is what to do depending on whether you did or not:

Did You Get Your Cat from Petco?

If so, you need to be aware that Petco does not sell cats. If you got a cat from a Petco store then this would have been an adoption through a local rescue.

I know that some Petco stores do help local rescue centers rehome their cats, dogs, and other animals.

They do make it pretty clear on the information cards and the salesperson should talk you through all the adoption steps, where the cat has come from, its history, and so on.

But, if for whatever reason you aren’t or were not aware of this, I’m almost certain this is the case. A short phone call to the store will certainly clear this up in an instant.

Anyway, if you’ve had a change in circumstance and you did get your cat from Petco they should be able to help.

It’s subject to some details such as how long you’ve had the cat, it’s health, and so on, of course. So, each case will be looked at on an individual basis, so it’s best not to assume anything.

By taking it back, they will either talk to the adoption center for you or put you in contact with them. As I’ve already mentioned, Petco is not bringing in the cats and selling them, they are helping the adoption centers rehome them.

If You Didn’t Get Your Cat from Petco…

If You Didn't Get Your Cat from Petco

If you didn’t get your cat from Petco the answer is a lot easier – no, Petco do not take cats off people’s hands!

They might help you out however. If they have been working with a cattery to find homes for cats they may refer you to them to talk about rehoming your cat.

My best advice however is to read this page on the Humane Society website. They cover all the reasons why people feel the need to rehome their cats, and come up with some really good solutions to some of the reasons.

If you absolutely have to rehome your cat, they also have some great tips to help this process not only go quicker, but ensure you’re finding the best possible home so your cat is happy and well looked after.


I’ve answered, Does Petco take cats? To the best of my knowledge, and even called my local Petco to run a few things past them.

You may well find your local store does something differently, however. So, it’s always worth giving them a call.

In case you didn’t know, there are around 1,500 Petco stores, that’s a lot of stores!

Still, unless you recently picked your cat up from them as I discussed above, you should be contacting a cattery, cat shelter, or doing your own advertising.

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