Adoption Prep Overview

Are your kittens Bonded


​Please refer to the list here to determine if your kittens are bonded.
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• Unbonded kittens (at 4 months) can go to homes where the adopter is away no more than 4 hours a day.
• Unbonded kittens may go as a buddy to a confirmed cat-friendly dog, provided the kitten is known to be okay or neutral with dogs.
• If there are more than 2 kittens in a litter, and none are particularly bonded, then kittens can go as a buddy or with a sibling.
• If bonded, then notes are to be put into file as to why they must go together


Adoptions Readiness Checklist
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PicturePhoto credit: @kittypocalypsevancouver
When tame kittens are approximately 8 weeks old, you can begin preparing for the adoptions process.

For cats and scared kittens, each one is different, so there isn’t a single definitive set of goals a cat will need to reach before they are ready for adoption. However, the Adoptions Readiness Checklist will give you a general sense of the behaviours we’d like to see. ​

Photos and Bios
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​Writing and Submitting Bios

o Fosters write the bios for their kittens.
o These are sent to their Foster Coordinator for review and editing,
including making sure all attributes are correct.
o Once approved, submit via the Forms tab on the Foster website.

Kittens’ bios and photos must be uploaded within 7 days of the vaccination request. This ensures kittens are available for adoption as soon as they’re medically cleared.

You will need to submit at least 4 photos and a bio for each kitty that is ready for adoption.

Photos should:
  • Be high-quality close-ups of the face and the whole body;
  • If possible, have blurred backgrounds (e.g. using the 'Portrait' feature on a cellphone camera) allows the photo to focus on the cat or kitten;
  • Be taken in a place with lots of natural light; and
  • Capture the kitty in its normal day-to-day activities (sleeping, playing).
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Bios should be short (100-220 words) and descriptive. Make sure to highlight the good qualities of your kitty and mention any special needs s/he might have.

For more information and guidelines for photos and bios refer to:
​CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE FORMS

Matching Homes

• Bios alone are not enough for adopter matching.
• Include a short note with additional matching details (e.g., temperament, habits, preferences) when sending the bio to the Foster       Coordinator.
​ • These notes help the Adoption team tailor placements. • The Bios Team can enter this info under “Adoption Matching” in ShelterLuv.

Adoptions Viewings

Once your kitty is ready for adoption, you will need to host viewings with potential adopters in your home. When an adopter indicates to their Adoptions Counsellor that they would like to meet your kitty, you and the adopter will get an email connecting you, and asking the adopter to get in touch to arrange a time to come to your home to meet the kitty. 

Once a viewing notice has been sent, the kitty is effectively 'on hold' with that adopter. No other adopter, including fosters, can adopt kitties who are in a viewing phase. If you do not hear from the adopter within 24 hours of a viewing request, please notify the Adoptions Counsellor by email, and be sure to include your Foster Coordinator in that email.



Holidays or Foster going away: If an available cat needs to be picked up by a certain date, the Adoption Counsellor should be notified and the date put in Trello.

Returning Supplies

You must return all VOKRA supplies when your kitty is adopted. If you expect to be fostering again in the near future, you can hold on to food, litter, and litter boxes for your next kitty. Things like toys, bedding, and scratching posts must be returned to VOKRA to be sanitized before they can be used by another cat. If you had a wire kennel, please make a special effort to return this to VOKRA; these are in short-supply and we need them for other kitties.

It is also important that you return your kitty’s intake form to Ops after they are adopted.

​The microchip stickers and collar tag attached to the intake form should be given to the adopter. Microchips are automatically registered through our database, and automatically transferred to the adopter. Adopters will receive instructions for their microchip registration with their adoption documents.

Preparing for Your Next Fosters

Check in with your Foster Coordinator to let them know how things went with the previous kitty, and highlight any specific challenges or joys. This will help them in identifying the best possible next foster for you. If you have any vacation or travel planned in the weeks following the adoption of your foster, it is probably best to wait until you return before getting set up with a new foster kitty.

Before you take on a new foster, thoroughly clean your home and any furniture and bedding your previous foster cat might have spent time on. If you had a kitty with ringworm, make sure you thoroughly clean all surfaces with a bleach solution, to ensure there is no chance your new foster cat could catch it. If your kitty had litter box accidents, make sure your furniture and bedding have gone through a few full cycles of cleaning with Nature’s Miracle or our VOKRA recipe.