KITTENFILTER
September 12, 2010 11:42 AM Subscribe
The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee raises very young kittens for a local animal shelter then finds them homes once they're on their paws. They take pictures of their adorable tenants and put them on their blog. WARNING: This is some kind of concentrated hyper-cuteness here.
This post was deleted for the following reason: adorable but seen it -- jessamyn
That website smells like cat pee.
Oh come on, grumpy. Fostering kittens for a shelter is great. You get baby kitties at peak cuteness, and as soon as they start to turn into little monsters (8 - 10 weeks), you get to trade them in for a new batch who are at peak cuteness. If you have adult, cats, though, they need to be fairly tolerant.
That said, I'll give you that you need to be extra vigilant regarding litterbox cleaning.
posted by dersins at 12:03 PM on September 12, 2010 [4 favorites]
Oh come on, grumpy. Fostering kittens for a shelter is great. You get baby kitties at peak cuteness, and as soon as they start to turn into little monsters (8 - 10 weeks), you get to trade them in for a new batch who are at peak cuteness. If you have adult, cats, though, they need to be fairly tolerant.
That said, I'll give you that you need to be extra vigilant regarding litterbox cleaning.
posted by dersins at 12:03 PM on September 12, 2010 [4 favorites]
daniel_charms is correct, the search didn't find it because they've changed URLs since then. (In fact, it's possible I found out about the IBKC from that post and forgot about it in the meantime.)
If the mods want to delete this go ahead.
posted by JHarris at 12:11 PM on September 12, 2010
If the mods want to delete this go ahead.
posted by JHarris at 12:11 PM on September 12, 2010
@dersins You have a good point there. Perpetual extra-cute kitten supply! Although it's a shame so many kittens need homes found for them.
Unfortunately I doubt my adult cat would accept a kitten right now.
posted by mathw at 12:15 PM on September 12, 2010
Unfortunately I doubt my adult cat would accept a kitten right now.
posted by mathw at 12:15 PM on September 12, 2010
note of caution to anyone wanting to adopt a cute kitten or full
size cat, as the animal shelters as a rule will charge for the animal over $50 bucks to take the little cutie home then over $90 to take him back for someone else to adopt him. its better to take a free kitten home from a friend or a penny saver ad on free kittens, when we adopted a kitten from a shelter all she did was pea on the carpet as she thought that was fun.
posted by tustinrick at 12:15 PM on September 12, 2010
size cat, as the animal shelters as a rule will charge for the animal over $50 bucks to take the little cutie home then over $90 to take him back for someone else to adopt him. its better to take a free kitten home from a friend or a penny saver ad on free kittens, when we adopted a kitten from a shelter all she did was pea on the carpet as she thought that was fun.
posted by tustinrick at 12:15 PM on September 12, 2010
its better to take a free kitten home from a friend or a penny saver ad on free kittens, when we adopted a kitten from a shelter all she did was pea on the carpet as she thought that was fun.
Note that some free kittens from friends or the pennysaver ad also pee on carpets. It's not where you get them, it's whether they were reared with their mother. Kittens reared without their mother tend not to figure out litter boxes right away.
posted by beagle at 12:34 PM on September 12, 2010
Note that some free kittens from friends or the pennysaver ad also pee on carpets. It's not where you get them, it's whether they were reared with their mother. Kittens reared without their mother tend not to figure out litter boxes right away.
posted by beagle at 12:34 PM on September 12, 2010
Aw cute.
Is finding homes for elderly kitties that smell of wee not more of a problem though?
posted by Artw at 12:41 PM on September 12, 2010
Is finding homes for elderly kitties that smell of wee not more of a problem though?
posted by Artw at 12:41 PM on September 12, 2010
as the animal shelters as a rule will charge for the animal over $50 bucks to take the little cutie home then over $90 to take him back for someone else to adopt him
Isn't this actually dependent on the shelter? I know that plenty of shelters are inundated with animals.
posted by JHarris at 12:41 PM on September 12, 2010
Isn't this actually dependent on the shelter? I know that plenty of shelters are inundated with animals.
posted by JHarris at 12:41 PM on September 12, 2010
I think reputable shelters charge an adoption fee no matter how inundated they are. Aside from always needing money, fees help weed out at least a few people who really shouldn't have pets.
posted by Mavri at 12:45 PM on September 12, 2010
posted by Mavri at 12:45 PM on September 12, 2010
Squeeeing over cuteness of baby kitties! Years ago we fostered cats for a local rescue group. Over time we had at least three queens who turned out to be pregnant (early, unrecognizable stages when we received them) and were witness to the amazingness of feline birth and maternal care and nurturing. Twice we had a mama cat who'd carried a tiny, unopened-eye baby to a remote part of the house (one instance was underneath our stove) and left it there. Its pitiful cries alerted us and we'd carry the tiny thing back to the "nest," but mama would only carry it off elsewhere. Consulting with vets and other foster parents educated us to the vagaries of fading kitten syndrome. We eventually got out of the fostering game strictly because I was so enchanted by kitten cuteness that I wanted to keep every one of them. It was just so amazing to see them grow from hairless little hamsters to tiny button-eyed furballs with a sense of adventure that drove their mama mad as she tried to retrieve them all from their various explorations and bring them back to the "nest" (which, in one case, despite the very nice box in a secluded second bedroom Mr. Adams placed for her, ended up being behind the toilet in our main bathroom).
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:54 PM on September 12, 2010
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:54 PM on September 12, 2010
I would make a terrible foster kitten helper monkey because I would never give them back, and would end up with hundreds of cats in my house.
posted by rtha at 12:54 PM on September 12, 2010
posted by rtha at 12:54 PM on September 12, 2010
as the animal shelters as a rule will charge for the animal over $50 bucks
Generally, though your paying an adoption fee through a shelter, you're getting a kitten that's up to date on vet exams, vaccinations, and has been spayed / neutered. If you were to get these things from your vet, they would cost 2 - 3 times what the shelter charges as an adoption fee. If you wouldn't get these things done to your "free pennysaver kitten", what they fuck are you doing with a pet at all?
posted by dersins at 12:55 PM on September 12, 2010 [13 favorites]
Generally, though your paying an adoption fee through a shelter, you're getting a kitten that's up to date on vet exams, vaccinations, and has been spayed / neutered. If you were to get these things from your vet, they would cost 2 - 3 times what the shelter charges as an adoption fee. If you wouldn't get these things done to your "free pennysaver kitten", what they fuck are you doing with a pet at all?
posted by dersins at 12:55 PM on September 12, 2010 [13 favorites]
We had to return a kitten to the shelter and they did not charge a re-stocking fee.
posted by supermedusa at 12:59 PM on September 12, 2010
posted by supermedusa at 12:59 PM on September 12, 2010
Yep, our shelter charged $55 each for the two we adopted the other day.
posted by blaneyphoto at 1:01 PM on September 12, 2010
posted by blaneyphoto at 1:01 PM on September 12, 2010
I do enjoy Jean Teasdale's writing so much.
posted by bicyclefish at 1:05 PM on September 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by bicyclefish at 1:05 PM on September 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
I raised a kitten from about 4 weeks old abandoned by the mom cat and when as he gradually stopped needing help to use the bathroom I put a litter box in his crate and would plop him in there from time to time. He transitioned to a litter box perfectly.
When I got both of my other cats from animal control I spent a lot of time there, up to a half hour playing with the kitten. I never made a decision until I saw them use the litter box. Please don't not adopt at a shelter because you think they won't use a litter box. The shelter is the end of the road for these kittens/cats, they are great pets and need rescuing. $50 is well worth it for a kitten/cat up to date on shots and spayed/neutered.
posted by flarbuse at 1:17 PM on September 12, 2010
When I got both of my other cats from animal control I spent a lot of time there, up to a half hour playing with the kitten. I never made a decision until I saw them use the litter box. Please don't not adopt at a shelter because you think they won't use a litter box. The shelter is the end of the road for these kittens/cats, they are great pets and need rescuing. $50 is well worth it for a kitten/cat up to date on shots and spayed/neutered.
posted by flarbuse at 1:17 PM on September 12, 2010
that blog triggers memories of kitty induced anaphylaxis.
they're cute as hell but in my case, they are hyper-allergenic
weapons of personal destruction.
posted by liza at 1:25 PM on September 12, 2010
they're cute as hell but in my case, they are hyper-allergenic
weapons of personal destruction.
posted by liza at 1:25 PM on September 12, 2010
Tustinrick, what the hell are you talking about?
You're paying for your cat to be vaccinated and spayed/neutered.
And just because 1 shelter cat peed on your floor, not all shelter cats will.
posted by k8t at 1:33 PM on September 12, 2010 [4 favorites]
You're paying for your cat to be vaccinated and spayed/neutered.
And just because 1 shelter cat peed on your floor, not all shelter cats will.
posted by k8t at 1:33 PM on September 12, 2010 [4 favorites]
Oh thanks. I'm now Type 2 kitty diabetic.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:39 PM on September 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by MuffinMan at 1:39 PM on September 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
Just for anyone in the Chicagoland/North Central IL area, a guy I have known for about 35 years runs something very similar by the seat of his pants and donated food etc.
Blatant plug follows in 5..4...3..2...1
Four on the Floor.
posted by timsteil at 1:41 PM on September 12, 2010
Blatant plug follows in 5..4...3..2...1
Four on the Floor.
posted by timsteil at 1:41 PM on September 12, 2010
In case anyone was wondering, this is the best post on that entire blog.
posted by bewilderbeast at 1:44 PM on September 12, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by bewilderbeast at 1:44 PM on September 12, 2010 [7 favorites]
My poor, poor husband is going to hate you, JHarris. I just spent the past twenty minutes making high-pitched noises and thrusting cute kitten pictures at him on my iPhone. If only he weren't allergic!
posted by ukdanae at 2:19 PM on September 12, 2010
posted by ukdanae at 2:19 PM on September 12, 2010
bewilderbeast: "In case anyone was wondering, this is the best post on that entire blog."
OMG, I need a basket of kittens IMMEDIATELY!
posted by grapesaresour at 2:35 PM on September 12, 2010
OMG, I need a basket of kittens IMMEDIATELY!
posted by grapesaresour at 2:35 PM on September 12, 2010
Oh, okay, that's it. I'm adopting a cat. Or two.
posted by .kobayashi. at 2:57 PM on September 12, 2010
posted by .kobayashi. at 2:57 PM on September 12, 2010
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