If everyone simply thinks someone else will do it, then no one ever will! Please consider fostering cats or kittens; there are so many organizations in need of your help. You can do this!
Who
You, surrounded by adorable kittens. That’s who!
Imagine coming home from work and being immediately surrounded by a bunch of cuddly kittens. You’ll soon discovery that fostering is such a rewarding responsibility. Words cannot do justice to how it feels watching young kittens grow into confident, adoptable felines…so you need to try it out for yourself.
What
Different populations of cats and kittens.
Singletons, orphaned neonatal kittens, undersocialized floofs, kittens with special needs, or queens and their litters. These are just a few different groups in need of foster homes. You can read about one of my experiences with special needs kittens in my post on cerebellar hypoplasia.
You can also foster cats or kittens with high medical needs. Sick kittens and feral kittens can be intimidating groups for foster homes, but please read How to Foster Feral Kittens and When Fosters Get Sick to learn how you can help! Older cats and kittens recovering from medical procedures can also benefit from rest and relaxation in a foster home. Another lesser-known group in need of foster homes is adult cats who have been in the shelter for a very long time. These are sometimes called “length-of-stay” fosters.
When
An hour or two a day.
This significantly varies with the kittens’ age, but you can make fostering as simple or as complicated as you like.
For example, when fostering neonatal kittens who require brief care sessions as frequently as every two hours, you’ll spend a total of an hour and a half to two hours over the course of a day. However, if you aren’t able to check in on fosters that often, you can foster more mature kittens and cats. In this case, the hour or two you spend with them can occur in larger chunks of your day that are spread farther apart.
Where
Anywhere behind a closed door that’s safe and easy to clean.
There are plenty of options for fostering animals in your home, especially for kittens. You’ll find that they are surprisingly easy to accommodate! You can foster out of a spare bedroom, a bathroom, or even a playpen. Whatever space you use, it must be cat- or kitten-proofed.
The location needs to be behind a closed door to either keep the cat or kittens safely confined. It’s important that the felines do not get into anything potentially harmful, and offering a large space to an unfamiliar animal can be very overwhelming for everyone involved.
Having a confined space also helps to keep your fosters safe from any resident pets that you may have. My pets are very used to having fosters in the home now, but at first I needed to take several measures to keep everyone separate. Check out How to Quarantine Your Foster Kittens for more information.
Give to our current fosters:
Give to our current fosters:
Give to our current fosters:
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Any contribution is greatly appreciated!
– $6.00 allows us to buy a bag of litter
– $25 helps us buy 12 cans of cat food
– $100+ allows us to fund general medical procedures for any felines that we foster on our own
Thank you so much for considering a donation! 🙂
Any contribution is greatly appreciated!
– $6.00 allows us to buy a bag of litter
– $25 helps us buy 12 cans of cat food
– $100+ allows us to fund general medical procedures for any felines that we foster on our own
Thank you so much for considering a donation! 🙂
Any contribution is greatly appreciated!
– $6.00 allows us to buy a bag of litter
– $25 helps us buy 12 cans of cat food
– $100+ allows us to fund general medical procedures for any felines that we foster on our own
Thank you so much for considering a donation! 🙂
Why
Fostering saves lives.
Foster homes allow shelters and rescue organizations to continue an amazing cycle of work. Each part of the cycle is so essential to preventing unnecessary euthanizations and suffering.
Rescue, foster, adopt, and repeat.
Rescue
The goal of many animal welfare groups is to save the lives of as many animals as possible. A major obstacle to this goal is the limited space that some shelters have available to house these animals. Unfortunately, when this happens, animals are either euthanized or turned away in the hopes that another group can provide care. This is where foster homes come into play.
Foster
Foster homes help to free up the limited space in shelters and rescue organizations. This is such a powerful part of the cycle, because more space in the shelter allows for more lives to be saved and adopted.
Adopt
The sooner that animals are successfully adopted, the sooner you can take more fosters in need of a foster home. Another benefit of this part of the cycle is that it creates awareness of how many animals are looking for their forever homes. Check out How to Plan for Meetings with Kitten Adopters to learn about the importance of this part of the process!
You can start fostering today!
But…how?
Easy.
Most organizations provide foster homes with everything you could possibly need. From food to veterinary care, you’ll be set up with supplies. All you have to do is contact your local shelter! Find more details in How to Get Started on Your Fostering Journey.
See? No excuses. 🙂
Exploring animal welfare one foster kitten at a time
The Kitten Koop 
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