Homing your kittens

Having put every effort into the planning, care, nutrition and socialisation of your babies you will want to ensure that they go to the very best of homes. A home needs to fulfil your expectations as to what environment and care they are willing and able to offer. Remember, these are your babies, and they deserve an excellent life once they leave the safety of your own home. There are many ways to protect them and ensure that your involvement with them continues throughout their lives.

Advertising your babies

In order to home your babies you will need to make suitable groups of people aware that they are available. Even before you babies are born you can begin the process of finding excellent homes for them. There are a number of ways that you can let prospective new owners know about your babies:

A personal website.
Rat club resources (varies from specific kitten lists to websites, forums and newsletters).
Rat communities (can be online communities, or actual gatherings like rat shows).
Local advertising (vet surgeries are a good place to advertise as a breeder).

When advertising your babies include as much detail as possible and, ideally, some pictures of the kittens. You might wish to say who the dam and sire are, their variety, how many kittens there are and of what sex and variety. Include their date of birth and the date that they will be ready to leave you. Consider also how you will get them to their new homes. Do you want people to collect them from your home? Would you be happy to meet people halfway? Let people know if you can arrange transport (possibly via shows) to areas that are further away.

General considerations

You will need to clarify in your own mind how you would define an ‘excellent home’. How many other rats are you willing to let your babies share their humans with? Do you mind them sharing their environment with other animals (especially predators such as cats and snakes)? Are you going to encourage new owners to use a particular type of bedding? Feed a particular diet? What kind of veterinary care will your babies receive? How big do you require their living space to be? Would you expect them to be handled daily?

Once you have resolved these issues in your head you may wish to design an application form that you can send out/email or give to prospective new owners. More on this in a minute…

‘Vetting’ a home

Having advertised your litter people will begin to approach you for your kittens, and you will need to have a system for vetting each potential enquirer. The first contact will generally be by email or telephone. Even this first contact can give you a ‘sense’ of the person you are dealing with. Different things will make different people uncomfortable, but some of my own ‘warning lights’ are:

An over concern about how much the babies cost.
An insistence on a particular ‘exotic’ or unusual variety.
A request for many kittens at one time.
A general resistance to advice.
A request for both bucks and does at one time unless requesting rats specifically for breeding.

Unless I am immediately wary of a person for some reason, my next step would be to send out an application form along with a copy of the sale agreement that they would be asked to sign when collecting the babies. This documentation in itself will weed out some applicants who do not want to commit themselves to the agreement (which basically covers adequate care and veterinary treatment, not breeding from the kittens without permission, providing updates as requested and not rehoming to a third party without agreement – all rats can be returned to me should it become impossible to keep them for any reason).

Below is a list of the questions that are on my current form. I see them as a stepping-stone for discussion, rather than a means for determining a definite yes or no.

Kitten application form

This application form is a tool not a test. It enables us to glean some of the information we need in order to give you the best advice we can before offering you our rats. It provides us with a diving board for further discussion.

Our interest in our babies continues throughout their lives. In choosing to provide a home for Shunamite kittens, you are inviting us to be part of your lives for the next 2 plus years. We aim to build relationship with each of our prospective parents; many become friends.

Please answer the following as openly and fully as you can.
Name:
Address:
Tel:
Email:
(This form will be printed off which means if I have problems with the computer I can still contact you.)

1. Have you kept pet rats before? If so please detail your past experience.
2. How many rats do you currently own (please give details including age and sex)?
3. Do you have any other pets (please give details)?
4. Which room of your home will these rats be kept in?
5. What sort of cage will they live in (please give make if known, and dimensions).
6. What sort of cage furniture/toys will you use?
7. What ideas do you haqve for enrichment?
8. What type of litter will you use on the floor of the cage?
9. Will you use any other bedding?
10. What kind of diet will you feed to your new babies?
11. What kind of diet will you feed them when they become adults?
12. Are you registered with a vet? If so, which one?
13. Have you visited this vet with rats in the past? If so what for and what was the treatment?
14. When would you consider a vet visit necessary?
15. Would you be willing to fund major intervention (like surgery) should your rat require it?
16. What is your expectation in regard to how long a pet rat would generally live?
17. Are you wanting to show these rats?
18. Are you thinking of breeding from these rats?
19. Have you ever bred from a rat in the past?
20. Are you a member of a UK rat club? If so, which one?
21. would you be interested in joining one?
22. Are you a member of the Fancy Rats forum?
23. If so - what is your username?,br> 24. Would you be the sole carer of the rats?
25. What arrangements would you make for the rats whilst you are on holiday?
26. Would you normally be able to give the rats, human company every day?
27. Describe how you intend to provide the rats with time outside of their cage (how often, for roughly how long, where etc)?
28. Do you live in rented accommodation, and if yes - has your landlord given consent to keep rats?
29. Have you ever bought rats from breeder before? If yes, which breeder?
30. Do you have any other rat related references you can give us (e.g. someone who will vouch for you)?
31. Are you prepared to sign a sale agreement for your rats? A copy is attached for you to read prior to answering this question.
32. How many kittens would you like to provide a home for?
33. Would you prefer bucks or does?
34. Are there any varieties that you would particularly like? (Please look at the varieties we breed before answering this question).
35. Are there any varieties that you definitely don’t want?

Many thanks for taking the time to complete this form. We will be in touch in the near future.

Any issues from the form that you feel require further discussion should then be developed, and you may wish to ask to see a picture of the cage ‘set up’ where your babies will live. It is usually enquirers’ responses at this stage and the general feeling that I have by this time about the quality of home they will provide that determine whether they will be offered babies or not. I keep asking questions until I feel ‘comfortable’ (or not) and encourage them to ask as many as they like in return. I feel that it is important to maintain relationship with new homes throughout the rats’ lives, in order to ensure their well-being and to glean the necessary information I need to breed with a view to improving the health, temperament and longevity of my lines. Because of this it is essential that I get along with all prospective owners and trust their intentions. Building relationship also enables me to happily say goodbye to the babies when the time comes, and helps to alleviate anxiety.

Ideally, I like people to come to my home to collect their babies, or where this is not possible because of distance, I try to arrange to at least meet up with them, perhaps at a show. Whilst an impression of a person is possible from talking on the phone or via email, actually meeting prospective owners is far preferable, and if they can spend some time in the rattery meeting their kittens friends and relations, and discussing their care – all the better.

Kitten packs

Once you have decided on which homes your babies are going to you will need to prepare the necessary information for your new owners. Many breeders like to go beyond simply supplying a family tree and the possibilities are endless as to what you might include in a pack to accompany your babies to their new home. Here are some ideas:

A family tree – all kittens should go with a record of their DOB, variety, family tree and your contact details.
A sale agreement – this is a written contract between seller and buyer, and can be signed by both parties. It is generally used as a tool to emphasize the important of certain aspects of care to the breeder. Agreements are generally ‘pet only’ and exclude the possibility of breeding from kittens not sold as breeding quality to approved breeding homes. Breeding agreements are arranged on specific request. This safeguards against rats being bred from who are not of breeding quality, lines being continued without the breeder’s knowledge if problems occur (poor health/temperament/longevity), breeder’s lines ending up in pet shops and rescues etc. Many breeders are, however, willing to mentor new breeders through their first litters, ensuring adequate information and support.
A general care guide – covering topics like housing, litters, handling, stimulation, introductions and basic health care such as nail clipping, mites/lice and how to do a health check.
A diet sheet - which is split into kitten and adult sections.
Book/forum/club recommendations – might include helpful rat care books and online forums, plus details of local and national rat clubs.
Details of follow-up and support – some breeders have their own yahoo group for people who own their kittens, provide holiday care and request updates at specific ages.
Supplementary diet – you may wish to give a small amount of the grain mix your babies have been raised on, and/or some EMP, Nature Diet, High Life or some other suitable supplementary kitten food.

With the necessary preparation and care you should be able to send your kittens off to their new homes, free form anxiety, and secure in the knowledge that they will be receiving the best of attention and care. I will be considering the issue of following up kittens and providing after care in more detail in the next issue in the final article in this series.