If you love animals and want a joyful way to do some good, the FOTAS Foster Program at the Aiken County Animal Shelter is tailor-made for you. With the 2024 Kitten and Puppy Season in full swing, let’s take a deep dive into the foster experience.
It’s saying hello, not goodbye
I have been fostering shelter cats for 10 years; some 120 kittens and cats have come through my home on their way to their permanent families. When I tell people that I foster kittens, I see their eyes light up at the prospect of having a bounding litter of kittens in their home to love. But they say “Oh, I couldn’t foster because I couldn’t give them up at the end.”
I see fostering from another angle — I am showing these babies that they can find love and trust in being a pet. One untamed kitten or scared cat at a time, I make a good little “kitty-zen” who will charm their way into a wonderful, lifetime home. By raising up nice babies and allowing them to go on to their forever homes, I can multiply the difference I make for cats. There’s nothing else like it!
What is involved in fostering?
Fostering kittens and cats means keeping them in a home environment while they grow up or recover from an injury and can return to the shelter for adoption. What cats and kittens need differs a bit. Kittens arrive at the shelter with various levels of need and maturity. The easiest foster case is actually a full “cat family” — an attentive mother cat and her newborn kittens. Just feed her, give her a safe, quiet place to raise her babies, and momma cat will do the rest. Other foster families take in litters that have been found outside alone, but are old enough to eat and use the litter box on their own. Those fosters who can do the intensive neonatal care for unweaned kittens, the so-called “bottle babies,” are worth their weight in gold. These dedicated cat carers nurse these neediest, nugget-sized kitties along, providing intensive care for them. My personal favorites are the scared adult cats who find their way to the shelter. I give them some good, old-fashioned R and R — a little respite from the busy shelter environment– with the hopes that they can regain their faith in people and find their next special person.
Foster Support
The shelter provides all needed supplies, food and veterinary care for fosters during business hours. Feline foster coordinator Hillary Clark-Kulis does a superb job of supporting fosters with troubleshooting; educating them about how to keep a kitten healthy; and helping them identifying and treating any potential medical issues. I have learned so much in the FOTAS Foster Program, and I have been able to do a better job evaluating the health of kittens as well as my own adult cats.
Cats are rewarding, easy-keeping pets and there is a style of fostering for everyone who wants to experience the joy of putting a kitten or cat on the road to a loving, permanent home. I invite anyone who is at all interested to give fostering a try this summer. The shelter has so many kittens in need.
Their lives are in our hands.
by Miranda Paton, FOTAS Volunteer
