Advice on rehoming kittens?

[BarnyardChaos]

Karma obviously also has Siamese in her pedigree, having those colorpoint kittens.

I had no idea, until the vet told me last week that she's part Siamese. She has a kink in her tail that the vet said is a genetic trait of some Siamese cats. I'd always thought someone broke her tail before we got her. He said, nope, not broken. Just Siamese! One of the kittens has a slight kink, too.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

She has a kink in her tail that the vet said is a genetic trait of some Siamese cats. I'd always thought someone broke her tail before we got her. He said, nope, not broken. Just Siamese! One of the kittens has a slight kink, too

My last cat had that kink too. Looking at him, you would have never thought he had shames in him.

Have you ever heard the story behind the kink?

 

[Folly's place]

And Sammy will be a better hunter if he's not worried about 'girly stuff'. Also he'll be safer, as already mentioned. And his pee won't be so fragrant.
Mary

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Have you ever heard the story behind the kink?

No, I have not. Will you enlighten me, please?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

No, I have not. Will you enlighten me, please?

I have no clue if it's an 'accurate' story, but here's what I remember:

There was a pair owned by a royal man, and they were tasked with Guarding his treasure. But they needed to sleep to do their job, so they wrapped their tails around the treasure so tightly that while they slept, they were stuck that way. When they woke up, they let go of the treasure, but their tails never straightened out!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Another legendary answer is that the Empress used to keep her rings on the cat's tail while she bathed, and the cat would kink his tail over to keep them from falling off. So if your cat has a kinked tail, you know it is descended from royalty!

 

[MasAhora]

Karma and her kittens are beautiful! It's admirable that you are taking such good care of the babies and getting Karma spayed.

I like the vet office idea. But, if that's not practical, Craigslist doesn't have to be awful. You can meet the respondents in person and question them at length. The animal rescues I have worked with do home visits and background checks. Not really practical for you, I'm sure. But meeting the potential adoptees can help you determine if your kittens will be going to good homes.

My chief suggestion is that you do whatever you're going to do while the babies are still sweet, young things. When I took in a pregnant stray, everybody I talked to wanted kittens until she actually produced four. They all ended up living with me -- forever.

I'm sure you've mentioned this to your husband. but neutering Sammy is likely to keep him safer from wandering and getting into skirmishes with other male cats in addition to reducing the number of kittens needing homes.

Neutering a male cat is essential to prevent more unwanted kittens in the neighborhood.
I trapped and neutered a male cat who had been in fights. I ended up bringing him inside to live with me permanently. His wounds were not easily seen at first but one scratch was very deep and got seriously infected. Because he kept scratching the wound it got bigger and took a very long time to heal. He'd be dead from infection if I had not brought him in.

He has adjusted to indoor life beautifully and I love him, but his scars are permanent and run from above his ear to under his chin. I doubt that he could tolerate another serious fight scratch on that damaged skin.

I've often talked to men who cannot separate being forced to personally have a vasectomy with neutering their male dog or cat. It's a guy thing but they can be won over! One trick is to never call it castration, that (understandably) seems to creep many men out.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I've placed ads on rescueme.org (thank you, @texsuze ) and craigslist. Already have two inquiries as of this morning. Ads state they will not be available until Nov. 4th (they'll be 12 weeks, and I'll get their 2nd round of shots done before they go). I hope to do home visits before letting them go, but not sure if that's feasible. Already it hurts to think of letting them go, not knowing what their fate will be. I've grown so attached!!!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I've placed ads on rescueme.org (thank you, @texsuze ) and craigslist. Already have two inquiries as of this morning. Ads state they will not be available until Nov. 4th (they'll be 12 weeks, and I'll get their 2nd round of shots done before they go). I hope to do home visits before letting them go, but not sure if that's feasible. Already it hurts to think of letting them go, not knowing what their fate will be. I've grown so attached!!!

Fostering is difficult for this very reason; you have to be able to let them go. I fostered many a dog in my younger days and it was never easy, but it always seemed that eventually the perfrct family/ new owner would come along. I fostered a beautiful Irish setter that had whelped a mixed litter and her owner was so disgusted she hadn't had a purebred litter she just wanted to get rid of her. She thought this meant she could never have a pure litter in the future! (Ikr?) I had her spayed, put some basic obedience on her and of course fell in love with her. But a time came when a man came to the house to buy a rifle from my DH and fell in love with her himself. The thing is, she knew, too! He asked if we would part with her so he could hunt over her, and I knew it was time. He kept in touch with us and it really was a perfect match. So you just have to do what you can when you foster and prepare them for their furever home, then be happy when they find it. Of course be ready to take them back if it doesn't work out, that's all you can do.