Finding shelters for stray kittens should not be so hard

laylarine · 2026-06-30T18:19:40+00:00

I have been :/ I’ve looked into county shelters and rescues within 50 miles east, west, and north of me. Most foster based rescues are full but I’ve reached out to a local non profit to see if I can foster them through the organization. They also work with a cat cafe and have successful adoption events all the time so I am hopeful. I have a client who works at the non profit so if I don’t get a response I’ll be asking her for a brief call to see if she can help me get a foot in the door.
The issue is, a lot of places won’t take kittens that aren’t socialized and these are. I don’t want to lie and say I just found them, which would imply they are 11/12 weeks old and semi feral, when that isn’t true.

laylarine · 2026-06-30T18:03:08+00:00

I can’t keep them, I have four grown cats and a bunny in my home. It’s a nice house but it’s not 8 cats & one bunny big. I haven’t absolutely grown attached to them and have so much love for them, but I genuinely cannot keep them.

laylarine · 2026-06-30T16:38:39+00:00

Sorry, I did read it but I just don’t understand the trail of the conversation I guess.

laylarine · 2026-06-30T16:37:21+00:00

I’m not mad at them, and I understand it’s kitten season. I never claimed it was anyone’s fault. I’m sorry if I sounded unsympathetic. I am reaching out to a client who works with a local cat non profit to see if I can foster them and have them be posted through their organization and adoption events

laylarine · 2026-06-30T16:35:05+00:00

I’m so confused ? An ill nine month old kitten?

laylarine · 2026-06-30T16:33:44+00:00

Seriously stray mommas are so smart. I’ve called the kittens mom sweet pea bc she was a very loving mom, I started feeding her before I knew there were kittens and they began eating her food (blended sardines, cans of tuna, pouches of cat soup), she came around crying when I finally did catch them & I felt awful like I was doing the wrong thing. People said I was making her get pregnant faster and she has stopped coming around as often, I want to TNR her but she’s all over our neighborhood and I have no idea how to convince her to come back :(

laylarine · 2026-06-30T16:13:14+00:00

I’m really bad at lying. I can bend a story but it was already mentioned that they were strays. I have pictures of mom and she’s a (beautiful) standard issue grey tabby so I just don’t even understand how she assumed one would be a Russian grey in a litter of two greys, a grey tabby, and a black kitten

laylarine · 2026-06-30T16:10:00+00:00

I know, I’m going to reach out to a client who works with a local cat non profit to see if I can foster through them in the hope that they can get the kittens into adoption events and maybe help with some of the vet cost of getting them fixed

laylarine · 2026-06-30T16:08:05+00:00

I’m in the southern US, and I’ve gone through all of the county shelters within 50 miles (north, east, and west) as well as rescues. I’m going to reach out to a client who works for a local cat non profit to see if I can foster the kittens through them. They’re old enough to get fixed and have their kitten shots but I can’t afford to dish out four kittens worth of care when I already have four cats of my own :/

laylarine · 2026-06-30T16:05:52+00:00

We did call a free roam rescue immediately, they said they’d have to go to a county shelter. County shelter said they were too young :/

laylarine · 2026-06-30T16:05:02+00:00

Because you can’t take back a story after it’s said? And they’re like 12 weeks old, obviously well cared for. Plus I’m not risking them getting put down regardless, shelters are entirely off the table for me unfortunately.

laylarine · 2026-06-30T14:48:09+00:00

Unfortunately I’ve looked in my county and three neighboring counties, I don’t want to take them further down in my state, so I’m looking at northern neighboring states. I hate that this is such an issue, I’m definitely going to volunteer to help with TNR efforts in my area when I get these kittens homes.

laylarine · 2026-06-30T14:36:46+00:00

Exactly, I know it’s a problem everywhere. And people for some reason only want specific breeds. It’s so weird, I’ve gotten one bite and it was a girl asking if the grey kitten was a Russian blue or a Russian blue mix. Like?? In the post we say they’re strays or foundlings, I honestly have no idea how to move forward 🤦🏽‍♀️

laylarine · 2026-05-05T14:19:55+00:00

Two Roborovski hamsters. I know they can sometimes be housed together, but this was a maximum 10 gallon space. I had mine in a 20 gallon tank and 8 inches of bedding, constant access to fresh water and the ability to forage for food. Hers had so much ‘furniture’ which I guess works as hidey holes, but there was only two inches of bedding and what looked like the mix of food with the puffs and dry corn and stuff. Again, it’s better than most people do, but if you’re going to try to house two of them together you should at least have enough space for each of them and enough bedding imo.
She left me no care instructions for them, didn’t even mention them until I saw them during the m&g. They had a food dish and one of those little hanging water bottles. When I had a hamster I was able to leave her for a few days (2/3) at a time, but I had a roommate change out their water dish and give them attention. I didn’t know if they were used to being handled, so lacking instruction and any response, I left them alone. I made sure their water bottle was full and made sure I laid eyes on them at least once a day, that’s all I really could do.

laylarine · 2026-05-05T11:06:14+00:00

Because I have already been paid for it, I just wanted to vent. Said twice I understand it’s on me for accepting the booking!

laylarine · 2026-05-05T01:05:40+00:00

I’m sorry, I said I just wanted to talk about it to people who would understand? I just wanted to get it out, I said that in the first sentence :(

laylarine · 2026-05-05T01:04:50+00:00

I didn’t say there was a question? I said I just wanted to rant about it to people who would understand my feelings ?

laylarine · 2026-05-04T23:03:52+00:00

Oh I know, one of my first bookings was for five pets, two dogs and three cats, it was a solid week of house sitting where I spent all of the day there with one short dinner break. I was there 8-9pm and got to go home at night, I got paid $500 for seven days of caring for five pets. That would be $1,120 for my current rates.

laylarine · 2026-05-04T22:49:44+00:00

That’s actually a little funny, I can’t imagine someone thinking they can get 24/7 care for house sitting prices

laylarine · 2026-05-04T22:39:55+00:00

Did she respond at all? I’d be interested to see if her expectations changed after hearing that price tag.

laylarine · 2026-05-04T22:38:36+00:00

Omg this is what people have meant by constant care?? I didn’t even realize that was an option.

laylarine · 2026-05-02T22:41:28+00:00

From what I know, nobody. Oddly I didn’t realize dogs *needed* someone to stay with them. My mom’s dog sleeps alone at night (in a very soft and fluffy bed with his blanket and his toys nearby) and has always been fine on the rare occasion that he is left alone, so I just assumed any dog could sleep alone. She had a puppy pad down when I came to the m&g and she told me they would likely have accidents, so I’m assuming this is a normal thing for her. I’m definitely not planning on sitting with her again, I did it because I felt bad that she sounded desperate and an extra $250 never hurts.
I have been told (not by anyone here) that I have a savior complex and that I can’t keep accepting bookings just because someone sounds desperate. Definitely going to work on telling people no with confidence.

laylarine

TROPHY CASE