A question for Kailie and others who foster. :)

Fostering is something I am very interested in doing. However...I am not quite sure how to go about it. I have 6 cats already (and Kailie, I am asking you this because I see that you have 10!) and I am not sure how to keep both groups "safe" while fostering.

Do you seperate them from your own cats? If so, do you care to tell me about your setup? We have an extra building that I one day want to turn into a cat sanctuary by rescuing kill shelter kitties and bringing them here to live until they can find homes. However, that is going to be awhile as the building is currently being used by my dh to store stuff. He has agreed, in the future, to let me use it for my cat rescue dream...but not just now.

Any advice or info you can give me is going to be so appreciate. God bless!

Woohoo! Glad to help!


I DO keep my fosters seperate for a few reasons. 1) Most of my fosters come to me quite sick and I want to minimize spreading diseases. 2) I don't want to stress out my cats any more than I have to. 3) Sometimes I will have adult fosters who have yet to be spayed/neutered, so to cut down on behavioral issues, it's best to keep them in the room.

I have 2 spare rooms in which I foster. Both of these rooms are completely dedicated to the kitties with scratchers, condos, baskets, toys, etc, basically anything that will make a kitty feel at home and happy.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask anything!

Have your fosters ever spread anything to your kitties through the doors, so to speak? I know that the URIs are very contagious - and supposedly airborne. Is the door between them and the lack of interaction enough to stop that?

It is AWESOME that you have two rooms devoted to fostering. Our no-kill shelter has about the same thing you described! What a wonderful situation for your kitties!

Do you ever have issues with the fosters not getting along with one another or are they usually just happy to be in a home setting?

Do you ever have "spraying" issues with any of the cats because of the "smell on the other side of the door?" Only one of my cats did this ONE time when I got momma and percy. All of my cats are fixed, so I don't even know who did it. We cleaned it with the enzyme stuff and it hasn't happened again.

URI's ARE incredibly contagious, and mine did get sick once when I very first started fostering and haven't been sick since. They seemed to build up an immunity really, but aside from that I mix L-Lysine into their food when there are sick fosters here and that also stops them from getting sick.

The URI's are 99% of the times virus', primarily a herpes virus. Humans take L-Lysine to shorten or prevent cold sores, and it works the same way to supress and handle the virus in cats. I SWEAR by the stuff and many others here do as well. It is also vet recommended to me.

I also wash my hands everytime I leave the rooms with antibacterial hand soap. I'm always cleaning with antibacterial soaps, use a lot of Lysol, clean with bleach and so on. As for fleas, mites, worms, etc. the shelter treats all of their cats with Revolution before I get them, but for some reason if this doesn't happen for whatever reason, all of mine are treated regularly anyway, AND I always have a back up of stuff on hand. I have a little cubbard full of kitty first aid stuff, LOL. I have deworming pills, flea meds, L-Lysine, BMP ointment, chicken broth and tuna for those who need some enticement to eat, bandages, KMR, saline drops for stuffy noses, a vaporizer to help them breathe, syringes...everything! LOL We've been doing this over 3 years now basically nonstop, and I've learned a lot of tricks along the way!

Oh and as for spraying, thank GOODNESS I have never had a single problem with spraying, both with my own AND with the fosters. If I even think I might have an issue with the fosters, I'll pick up some Feliway just in case.

You are a wealth of information! Thank you for all that you do! I hope to do the same one day.

Originally Posted by BlueRexBear

You are a wealth of information! Thank you for all that you do! I hope to do the same one day.

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Any time hun! Glad to help!

Originally Posted by Kailie

I also wash my hands everytime I leave the rooms with antibacterial hand soap. I'm always cleaning with antibacterial soaps, use a lot of Lysol, clean with bleach and so on. As for fleas, mites, worms, etc. the shelter treats all of their cats with Revolution before I get them, but for some reason if this doesn't happen for whatever reason, all of mine are treated regularly anyway, AND I always have a back up of stuff on hand. I have a little cubbard full of kitty first aid stuff, LOL. I have deworming pills, flea meds, L-Lysine, BMP ointment, chicken broth and tuna for those who need some enticement to eat, bandages, KMR, saline drops for stuffy noses, a vaporizer to help them breathe, syringes...everything! LOL We've been doing this over 3 years now basically nonstop, and I've learned a lot of tricks along the way!

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Wow! Just to open the mouth and admire!

Although here IS one thing worth adding. If you can get goat milk - do it.
Btw, in many countries goat milk is easier to get than kmr of good brand.

Goat milk works fine for exhausted konvalescents or mommas with big litters, and is useful as emergency kitten milk. You dont even need to add anything.

Cows milk, as most know, isnt good for cats, and even harmful for not so few cats. (raw cowmilk possibly somewhat better than pasteurized - after all, where did the myth arised milk is good for cats?).
But goat milk, by some reason, is entirely OK for cats and dogs. And also people who have sensitive stomach and dont manage common cow milk often does manage goat milk.