Announcing availability entitles you to inquire about the kitten in private and be queried in turn about your qualifications.
You want to buy things off the shelf? Take your butt to Target and go wild.
A buyer sees availability. I see a fact pattern.
A household has a pace, noise level, other animals, established routines, absences, children or no children, and an idea of what living with the cat should feel like.
The kitten has an emerging appetite for chaos, tolerance for handling, need for companionship, confidence with other cats, persistence, voice, and preferred level of attachment.
Color and sex are easy to put in a message. Neither tells me whether these two sets of facts belong together.
The little hellion problem
I once had an ebony spotted girl who was a little hellion. She might have been too much for a family with less assertive cats. I also would not have wanted her in conflict with an established dominant cat.
Sending her as a solo presented the opposite problem: somebody would need to give her constant attention because she would demand it and become bored otherwise.
A quieter sibling and a household with no current pets might have made a two-kitten placement optimal. None of that could be solved by asking who commented first.
I put a lot of thought into it before agreeing to send a cat.
Baby Oops was not a contest
For Baby Oops, I asked applicants to make the case for the household: its atmosphere, prior cat experience, other animals, and what daily life would offer him.
Money and reach were not the qualifications under review. The eventual family checked my references while I evaluated the proposed home.
Naiche remained here until his health, development, and personality became clearer, then left for Arizona.
A mutual audition produces two verdicts.
Retirement is also a matching decision
I breed and show cats. Neither activity makes every cat happy.
Some retired cats remain here because they are deeply attached to us and this is plainly their home. Another cat may prefer one dedicated person, a quieter household, fewer other cats, or attention that is not divided across a cattery.
Placing that cat is not “throwing it out” because it no longer produces kittens or ribbons. Keeping it for appearances would be the more selfish decision.
Matching admits uncertainty
I never possess complete information about either side of the match. The kitten is still developing, and my view of the household depends on what its people tell me.
The family also has to be candid. If you describe the home you think a breeder wants to hear about, I may successfully match the kitten to a household that does not exist.
Judgment is not certainty. It is the obligation to make the best decision the available facts support.
A sale asks whether the price was paid. A placement asks what happens after the cat arrives.