"Aimee S" wrote in message
...

Hi,

I have 3 soon to be 8 week old kittens, I've had them since they were 3
and a half weeks, dropper fed them worried over them and now have to
find homes for them. They are sooo sweet, but I already have to many
cat's in the house. It's breaking my heart to have to give them up, any
thought's??
I want so bad for them to have the very best homes, how can I be sure?

Thanks for any help with this,

Aimee


First of all, ***you do NOT *Give* them away***. Any idiot who wants a cat
for a less than honorable purpose can lie to you with the greatest of skill
about everything. Look at Bill Frist.You charge an adoption fee. 8 weeks
is old enough for any vets who do juvenile spay/neuter to go ahead and fix
them. Check with the Humane Society to see if there is someone in your area
who can do it cheaply. You want these animals fixed before they leave your
custody, *or you're just potentially adding to the overpopulation problem*.
Then, charge how much it cost you to have them fixed as the adoption fee.
I'm assuming that you've already started their shots on your own, but if you
haven't, also do that. Releasing a cat from your care without being current
on shots and being fixed isn't really "rescuing". If a potential adoptor
balks at paying these costs, you can rest assured that they would not spend
the money to have the cat fixed and to get their shots. Anyone who is
serious about adding a pet to their family will have researched the ultimate
costs and realize they're getting their money's worth. Then, you have them
fill out an application, asking them who their vet is, who their employer
is, how long they've lived at their current home, whether they rent or own,
and how many children they have and their ages. Sample adoption
applications are available from many rescue groups on the net. Be sure to
include the standard legalese fineprint release about suing you as well as
that the animal won't be used for dog fighting or research. THen, call the
vet and ask them how long X has been a client and how many animals they've
had on record there and if they've been current on their shots and spayed
and neutered. If someone lives on a busy highway and has gone through 9
cats in the last 3 years that have gotten run over, they obviously would be
a poor choice of home. But, people like that will lie straight to your face
and tell you how wonderful a home they will give the kitty and how much
they'll love it. **Love is NOT enough** You want to be sure they'll be
responsible, which is expecting a lot more and is more difficult to
quantify. Be sure and check with the landlord if the adoptor rents. You'd
be surprised at how many people *say* the landlord has no problem with them
having pets, but they haven't paid the $400 pet deposit and have no
intention of doing so. Also be very cautious of families with young
children. Young children and young pets do not mix very well at all, unless
the child has been taught respect for animals. These days when kids don't
even have respect for their parents, it's hard to find a family with small
kids who I'd trust to not kill a kitten accidentally---or on purpose, and
you don't even want to go into THAT one, which I HAVE had happen (and the
family had the balls to come back to the shelter wanting to replace the
kitten!). Interview the kids. They'll tell you *everything* that the
parents don't want you to know. (that's how we found out about the kitten
above) When you handle a thousand adoptions a year, you'll make mistakes,
but since you only have two, you can screen and screen until you find the
perfect homes.