Need Advice / Assurance for Adopting Out Process

Hello everyone,

The time has come to let my kittens go to their new homes and I'm very uneasy about it. I'm arranging to have them go on their 10th week since that's as long as my parents will let me keep the babies around the house.

Baby 1:

The first baby is being adopted by my boyfriend and his family. I've known them for close to 8 years so I'm sure he'll be greatly cared for. Even so, I'm still uneasy about letting him go.

Baby 2:

The second baby just got "adopted" yesterday and the person seems to adore  cats. I saw his facebook is a shrine to his current cats as well as that he sometimes picks up animals from the street, fosters them and gives them up for adoption to good families.

He already has 6 cats that he says are his children: 2 (over 3 years old), a 2 year old, a 1 year old and 2 babies that are 2 months old. He sterilizes them and takes them for regular vet checks. He seems like such a nice person and that Binxie would be greatly taken care of, but I'm worried about the amount of cats he already has.

Baby 3

He or she is still up for adoption.

Baby 4

I'm keeping the last baby for myself.

My questions:

Is it normal to feel this uneasy and worry so much by knowing the babies will not be in my care?

Do you think they'll be fine?

Is there anything I should be doing to make sure they thrive?

Any advice?

Thank you so much. 

Sorry no one has answered you before this.  I was away for a couple of days and also my assigned area is Pregnant Cats & Kitten Care so I didn't spot this in the Cat Lounge right away. 

We have a fairly comprehensive article about this in our Articles section.  Here is the link:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/kittens-to-good-homes

Also, in my own small rescue (in the USA), I have a certain procedure I follow.  First, I advertise on three internet spots:  Petfinder, Adopt-A-Pet, and eBay Classifieds.  There is also another huge site which I have not yet used but has brought many people good, quick, local results.  It's called RescueMe -- and it has its own web site http://www.rescueme.org/ and also a Facebook site, http://www.rescueme.org/social-cats (this is the cat-specific site but RescueMe.org includes all animals).  It's free so there's nothing to lose but the time it takes to write your ad. You can also put up nice ads in your vet's office if they have a bulletin board for them.  Most vets do.

I always have people contact me first by email and ask them to send their phone number if they want a call back.  (Some just want to know what adoption from us entails and what the fees are, but if that suits them, then they send a phone number.)  I will then call them and have a telephone conversation and see what my chemistry is with them and also check out their situation and see if they would be a good fit with the cat or kitten(s) they inquired about.  If so, I schedule a "meet & greet" appointment when I will bring the cat or kitten(s) to THEIR home for a visit (explaining "this is so you can see how she acts in your home even when she is just visiting, and so you can see her in the fur and experience any good chemistry you may have with her.")   I do not take these "Meet & Greet" visits lightly and will not schedule a  visit unless I believe I would be willing to adopt to the person on the spot.  I remind them that they are not obligated to adopt either, they are just having a meeting.  If I have several young kittens available, even if they want a specific one, I will bring the whole crew and let them play together in thier house.  Sometimes you end up adopting two together that way because they find they can't choose between their two favorites!.  I took 7 kittens visiting last week and three of them have already been adopted, and two more are being adopted tomorrow!  When possible, I bring the mother cat too, if she is in my possession.  Cats are SO much smarter than we give them credit for.  If one or two kittens get adopted at the time of the visit, the mom cat will yell at me most of the way home, telling me I forgot one of the babies, but she has seen they were in a safe place, and when I get home, she will calm down and will not be searching my house and calling for her lost kitten.  That makes us BOTH feel better.

I do have a contract but it is short, and I do make sure the kittens are up to date on worming and shots and if I have the mama cats, they have been tested for FeLV/FIV and are negative, meaning the kittens are all negative as well.  I provide records of this with each adoption.  If the kittens are very young, I require they be spayed/neutered by five months of age and the people send me proof of this.  I charge $35 for a basic fee, to cover shots and worming and the combo test, if they are not yet neutered/spayed -- If they are older, I will offer to get it done for them if they pay the adoption fee at that time (I can't afford to front all that money for groups of kittens, so I charge $35 plus the cost of the spay or neuter) -- Often they will agree to this so that they don't have to worry about it.  I do promise to return their adoption fee if anything should happen to the kitten in surgery, and that usually convinces them to let me do it.  With our mobile low-cost spay neuter clinics, I can usually get them done within the week and let them go to their new homes after a few days of recovery.  Of course I take them to their new homes when it's time, and I stay until they get settled and are exploring the new place.  If I haven't heard from them via email or phone in a week or so, I always check back to make sure everything is going well and see if they have any questions.  It's a lot of work and quite time consuming, but I think I get the BEST adopters that way!  Many make extra donations over and above the basic adoption fee too.

I hope this gives all of you an idea of how you might proceed with your own adoptions, and to see how it can actually be a wonderful experience when you find homes for your precious furbabies!

Update:

Kitten 1:

Took the first one Friday afternoon to meet his new family. He seemed very quiet. It was as if he knew what was going on and taking it very bravely. He even let himself be photographed, something he didn't quite like. The person sent me some pictures and says he's doing great, although the eldest cat doesn't like him very much, they punished the eldest one by sending him to the living room until he becomes amicable. 

Kitten 2:

Took him to my boyfriend and mom's house where we settled him in. While the family dog welcomed the new baby, the kitten didn't quite like her.

He must have been mad she peed on his new bed (she wanted it for herself). We made him a temporary bed until his peed-on one dried. He didn't seem to want to go to sleep. I stayed over and my boyfriend slept on the couch. When I woke up and went downstairs, I found out that the baby had jumped on my boyfriend and curled up besides him and fell asleep like that.

Kitten 3:

Someone wants him. His wife likes cats very much but has 2 small children (4 and 10 years old I think) and also has no pets so he would be king. My concern  is that he doesn't know children and he's become a bit of a biter and scratcher over the last week or so. Would it be ok for me to give them the kitty? I, of course, would offer to take him back if it doesn't work out.

Kitten 4:

I've decided I'm keeping the girl: Colita Wanda Mew (Or Baby for short  ).

MagiksGirl said:

 
Update:

Kitten 1:

Took the first one Friday afternoon to meet his new family. He seemed very quiet. It was as if he knew what was going on and taking it very bravely. He even let himself be photographed, something he didn't quite like. The person sent me some pictures and says he's doing great, although the eldest cat doesn't like him very much, they punished the eldest one by sending him to the living room until he becomes amicable. 

Kitten 2:

Took him to my boyfriend and mom's house where we settled him in. While the family dog welcomed the new baby, the kitten didn't quite like her.

He must have been mad she peed on his new bed (she wanted it for herself). We made him a temporary bed until his peed-on one dried. He didn't seem to want to go to sleep. I stayed over and my boyfriend slept on the couch. When I woke up and went downstairs, I found out that the baby had jumped on my boyfriend and curled up besides him and fell asleep like that.

Kitten 3:

Someone wants him. His wife likes cats very much but has 2 small children (4 and 10 years old I think) and also has no pets so he would be king. My concern  is that he doesn't know children and he's become a bit of a biter and scratcher over the last week or so. Would it be ok for me to give them the kitty? I, of course, would offer to take him back if it doesn't work out.

Kitten 4:

I've decided I'm keeping the girl: Colita Wanda Mew (Or Baby for short 

).

Click to expand...

A quick advice on 1.   Its important  they support and love the resident!   He shall not need to be jealous.  He shall know he is still number one.

I mean, the kitten is new, so people being kind to him is enough.  But its not necessary the resident has real reason to feel jealous, the new toy is the new favorite - alike.

So, its very correct of them to protect the kitten, and stop any excesses by the resident, but the resident must know he has their love, and may even show the little one who is the boss.  Its jsut natural, as long as he doesnt overdo it...

With 2, the dog, its in part the same, but not quite.   THRERE is important the dog is lowest in the ladder. Its usually best so.  So although, show the dog he is still loved and a great favvo, but the kitten / cat comes over him in the heck-ladder...

@StefanZ  Thank you for the advice on Kitten 1. The new family has several (very well taken care of cats) and the guy says it's normal for eldest cat to feel like that when a new cat arrives and that within a couple of days he turns around. He keeps him in the living room but still goes and comforts and plays with him. It's just that he separated the big one so he wouldn't hurt the new baby.

On Kitten 2. The dog is a lovely mini toy poodle (er... the smallest poodle there is) and is very obedient and kind, I think that when baby is all grown up they'll be about the same size. Everyone thinks that she peed on the bed because as soon as she had seen it a couple of weeks ago (when it was bought in preparation of the arrival of the new baby) she thought it was for her and when she saw that it was upstairs (where the baby was) she wanted to claim it.... she was scolded and sent to her bed for a time out.

The baby seems fine to walk past the dog after a while but when we carried him and put him near her he puffed up and hissed very quietly, so we took him back and he calmed down as if by magic. He took over all the living room and couches   He stayed in the back of the couch that faces the entrance to the living room and would just stare where the doorless entrance is... for some reason the dog didn't go to the living room anymore... I'm guessing the baby warned her that the couches and living room were his 

This looks like he's making himself on top of the ladder. Is this what is best?

Thank you