Foster homes for vetted kittens needed

[ArkRescue]

We need help - we are overwhelmed with kittens. We are hoping to find a few foster homes willing to take in 1 or 2 kittens to help out until they can be adopted. All of them have been vetted already, and most have microchips also.

They are spayed/neutered, up-to-date on shots (Rabies & Distemper), have been dewormed, treated with Frontline, are all NEG for FIV/FELV, and most are micro-chipped.

All of the kittens are litter box users (no potty issues) and have been trained to scratch on a variety of scratchers (cardboard/carpet/sisal, horizontal and vertical).

If you can help out, please PM me.

 

[ArkRescue]

BUMP - we desperately need foster homes for the already vetted kitties. If someone (or several someones) could take 2 kitties, we would be so grateful! We never thought we'd end up with so many kitties in our care for so long. There are 9 kittens (ranging from 4 to 8 months old), that we could use some help with.

These kittens get very little human contact due to there being so many critters needing care daily. We just don't have time to spend with them aside from about 3-5 minutes each day. We feel terrible that the kittens are alone so much.

Even if you can only take 1 kitten to foster, we really need the help. Please consider fostering for a while. Share the upcoming holidays with a foster kitty .

 

[ArkRescue]

We still desperately need foster homes. Usually I can handle the adoptables until they get placed, but I am over-whelmed. So much so, that I may reach out to some of the local rescues that may not be as overwhelmed as we are.

I feel really bad for the kitties. They are all cool kitties that would be good for a variety of home situations. The most active ones, to the lap kitty candidates <g>, they all make me smile.

 

[ICit]

We still desperately need foster homes. Usually I can handle the adoptables until they get placed, but I am over-whelmed. So much so, that I may reach out to some of the local rescues that may not be as overwhelmed as we are.

I feel really bad for the kitties. They are all cool kitties that would be good for a variety of home situations. The most active ones, to the lap kitty candidates <g>, they all make me smile.

OMG... think about it... you are overwhelmed. What makes you think they are not??

I know all of them are at their max..... and some even have to ship to tri county.

sorry... hate to give you the bad news

 

[ArkRescue]

OMG... think about it... you are overwhelmed. What makes you think they are not??

I know all of them are at their max..... and some even have to ship to tri county.

sorry... hate to give you the bad news

Figures - it is a hard time of year for critters apparently. Seems all this goodwill toward men doesn't cross-over to help the critters in need of homes. I'm hoping that I will at least get some contacts from people who are interested, but don't want to start the adoption process until after the holidays. At least I would feel like their life in limbo would have a good outcome in terms of a home soon, you know?

I don't have the heart to take all our hard work and give up on the critters we have in our care (drop at a shelter). I just couldn't live with myself. We will have to deal with it.

One of my resident "special cases" is telling me she is unhappy by doing her "pee" messages on the kitty beds. I've had to cage her to stop the problem. Not a good way for a very sweet and affectionate kitty to spend her holiday. I guess that's her way of telling me that she too is overwhelmed? She has such a sad face now - she usually runs to me for love, now she slinks in the corner and hides. Not all critters can handle changes.

Speaking of changes, I'm going to start a thread about special issues with critters so we can discuss it. I know there are people out there who deal with special issues with their pets like we do.

 

[ArkRescue]

I don't have the heart to take all our hard work and give up on the critters we have in our care (drop at a shelter). I just couldn't live with myself. We will have to deal with it.

Of course any new intakes? Can't happen. If people care enough and have the ability to keep their pet pending placement, I am all for helping them find a new home for their pet. If they have to let the pet go right away, they will have to go to the shelter. Some people would rather let their domestic kitty go outside than take it to the shelter though. Really? That is crazy. That's how some of the domestic rescues show up thin and in bad condition from living outside in a foreign (to them) environment.

Personally, I always thought that Foxy was someone's lost pet. Why you say? Because he's always hanging around the door to see where I went when I go outside. When I come back in, there's Foxy by the door. He may have accidentally found himself outside and got lost? We advertised, put in "found" reports about Foxy, and really tried hard to find his family. Now he is part of my family.

 

[rabbithead]

At one point, you had posted that you had folks willing to provide good homes to cats if you were willing to give them away instead of charging for the vetting. I suggested you do that- at least they would have homes. You refused, and now you are willing to give them to another rescue?

There are grants available for free spay/neuter if you are a 501c3.

 

[Bonehead]

How long

Does a typical foster situation last ? What type of commitment is this ?

 

[ArkRescue]

At one point, you had posted that you had folks willing to provide good homes to cats if you were willing to give them away instead of charging for the vetting. I suggested you do that- at least they would have homes. You refused, and now you are willing to give them to another rescue?

There are grants available for free spay/neuter if you are a 501c3.

A GOOD home doesn't look for free cats that have already been vetted and paid for by someone else. My purpose was to save the kittens from a trip to the local shelter, where they may have died. Even if I were wealthy, I wouldn't be giving away already vetted critters. If someone doesn't have $128 to pay for the discounted vet services for said kitten, then they should not be adding a pet to their family. We really need the money back for the vet fees we paid. The majority of the fees were charged on a credit card, and interest mounts every month making the balance even higher. Mainly we thought since they were kittens, that they would be adopted quickly, and well, as you know, that didn't happen.

We are not non-profit yet, but we should be pending soon. It's a LOT of information to learn about, and is very involved. I keep getting my time used by so many other things, that I can't seem to get the final stuff completed to get it filed. Taking care of what seems like a huge boatload (Ark lol) of critters is in part why it has not been filed yet. I work FT also and that interferes with my available time. I jokingly told my co-worker that working FT is getting in the way of my personal life .

Hopefully things will get better for the critters in January.

 

[Roman]

A GOOD home doesn't look for free cats that have already been vetted and paid for by someone else. My purpose was to save the kittens from a trip to the local shelter, where they may have died. Even if I were wealthy, I wouldn't be giving away already vetted critters. If someone doesn't have $128 to pay for the discounted vet services for said kitten, then they should not be adding a pet to their family. We really need the money back for the vet fees we paid. The majority of the fees were charged on a credit card, and interest mounts every month making the balance even higher. Mainly we thought since they were kittens, that they would be adopted quickly, and well, as you know, that didn't happen.

We are not non-profit yet, but we should be pending soon. It's a LOT of information to learn about, and is very involved. I keep getting my time used by so many other things, that I can't seem to get the final stuff completed to get it filed. Taking care of what seems like a huge boatload (Ark lol) of critters is in part why it has not been filed yet. I work FT also and that interferes with my available time. I jokingly told my co-worker that working FT is getting in the way of my personal life .

Hopefully things will get better for the critters in January.

Read Bone Head's post above. Might turn out with a good deal for both of you.

 

[frequentflier]

A GOOD home doesn't look for free cats that have already been vetted and paid for by someone else. My purpose was to save the kittens from a trip to the local shelter, where they may have died. Even if I were wealthy, I wouldn't be giving away already vetted critters. If someone doesn't have $128 to pay for the discounted vet services for said kitten, then they should not be adding a pet to their family. We really need the money back for the vet fees we paid. The majority of the fees were charged on a credit card, and interest mounts every month making the balance even higher. Mainly we thought since they were kittens, that they would be adopted quickly, and well, as you know, that didn't happen.

We are not non-profit yet, but we should be pending soon. It's a LOT of information to learn about, and is very involved. I keep getting my time used by so many other things, that I can't seem to get the final stuff completed to get it filed. Taking care of what seems like a huge boatload (Ark lol) of critters is in part why it has not been filed yet. I work FT also and that interferes with my available time. I jokingly told my co-worker that working FT is getting in the way of my personal life .

Hopefully things will get better for the critters in January.

Arkie, I respect what you do and I know that becoming a 501C3 is a painful process. BUT...becoming one legally opens new doors for you including making you eligible for grant money and for fundraising purposes.
I hope you can make it happen soon. You do have a big heart and it sounds as though you could use the help.

 

[rabbithead]

]A GOOD home doesn't look for free cats that have already been vetted and paid for by someone else. My purpose was to save the kittens from a trip to the local shelter, where they may have died. Even if I were wealthy, I wouldn't be giving away already vetted critters. If someone doesn't have $128 to pay for the discounted vet services for said kitten, then they should not be adding a pet to their family. We really need the money back for the vet fees we paid. The majority of the fees were charged on a credit card, and interest mounts every month making the balance even higher. Mainly we thought since they were kittens, that they would be adopted quickly, and well, as you know, that didn't happen.

We are not non-profit yet, but we should be pending soon. It's a LOT of information to learn about, and is very involved. I keep getting my time used by so many other things, that I can't seem to get the final stuff completed to get it filed. Taking care of what seems like a huge boatload (Ark lol) of critters is in part why it has not been filed yet. I work FT also and that interferes with my available time. I jokingly told my co-worker that working FT is getting in the way of my personal life .

Hopefully things will get better for the critters in January.

I appreciate all you do for the homeless animals. However, in your "spare time" you may want to read some of Nathan Winograd's ideas (No Kill Advocacy Center) on finding good homes for animals. I think you will find some of your ideas have been proven wrong.

Filing for a 501c3 is time consuming but not that difficult. If I can do it, anyone can! I think it will help your rescue tremendously.

 

[ArkRescue]

Does a typical foster situation last ? What type of commitment is this ?

I apologize as I meant to reply to you and am just checking emails again.

Basically we get info. about what critters you may have and your basic family/lifestyle, and then we use that info. to match you up with a critter that should fit in with your situation. In the case of kitties: Some cats are terrified of dogs, others may be a scratch risk vs. a flight type and could scratch a small child, some know to move out of your way, and some you'd likely trip over, so the slow mover wouldn't do well in some situations. PLUS we also try to match up the personality of the kitty with the family, couch potato, active and plays, cuddly and lap cats, and the list goes on. So you'd want to think about what kind of personality would you enjoy the most so the kitty doesn't become a burden to you. Like if you prefer a laid back couch potato ..... we have that! Want a kitty that will chase a laser pointer? Most of them will do that <G>.

Usually the critter ends up being adopted within several months due to the foster home talking to others about the foster kitty, which gets the word spread to those who may not see the forum and the other advertising we do, and a match is made. If you come to a point where you no longer wish to foster, we would arrange to get the critter from you. If kitty #1 doesn't fit in, we can swap it for kitty #2. So its a very flexible process.

 

[ArkRescue]

Arkie, I respect what you do and I know that becoming a 501C3 is a painful process. BUT...becoming one legally opens new doors for you including making you eligible for grant money and for fundraising purposes.
I hope you can make it happen soon. You do have a big heart and it sounds as though you could use the help.

So far we have Incorporated the rescue, we have registered with the State of MD. We have put a board of directors in place, and we are ready to meet again to finalize the By-Laws (which need to be specific on many items and include a good bit of information).

I am literally a few days work away from completing the IRS filing paperwork <G>. The amount of time and effort being put forth to care for so many critters has hurt our efforts the past 6 months. I promise you, we are so close to the final submission to the IRS. I fear what they will say when they see our crappy website. Sadly we have not been able to find anyone to setup 3 pages for us for free. One gal on the BOD has been so busy that she hasn't had time to try to get a few pages done for us yet. I can only hope she is able to get it done in the next couple of weeks before the application is mailed.