Kittens!

Willowy

I found some kittens that were living under my brother's trailer. The first one actually came up into his furnace through a hole in the ductwork (uh oh), and then when I went looking, I caught 2 others. There was at least one more, but the mother cat has since removed all remaining kittens. I'ev had them nearly 2 weeks, so I think they're about 7 weeks old now. There are 2 males and a female. One male is an orange tabby, and the other 2 are solid black. They're so cute! I'll try to post some pics. I've forgotten how active and playful kittens are....my youngest cat is 5 years old.

I know some of you have worked/volunteered at shelters, so I was wondering---in general, if I took the kittens to the Humane Society, would they have a decent chance of getting out alive? I would prefer to take them to the HS because they'll be spayed and neutered before adoption there, and I find it so stressful to rehome kittens without KNOWING that they'll be altered. It's a good shelter, with a reasonably low kill rate, and I'm pretty sure young, healthy, well-socialized kittens should be adopted quickly. But there's always a chance.......So anyone who knows the usual workings of shelters please help!

Chelsea and Oskar

If the cats are sick or get blood tested and have an illness they get put down right away. If they are not friendly they MIGHT be put down. Since they sound healthy, go for it.
If you are really worried bring them to a no kill or small volunteer shelter. Even no-kill shelters put down cats with feline leukemia and such though. You won't know though.

Lorina

Depending on your area, it might be easier now than the super busy "kitten season" at a shelter later in the season. A few years ago, I worked at a shelter (in Northeast PA) from April through July, and just about every kitten who came in during April, May and early June was adopted. Later in the summer, we got swamped with litter after litter after litter, sometimes getting over 60 cats a day, and then the chances were lower on getting adopted. They'd still have a higher chance than an adult cat, but realistically, you could also consider that they'd be taking a bigger cat's possible home.

It's hard. It's really hard. I have two that I caught two weeks ago now, and I'm working on getting mama and two or three more babies. I'm keeping the two I have, but don't know what I'd do with the others. A neighbor might keep one, but isn't interested in mama. I might be able to talk my sister into one kitten, since she has a new kitten herself and it's good to have a pair to keep each other company. But I don't know anyone else who can take a cat right now, who'd I'd trust enough to spay/neuter and take proper care of them.

Willowy

Yeah, I know they'll take an older cat's home, but that will happen anyway, whether I re-home them or the shelter does. The shelter is reasonably good; they evaluate all incoming cats first, then if they're cleared for adoption, they're FeLV tested, and if negative, they're vaccinated, spayed or neutered, Frontlined, dewormed, nail trimmed, and microchipped. They mostly take owner surrenders, because they lost the city Animal Control contract. They still do AC for a few counties in the area, but most of their pets are owner surrenders.

The animals that are put up for adoption are not euthanized for space constraints, since the shelter has already put so much money into them. If they run out of room, the new surrenders are euthanized, rather than a pet already in the adoption kennels. I imagine they do have a time limit, though---it wouldn't make sense to have an older cat in the adoption kennels for a year or something like that.

I'm going to keep them for another 2 weeks or so....they need to weigh at least 2 pounds to be spayed/neutered, and the boys' testicles need to drop. So far the biggest weighs a pound and 12 ounces, the others weigh about a pound and 5 ounces. And no sign of baby kitty balls yet . They are friendly and use the litterbox well, and do not have ear mites (although the shelter does treat for that anyway). I doubt they have FeLV; IME, most kittens that are born infected always appear sickly, and do not live long.

Here's the link to the shelter's cat web page: http://www.sfhumanesociety.com/custA...ist&category=2
As you can see, they only have 26 cats listed, only one a kitten, and he was adopted almost before his picture was up. I adopted a kitten from them 5 years ago (he and his littermates had JUST been put in the adoption kennels, so I got first pick), and all 6 of his siblings were adopted before the day was out. I would be comfortable taking the kittens to the shelter right now if they were ready, I just hope they aren't inundated with kittens 2 weeks from now. I will call ahead to ask if they have room----they're pretty good about telling you if they're currently having to euthanize for space or not.

There is a local, limited-intake, "no-kill" shelter (the one that got the city AC contract), but they do not speuter before adoption, and, although they claim to have a 100% compliance rate, I want to be SURE.

I have re-homed kittens before, but the uncertainty of whether they got altered or not just eats at me. Sure, the adopters SAY they'll speuter in a timely fashion.....but who knows if they do or not? Ugh. I just wish people would spay their cats, and then this wouldn't happen to me .

Any more info that anyone might have about the pros/cons of shelters, keep it coming.

zimandtakandgrrandmimi

there are a couple of places around here that do vet work including alteration for really cheap for people that pick up strays and try to find them homes. one pet store around here did an event to get cash and supplies to donate to independent rescuers as we are called. the owner said it was because the independent rescue people are the ones that need help the most.

I keep documentation of the medical expenses for each rescue and ask for 50% as an adoption fee. i've made a lot of friends doing this. I check out houses and the people and require permission for a background check as well.

go with your gut and do what you feel is right though...

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Taz Monkey

I would not take them to the HS. Cats that come into my shelter are PTS immediately if there is no room, regardless of age or adoptability.

Willowy

Yes, this shelter is the same.....I do plan to call ahead to ask if they have room. Should I doubt that they'll tell me whether they do or not? I don't know if some shelters may have policies that state that they need to lie to people about that. The local city shelter (I would never take any animal there, it's a hell-hole) is perfectly up-front about it; they'll tell you right out not to bring any cats in if you want them to live. Not that this news stops anybody from dumping their cats there.

But I'm fairly certain that this particular shelter has been generally underpopulated since they lost the city Animal Control contract. And, most people around here "deal with" unwanted kittens themselves , taking them to a shelter is "too much trouble", especially with gas prices being what they are. I also know they have at least 40 cat kennels, because I counted when I was there. And, kittens are a money-maker for the shelter, since they're usually adopted right away. I would never, EVER take an adult cat to a kill shelter. But this may be the best for these kittens.

One thing I might be worried about is that 2 of the kittens are black. I don't know if this will hurt their chances, or if they're safe because they're so young. The cat I mentioned earlier (the one I adopted from this shelter 5 years ago) is black and white, and several of his siblings were pure black, and, like I said, they all were adopted within a day.

I have a few concerns about rehoming the kittens myself. First is the spay/neuter issue. I can't afford the $100 each to speuter them before adoption. I haven't called ALL the vets in a 50-mile radius to ask if they'll do it cheaper then that, but the ones I have asked are not willing. MY vet (even if he were willing to come down on price) won't do cat speuters before 5 months.
Second, nobody is going to adopt them if I insist on an adoption application, a home visit and a background check. They can go to any farm and pick up a half-dozen or more kittens, no questions asked, so they aren't going to submit to my prying. And they aren't going to pay me an adoption fee, or at least not more than $15 to cover shots (which is what I asked for the last set of kittens I re-homed). The people who choose to adopt from the Humane Society are a little bit higher-caliber, and are willing to pay the adoption fee. The people who answer ads in the paper or posters at the grocery store are of a.....different sort.
Third, I feel a little weird having potential adopters come to my house. I live alone, except for pets, and it could be dangerous. Last time I re-homed a litter, I lived with my parents and 2 brothers.

If anyone has tips about how to overcome these problems in re-homing, I'd like to hear them. I wouldn't mind re-homing them myself, if I was convinced it was better that way.

zimandtakandgrrandmimi

I don't post ads in papers. the vets around here at least the good ones all have bulletin boards for this kind of thing. I also use word of mouth. you can work things fairly well if you spread the word with confirmed animal people. I pass out pics to folks and generate interests that way. when it's especially young animals I mention up front and off the bat that I pay half of the speuter fee and if they choose to take the animal they will contribute the other half and then I typically donate to rescue with the reimbursed cash but that's up to you...it can make things take longer...fish around online for different speuter aid programs in your area. i'm sure there is one who will help. they are in existence to speuter as many strays as possible. it will take a little extra effort on your part but it is possible with a bit of judicious research. we have speuter clinics and vaccine clinics around here, you just have to stay current on knowing when and where..there are also many websites that list rescues. the key is to spread the word as much as possible, blab your head off about the little darlings and tote around pics. be careful in questioning prospectives and know what you are looking for in a prospective.

and a friend of mine does this too except she requires new owners to sign a standard contract before a notary saying they will speuter in the first six months and will send confirmation of that. and if the confirmation isn't sent she will come take back the animal untill such time as the money can be gotten together and the appointment is made. she also give them copies of applications for low cost speuter programs and veterinary options with their new baby. it just takes some research. and notaries are fairly inexpensive she says (i'm on the phone with her right now)

Willowy

This is a rural area, where companion animals are not highly valued. There are no low-cost spay/neuter/vaccination clinics. Well, occasionally the feed store will have a vaccination clinic, but it honestly doesn't cost much less than a vet charges, unless the vet charges an office fee besides (mine doesn't). No public speuter programs. If you don't want your cat, just take it to a farm. No problem---farmers want more cats, right? Even fat, de-clawed housecats, right?

There are a few private rescues that might help....I can try to contact them. They might just recommend taking them to the HS anyway, since they're young. One rescue paid for a couple kittens to be neutered, and has them listed on their website. They're 8 months old now and nobody has adopted them. I'm sure they would have been adopted if they had gone to the HS while they were still young and cute. It's all about exposure.....people go to the HS to adopt a kitten, they don't scour the rescue websites looking for a kitten.

Hmm. I'm torn. Like I said, I'll call the HS and ask about their policies. Taking them to the HS still sounds like a solid option at this point, unless I learn something about the HS that definitively changes my mind about it. I haven't seen their annual shelter census since they lost the AC contract and started the "spay/neuter before adoption" policy, so I'm not really sure how high their euthanasia rate might be currently.

Willowy

Well, I did it! I took them to the shelter last Wednesday. They were JUST posted on the website this morning.......I was torturing myself all this time, worrying that they had been PTS. But now they're spayed/neutered and up for adoption, so I feel good. Here's the link: http://www.sfhumanesociety.com/custA...ist&category=2 , they're listed as Tiggs, Silky, and BJ. I really wanted to keep Silky....Dusty had a major crush on her and she was sooo affectionate. But I have a policy of only keeping fully-clawed adult cats, since kittens can easily find other homes, and a de-clawed cat would do better in a home with fewer cats and mellower dogs. Phew, I'm so relieved. At least now they'll get good homes, fully screened. Thanks for the opinions!

FriendsOfZoe

That's great Willowy...They are definitely the cutest cats on the shelter page (not to mention that they're KITTENS)...hopefully they will get adopted out really quickly. Are you going to try to follow up with the shelter to see when they get adopted? If you do, let us know!

Willowy

I'll keep an eye on the website.....even though I go to the shelter occasionally to donate food and pet the animals, I probably won't go until these guys have been adopted (or I'd probably take one home with me!). They'll go fast---when I was there on Wednesday, there were 2 black kittens and a litter of calicos, and obviously all of them have been adopted now. It's a nice shelter with a lot of traffic, so kittens and puppies aren't there for long. I feel sorry for the older cats and dogs, though .

Willowy

Well, da boyz were adopted....finally! I wonder if they went together, since their "adopted" signs went up the same day. Silky's still there, though . And now they're positively overrun with cats and kittens. There were a lot of empty kennels when I dropped the kitties off, but now they're all full. I'm glad the cats in the adoption kennels are safe, but I feel bad for the cats that are surrendered when the shelter is full. Ugh. They have a lot more dogs now, too.....there were only about 10 dogs there when I visited. Everyone must be going on vacation .

Noel

Awwwww!!!!
Kittens! I love kittens!
But the only shelter that I really know of is the ASPCA, but I am not sure what their kill rate is.
I heard about this place on Animal Planet, where this lady will go to shelters that will kill the animals if unadopted, and take the ones that nobody seems to want yet, and bring them to her no-kill shelter and give them a second chance, but I am sure once you put those kittens in a shelter, the second people see them, they will want to adopt them!

Willowy

Well, it actually took them about 2-3 weeks to be adopted....but they're all adopted now, I'm so relieved. The shelter is incredibly full now (72 cats!), so I'm glad I took them when I did.

Love's_Sophie

Yay!!!!

I'll be sad when I have to rehome two of our baby kitties...glad things worked out for your little rescues!!!

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