Advice for Beginners
Make sure everyone in your household (including humans, cats and dogs) are compatible with bringing new cat strangers into your home. You should also consider the amount of additional cash outlay involved, in terms of traps, cages, bedding, food, and spay/neuter costs, unless you are subsidized.
Most Rewarding Aspects of Fostering
The knowledge that you are making a difference for an otherwise homeless cat or kitten. The joy in seeing them go to permanent loving homes.
Saddest Aspects of Fostering
Losing a cat or kitten to death. Having to give up a cat or kitten you've become very attached to
How I became a foster parent to cats and/or kittens
I first became involved when I found an adult stray cat and her kittens living under the porch of a vacant house I was selling as a real estate broker. Neighbors were feeding the cat, but she and the kittens were fairly wild and afraid of people.
It took some time, but I was able to win the mother cat's trust. I bought a large cage and once the kittens were weaned, I placed the caged kittens in a local feed & grain store that carried pet food. Another real estate agent adopted the mother cat.
How I learned to care for my foster cats & kittens
I'd had cats all my life, so was fairly knowledgeable in their care. This was before the days of the Internet, so I had to rely on my own experience back then. Unfortunately, at the time, little was known about FeLV and FIV; otherwise I'd have had the mother cat tested for both these diseases, as well as having her spayed after the kittens were weaned.
Lessons learned
- I'd have made sure the mother cat was spayed before releasing her to a new home
- I'd have taken a more personal role in seeing that the kittens really went to responsible homes where they would be spayed/neutered and gotten vet treatment.
- Better yet, I'd have vetted the kittens first, with their kitten shots and examination for contagious diseases.
