Less Time, Less Chance of Infectious Disease

Cynthia Karsten, DVM, outreach veterinarian at the University of California, Davis, and Ann Enright, BVMS, MRCVS, shelter veterinarian at the Cat Protection Society of Victoria in Australia, say the biggest factor in a shelter animal developing an infectious disease is time.

If you put less attractive cats at eye level, give them things to play with, and let them interact with people visiting the animal shelter, they become more interesting to potential adopters. Make sure you're prioritizing where your shelter animals are located on the adoption floor to try and minimize the amount of time they end up staying at the shelter.