The Cardinals want to adopt Rally Cat but the rescuing shelter says not so fast

The Rally Cat saga is St. Louis is still going, with the latest update a full-on custody dispute between the shelter that found and the rescued cat from the streets and the team that won a game after its surprise appearance on the field.

For those who have somehow missed the cat’s story to this point (and are only reading this post because you really like cat content), the mystery cat ran onto the field at Busch Stadium and the team promptly hit a comeback grand slam, then the cat disappeared under mysterious circumstances, then it was found safe and sound downtown and brought to the shelter.

Which is where things stand right now.

According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the shelter has received “thousands” of inquiries about Rally Cat’s adoption status “including many great organizations like the St. Louis Cardinals, in addition to many cat-loving individuals about adopting Rally” and that there is already an adoption process in place.

Whether that process is moving forward with the team or another individual, or is simply a reference to the overall preparations to get the animal adopted at some point, is slightly unclear.

However, the Cardinals are clear as day about where they stand and that’s squarely in the “this cat is ours” camp.

Cardinals VP of Communications Ron Watermon says “The St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach organization has assured us they will be returning our cat to us after a mandatory 10-day quarantine period.”

“Our cat” seems pointed here, and the team is making it clear that it has big plans for the adorable animal. Reportedly, it wants to house it inside Busch Stadium somewhere and is planning a welcome home ceremony for it when the team is back in St. Louis next week.

The only barrier besides adoption keeping the team from getting Rally Cat right now is a mandatory 10-day quarantine, which will expire on Monday, as the shelter says the cat needs to gain some weight to be perfectly healthy.

Regardless of whether Rally Cat finds a permanent home with the team or with a loving human outside of the organization (the shelter says it “will make sure he ends up in a great home in St. Louis”), the Cardinals aren’t forgetting the organization that rescued it in the first place. The Post-Dispatch report also says that part of the planned ceremony will recognize the cat’s volunteers and rescuers.

The shelter posted a message on its Facebook page on Wednesday acknowledging that it hopes the cat will be well enough to attend the ceremony but didn’t specify whether it will definitely attend.

A fair negotiation may be that the Cardinals get the cat for a specified period of time — say, until the end of their season, whenever that may be — before passing it off to another loving home that is more suitable for a long-term lifestyle.

That might be too easy, though, and with Rally Cat receiving so much attention since he first leapt onto the field it might not be the smoothest of processes to find him the perfect home.