Helping you find your perfect companion
Everything you need to know before you adopt
Adopting a rescue pet is one of the best things you'll do. It's also a big commitment. This guide covers both sides, practically and clearly, without wasting your time, and shows you how PetMatcher's matching actually works, so you're not doing this across twelve different websites.
Are you actually ready?
Rescue organisations ask a lot of questions. Not to catch you out, but to make sure the match sticks. A dog or cat that ends up back at a shelter six months later is the outcome nobody wants. Before you start browsing, sit with these. They're also exactly what your PetMatcher profile is built from, so answering them properly here means better matches later.
Time
Dogs need walks, routines, and company. Cats need more attention than people expect. Could your actual week, not your ideal one, genuinely accommodate that? It's the first thing our algorithm checks: a dog who can't be left alone won't rank as a match for a nine-to-six household, and it shouldn't.
Money
Adoption fees, food, insurance, vet bills. Budget £800–£1,500 a year for a cat, £1,000–£2,500 for a dog. Does that work long-term?
Space
Be realistic about what your home can offer, not what you wish it could.
Household
Spoken to everyone who lives with you? Checked your tenancy if you're renting? Getting everyone on board before you fall in love with a listing is much easier than after.
How it works.
Browse
Tell us dog or cat, then any preferences on breed, size, age, or gender, or none at all. Every pet you see gets a match score, so you can tell at a glance who's worth a closer look, and exactly what works or doesn't for your home. Read profiles carefully anyway. "Needs an experienced owner" isn't a warning to skip. It's the rescue being honest.
Apply
A separate application, more detailed than the preferences you set earlier: your home, your lifestyle, vet and insurance plans. Fill it in once, and it's ready every time you apply, no repeating yourself for each pet or each rescue. Rescues aren't looking for perfect, just the right fit.
Home check
In person or via video. They're not judging your interiors, so don't panic about the washing pile. What they're checking is straightforward: garden secure, no obvious hazards, space that suits the animal you've been matched with. If something's off, they'll say so before it becomes a problem later.
Handover
Paperwork signed, fee paid. This is also your last chance to ask the rescue anything: feeding routine, quirks, what's worked so far. Write it down if you need to, you won't remember it all a week later. Spend time getting familiar before you leave. Don't rush it. A slow handover now means a calmer pet later.
The first few weeks
3 days to decompress. 3 weeks to learn your routine. 3 months to feel truly at home. Expect some hiding, some testing, maybe an accident or two. None of it means you've made a mistake, and it doesn't mean you've made the wrong choice either. Keep the routine boring and predictable, that's what actually helps. Patience now pays back for years.
Dog or cat. Let's be real.
Dogs
A daily commitment. Two walks, company, routine. They don't do well alone, and the ones that do are the exception. What you get in return is hard to describe to someone who hasn't had it. If your life has room for a dog, it tends to make your life bigger. Rescue dogs often come with a history. Go in with your eyes open and patience in your pocket. Say so in your profile, and we'll weight matches toward dogs whose known history and temperament suit that, not away from rescue dogs, just toward the right ones.
Cats
Cats are more self-sufficient, but don't mistake that for low-maintenance. They still need feeding, stimulation, and care. They just do a better job of pretending they don't. Better suited to busier schedules, calmer homes, and smaller budgets. And when a nervous rescue cat finally chooses your lap? One of the better feelings going.
Puppy or kitten vs. adult rescue
Puppies and kittens are more work than people expect: training, socialisation, the shredded furniture phase. Adult rescues arrive house-trained, with a known personality. What you see is what you get. For most adopters, that's actually the better deal. Tell us honestly where you sit on that in your profile, and we won't put a boisterous, undersocialised puppy at the top of your matches if what you actually asked for was calm and low-maintenance.
Why adoption fees exist and why they're worth it
Not a surcharge. A contribution towards everything the rescue has already done: health checks, vaccinations, microchipping, neutering, weeks of care. It's not profit. It's what keeps the rescue running for the next animal. If a fee feels high, look at what's included. It almost always makes the maths look better. We pull fee details straight from each rescue so what you see on a PetMatcher listing is accurate before you've fallen for the pet in the photos.
Typical fees range from £50 to £500.
Ready to find the one?
This is where PetMatcher helps. Instead of searching twelve websites and hoping you land on the right listing, tell us about your life once and we'll match you against pets from our network of 1,000+ rescues across the UK, ranked by fit, with the reasoning shown, not just a list of who's available. Over 5,000 people have already found their pet this way.
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