I've found a home for Mamma! A friend of mine is taking her and one of the babies.
They're only 5.5 weeks old, so it'll be another 3 weeks until I can rehome them - but I feel a thousand times better knowing that Mamma (who I anticipated having a great deal of difficulty rehoming) is going to be safe AND with someone I have known for years and trust.
I've gotten quite a few calls and emails since I posted the kittens online last night, and one person sounds very promising for the one female kitten. She called from her workplace (which is a pharmacy) and she sounds trustworthy. She likes the female kitten because apparently she looks a great deal like the cat that she had for 18 years who passed away recently and who she is missing. She told me a bunch of stories about her old cat...and I figure anybody who tells total strangers "kitty stories" is probably a good pet-parent.
I haven't returned any of the other calls or emails yet, but will be doing that this evening.
I wish that there were (or if they do exist that I knew how to access them) services in my area that could have made this process cheaper for me. Total vet bills between Mom's initial visit when she was pregnant, and getting the kittens checked out, and first sets of shots and deworming for everybody is going to total to nearly $400. Add on top of that all the extra kitten food and litter and the trip I'm going to be taking to Toronto to bring Mamma and the spotted belly kitten to their new Daddy....oy.
Not that I am complaining. I am glad I did it - it needed to be done. And if I had to do it all over again I would - except maybe next time I wouldn't burst into tears at the vets office when she tells me that Mamma is pregnant. (Seriously, I was a sniveling mess.)
I seriously tip my hat to people who do this frequently. To foster families and people who do rescue work on a volunteer basis and pay for so much petcare out of their own pockets and with their own time.
Much love to you all. <3
Pictures of Mamma and Babies