Arlington Animal Welfare League Rep is Good?

Hi all. Been working taming 2 feral kittens. Age 8 wks
when I got them. Tamed nicely to my house. Not
as well socialized to people and noise however, as
my house is single, childless and quiet!

(Moderaters move this threat if you need to please?)

Looked desperately for homes, NO assistance from
animal groups (rescues) as they were "overwhelmed"
- dun. Me too! I tried Petfinder, local paper, and
vets. Nada luck.

Eventually took to AAWL.

Want to make sure they
are NOT PTSed! Because they are *understandably*
shy having been in childless house with few to no
visitors.

Very Very LOVING with me, and purr a storm
up. Box trained, combo tested negative on all counts,
and spent 300 dollars getting first shots/worming.

So, anyone in NoVA who can tell me that the staff
at AAWL will not recklessly PTS a healthy 4 mo
kitten due to shyness - that can be cured by
more exposure to people and less stress?

I desperately want to keep but cannot (4 of my own, allergic
BF). And I desperately want someone who will love and
will look after and get GOOD home to assist. Would have
fostered had I a group to sponsor me, but could not
do it on my own and get a placement in a loving home by
myself... believe me I tried!.

Braveheart (all grey main coon mix) and Valiant
grey and white main coon mixes.

Please, please, please make me feel better about this!

And if anyone can go and visit who lives in NoVa (I am way out
of "close" to AAWL being in Loudoun BTW) and make sure
they are doing okay?

please please do. The animal nos. to check on them,
are A010128 and A010129 for intake purposes, surrendered
them yesterday, Nov. 19 (Sunday) at noon.

Tell me AAWL is NOT a bad shelter. I cried all
night over this. They were so affectionate and loving
and I KNOW they can be great cats with a little understanding
on the adopter's part, but I WORRY about the staff at AAWL
being NON understanding.

Any help/comments?

Opilot....I know that a couple of years ago AAWL was regarded as a shelter that was not very understanding towards feral cats/kittens. I am not sure if that has changed. Did you speak to the person at AAWL about their policies??? I cannot go to AAWL...my schedule is just too busy with all the other volunteer work I do. Do you have a friend in the area who could perhaps check on the kittens on your behalf??

Katie

Thank you tnr. I could NOT take to Loudoun Co Shelter - they are the WORST IMHO. So, I DO hope AAWL is better. I did mention to the intake staff, I had tamed them, from 8 wks but didn't know if the staff were "on the ball" about it....I put it on the forms...

I had them socialized to me, to be be total love balls. I do not know how they'd do there at the shelter. I was pretty desperate to get them homes before they became to big and not "cute" and also since I had tried and failed on my own using all methods -

I do have time to go on Wed. to visit, and will call to follow up on them
today - they should be able to tell me if they are going to be put out for adoption.

Is there someone I can use in case of emergency to get them back (they won't adopt back to me, since I surrendered them...)??

Then I can take back to my house and maybe see if someone else can work with me placing and getting more social...They do PURR *so* much!! Little love balls when they relax and feel comfy. I got them young (6 / 8 wks) so they were pretty tame for me, and the vet didn't have issues with them. Its just OTHER people they had issues with, typical of cats not exposed to lots of noise.

Can't help it - I live alone and so forth. Anyway, I will follow up today by phone, and if anyone can volunteer to pull them for me should the need arise(I will DEFINTELY take them back if they are PTSing - like Loudoun does *all* the time). That would be magnificent.

Thanks to all who read this. And please know - I've had cats for 30 plus years, temporarily fostered, done rescues etc etc. So I KNOW cats. These guys would make terrific kitties in the right circumstances...and with a little more socializing to noise, great house cats...

So please, anyone out there who can help monitor, or be willing to "pull" them for me if needed, please, please step up. I just can't stand the thought of them PTSing perfectly healthy and good kittens because they were scared out of their ever loving minds...

Thanks all.

So please, anyone out there who can help monitor, or be willing to "pull" them for me if needed, please, please step up. I just can't stand the thought of them PTSing perfectly healthy and good kittens because they were scared out of their ever loving minds...

Click to expand...

Our rescue group has been flooded recently with urgent pleas to pull kittens/cats from tons of shelters in Virginia. I believe that is probably true of all rescue groups that work with cats. I don't know how "rescue friendly" Arlington is. I don't know how many members on this website are actually in Northern Virginia...but I would really recommend that you try other avenues as well (friends, family members etc.).

Katie

TNR - Didn't know it. But, I WILL take them IF IF someone else will
agree to "front" for me... (be my pull person, since they wont' give
back to me.) Don't have anyone else to ask to do this, family not in area, friends have non pet clauses in rental agreements. Sooo...pretty hard place. Trying the best I can though.

Let's hope then that they get adopted.....I don't know anyone who can pull for you. You may want to post about them on craigslist to try to encourage someone to adopt them:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/pet/

Katie

I talked to the staff and emailed. Found out the kits were processed - given shots, which is a good sign. The shelter is full up, so they won't go out to display for a while. Till more space gets available. They will tame down some probably, if staff works with them. I believe they will do okay, I'm going to keep checking on their status each week.

I will also be directing folks to view them as I am still working on that part of the equation. With luck, they will tame while in back waiting to go out to the adoption area. Prayers please - that's all we can do. Save one at a time, and do our VERY best.

I still feel terrible, but I have alot of ferals I feed and am TNRing ... so,
its a one man rescue here. You get tired and dispirited and have to
work so hard to stay positive about it.

Thanks to all including TNR for any posts and good thought/encouragement.
I heartily understand the rescue groups problems...

Originally Posted by opilot

I talked to the staff and emailed. Found out the kits were processed - given shots, which is a good sign. The shelter is full up, so they won't go out to display for a while. Till more space gets available. They will tame down some probably, if staff works with them. I believe they will do okay, I'm going to keep checking on their status each week.

I will also be directing folks to view them as I am still working on that part of the equation. With luck, they will tame while in back waiting to go out to the adoption area. Prayers please - that's all we can do. Save one at a time, and do our VERY best.

I still feel terrible, but I have alot of ferals I feed and am TNRing ... so,
its a one man rescue here. You get tired and dispirited and have to
work so hard to stay positive about it.

Thanks to all including TNR for any posts and good thought/encouragement.
I heartily understand the rescue groups problems...

Click to expand...

Opilot...although Alley Cat Allies may not be able to directly assist you...you can certainly reach out to them for advice:

http://www.mcatdc.org/virginia.html

Katie

Brave and Valiant are in kitty isolation at the AAWL shelter. I cannot get them out of there, and am VERY angry. Why won't the shelter adopt kittens out that are healthy when there ARE good owners? I found someone with feral experience to take them, and STILL the shelter won't adopt. I am afraid they will PTS just to spite me. Perfectly healthy good kittens, just a bit scared is all!! With a bit of work, they would be GREAT pets. And I have someone qualified and willing to give them a home, but NOOOO the shelter doesn't want to let them out of their clutches!

Please, can anyone explain why shelters are like this? I'm a reputible person, with long stand vet the potential owner is in good standing and meets all requirements for ownership. Does the shelter LIKE putting healthy but shy animals down?

Anway just venting. I STILL have hopes of getting them out of there. They just need some socializing and work - and they will be love bunnies...

Thanks for letting me vent all. Pray HARD for the little kittens to turn around in kitty isolation unit...

Thanks

Bless you for trying to get the kittens back out of the shelter. It just doesn't make sense that they won't release them. Sending many prayers that things
work out for these precious little ones.

Brave and Valiant are in kitty isolation at the AAWL shelter. I cannot get them out of there, and am VERY angry. Why won't the shelter adopt kittens out that are healthy when there ARE good owners? I found someone with feral experience to take them, and STILL the shelter won't adopt. I am afraid they will PTS just to spite me. Perfectly healthy good kittens, just a bit scared is all!! With a bit of work, they would be GREAT pets. And I have someone qualified and willing to give them a home, but NOOOO the shelter doesn't want to let them out of their clutches!

Click to expand...

Opilot...did you ask the shelter why they are in isolation? I would really suggest that you find out the reason they were put into isolation.

Katie

Kitties are in isolation as far as I can tell NOT because they are sick, but because they are scared and not taming (no wonder, dunh a shelter would scare most cats silly!!)

However, my own vet told me that at Loudoun's shelter it is standard procedure (and most others apparantly) to keep the kittens/newcomers in isolation for up to 2 wks to make sure there are no URIs or other infections that might be latent...

To protect the other cats/kittens at the shelter...

So, perhaps they are there as a matter of course. I had them vet checked and they were NOT sick when I brought them in... I know that for a fact!!

Anyway it is so frustrating to get any news out of them on the phone, and then I don't even know if I should trust them...sigh.

Thanks for asking though. I'm not letting up! I do have a home for them, if the shelter ever greenlights the adoption procedure...