Making the decision to surrender

hey guys, 

currently i'm fostering two litters as well as a trio of orphans. the older litter, a group of brown/black shorthair marbles, aren't getting much interest in terms of finding new homes. i'm starting to think i might be a little overwhelmed, and i've been putting a lot of attention into the orphans lately, and i was wondering if i should take some of the older kittens to a local no-kill shelter? i think i know of one that will give them their shots and get them fixed before finding them new homes, i need to snoop around a bit to make sure though. what do you guys think? have you ever had to take a cat to a shelter? (is it tough? do you think they'll be treated well?)

I am actually in a similar position.
I do think you can spread yourself too thin among cats, especially when you are first trying to socialize them. One of the reasons I ended up 'fostering' Ritz was so her rescuer could spend more time with the other three she rescued (same litter).
Depends upon the shelter in so far as how they will be treated. Make sure it is a truly no-kill shelter, that the shelter will keep the kitten/cat until she/he is adopted out or dies a natural death (euthanize only for truly humane reasons). And know what the policy is regarding adoption, i.e., will the shelter let you know if the cat(s) are adopted.
Dahalia is an extraordinarily friendly kitten, purrs 24x7 (six months old, female, not spayed), obviously previous owned) who I found under a car. Well socialized. I will do my best to find a fur-ever home for her, but if after a month I am unsuccessful, I plan on surrendering her to the local SPCA. I have an advantage in that the daughter of one of my sister's best friends works there and she will keep me somewhat informed. I will be sad, but glad for her.

Personally, I am wary of shelters, even no kill ones. I think if you could go ahead and find a local Humane Society and have them help you with vaccines and spay/neuter and help you to adopt them out rather than turn them over to them shelter. They do good work, no denying that, but the kitties know you and especially being young, they are more likely to catch a cold or other types of viruses at the shelter since they have not been vaccinated and are young.

I really think the cats have a better chance to have a good life if you try to find homes for them. Take cute pictures and post them on church bulletin boards, vet offices, and on social media. Talk to your friends, co-workers,  and neighbors and have them put the word out. If you can get the cats vaccinated first, they will  be more desirable. Even if the shelter is no-kill, it's a poor quality of life for cats to be caged. Many of them become depressed. Taking them to a shelter should be the last resort after all other efforts to find them homes have failed. Good luck.  

How is it that you ended up fostering 3 litters anyway? That is ALOT, especially when you have to focus mainly on struggling/orphaned kittens.

Either way, it's alot and can be easily overwhelming.

Shelters vary a great deal. Usually the ones with more of a budget/funding are able to have a full staff and not cut themselves short, they also have a vet on board and staff who are vet techs.

The key is staffing really.

Short handed and on a tight/strict budget will not allow time that can be spent with each animal, the kennel cleaners often times don't even pay any attention to them, just focused on getting all kennels cleaned and fed, etc.

If you are fostering under a shelter or rescue group, which you absolutely should be for your own sake and financially as well, they can relocate some and lighten the load.

If not, then I would be calling rescues around you in hopes they will take a litter from you before the surrendering to a shelter.

Much nicer for them, they will be fostered in homes rather than cages.

It's wonderful that you're taking care of all the kittens, especially since they were heading to a kill shelter.  Most of us have gotten in over our heads at one time or another in caring for a cat or a group of cats, it's easy to do. I hope you can get some assistance from somewhere soon. Keep us posted.

still haven't found any resources... but good news, the litter of 5 all found good homes. the litter with 6 is remaining, and growing up pretty quickly. i'm worried about them reproducing soon. no one seems to be interested

Hey there!

How old is the litter of six? They need to get spayed/neutered so they don't reproduce. Does your local Humane Society perform low-cost surgeries?

Mine is very user-friendly about discounts, and the prices are low to begin with.

So glad you found homes for the other litter. Can you put up more signs for this current litter?

they're about 5-6 months now, almost full size. i can't afford to spay/neuter them all, even with a voucher purchase of $35 each.

That's actually a terrific price!

Can you start taking one in at a time to get fixed?

And I would not let any of them outside in the meantime.

Can you get any sponsorship from anyone?

hey guys,

to update, i got a new job and will be able to get them all fixed one at a time! one found a home, still have remaining 5. still holding out for adoption!

Good for you.. That's wonderful..

Great news!

I'm delighted to hear this, and I'm sure it will be a relief to you on many levels! How are the girls doing?

thank you! i'm actually getting involved with a rescue group and after i went with them to pull some kittens from our local shelter... i knew i couldn't take these five there and drop them off. it will be!

the girls are doing great! they've gotten their first shots and things and are growing like weeds. harley's infection cleared up after another round of antibiotics and she's on the small side, but the vet said that was okay. here's some pics!







harley won't look at the camera to save her life so the top picture is the best i can do, haha. honey on the other hand loves to model, as evidenced by the latter two photos!

They are both just precious and so sweet looking [emoji]128149[/emoji].

i managed to grab a pic of harley haha!

She is so cute!!! I love her little face! Are you keeping Harley and Honey?

yep, i am!