If you live in the Washington, DC, metro area, and are thinking of adopting a kitten or kittens, please read on.
Mrs. Venation and I care for a feral cat colony. This includes trapping the cats for spay/neuter and shots. Before Thanksgiving, we trapped two six-week-old kittens and decided to try to socialize them, then find a home for them.
While the kittens, Skittles & Francie, won't yet come to us or let us pick them up, they are no longer afraid of every move we make. They're fully part of the household now, walking about without fear, eating and playing with our other cats, napping where they wish, and playing like there's no tomorrow. If they land in my lap while we're playing together, they love to be petted -- and they purr like mad!
(They are litter-box trained, too!) I hope to find them a home together. They will need each other's comforting presence as they begin to adapt to a new household. Naturally, since they are semi-feral, they will probably hide at first. But it won't take them long to warm to their surroundings and their new people. It would be best for them
not to be adopted into a home with young children.
If they are adopted before it's time to have them spayed & get their shots started, there will be no fee. If that time comes before we find them a home, we'd ask to be reimbursed for those costs. (We will take them to a low-cost spay/neuter clinic.)
If you are interested, or have any questions about adopting semi-feral kittens (or about caring for a feral colony), please reply or PM me.
For more information on caring for feral colonies, see
http://www.alleycat.org