Well this is a new one....

So adoptions from the rescue I volunteer at have actually been picking up in the past couple of weeks (yay!) but now something is happening that I haven't dealt with before. I'm fostering a male maine coon mix kitten that was in the euth room of a local shelter when I pulled him. He hadn't attended any adoption events but was scheduled to be neutered recently so we went ahead an put him on petfinder, stating that he would be ready in the next few weeks. Due to a URI we've had to put off his neuter, but there are already over TEN people wanting to adopt him based off the petfinder listing! Several of them have actually offered to pay double our adoption fee for him....Not quite sure how we're going to choose who gets to adopt him! If only we had a waiting list for all our cats.....

Sounds like people wanting a kitten in time for a Christmas present...

Others have talked about their shelters and rescues not adopting any out right now to avoid this. I wonder why your's still is?

Originally Posted by iheartmycats

So adoptions from the rescue I volunteer at have actually been picking up in the past couple of weeks (yay!) but now something is happening that I haven't dealt with before. I'm fostering a male maine coon mix kitten that was in the euth room of a local shelter when I pulled him. He hadn't attended any adoption events but was scheduled to be neutered recently so we went ahead an put him on petfinder, stating that he would be ready in the next few weeks. Due to a URI we've had to put off his neuter, but there are already over TEN people wanting to adopt him based off the petfinder listing! Several of them have actually offered to pay double our adoption fee for him....Not quite sure how we're going to choose who gets to adopt him! If only we had a waiting list for all our cats.....

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Wow, that is wonderful news!!! So glad you pulled him from death's door!! Sounds like he has a sure shot at second chance at life with a furrever home!

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Sounds like people wanting a kitten in time for a Christmas present...

Others have talked about their shelters and rescues not adopting any out right now to avoid this. I wonder why your's still is?

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Well, this might be the case, or might not... Petfinder reaches many more people than the shelter does, and that might be the reason.

Also, this cat was pulled from the euthanasia room IMHO this cat is better off as a gift with a loving family then DEAD. I am not saying that giving pets as gifts is the right thing to do, BUT it is still better than killing a perfectly healthy cat, IMO.
I got a cat as a gift before, my Sebastian, and he was the cat I loved the most in my life...
I gave my mom a dog, Weber, a surprise mother's day gift, and she was happy with him for 12 years...
IMO things can go wrong, but they can go right too... And in a rescue the kitty can go back if things don't work out more easily than in a shelter situation. Not to mention that things can also go wrong when everything is in place.
Anyways, This kitty is just super lucky he has you!!!
Pictures? where is his hit petfinder page?

Is he being advertised by the rescue as a 'maine coon mix'? That's a popular breed. I can't tell you how many cat people I've heard say they'd like to have a Maine Coon cat.

Many people are far more attracted to a pet if they think its a special breed or type of animal, thus you see shelters posting every long hair as a 'persian' every colorpoint as 'siamese' and every gray cat is a 'russian blue'.

I'm sure much of the attraction is in that he is a maine coon mix. And a kitten. Our rescue actually has a lot of "popular" breed cats--himilayans, persians, maine coons, siamese, etc. and surprisingly they don't seem to be adopted at a faster rate than our "average" domestic mixes. I know (and have worked with in the past) local rescues that actually charge more for the "unusual" types of cats--we don't. I knew from the time I saw him in the cage in the euth room that he would have no problem getting adopted because he was so attractive, I just didn't expect such an explosive response.

As for adopting kittens out at this time of year--we screen our potential adopters carefully, regardless of the time of year. We don't want someone adopting a cat as an impulse gift for their child's birthday in June just as we wouldn't around the holidays. And honestly, we have so many kittens in both foster homes and at the shelter right now that I don't think it would be fair to the kittens not to give them a chance in a home that truly wants them and will love and care for them appropriately.

We do not adopt as gifts but allow adoptions at Christmas, for many people it is the time when they are home for a good week off work to do proper introductions and not everyone is crazy busy with family stuff.

We always get a lot of people when we list them as purebred mixes compared to just DLHs etc

I would contact them all and tell them that he will not be available until January, that will get rid of all of the people who want one for Christmas, those who ask for him to be put on hold for them, ask them to come into the shelter, interview them there and show them the other kittens - they may well fall in love and narrow it down for you