familiarsrescue.org - The Fourth Freedom Program

What is the Fourth Freedom Project?

The Fourth Freedom Project exists to serve kittens and adult cats who may not be comfortable living in a traditional home setting. It is an alternative to comparable ‘Barn Cat’ or ‘Working Cat’ programs with three main outcomes: an indoor/outdoor home, an outdoor home with limited shelter, or a 'Return to Origin' option for qualified candidates. The purpose of this project is to uphold the fourth freedom of animal welfare: the freedom to express normal behavior.

FFNR prefers to abandon the terms working cat and barn cat for various reasons, with the most important being the need to focus on what we can do for the animals, not what the animals can do for us.

All candidates of The Fourth Freedom Project will be of good health, altered, vaccinated, and microchipped. There are no fees associated with adoption from this program.

If you are interested in adopting from or learning more about the Fourth Freedom Project, please contact our Adoption Coordinator at hannah@familiarsrescue.org.

What animals qualify for the Fourth Freedom Project?

Since FFNR is a primarily kitten-focused rescue, candidates for our Fourth Freedom Project are almost exclusively kittens and mom cats deemed feral to some extent. Less frequent cases may include other qualifying issues, such as inappropriate behavioral elimination that is unable to be fixed with training.

Kittens (3-5 months)

The typical socialization window for a kitten is between 2-8 weeks of age. Once kittens are passed this age, it may take an extensive amount of time to adjust to a traditional home setting (years), or they may never adjust to one at all.
Kittens suspected to be feral will be given the time that resources allow to be socialized in a foster home. Only kittens who have failed to adapt to a traditional home environment after this allotted time will be considered for the Fourth Freedom Project.
Kittens in the Fourth Freedom Project must be adopted in pairs or groups with siblings or mom.

Young Adults/Mom Cats (6 months and up)

Adult feral cats may take an extensive amount of time to adjust to a traditional home setting (years), or may never adjust to one at all.
Adult strays may be returned to a safe location in close proximity to where they were originally found, if this information is known and the environment is acceptable.

What types of outcomes does the Fourth Freedom Project provide?

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Outdoor homes with access to house

Sometimes, a kitten or cat will be on the cusp of socialization but will need substantially more time to adjust than our rescue can provide. In these cases, we look for homes that will provide outdoor shelter, food, and water, and are also open to the prospect of the cat becoming an indoor/outdoor or entirely indoor companion.

The Great Outdoors!

Outdoor homes with limited shelter

If a kitten or cat is more feral than not but is unlikely to find their way back to a feral colony, or if their origin location is unknown, this option will be considered. A kitten or cat that lives in an outdoor home with limited shelter is most comparable to a barn cat or shop cat.

Homeward Bound

Return to Origin Location

True feral cats are not socialized to people and are not likely to ever become lap cats or enjoy living indoors. Their normal life is spent living in colonies with other feral cats who find shelter, nurture their young, search for food, and defend their territory as a family.

If deemed feral and an origin location is known, adult cats will be returned to a safe area within the proximity of where they were found in hopes of finding their way home and/or reuniting with their colony.

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