Fostering Cats in Your Community
If you are unable to feed community cats or want to help cats in your community in other ways, local rescues around the country are always looking for people who can help foster cats on a temporary basis. Depending on your comfort level and timing preferences, there are so many different ways you can help out by fostering cats:
Foster a Cat Family
BeBe came to us after she delivered a litter of four kittens outside a post office in Hialeah, Florida. An emaciated BeBe kept setting off the alarm of the post office, trying to bring her kittens inside the air-conditioned post office during an oppressively hot Miami heat wave. Some helpful people trapped her and her babies and brought them to our home. There, they stayed for about ten weeks until the kittens were ready to get neutered. Then off they went to their forever homes. Even our skinny BeBe (now Callie) plumped up and now rules the roost in her townhome with her new brother.
Foster Some Newborns Without a Mom
This requires some experience or hands on training and a LOT of time. Without the mother cat, newborn kittens will need to be bottle fed round the clock, every two hours for four to six weeks. This can exhaust even the most energetic of people but can bond kittens and caretakers greatly. It can most definitely create a foster-fail situation.
Foster Older Kittens Without Moms
This is usually for a shorter amount of time, until the kittens reach about 2 plus pounds. At this time they get neutered and can be put up for adoption. It’s usually best to have another foster kitten or foster-friendly pet with a foster kitten because they have A LOT of energy and might feel lonely or scared if you’re not with them all the time. Here we have Taylor and Tortie - who had met moments before and immediately started pouncing on one another, so grateful for each other’s company.
Foster Adult Cats
Sometimes cats need a break from being in cages while waiting for adoption. Other times adult cats need healing time after a surgery or being sick. This is an especially kind gesture because older cats generally do not get adopted as quickly as their younger counterparts.
The Foster-Fail
This is a risk that all foster parents take, you can fall in love with your foster kitties and not give them up. It’s the perfect way to meet your potential future forever friend, but it might potentially hamper future fostering.
