Let me deal with inevitable bodypoet-bashing right up front:
Mother cat was pregnant when someone dumped her here. I tried to find homes for the kitties. I take good care of them. I won’t–repeat, will NOT–take them to the animal shelter to be euthanized, no matter what. If need be, I’ll build a cattery/catmansion in the new house, consider it a no-kill shelter, and they’ll live out lives of privilege and luxury.
But…it would be nicer if I could find good homes for them. We’re moving and eight cats is a lot. If you’re in the market for a new kitty, I will drive them to you if need be, with vet records and a big ol’ bag of cat food.
Details: Four near-adult “kittens”, all in shades of grey and dark grey. Three are striped, one has a target on his sides. His name is Gogo. The others are all named Buckley. Two males and two females, although I always have to check to see who’s who.
They’re all very sweet and calm cats, get along great with dogs, other cats, and kids. They’re quite used to being carried around by our little ones, and seem to not mind in the least as long as they get the occasional ear-rub. They’ve been indoor/outdoor and as most cats seem to be, are always on the wrong side of every door. They are, as a group at least, very good mousers.
If I can figure out how to post pictures, I’ll do so…I’ve got the digital and stuff, just haven’t posted anything online. I can send them via email, though, I think!
Anyone need a new kitty to love? [Crosses fingers…]
Just a quick comment on the whole kill/no-kill shelter thing. Resources (homes) are limited. Some shelters take animals that have no other option on where they can go. In taking an animal, a space must be created either by an animal being adopted or euthanised.
Other shelters do not euthanise for space considerations. BUT they usually have a long waiting list for taking animals. If you want to place an animal into a “no-kill” shelter a 3 to 6 month wait is not uncommon.
In a city the size of Pittsburgh, animal control brings in anywhere from 5 to 15 animals (average in 1996) each day in the summer. In addition to these, people bring in animals they no longer wish to keep (for whatever reasons). These animals need to go somewhere…typically to a shelter that contracts with the city with a promise to take whatever is brought in.
It really isn’t as simple as kill/no-kill. The terms “open admission/waiting list” is just as accurate a description and a little less reactionary.
Also, my advice to anyone who has a pregnant cat is to have the animal’s uterus removed. Even if you find homes for these cats, keep in mind that they are homes that might have taken cats from a shelter.
They aren’t neutered/spayed yet. I’m gonna call the Neuter Scooter and beg for a discount, though.
I only know of one no-kill shelter here, and I don’t trust the woman who runs it, frankly. I once got a supposedly healthy cat from her who ended up costing me a fortune in vet bills and finally had to be euthanized, and I will always believe (per my vet’s belief) that poor Kitty was sick for a long time before she came to me. It was heartbreaking.
Our shelter here is actually very good. They haven’t euthanized a healthy dog in ages–they ship them all to Wisconsin where there is apparently a shortage of adoptable dogs. Their cat-saving record isn’t quite as good, but it’s still pretty high.
I’m not taking them to shelter, though. They’re my responsibility, and I’m willing to take care of them. I’d just prefer to find them homes if I can.
Thanks to elfbabe for reminding me. I just made online appts for the girls to be spayed. It will cost $80 for both of them…I can just swing it, I think. The boys will have to wait until next paycheck, though!
I do know the whole story of kill vs. no-kill shelters. I work at a no-kill shelter myself. None of us who work there are naïve enough to believe that our philosophy and method is somehow better than the kill shelter a few miles away.
I mentioned no-kill shelters because bodypoet said she wouldn’t take the kittens to a shelter where they would be euthanized. I wanted to point out that not all shelters euthanize. So yes, while her kittens might go to a NK shelter and NOT be euthanized, the fact that they are there will cause some other cats somewhere else to be euthanized. But she wasn’t asking about other cats.
And DEFINITELY get them neutered before adopting them to anyone. Don’t trust strangers to do it. Don’t trust people who say they “promise” to do it. Get it done before you adopt them. They are plenty old enough.
Bodypoet, I’m in Northeastern Ohio - I just moved here so I have no idea how far that is from you. However, if I can convince mr. avabeth, we would LOVE to take one of the girls. We have a male and a female, with the male being a definite alpha and I don’t want to have another male around him. But we’ve been discussing another kitten - and I’d rather give a baby a good home than anything else.
It’d be a couple of weeks, because we’re going out of town this weekend. And I can’t promise anything - mr. avabeth has been seriously on the fence about another one but I think I can convince him. If you can email me a pic of one of the girls, that might help sway the vote, too:D.
My email’s in the profile. Like I said, I can’t promise anything, but I do hope we can take one of those babies from you:).
When you said you’d drive a kitty to their new home, I assume you didn’t mean clear out to Seattle so I guess I’m out of the running.
Here’s the Petfinder Classifieds where you can post a free ad online. Hopefully, this link with take you right to your state but if it doesn’t, you see that it’s easy to get there. You can also find all of the shelters in your area. There may be some no-kills that you don’t know about.
That said, if I could talk Mr. Ujest into some pussy I will never tire of that joke and if we weren’t taking two big vacations this year, I would *ahem**take some of yours.
I have a friend who may want one (or two) of them. Are there pictures anywhere? That would seal the deal. We’re one state over and could meet you halfway or something.
Avabeth, if I can’t drive a kitty to you, I’ll figure out a way to deliver one safely. Northwestern Ohio…hmm. Maybe I could make an overnight of it and stay somewhere inbetween. These kitties are almost a year old, remember, so they aren’t tiny–just don’t wanna mislead anyone on their size.
Lovelee, your friend would be a very good friend indeed.
I saw one of those feel-good episodes on Animal Planet, and I remember one involved a woman who had an animal to give away (can’t remember what animal or what circumstance, but that is not my point), and a woman on the other side of the US wanted the animal. Well, this first woman had contacts across the country, and they made sort of a “chain” in delivering it. She delivered it to a person, then that person delivered the animal further, and then another person delivered it further, and so on. Can’t remember how many people were involved, but if we do have some dedicated animal lovers here on the Dope, may we not work out some sort of chain as well.
Just an idea.
I live in Tulsa, OK, and would help as much as I can, if possible.
LorieSmurf, I bet you’re right. When my son went to a band camp in Wisconsin, his grandmother was worried lest he somehow get STUCK there (sorta like if you’re on Mars and the rocket boosters go out, I guess). I tried to reassure her that if necessary, I’d post to the Dope and I was positive that enough folks would offer him rides that he could just skip right across the country all the way home, if necessary.
Of course, then she worried about him riding with all those Internet People.
Certainly is worth considering, and thanks for your offer to help. Perhaps I can offer you a nice kitty as a way of expressing my appreciation?
I would like to point out that even though these kittens are nearly a year old, that’s still “kitten” in the kitten world. They’ll be kittens for a long time yet. Please don’t anyone lose interest because you think they won’t be kitten-ish enough. They’ll be keeping you awake, running around at night, knocking things off your dresser, roly-poly-ing along the floor, etc., for many months to come.
Thank you, missbunny. You’re right, they’re still obviously kitten-like in their behavior.
I think they’re the perfect age because they’re still quite playful and funny, but they don’t do the clawing-up-your-leg thing that really young ones always seem to do.
I don’t mind meeting you halfway - I can probably make a stop to see a friend in Toledo, and I like driving. And I don’t mind if it’s older, in fact, that’s better for us - my boy gets insanely jealous when he sees me with a ‘baby’, but he doesn’t seem to mind as much when it’s an older kitten.
Right now, mr. avabeth is being difficult - he doesn’t want three cats in a 2 bedroom apartment. So it doesn’t look good:(. But I’ll keep trying - he did perk up when I told him the ‘kitten’ was older, so I think there’s still a chance. Unfortunately, the ‘I either want a kitten or a baby’ trick didn’t work this time, so that’s not an option - grrr.
Give me a couple of days to work on him. We have plenty of room, I think he’s just concerned about another litterbox. And a picture always seems to help, so I’ll be on the lookout:).
