Adoping a kitten

When any cat-lover-owner offers kittens or cats for adoption, what are some of the traits to be looked for in a potential adopter. Do you look for the same traits in men as in women?

............wayne

Ask them questions about indoor/outdoor, spay-neuter-declaw, and discipline techniques and make sure their answers make you comfortable. Make sure they have a regular vet (assuming this is not their first adoption) and don't be afraid to call that vet for a reference if you desire. Ask questions about any former pets who have died (can possibley pinpoint neglect and/or abuse). Ask why they want a pet ("my kid wants one", for instance, may raise a red flag). Make sure the main caregiver has come along, too (avoids "surprise" gifts to someone who may not have even expected or wanted a pet).

You may also want to get a reference from the landlord if the person rents, or from the association if they live in a condo, to make sure the kitty is not going to land at the pound when they get caught in a no-pets residence.

As far as specific personality traits, I have always found that the person who declares they can't decide amongst several choices is often a good candidate, as is someone who is clearly a warm, chatty person, even if that warmth is only directed towards the kitties.

Plusses are the candidate asking about current diet, types of toys he likes and bedding the kitty is using, or mentioning introduction techniques if there is already a pet in the home. Plusses are also the people who promise to bring the cat back to you and only you if the adoption does not work out for some reason, even if it's in the distant future.

Other red flags are unruly kids tagging along, or rough handling of the kitties by any person in the candidate's party. Don't be afraid to require anyone with young children who have not come along to visit again with the children so you can see how they will interact with the pet. A red flag is a person who wants several cats without mentioning preferred colors, sexes, or ages.

Some people and groups even bring the kitties to the adopter's home instead of having the adopter come to the kitties' hime so they can scope out the environment and get a better idea of how the kitty will adapt.

This would be regardless of whether the candidate was male, female, rich, poor, single, married, young, old, etc. There would be additional pointers if you had dogs/puppies up for adoption, but I am not an expert at that and you didn't ask about that!

These are some of the things that I can think of off the top of my head, but there are several other people, Aly for one, who have fostered and/or worked for shelters or rescue groups who can also offer their expertise.

Good luck with those little guys!

Wayne - I can tell you when my husband and I adopted Edwina from a shelter it was a THREE HOUR interview process! (Memorable as I had chicken and scrimp in the car trunk for a dinner party that night. Thankfully it was winter.)

We were asked everything except our income and we WERE asked how much we anticipated spending on her care each year.

I'm sure any shelter would be glad to share the interview forms they use.

Leah - such good input. I wasn't heeding all this stuff when I let a young girl with a baby adopt one of my kittens last April. She took the baby and when I inquired about it 3 days later - she said she'd have to take it somewhere because it peed on her carpet and her husband was gonna kill it if she didn't do something. The kitten was back in my home that evening. I asked her if she ever had a kitten before and she said yes when she was little. I learned a good lesson. This kitten has now been adopted by a lady I know here at work that knows alot about animals and loves them. Thank God for the happy ending :) It could have been disastrous!!!

Everybody gave such good advice and I just want to say that when I adopted Elvis and Danny, the lady asked LOTS of questions, which also made me feel comfortable that the cats had been well taken care of by her and her volunteers and that she really cared about their welfare.
A few things she asked me:

-whether or not I had screens on my windows and whether I intended to have them as indoor or outdoor cats. (particularly for Elvis, who had been previously adopted and was allowed to wander and got lost)

-whether or not this was my first time having a cat. She said that this was because she was willing to offer any advice and/or information I needed.

-she requested that we exchange phone numbers/e-mail addresses so that she could contact me for updates. I thought that this was a really good idea and have already e-mailed her pictures of them. She really seemed to appreciate this.

-*VERY IMPORTANT* and already brought up by Leah-asked questions about previous pets who had died. She told me that one guy tried to adopt a cat from her and said that his previous cat had died of "old age", but then he mentioned later in the conversation that the cat had been "two or three years old". SHADY!! Needless to say, she did not let him adopt the cat he was interested in.

A good idea is to try and have a long, relaxed conversation with the person who is seeking to adopt, and try to talk about different things, (eg:job, hobbies, lifestyle) so that you can get a feel for the person and make sure there are no contradictions in their stories. A person who is sincere will seem comfortable and is not likely to become offended by your questions or to become nervous or anxious to leave right away.
Be sure to tell them that they can feel free to contact you should they have any questions or concerns in the future. This is good because it opens lines of communication and hopefully, the person will respond by giving you updates in the future.

Good luck! :) :)

Great advice from everyone!! And don't let appearances fool you, sometimes the "strangest" or "weirdest" looking people are the most loving pet owners of all. ;) Conversely, well-dressed people may just be too darn busy to take care of a pet or too concerned about their own welfare to devote time to a pet.

Hey, thanks for the advice, all. Although this was posted for only academic purposes, I thought there would be some information that would be useful, should I put some of my furkids up for adoption.

There was one other bit of information that was not covered, that being the cat's response to a visitor. I have had some of cats stay around, especially, if I am visiting with them, but others flee in panic upon a visitor's arrival. Is this also a valid indicating response?

So many times I read of a cat seeking out a specific person amidst others who are gathered, say, in a parking lot, or near a school, or whatever. If this feline reaction is a valid response indicator, what if one finds such a pet in a pet store or an animal shelter, should we bring her/him home?

I would like to foster a few kitties, but don't know where to start on this. What are the significant points about beginning this service.?Wwould there be a problem because I have room and own many cats?

[ December 20, 2001: Message edited by: wayne0214 ]

the only cat that was brought in from the outside (an adopeted, unwanted pet) is Snow Tiger, approx 2 1/2 months of age. He even fought with all the other cats here, usually over food. I remember bringing him home that first evening, he ate so much food! Probably, the people who had him didn't feed him, or the rest of the litter, much and when he came here and saw all the goodies to eat, he probably went into a self-preservation mode! He also hissed and fussed at two of the females who took him in immediately and began to wash him. However, after a week of being here he settled down and now he gets along with all the other cats -no fussing or hissing. When
I brought him home, I didn't think about quarentining him because he looked and acted healthy then, and even more so now. Of all my kitties he is one of the most persistant and aggressive in play. I consider his age as having something to do with his ability to integrate with the crowd. But an older cat would probably have trouble adopting to this menagerie. From this bit of experience, I would probably have to stay with fostering kittens - cats under 9 months of age, and besides, most folks who would like to adopt a kitten more than likely have at least one other cat around their house. Most all of my furkids get along with each other.

.........wayne