The emergence of Return to Home/Field revolutionized the life-saving possibilities for cats and shelters. Originally seen mainly as an alternative to euthanasia for feral cats, we came to recognize the benefits to friendly cats as well, reuniting cats with their families and reserving the shelter for cats most in need. The COVID pandemic forced a further evolution, prioritizing solutions that bypass the shelter entirely, minimizing the time cats spend in the stress of confinement and further focusing shelter resources on sick, injured and at-risk pets. This evolution is reflected in the position statement from NACA that “indiscriminate pickup or admission of healthy, free-roaming cats, regardless of temperament, for any purpose other than TNR/SNR, fails to serve commonly held goals of community animal management and protection programs and…should be avoided.” This raises a key question: if indiscriminate intake is to be avoided, what is discriminate intake? What training and tools do staff need to assess and communicate whether any individual cat or litter of kittens should be admitted or redirected to community-based solutions, especially in a time of veterinary shortages and long waitlists for spay/neuter? How can we best use the limited resources of shelters to support the greatest number of cats (and other pets and people), knowing that sometimes the ideal solution is simply not available? And how can we communicate that to policy makers, funders, the public and our partners in rescue and TNR in a way that keeps feline welfare front and center?