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Originally Posted by Sweet
I'm finding the shelters here are VERY different than in Pennsylvania. I've been told they would automatically put them down. Thank goodness winter isn't so bad here, since I had to make them an outdoor kennel and play area. I can't afford to get them "fixed" yet, and don't want a barn-yard full of feral kittens.
I'm really frustrated at the people who've been dumping off their pregnant Momma cats.... leaving the helpless kittens to fend for themselves against wild animals and other feral male cats.
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Best of luck to you, Sweet. You're doing a good thing.
I also found that the big shelters ("humane" society and the spca) were incredibly unhelpful. I get that they are overcrowded - but jesus!
What I found worked for me was I got everybody their first set of shots and THEN looked for homes for them. I advertised them on a local free classified site here and highlighted the fact that they had had their first set of shots, costing me $40 per kitten, and that I was asking for $20 for each kitten. My catchphrase was "It's a savings for you since you would have had to have gotten the kittens their shots anyway, and peace of mind for me knowing that they are going to live with someone who cares about them!"
The reason I did it that way is that it was stressed to me by both my vet and local rescue people that I spoke with that you NEVER offer up free kittens to strangers. Ever. People who take free kittens often treat them like free kittens. Having to hand over even $20 is a deterrent for anybody who has bad intentions (dog fighters, etc).
I just rehomed the last of the five who I was looking for homes for this morning (Mamma and four babies). It's absolutely doable, I promise.
EDIT - I just wanted to add that what I also found to be a smart move on my part was that I never let anybody come over right away. People would often call me and want to come over to see the kittens that very second - but I wouldn't let them. I always said that I was on my way out the door and made an appointment to have them come over the next day.
I ended up getting stood up a lot - but that was a good thing. I didn't want anybody to take one of my kittens on an impulse. I wanted them to be sure that this is what they wanted to do. If anybody still wanted a kitten after a day or two they would show up - the people who didn't end up showing up I know had thoughts things through overnight and had decided that they weren't really serious anyway. The woman who took the little girl kitten I actually started speaking with two weeks before she brought the kitten home (I had started advertising them before they were old enough to move out) and I felt VERY good about her because I had gotten to know her some and it was clear when she came to pick the kitten up that she was just as excited about it then as she was the first time she had called me.
People who impulse adopt animals are a big reason that we have the problems with unwanted animals that we do have. I didn't want to feed into that at all.