The animal shelter emailed me. I have often fostered for them.
They are overwhelmed with abandoned kittens. They asked me if I would consider taking a litter til they are eating normal kitten chow.
Does anyone see a COVID danger here?
We can do contactless handover of the kittens. I would keep them about 3 or 4 weeks.
I’m a bit nervous about it.
I wouldn’t be wary. Animal-human transmission is either unbelievably rare or not solidly proven, depending on the reporting source.
Ask your vet if you still have concerns-they will be supportive of your selflessness.
I’ve fostered cats for my local shelter and was very rewarding. So glad I did it. Met some great cats. I got more out of it than they did.
Short answer: I wouldn’t hesitate another second.
I wouldn’t be concerned about any risk of CV, I would be concerned because foster KITTENS for a month while I’m mostly at home could very well end up not being fosters.
I’ve had a number of foster kittens and have somehow resisted. Now the Siamese wouldn’t mind a couple of ‘things’ to bat around.
I’ll have to keep my eye on them.
I’ve never fostered kittens for longer than a day or so. Usually, I’m the one who ends up with the hard to handle adults. I’ve learned that longer than 6 weeks means that kitty is mine, so was assuming that cute, cuddly kittens for 4 weeks would mean the same thing.
For the OP, I am still trapping ferals. The procedure to have them fixed is pretty convenient imho. I used to have to stand in line behind “normal” people and then have to carry my traps around to the back of the building. At the end of the day, I would have to stand in line, then go carry loaded traps back.
Not now, and I’m loving it. I get there, open the office door, stick my head in and announce that I have ferals. A volunteer comes out, gets the information, takes the traps and heads off. Same thing happens when I go to pick them up, its wonderful.
If you have any concerns about picking up your fosterlings, have them put the carrier down outside your car, wait for the volunteer to walk away and then sanitize the handle and load it into your car yourself.
The hand off would go something like that, I’m told.
I’m less worried as I was.
Still not sure. I’m thinking on it.
Cats can catch covid. So it’s probably possible for them to give it to you. But it seems unlikely.
I’m jealous, as I’ve been trying to foster kittens for months, but apparently our local shelters no longer have any surplus litters. My area hasn’t had any stray dogs for years – the shelters import them from other parts of the country. I guess the spay/release system has worked, and we don’t have stray cats any more, either.
I think the biggest infectious disease risk here would be to your current felines aquiring feline leukemia, feline infectious peritonitis (a feline Coronavirus mutation), or even fleas from these kittens.
That’s a legit concern @kayaker,
I’d have to have some assurances.
I need a sick animal like a new hole in my head.
On the plus side I have 4 grandkids who would socialize these kittens to the max.
Sounds fun, don’t it? 
Responsible shelters test for diseases before they hand over animals for foster. It’s certainly a question to ask.
Ahhh, but at what age is a feline leukemia test accurate? A “crazy cat lady” I know brought a six week old kitten into her home after the kitten tested negative for FeLV. A few years later, that kitten along with four of her other cats were dead.
This is the reason I foster with separation. House pets are not allowed into the rescue room unless I am positive its safe. Usually, its just easier to keep them out all of the time.
I don’t get a whole lot of kittens, though. They use me for the hard cases that need time and patience before they are ready to show.
I’m not sure how a situation like that can be definitively traced back to the kitten, particularly years later. Even if it were, that’s pretty atypical.
Separating fosters from the resident cats is the wisest course of action.