Question about adoption fees

All you people out there who rehome strays you find, how do you come up with adoption fees?

I have a lot of cats currently who need homes. I have the police department giving out my phone number to people who call with strays or need helo catching them. Everyone seems to leave them when they move away too.

There are 3 adult male strays (including my Willoughby who I took in about a month ago) there is a litter of 5, 3 or 4 month kittens, and one 5 months old female kitten.

For Willoughby I had him neutered, tested, vaccianted, dewormed, flea treated. I would like to help get some of that back so I can keep on doing this sort of thing in the future until I can offically open my own rescue shelter someday. I probably spent about $100 on him. Is $70 asking too much as a fee since he comes fully vetted? I have had some people totally willing to pay for a cat who is healthy and vetted. But a lot of people turn away from that. I always put negotiable next to it, is that a good or bad idea?

For the others, I found a place that will speuter, deworm, vaccinate for $45. I though of charging $50 for their adoption fee because the place is an hour away from me. Is this too much? I understand that I am not an offical shelter and people may think it is crazy to charge that much for a cat. Am I being unreasonable? Is this a fair adoption fee since all their vetting is done? I have seen shelters charge anywhere from this amount to over $100 for adoptions. I don't want to be too high, but I don't want to run myself into bigger debt then I already have either. I see free kittens all the time and Iwill not go that route obviously. I have seen people charge $10 but their kittens are not even seen by a vet yet. If I ever rehome a kitten who isn't altered yet, it is $15 and I give the people 2 weeks to make an appointment and they will get $10 back when they prove the cat has been spayed or neutered.

What do you guys think? Am I being unreasonable?

Nope, not at all. To add up all the vet work that you're having done on these cats at a regular vet would be a heck of a lot more than $100, let alone $50. I think $50 is an extremely reasonable price to pay for a fully vetted, altered, etc, kitty. Good luck finding them all homes! where is this place that does all that stuff for $45 anyway?

I think $50 is very reasonable. Our standard adoption is $55, which includes spay/neuter, first shots and testing for FeLV & FIV. This is on the low side for the Cincinnati area. The county shelter has a $85 adoption fee for cats/kittens and one of the larger rescue groups we work with charges $90. Our goal is to ensure responsible homes for the cats and keep the adoption fees reasonable for people. We'd rather they save money on the adoption fee and have it to spare if/when the cat needs medical attention in the future. We're not in this to make money and it costs us way more than that to have the cats/kittens fully vetted.

Great, thanks for the reassurance!!

The place that does everything for $45 is called A Snip In Time. It is in Cleveland, just google search the number I cant remember what it is off the top of my head. They say cash or check only and to bring an extra $20 just in case there is something else that needs to be treated.

I think your fees are entirely within bounds. I have been searching for my area in Michigan on petfinder following the expanded search I see a lot of Ohio area.
I think your price of $50 is rather low actually.
What I see around here is... cheapest is about $85 and most have gone to $100 and more. I think when they are getting to $150, that is on the high side, but I've seen some that want $200.

All of this searching through adoptables got me wondering. When the local humane society goes and picks up pets from the pound on their last day, do they have to pay a regular fee or does the pound give them the animals? Anyone know how that works?

Jen-
My rescue charges $75 because that's what it costs us to s/n, vaccinate, worm and examine an otherwise healthy stray. My personal opinion is that anything between $50-100 is appropriate, depending on how much it costs to fix an vaccinate them (which, as I'm sure you know all too well, is an absolute NECESSITY before any kitty leaves your custody)

That is entirely reasonable for the amount of time and money you're putting in. I've seen places charging $150-$250 per cat adoption. That's a bit too steep for most people, in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Jen

Great, thanks for the reassurance!!

The place that does everything for $45 is called A Snip In Time. It is in Cleveland, just google search the number I cant remember what it is off the top of my head. They say cash or check only and to bring an extra $20 just in case there is something else that needs to be treated.

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Ah, I've heard of them, what a deal though

I've rehomed a few stray kittes and I always charged exactly what it cost me to vet and neuter them. My vet has been really great and gave me a discount but it still comes to around $75, that's for vaccines, worming and neuter. Not bad, but not something I want to pay and get no reimbursement for either.

Yes, some folks don't want to pay it, they'd rather have a ten dollar cat or a free one, but I've never had trouble finding those who didn't mind. Personally I feel better about placing a cat in a home with owners who didn't flinch at the adoption fee.

Originally Posted by CommonOddity042

That is entirely reasonable for the amount of time and money you're putting in. I've seen places charging $150-$250 per cat adoption. That's a bit too steep for most people, in my opinion.

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Our adoption fee is $150....but the cost to spay/neuter here is very high..so $150 is truly a bargain.

Katie

Originally Posted by TNR1

Our adoption fee is $150....but the cost to spay/neuter here is very high..so $150 is truly a bargain.

Katie

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Wow that is high!!

I agree that I would rather someone adopt who is willing to pay that much then the people looking for the free or $10 cats. I am flexable though right now. If someone can show excellent references then I can work things out with them. If they live close by and I can call them in a week and see how things are going that is always good too. I would hate for someone to really love one of my cats but then think man that is such a high fee when I can get that done for less at such and such vet. So I encourage people to speak up over that stuff rather then say oh well and move on. I guess if they really loved my cat they would pay any reasonable fee. So it goes both ways.

Originally Posted by TNR1

Our adoption fee is $150....but the cost to spay/neuter here is very high..so $150 is truly a bargain.

Katie

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I don't doubt that it is in some places, but this was in a place where the average spay/neuter price was $50.

Ya there is a place where I can get everything done for for $50. Occationally I can get into the really low cost mobile clinic that comes once a month and they charge $15 for neuter, $20 for spay and $10 for vaccinations. That doesnt happen too often that I can get in because they fill so fast sometimes a month or 2 in advance and I don't always know what cats I will have at that time who need done. I also take into consideration the fact of how long i have had the cat before it went to a new home, how much i fed, stuff like that.

Your fees sound quite reasonable. And remember, you are under no obligation to only charge the speuter fee. If you charge $50 even for the cats done by the neuter scooter, that will add a little money to your vet fund. Saving cats, you will run into some that have very costly vet fees.

Also, let them know at Petsmart and Petco that you are rescuing. They may give you torn bags of food and litter for free.

My friend's sister was shocked by my rescue's $100 adoption fee. She wanted an outside cat anyhow, so couldn't adopt from my agency, as we only adopt friendly cats to inside homes. Anyhow, she got a free kitten somewhere. Two years later, the cat had given birth to two litters, with many kitten deaths, and one kitten who was blinded in an accident. She spent hundreds of dollars on vet care, mostly emergencies. Finally her little herd of kitties were all spayed and neutered. And her kids had been heartbroken by watching kittens die.

Hopefully you are able to find lots of homes for your babies. Be sure to let people know that you accept donations above the adoption amount. Or they can donate money to the vet in your name, so it will be there for the vet fees. And that you accept donations of food and litter, too!

Originally Posted by tru

All of this searching through adoptables got me wondering. When the local humane society goes and picks up pets from the pound on their last day, do they have to pay a regular fee or does the pound give them the animals? Anyone know how that works?

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I can only speak for one local town. If Animal Control picks up an animal and drops it at the shelter, the city pays them a certain amount each day for their care until they are either adopted, or after a certain time limit. Ditto for high kill shelters that transfer animals to no kills. That is only done when there are specific contracts in effect between the agencies.

Around here it isn't unheard of a cat being adopted for $80 - $100 to cover their vet bills and care/feeding. Save the receipts and show them to potential adopters if they challenge what you are spending on them, and point out that you are finding the lowest rates around. Don't undersell yourself or you will go broke in a hurry.