help! Advice on fostering KITTENS for cat newbie

Fran101

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#1
Well the shelter has NO SPACE for kittens, they are even at the point of giving them up at buy one get one free. most of the shelter is dedicated to dogs so the cats only have 1 room and the abandoned kittens just keep pouring in so a lot are being put to sleep

i wanted a way to help, so i figure i could take in a couple of kittens, get them all cute and healthy and adopt them out to homes, because of the shelters middleofnowhere location, they have a MUCH better chance at adoption here then they do over there
. i dont usually LIKE cats, but i figure its a great way to help and kittens sure are cute.. I just dont know much about cats and their general care

the fee is $35 for 2 kittens and it comes with:

"The fee cats under 4 months includes de-worming, FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) tests for cats, first set of vaccines and microchip.
Cats under 2 months will not be sterilized and will not receive a rabies shot as the animals are too young to have the surgery or the vaccine. The animal will need to come back to the shelter or see a veterinarian when it is old enough to be spayed/neutered. The fee for the rabies shot ($10.00) will be charged at that time. Spay/Neutering at Animal Services is free"


As far as what i will need to buy i figure:

- Litter box and litter (advice on brand of good litter would be nice)
- Cat food and bowls
- some cheap lil cats toys

I already have a kitty safe room that would work for them to live in :)


whats a good way to find homes for them? I figure craiglist, word of mouth ect.. would be fine.

what are some questions i should ask potential homes?
I dont want to give these kittens to just anyone, i get attached pretty easily

what do you think i should charge as far as an adoption fee?
the kittens will be spayed/neutered, vaccaniated, de wormed ect..

I figure if these first 2 get adopted and all goes well, i could do it all again and save 2 more!
Right now the rate of adoption for kittens at the shelter is 5 a month..which is NOT GOOD! at all. people dont know the kittens are there and mostly come to the shelter for dogs.

Im not a cat person really, but im reading a lot and learning. its cool that they know to use the litter box automatically! :)

heres the shelter :

http://www.miamidade.gov/animals/home.asp


They have 109 cats right now, the usual number is about 200-300.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR ANY HELP/ADVICE :)
 

Labyrinth

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#2
Cats are pretty easy to take care of. Just have to scoop the box (at least once a day is best), play/cuddle with them, provide food and water, and a comfy place to sleep. Depending on how young they are you may need to soften the food for them (I'm assuming they don't need bottle feeding).

As for litter, I personally use Feline Pine but I don't think there really is any wrong kind of litter unless the cat itself lets you know they don't like it by refusing to use it.

As for rehoming, when I was looking to adopt a kitty I went to craigslist and petfinder to search so both of those are probably good options. I don't know what I'd put as an adoption fee, but definitely don't list them as free.

Kittens are a blast, enjoy your time with them. Who knows, you may end up becoming a cat person after all :p
 

Maxy24

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#3
Good for you!! For litter, if the kittens are really little go with a non clumping litter, small kittens may sleep in or get their faces very close to the litter and might eat it, clumping litter would be harmful. If they are older then a clumping litter would be fine. Get one that is not scented, I use Arm and Hammer Super Scoop with no scent clumping litter. Just keep them in the room with the box, show them where it is and they SHOULD use it.

Remember wet food is MUCH better for cats than dry food.
One thing you didn't have on your list is a scratching post, they'll need one or two of those. If they'll be in a room with no other furniture it will be great as they'll get really good at using the posts. Cats need to scratch. You might also want to get them used to having their nails clipped since they are young, it will be good for their new homes and it'll be nice for you, the scratches will not puncture as often.

Yup going over the internet would be fine as long as you screen and interview the new owners. Some rescues will let you post your pets on their website and petfinder if you ask.

Ask the homes things like if they have had cats before and what happened to them (if their pets died of neglect to medical issues then you would not want the cat in that home). If it were me I would not give him to a person who would declaw. You may want to ask for pictures of their current cats to see if they are in good shape, a nice weight etc.

I'm not sure what other questions I would ask, I'm sure someone else can help you with that.

As for price I'd charge enough to be reimbursed for his care and adoption.
 

FoxyWench

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#4
mabe see if the shelter itself would be willing to do a foster program...in otherwords let THEM handle the adoption stuff, use their forms, their vet ect.
you would then provide food/watter and socilization :)

if the shelter doesnt already have a petfinder account for listings id suggest getting them onto petfinder as well as craigslist.
if they can get their animals on petfinder theyd have a better chance of adopting out in general.
hoobly.com and backpage.com are also free classifieds sites that get some fairly good traffic.

and depending on the age of the kittens you take in...if there just weaned but under 8 weeks id suggest taking the entire litter (kittens need alot of cat on cat sociliation)
8 weeks and above 2-3 kittens would be fun :)
 

Fran101

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#5
Thanks for the advice everyone :)

I went to the shelter and inquired and they said kittens are only adopted out after 8 weeks so I think a pair should be fine for now

my mom says we absolutely CANNOT keep any, so i definetly need to find some cute kittens that will DEFINETLY get adopted.

As far as adoption fees go, a pair is $35.. so that means about about 17.50 per kitten so i think $20 should be reasonable for a fee

heres what I guess my application should look like:

Name:
Age:
Street address:
City:
State:
ZIP:
Home phone:
cell phone:
E-mail:

If you move, will your pet go with you?
Can you provide a permanent home for this cat for 10-15 years?
Do you have any children?
Is anyone in your household allergic to cats?

Where will this cat live?
Will this cat be allowed outdoors?
Who will be the primary caretaker of this cat?

EXPLAIN WHY YOU WANT A KITTEN/CAT:


BY SIGNGING THIS CONTRACT YOU AGREE THAT:
- You will email me updates/pictures of the kitty in their new home :)
- You will have this cat spay/neutered (the operation is FREE at miami dade animal services)
- If you cannot keep this cat/kitten the cat must return TO ME and not be rehomed to anyone else
- You will provide this cat with a home (indoors), food, water, proper vetcare, and love.

X ________________________
 

Romy

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#6
In cats, color is a big factor in how fast they get adopted. Black cats are very difficult to adopt out (like black dogs as you know)

Siamese are popular, especially with names like "seal point"
"flame point" "chocolate point" etc. So are manx and polydactyl (hemmingway) cats. Any cat that looks/acts like it could be an actual breed or mix of purebred aside from american shorthair has a pretty good shot, like russian blues, maine coons, bengals, abyssinian (sp?), etc.

If you're going for volume in saving lives, you might consider pulling those that are high in demand and finding them homes as you could end up fostering a black kitten for 6 months, vs. a polydactyl for a week or two and being able to go back and pull another when it's adopted.

But then again...if there is a black cat there and you think you can suck your mom into letting your keep it...;) All of our cats are black for that reason. We took in litters and nobody wanted the black ones. Frankly I'm glad because they turned out awesome.

For very young kittens, less than 10 weeks, it is a lot easier to keep them in a large dog crate or a hutch/cage so that they have fast access to the litter pan and don't get themselves wedged in weird places. Once they have a week or two to learn about relieving themselves in the right place we let them out into a large room, like a bedroom.
 

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