If you are ADOPTING OUT SOCIALIZED (tame) KITTENS:
If you are adopting them out yourself: be sure to have in place a screening questionairre with answers before adopting out your kittens. This is to help weed out those people who use for pitbull bait, sell to laboratories, feed to snakes, or are just hoarders who "collect" cats but do not take care of them.
Charging a minimum adoption fee of $50 per kitten will help weed out undesirables & help cover your costs. Or you could donate this fee to your local rescue organization to help other cats and kittens find forever homes.
Click on Spay-Neuter for low cost spay-neuter clinics. Also check out the Adoption and Cat Care topics on this website. Be sure to give this info to people who adopt your kitten/s.
The Animal Welfare League or the Simpson Clinic in Briarcliff or TEAM in CT are the best for low cost spay/neuters and vaccinations in our immediate area. Impress upon prospective adopters that kittens should be spayed or neutered by 5 months of age. Female kittens can come into heat and get pregnant as early as 4 months of age. Male cats can start spraying at this time which is then a hard habit to break.
Kittens should have their first distemper vaccination and first worming before being adopted out. It would be prudent to have the kitty/s tested for feline leukemia at this time if he/she has never been tested. (If there is a litter of kittens, testing the mom only is cost effective).
IF YOU ARE TRYING TO PLACE FERAL (untamed) KITTENS
Most rescues can only help you place these kittens once they are tamed unless they are under 7-8 weeks of age. Hopefully, you or a friend, neighbor or relative can find a space in your home or garage, storeroom, shed etc, and foster them until they are ready for adoption at 8 weeks of age. Kittens have to be handled by humans within the first 6-8 weeks of life, the younger the better, or they will become feral (wild) and unadoptable. See links under Feral Cat Help on how to do this. If these feral cats/older kittens are not spayed/neutered quickly,by 4-5 months of age, you will soon find the problem out of control!
If the Mom Is Present, she will most likely take longer to place, especially if she is shy. She will have to be spayed first and given a rabies vaccination at the time of her spay. A nursing mother can become pregnant! She should be spayed 2 weeks after the kittens are weaned and eating on their own.
If mother is too shy, semi-feral or feral she will have to be spayed first, given a rabies vaccination, put back and given appropriate shelter - see Outdoor Shelter link above - along with daily food and fresh water. See Feral Cat Help above. If you cannot put her back in her place of origin because it is too dangerous and cannot keep her yourself, you should look into responsible barn homes or stables in your area. See Feral Cat Help and barn homes. She cannot just be left there and expected to stay as she will try to find her way back home and become lost.
If you are adopting them out yourself: be sure to have in place a screening questionairre with answers before adopting out your kittens. This is to help weed out those people who use for pitbull bait, sell to laboratories, feed to snakes, or are just hoarders who "collect" cats but do not take care of them.
Charging a minimum adoption fee of $50 per kitten will help weed out undesirables & help cover your costs. Or you could donate this fee to your local rescue organization to help other cats and kittens find forever homes.
Click on Spay-Neuter for low cost spay-neuter clinics. Also check out the Adoption and Cat Care topics on this website. Be sure to give this info to people who adopt your kitten/s.
The Animal Welfare League or the Simpson Clinic in Briarcliff or TEAM in CT are the best for low cost spay/neuters and vaccinations in our immediate area. Impress upon prospective adopters that kittens should be spayed or neutered by 5 months of age. Female kittens can come into heat and get pregnant as early as 4 months of age. Male cats can start spraying at this time which is then a hard habit to break.
Kittens should have their first distemper vaccination and first worming before being adopted out. It would be prudent to have the kitty/s tested for feline leukemia at this time if he/she has never been tested. (If there is a litter of kittens, testing the mom only is cost effective).
IF YOU ARE TRYING TO PLACE FERAL (untamed) KITTENS
Most rescues can only help you place these kittens once they are tamed unless they are under 7-8 weeks of age. Hopefully, you or a friend, neighbor or relative can find a space in your home or garage, storeroom, shed etc, and foster them until they are ready for adoption at 8 weeks of age. Kittens have to be handled by humans within the first 6-8 weeks of life, the younger the better, or they will become feral (wild) and unadoptable. See links under Feral Cat Help on how to do this. If these feral cats/older kittens are not spayed/neutered quickly,by 4-5 months of age, you will soon find the problem out of control!
If the Mom Is Present, she will most likely take longer to place, especially if she is shy. She will have to be spayed first and given a rabies vaccination at the time of her spay. A nursing mother can become pregnant! She should be spayed 2 weeks after the kittens are weaned and eating on their own.
If mother is too shy, semi-feral or feral she will have to be spayed first, given a rabies vaccination, put back and given appropriate shelter - see Outdoor Shelter link above - along with daily food and fresh water. See Feral Cat Help above. If you cannot put her back in her place of origin because it is too dangerous and cannot keep her yourself, you should look into responsible barn homes or stables in your area. See Feral Cat Help and barn homes. She cannot just be left there and expected to stay as she will try to find her way back home and become lost.