[shan841]

I am fostering 4 kittens, and they are going to be ready for adoption in 2 weeks. Once they are ready to be adopted, I have the choice either to keep them in my care and find homes for them, or I can return them to the shelter in order to be adopted.

I plan on finding homes for them myself, so that I can screen the potential adopters. I put up a craigslist ad last week, and have had probably about 10 replies, only 1 of them I am considering so far. I just talked to this person on the phone and she wants 2 of the kittens. She is married and has 2 teenagers, has had previous experience with cats, and seems pretty normal, responsible, etc. I was really excited since most of the replies have been weirdos or people that didnt really read my ad or I just get a wierd vibe from right away.

The problem is......she wants to have them declawed. I told her my concerns and why I am against declawing and she says she has always had declawed cats and never had an issue, she works in medicine and knows what is involved in the procedure blah blah blah. She said its up to me, she is pretty much set on getting them declawed so I can call her back or she will look elsewhere.

I can't bear the thought of my babies toes getting chopped off....but am I being too picky? I know I'm probably not going to find the perfect owners for these kittens but I will just feel horrible handing the kittens over knowing that they will be declawed. I mean they would probably still have a much better life than most cats, but I just don't know if I can deal.

Has anyone been through this before? It's my first time fostering and Im scared that I am just being too picky and I know that the older they get the harder its going to be to find homes.

 

[KittehLuv'n]

What is the shelter's position on declawing? If you had returned the kittens for the shelter for them to adopt out would they have adopted to this person?

I foster for a rescue group and it is up to each foster parent to determine who gets their cats. Some fosters are pickier than others.

Personally, I would look to find someone who does not want to declaw. I have turned down several applications for this reason (I first try to educate and change their minds).

Ultimately it is your decision, you can be as picky as you please!

 

[shan841]

What is the shelter's position on declawing? If you had returned the kittens for the shelter for them to adopt out would they have adopted to this person?

I foster for a rescue group and it is up to each foster parent to determine who gets their cats. Some fosters are pickier than others.

Personally, I would look to find someone who does not want to declaw. I have turned down several applications for this reason (I first try to educate and change their minds).

Ultimately it is your decision, you can be as picky as you please!

It is the city shelter and they have a very high volume of cats so they will pretty much adopt to anyone. That is why I don't want to return them to the shelter for adoption- I have seen a lot of people who come into the shelter looking to adopt while I have been sitting in the waiting room for the kitten's vet appointments and lets just say the majority are "questionable" adopters. The shelter also has a high rate of return.

I pretty much made up my mind that I am not going to adopt to this woman, I just needed to type it out. She also told me that she wanted females b/c she had males in the past that sprayed and she didnt say it but I think she got rid of them for that reason. That was another red flag for me. It is not going to be easy for me to let these guys go!

 

[KittehLuv'n]

I totally hear you on the city shelters. I've seen a lot at our city shelters.
Have faith that the right homes will come along.
Do you have any local "rescue groups" that you could work with in this regard? Maybe they could help, or let you bring your kitties to one of their adoption events or something?

 

[MowMow]

Shelters have adoption contracts, why can't you?

I don't think it's too much to ask for the basics that a shelter asks for. I had to promise not to declaw my cats (two different shelters) AND that they would be indoor only.

I realize people can always just do it anyway but when you're home hunting, I don't think it's too much to ask of people.

 

[jadis]

I would have such a hard time letting fosters go. I would definitely put in a contract that they not declaw, that they get the cats spay/neutered, that they be indoor only, and that they contact me first if they can't keep the cat for any reason. I would probably ask about past pets and how they would handle life changes also, like what they would do if they moved, had a baby, etc.

 

[Arianwen]

I've just re-homed four kittens.

Personally, after some of the horror things I ahve heard, I woldn't use something as imperonal as Craigslist (and I aing admitted that they lso wouldn't wild about de-clawing except I guess someone could have it done after they have the kittens without having had the honesty to tell you).

I managed to get them homes very close to me so I can keep an eye on them. If I hadn't done that then my vet were going to help - by circulating the info about them and checking the credentials of any would be adopters.

I also made the adopter ign to say that the kittens had to be returned to me and not passed on to anyone else if there were any problems.

 

[LadyK]

Do you have any local "rescue groups" that you could work with in this regard? Maybe they could help, or let you bring your kitties to one of their adoption events or something?

I was thinking this, too. There may be a local rescue that you could work through for the adoption process, where they consider you to be the foster parent, but the application, policies, and adoption fees go through the rescue. I see you're in the Baltimore area... I'm in Frederick and our local animal welfare league has a program like this. They give you a discounted spay/neuter price and you agree to some terms, but you as the foster get to approve or deny the applications. They put the cat's profile and picture up on their Petfinder page for more publicity, and they invite you and the cat to local adoption events at PetSmart. So it seems a little more formal than random Craigslist ads, but you are still in control of who adopts.

 

[shan841]

I was thinking this, too. There may be a local rescue that you could work through for the adoption process, where they consider you to be the foster parent, but the application, policies, and adoption fees go through the rescue. I see you're in the Baltimore area... I'm in Frederick and our local animal welfare league has a program like this. They give you a discounted spay/neuter price and you agree to some terms, but you as the foster get to approve or deny the applications. They put the cat's profile and picture up on their Petfinder page for more publicity, and they invite you and the cat to local adoption events at PetSmart. So it seems a little more formal than random Craigslist ads, but you are still in control of who adopts.

The shelter I am fostering for is BARCS, and they have a very good foster program. THey actually have events like rescues do, they just don't have any events lined up in the next 2 weeks. I will definately get them to an event sometime in august if I still have them. They also have their own petfinder page(thanks for reminding me) I have to submit my pics so they can post them. I am just trying to take advantage of every outlet so I can find the best possible home for them.

 

[Ritzpg]

I would not consider adopting any cats to anyone who said they were going to declaw the cat; that's a deal breaker for me. Other issues aren't as much of a deal breaker for me, though depending on the personality of the cat, I would not adopt out to a person who was not home often, who had indoor/outdoor cats, etc.

 

[shan841]

Well I finally got 2 hits on my craigslist ad that seem like really good potential adopters. Both adopters have 1 current cat and want another. Both are against declawing and keep their kitties inside.

The kittens are getting fixed tomorrow, and the adopters are coming over on sunday to meet them. Keeping my fingers crossed !!!

 

[Arianwen]

Please check them caefully - maybe ask for tail of their curent vet? Craiglist worries me after things I've read (I think on here).

 

[shan841]

Please check them caefully - maybe ask for tail of their curent vet? Craiglist worries me after things I've read (I think on here).

I plan on it. I already had extensive conversations with them both and will be visiting their homes and meeting their current kitties. Believe me, I sifted through at least 30 replies on craigslist that I would not have considered. Normal people use craigslist too