Advice for Beginners
Don't go into this unless you are prepared to give total commitment,kittens have to be socialized and played with and this takes a lot of time and dedication, also expect a lot of poo!
Most Rewarding Aspects of Fostering
Having the mother cat and being able to assist in the birthing process, then seeing the kittens grow and progress, brilliant!
Saddest Aspects of Fostering
If a kitten dies for any reason this can be extremely distressing and sadly, it does happen.
Temptation to Keep Cats and/or Kittens
I think that there is always a temptation to keep the kittens, I get round it by telling myself that they're going to good homes which can provide all the love that that they need and that I might not be able give to on an on-going basis as I will have other kittens to look after.
How I became a foster parent to cats and/or kittens
I've always been a cat lover and for a while I lived in an area which had a lot of semi-feral cats and kittens. Sometimes a kitten might need some help so I was able oblige; through this I came into contact with our local Cat Rescue group. All this started about 20 years ago. The group has grown over the years and now runs a state-of-the-art shelter which is able to re-home hundreds of cats and kittens every year. We have on average 5-10 fosterers who look after mums and kittens in their own homes. Last year I had 21 kittens and several mums, all of which were homed successfully.
How I learned to care for my foster cats & kittens
I've always lived with cats so knew a fair bit but I supplemented this with reading as much as I could about the subject, also there is always someone at the Shelter to get additional advice from if required. You never get to know it all!
Lessons learned
- I'm very fortunate and I don't think that there's any thing that I would do differently. I've loved every minute of my fostering experience, although it does sadden me that the message still doesn't seem to be getting through to people that they need to get their cats neutered, there are far too many unwanted kittens and abandoned cats, A lot of people are not taking their pet-keeping responsibilities seriously enough and are relying on others to pick up the pieces and clear up their mess. I think that perhaps there should be more legislation to encourage responsible pet ownership.
