Seven weeks ago, we discovered that one of the local feral cats (Minnie) had a litter of five kittens in our cat shelter. My husband wanted to pen them all up so we could get Minnie spayed after the kittens were weaned. I guess Minnie caught on to our plans and moved the kittens the day before we put our plan into action. One and a half weeks ago (on Friday the 13th), my husband found out where Minnie had taken the kittens. We figured they were weaned or at least on their way to being weaned, so we caught them and brought them inside to the "cat room" (our guest bedroom) where we've been socializing them ever since. And we are currently trying to trap Minnie so she won't have to have any more litters.
When we first found the kittens, we found homes for three of them. Those three will go to their forever homes in a few weeks. It's easy for me to give those three up because I knew from the beginning where they would be going (if we ever caught them). That leaves two kittens. After a week of asking friends and friends of friends, we haven't had any luck finding inside homes for the other two kittens (lots of offers from friends who want them as barn cats), so I resigned myself to the fact that we would end up with two more indoor cats. Basically, my husband has become attached to these last two kittens and can't stand the idea of them becoming outside cats where something bad could happen to them. I admit, I kinda feel the same way.
Sunday at Petco, I ended up talking to a lady with a dog and the subject of the kittens came up. She emailed me and said that one of her coworkers is interested in one of the kittens. Great news, right? It turns out that I have serious mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the kitten they are interested in is a sweet, loving, cuddly kitten who will make a great pet and bring a family a lot of happiness. One the other hand, I feel so sad that this little girl will leave our home. I'm going to miss her!
As for the last kitten, he has some behavioral issues and I'm not comfortable with him going to a family with children or someone who isn't used to "difficult" cats.
This is the first litter we have caught and socialized and I didn't realize it would be this hard to let the little ones go. Anyone else have this problem? Any advice on how to let go? Did we make a mistake by giving them names?
Also, should I ask the people intested in this one kitten to sign an adoption agreement stating they will get her spayed/vaccinated and will return her to us if they can no longer take care of her? (We know the other two people personally and know they will be great pet parents.) Or should we insist on getting the kitten spayed/vaccinated ourselves and asking them to cover the cost?
When we first found the kittens, we found homes for three of them. Those three will go to their forever homes in a few weeks. It's easy for me to give those three up because I knew from the beginning where they would be going (if we ever caught them). That leaves two kittens. After a week of asking friends and friends of friends, we haven't had any luck finding inside homes for the other two kittens (lots of offers from friends who want them as barn cats), so I resigned myself to the fact that we would end up with two more indoor cats. Basically, my husband has become attached to these last two kittens and can't stand the idea of them becoming outside cats where something bad could happen to them. I admit, I kinda feel the same way.
Sunday at Petco, I ended up talking to a lady with a dog and the subject of the kittens came up. She emailed me and said that one of her coworkers is interested in one of the kittens. Great news, right? It turns out that I have serious mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the kitten they are interested in is a sweet, loving, cuddly kitten who will make a great pet and bring a family a lot of happiness. One the other hand, I feel so sad that this little girl will leave our home. I'm going to miss her!
This is the first litter we have caught and socialized and I didn't realize it would be this hard to let the little ones go. Anyone else have this problem? Any advice on how to let go? Did we make a mistake by giving them names?
Also, should I ask the people intested in this one kitten to sign an adoption agreement stating they will get her spayed/vaccinated and will return her to us if they can no longer take care of her? (We know the other two people personally and know they will be great pet parents.) Or should we insist on getting the kitten spayed/vaccinated ourselves and asking them to cover the cost?