So a few months ago, my cat of many, many years got out. This was her habit - to dart out of the house and lounge on the sun-warmed concrete porch. I’d sit with her for a while and then bring her inside. Right up until the day I came home in a distracted state of mind and, well, you can figure out the rest.
Anyway, a friend of mine has been fostering kittens for about a year, so after a mourning period I contacted the local shelter and got set up.
It’s basically a kitten buffet. Pick a litter, any litter. Take home a bunch of kittens. Keep 'em for a few weeks. The shelter provides food and litter and vet service. When they’re big enough for surgery (and thus adoption), you give 'em back.
I mean, sure, you’ve got responsibilities. You have to give them medicine if they need any. You have to make sure they know how to use the litter box. You have to take good pictures and write up little personality blurbs to help them get adopted.
But the most important thing is socializing them. Socializing means playing with them and cuddling them. I’ll say that again. The most important part of this volunteer work is playing with kittens.
It was tough to give the first set back, but perspective is important. Fostering is about helping the shelter free up space. It means more successful adoptions because the animals haven’t been trapped in a cage for the majority of their lives prior to adoption. It means healthier animals because sickness spreads so easily in a shelter environment. It means less euthanized animals because there’s more available room.
And if you can keep that perspective, you get unlimited kittens. All the kittens you can [del]eat[/del] handle. It’s really, really wonderful.
And now, by the immutable laws of the SDMB, I have provided some pictures of the current pair.
Yanno, should it happen that I survive my husband, I will definitely look into this, provided I am able. Right now, we have 2 cats and a dog, and spousal unit would have a fit if I even suggested fostering kittehs, but if I was alone, this would be a great way to become a crazy cat lady!!!
OMG…squeeee! Fostering kittens has to be about as good as it gets.
I foster dogs… and try to sell people on the idea all the time. All the perks of animal companionship, but no long term commitment, and minimal expenses. If you fall in love, there’s always the option to adopt, but if you decide that pet ownership is not for you, then after they’re adopted, you don’t have to take another one, but you’re still a hero for saving that animal’s life. Foster more, save more.
Omg…I have a little dog that loves cats…I…I could foster kittens that are dog friendly! But I have a full time job! Is it still manageable with normal adult responsibilities?
Sure, you just need to get older kittens who don’t need to be bottle fed or anything. Your shelter won’t give you animals that you don’t have time for.
Kittens can be crated when you aren’t around if you have a big enough kennel, or you can put them in a bathroom (lid down!).
The only sticking point, responsibility wise, is taking them in for checkups. Make sure you know your shelter’s hours and that you’ll be able to make the required visits (here it’s every two weeks unless something needs immediate attention).
Sure. I did it for quite a while while working full time. I only took weaned kittens or babies with their mama. It is quite a lot of fun overall, even considering the batch I had with cat flu. I’d be doing it still but my current cat is immunosuppressed and I can’t risk exposing her to anything. Be aware, though, that there can be some sadness as well - sometimes the little ones don’t survive no matter how well you care for them. Out of a total of 54 kittens I fostered, I ended up losing two of them. But it was all worthwhile and I loved it.
Oh, and my current cat was actually one of my fosters. I just couldn’t give her back for some reason. So there’s that risk too.
Thank you Johnny Bravo for explaining the kitten fostering process so clearly. It really is fun, you get a litter of kittens, suck the cuteness out of them and then get new ones.
IMHO, the only possible downside is the one that dwyr has noticed…or is that really a downside after all? You get to handle bunches of cats and kittens just to find the one that really does fill that hole in your heart AND during the process, you have saved bunches of feline lives.
Thank you so much for fostering! And thank you for explaining how it works. The people who foster kittens are quite literally saving lives. We get so many litters in during the spring and summer.
I don’t foster kittens because I am very involved in the canine side of things at my shelter, but every once in a while, I wander over to the feline foster coordinator’s office and play with some of the littles.
Good on you, Johnny. I’ve fostered one kitten–all the way from bottle to adult–and she’s still with me, fifteen years later. It is immensely satisfying, I found, to watch a kitten grow and thrive under my care.
You’re doing a good job. Hope that you foster many more kittens!
How honest are your kitten blurbs? I’m thinking that if I’d written one for my Vespa it could have started with all the good stuff - friendly, lively, playful - but if I’d been honest would have continued to: proper naughty little bugger, wants to play with all the things he’s not allowed to, sees every closed door as a challenge and throws a little tantrum when he’s thwarted! He grew up into a lovely cat but he was still a rogue
I once knew a girl who adopted kittens and, when they grew up to be cats, managed to talk her friends into adopting them, and then she’d get another kitten. Similar scam but less upfront about it.
