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KittyKind, Inc
Rating Details »
Neighborhoods: Flatiron, Union Square
Petco Union Square
860 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
(212) 726-2652
Petco Union Square
860 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
(212) 726-2652
- Nearest Transit:
-
Union Square (4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R, W)
14th St-6th Aves (F, V, L, 1, 2, 3)
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sat. 1:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sun. 1:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
11 reviews for KittyKind, Inc
My wife and I adopted a 5 month old cat from the Petco in Union Square a few months ago. He was found in a collapsed building, his mother and siblings had all been crushed.
What impresses me most about Kitty Kind (besides the awesomeness that is no kill animal adoption groups) is that every time I have taken him back to the Petco to get his complimentary booster shots, the volunteers remember his name. Everyone seems to really care about the welfare of the animals and even though they seem to be a little overwhelmed at times (that Petco is a madhouse), if you are patient they are always happy to help you. The volunteer who was there when I took the cat home even gave me his personal phone number to call him if I had questions and he called me several days later to check in.
The adoption fee was very reasonable and given that it included free shots and neutering, was actually incredibly cheap. I plan on donating money to this group regularly in the future.
Kitty Kind is a wonderful organization. They brought me one of my greatest joys in life - my kitty Albus. The volunteers at Kitty Kind really took the adoption process seriously and I could tell how important it was for them for all of their cats to find good homes.
We saw little Albus in a crate by himself at Petco one day and asked about the cute little black and white kitten. From the get go they were fantastic about answering every question we had and making sure we could provide the little guy with the best home possible. We had all of his shots etc. and they even paid for his first vet visit since he had little cold when we adopted him.
I was very impressed with how they checked up to make sure everything was going well and gave us great advice on how to take care of our first cat.
I am so happy to have had the experience with Kitty Kind and would recommend anyone adopt from them. Life just wouldn't be as good without our cat and I have Kitty Kind to thank for that.
I adopted my cat here after seeing him at the Kitty Kind booth in Petco. He was sitting by himself in a cage and the Kitty Kind volunteers were very thorough in explaining to me his temperament and history. They said he was a "calm and cool" one but he also loves human contact. I didn't really believe that a cat with such a great personality could be a stray so they allowed me to put on gloves and pet him -- he put his paws on my arm and gazed at me in the most nonchalant way! I took him home that day.
I started by fostering him, before moving on to adoption. Kitty Kind said they found him in a parking lot buried in snow, and he wasn't in the best of health when I first took him home. It was my first time fostering a cat and he needed several veterinary visits as well as a "starter kit" of canned and dried food, but Kitty Kind was very good about providing the support I needed to foster a cat. In the end, I decided I couldn't part with him so I discussed the adoption option with Kitty Kind and they were delighted! They even gave me a free bag of cat food.
The only thing I would recommend is that when deciding to foster or adopt a cat with Kitty Kind, make sure to copy down the contact information of the volunteer representative you are dealing with. My representative was extraordinary patient and kind with my questions and she would follow up on my cat's progress about every other week so I really lucked out. However, when I went into Petco to discuss my cat's progress with other volunteers, they were not always familiar with my case. This is somewhat understandable given that they are after all, a no-kill shelter. Still, it may save you time to deal with one or two representatives who really know your cat!
I think that I will go back to Kitty Kind if I ever decide to get a companion for my cat.
I loved adopting with Kittykind - I don't think it could have gotten any better.
I'm a first time pet owner, but I'm also very very Type A, so I had lots of book knowledge about caring for a cat, but no real life experience. I was kind of nervous about speaking with an adoption rep because I'd read horror stories about the way they treat first-time pet owners (they assume you're flighty and adopting on a whim and that you'll be a horrible caregiver).
That said, Stephen at Kittykind made me feel really secure about adopting my new cat, Tika. After talking with me for a bit, he reassured me that I was as prepared as I could get, and actually walked with me through the store to get food/litterbox/toys/brushes/etc. He was available 24/7 when I needed him after I took Tika home to answer my many, many questions and to help with advice and medicine when Tika got a slight cold. I couldn't have been happier, and the entire process couldn't have been more painless.
Adoption experience aside, every time I went in to Kittykind at Petco (I went three times, once on a Saturday and twice on weeknights), there were always numerous volunteers cleaning the cages and spending time with the cats. These are clearly people who care about animals, and who want to help in any way they can.
In conclusion - fantastic experience, great and helpful people, and if I decide Tika needs a playmate I'd go back in a heartbeat!
I was in complete shock when reading other people's reviews on KittyKind. Your experiences sound horrible! I can't even imagine.
Fortunately I faired a bit better with KittyKind, though I felt that the staff/volunteers were completely way in over their head and didn't give me the attention I would have liked when I saw the cats at Petco. In fact, two of the men I talked to were downright rude. Luckily that was not the case with the Irish (I think?) woman I dealt with over email when working through the adoption of my cat, Picnic. She was very prompt in her responses and checked in with me regularly after I took Picnic home.
What I was not entirely happy about was the vet that KittyKind uses. I took advantage of the free visit within the first week of adopting my cat and found myself being reminded several times by the staff that I shouldn't have had a Saturday appointment (which I did).
Also....damn, Kittykind, PLEASE UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE. I adopted Picnic in July and his picture is still up there.
Compared to the other reviews, I guess I got very lucky. I adopted my male orange tabby, Mon Cherie, a month following September 11th. I was told by Kitty Kind that he was displaced from his home due to someone who had died in the World Trade Center attack, though I have no proof that was the case. In any event, Mon Cherie has been a part of my life for the past seven years, and he's been a great companion and friend ever since. He's an absolutely affectionate and gentle-minded feline, with a sweet demeanor like no other.
About a month after I adopted him, I discovered that he had worms, which was successfully treated. It does seem, however, based on the other reviews, that this organization needs to better evaluate the overall health of the cats they put up for adoption...and take it seriously.
Again, I was lucky to end up with such an awesome cat, which is more than just a pet to me--he's my buddy. But I appear to be the exception, rather than the rule. However, I find it distressing that so many people have had a negative experience with Kitty Kind. I can only hope that this organization takes on a more ethical and responsible approach to the practice of feline adoption before their reputation really plunders deeper into the gutter. These aren't handy down rag dolls; they're living, breathing creatures that deserve the utmost care.
**Edit: This review was moved from the Petco page. Originally written on 11/17/2006:
We adopted a cat from them and they made it extremely difficult, to say the least. If you like to go through a lot of crap, be talked down to, and fill out forms multiple times, then by all means, adopt from Kitty Kind. If you don't, try one of the many other shelters in the area. The following was my experience:
Day 1:
Volunteer's 20 min. "interview session" which consisted of her answering her cell phone twice, stopping to talk to a past adopter for 5 min., and a 10 min. tirade on how vets are WRONG and cats should only get wet food, never dry.
Day 2:
Supposed to choose and take home cat or cats today. No record of previous "interview". Get interviewed again, this one is actually normal, volunteer #2 decides on 2 cats for us. We're assured that they would "get along great" after all, they are "hand-picked" just for us!
Week #1:
They fight. They are not getting along. We are averaging 4 hours of sleep a night.
Week #2:
Take back girl, keep boy. Volunteer wants us to keep girl and give back boy, but boy seems to be adjusting much better with us. He gets along fine by himself. We grow attached and name him Julio.
Week #3:
He is scratching his ears a lot. Take him to vet and find out it is just caused from allergens in the house. Not much we can do. Vet cleans out ears and gives him a once over. We find out he has no back teeth (the vet looks at me like I'm lying when I tell him I didn't know this), and he is 10 years old, not 2 or 3 like the shelter said.
Week #3:
Email from shelter asking how vet visit went, asking if we want to permenantly adopt. I give her the lowdown about the vet visit, tell her we want to adopt. She tells us if we want to adopt him, he cannot be alone and we have to adopt a 2nd cat. I write her back: he is fine. We only want 1 cat. We will come in and pay the adoption fee. She writes back: No, he can't be by himself. I write back, politely tell her: you lied to us, he's ten, he has no teeth. He needs a good home. He has been living content with us for 2 weeks now. Leave us alone and let us adopt him.
It is not until we threaten to take the cat back that she offers to "ask the director about it" and they agree to let us keep him. Phew! I should have researched them first. There's a lot of negative stuff about this shelter's reputation online.
- I won't pretend that I know more about the organization than Josie but I have recently (in the past 12 months) fostered and adopted from them
- they're non-kill
- I was told that the cat I fostered (and eventually ended up adopting for a mandatory donation of $125) was in perfect health, besides being a bit dirty and still underweight from his previous situation. . . turns out, not so much. After a trip to the vet we've been informed that he's suffering from kidney disease, requiring daily IVs, medication, and prescription low protein food, unavailable at regular pet stores (aka costing a small fortune)
- I only ask that people not punish the cats for the mistakes of the people, fostering doesn't cost a thing, they provide a bag of food and a cat carrier for you to take your fluffle home
If I could give Kitty Kind negative 500 stars I would. Kitty Kind changed my life. For real.
I had a very similar experience to Donna H. except mine took a vicious turn for the worse. "How could your experience be worse than hers?" you ask.
Well, I'll tell you.
Adopted 2 kitties. Only wanted the female, but they came as a set. Male cat was acting up from day 1. Called Kitty Kind and they told us that we must have been doing something wrong. Um, no, crazy cat lady-I've had cats my whole life.
Fast forward 2 weeks and the male cat attacked me. For real attacked me. I thought he broke my finger. I went to work the next day, because I didn't want to spend all night in the ER. Turns out I had a serious infection and had to have emergency surgery on my hand, spent 5 nights in the hospital, and went through 5 months of occupational therapy.
Turns out, the male cat was feral, despite Kitty Kind's claims. Unfortunately for me, I deleted the e-mail I had from the director stating that he was. Dammit to hell, prehistoric hotmail (I have since upgraded to gmail).
....Lawsuit pending
If this was the last place on earth to adopt a pet from, I would leave the planet just to get a pet.
Our 1 year old male Tabby, Manny, was adopted at Kitty Kind in Sept. 07. Manny was apparently found wandering the streets in Flatbush, and was dewormed, neutered, and cleared for Feline AIDS and leukemia before he made it out onto the adoption floor. We went to Kitty Kind because they were the only agency we could find that didn't require a copy of our lease with a clause saying that cats were allowed. We had a verbal agreement with our landlord, but our lease said "No Pets." And we felt that asking him to write us a letter would be pushing it.
I can't lie, the fist few months were expensive. Manny had giardia, ear mites and ring worm (a skin fungus) on one ear that showed-up about 4 weeks after we'd gotten him. Our vet (North Side Vetrinary Clinic in Williamsburg) helped us clear it all up, and now he's our healthy, happy, cuddly, playful, sometimes annoying as hell, love-cat.
Kitty Kind may have crazy cat ladies working there, and may not be most reputable place to adopt in nyc....we would have chosen The Humane Society or BARK if we could have, but we lucked-out and ended up with a really fantastic cat. (See his adorably handsome mug in Kitty Kind photos)
I contemplated giving this organization 4-Stars instead of 3 because my recent experience with the folks at Kitty Kind was TERRIFIC, considering the location of the Organization. Of course there's a need for Buyer Beware with this group. The shelter location is in a PETCO, for Pete's Sake, not an Animal Hospital!! Not only is the location highly stressful for the animals, but you have a harried Intake Volunteer who has to deal with a bunch of folks who pass by a cage of unwanted kitties and all of a sudden want to adopt, ask questions and fill out forms. All at once. The volunteers should be commended for donating their time to this cause; perhaps Kitty Kind might want to do more outreach and enlist volunteers with a Vet Tech background, maybe that would help with the chaotic atmosphere.
It is the responsibility of the future owner to do their due diligence, and take the time to get to know the cat by visiting it at least twice (a policy that should be considered by KittyKind) before considering adopting. It doesnt surprise me that ferals got into the mix at Kitty Kind, but hey if you cant tell the difference between a Feral and a House Cat, you have no business adopting. I had a wonderful experience adopting my 1-yr old-calico, Hester Louise who is now named Mrs. Sweet. I visited her 3 times over 2 weeks to make sure she was the right cat. By this, I mean not pulling her out of her cage like most Lookey Loos but rather letting the cat sense that I was interested. Most social non-feral kitties will eventually climb out of their catbed to see what is going on. I did this during the 3 times I visited and sure enough the cat was purring and rubbing my hand while still in the cage. I also had a thorough conversation with the Intake Person and the cat's Foster Mom who was honest and told me Hester had a cold a few months ago (which, depending on how you look at it , could be a respiratory infection) but was fine now.
Its been 2 months. Mrs. Sweet is healthy (no doubt now that she is out of a cage 24-7). She is about to get a Kitty Condo for Xmas and we couldn't be happier.
