Fostering questions

I have been thinking lately about fostering. I have never fostered before, only owned my kitties. I think my daughter would also love it and really benefit from the educational factors. So I have a few questions before I decide whether or not to foster.

1 Will fostering a cat bother my other cats (Cat will not be in direct contact with my cats)

2 Is there any information I should know before I foster?

3 Does the company you foster for pay for vet bills? (Do most?)

Any information is greatly appreciated, and I would love to hear your opinion on whether I should or shouldn't foster.

Thanks

Manda

Tubee is gorgeous, btw -- I am pretty sure I've admired her before, but it never hurts to admire her some more, does it?

THANK YOU for your interest in fostering felines. If you choose to do so, you will be providing a valuable service that is sure to save precious lives. Contact the rescue group in your area to find out their policies; or you may even need to start with your local AC&C or "shelter" who will undoubtedly be able to connect you to rescues. I have a dear friend who fosters but unfortunately she is not online; besides, different groups probably have different ways of doing things. A place to visit would be http://www.bestfriends.org -- they are the largest bona fide sanctuary domestically, and if they don't have information onsite about fostering, contact their Cats department and I'm sure someone can get you over to someone who does. GOOD LUCK, and again, many thanks for your caring.

I suggest contacting your local Humane Society/Shelter/Rescue you plan to foster for. Some pay for all supplies, some pay for none. It depends.

Chances are, your kitties will be upset. You are introducing a new member, after all. It is to be expected.

But, I do suggest contacting the shelter you want to foster for. They can give you more specific guidelines. Like here, they must be indoors only, all other cats must be UTD on vaccs, must test FeLV-(you must pay for the test prior to fostering).

Congrats on thinking of fostering, I hope it works out for you.

1 Will fostering a cat bother my other cats (Cat will not be in direct contact with my cats) Maybe, maybe not - mine are kept in a separate room, and the majority of the time, my own cats just dont bother with it, as it isn't their room, and they dont seem interested by smells and noises either - but I could have unusual cats!!

2 Is there any information I should know before I foster? Well, you need to have space for it, I use a spare bedroom (and occasionally the bathroom and dog cage), some people have outdoor pens. You also need to have time each day to spend with them, and keep them social, as well as all the extra cleaning it will create - I would say you need to allow for a minimum of an extra hour and a half a day. And the most important thing of fostering is being able to let them go at the end of it, while if you dont they at least have a good home, there will only be so many you can keep, and if you keep too many, you wont be able to help more. I dont know how old your daughter is, but she might have problems with letting them go, so you would need to have a serious chat with her first

3 Does the company you foster for pay for vet bills? (Do most?) That is something down to the individual shelters, most pay for things, but it can vary. Mine pay for all food, litter and vets bills. You will find though, however much they pay for things, you will ultimately end up spending more, it is just too hard not to!!

My daughter is 15 now, and volunteers at a shelter already so she is used to letting kitties go, and I have talked to her and she knows she would have to get rid of them. We have a spare room that the kitties could stay in. We have found a few different places we could foster for, so we are going to contact them and find out about them before we decide. Thanks everyone!

Manda

That is good to hear, I hope you get somewhere with one of the rescues.

1 Will fostering a cat bother my other cats? (Cat will not be in direct contact with my cats)
Maybe Maybe not. Some cats are bothered by it some arent. My current two were my fosters so they dont know anything other then other cats coming and going. But when I was married we had a cat that we had to keep in a whole other area of the house because she hated the fosters and would try to kill them literally. But most people that foster dont have a problem with that.

2 Is there any information I should know before I foster?
Just keep in mind that you will fall in love with all of your fosters and it can sometimes it can be very hard for you when they are adopted. Just make sure your daughter understands exactly whats going to happen. Make things fun and make sure she knows what will happen. Also alot of the cats have health problems when you start fostering them. Especially if its kittens they can have so many different things. So its best to keep them away from your own pets. If you do want them to interact with your pets then you need to wait awhile to make sure they are healthy. You dont want to spread anything!

3 Does the company you foster for pay for vet bills? (Do most?)
The rescue I foster for pays for everything. They also supply your own personal pets with flea/heartworm meds. But that is unique to our rescue. They say they dont us to give give give and not get anything back. I would do it without the flea/heartworm meds but thats just me.

When we get a new foster cat or litter of kittens we get.......
1. An extra large dog crate.
2. A litterbox
3. food/water bowels
4. One of those small cat house things with just the one whole
5. Tons of blankets
6. Three bags of litter (we can get more on request)
7. Any meds they need
8. A bag of food/two cans of KMR

IMO its totally worth it just to see one of your sickest flourish and go to a new home. It makes you feel like your making a difference even if its only in one cats life. Your still making a difference.