About Fostering

Not sure if this is the right spot to put this post, but there is a lot of fostering discussion on this board so I thought it would be the best place.

First, I've never fostered an animal. We have one cat and have only had her a few months. Fostering is something I would love to do in the future though (when we buy a house and don't rent anymore for one thing). Probably a year or two away for us though, possibly longer if my husband gets a dog (which he wants to when we have a yard for one) cause I'm sure that will take awhile to adjust to.

I was thinking about it and wondering, how do you guys do it? Do your resident cats handle having other cats in and out ok? Are certain personalities of resident cats better for a home that fosters? Do some cats not handle having fosters around well?

Also, my kitty Ivy is declawed (we adopted her declawed, we didn't do it!) If we foster a cat that isn't declawed does that cause issues?

Do you have some sort of foster room to keep them in at first?

I would so love to foster, especially senior cats that never seem to get the love they deserve. But I also don't want my Ivy to be stressed out. When she was at the rescue she didn't handle all the other cats very well, she's very shy. So does that mean I shouldn't foster, and just give all my love to her?

Thoughts? Sorry it got so long.

As a foster mom, I am required to have a separate room for my fosters. The room has a screen door so my cats can see/smell the fosters. After some time has lapsed, I do allow them to "mix" under supervision. My Rascal likes the fosters and interacts with them, but my Bella has an anxious personality and would rather not interact with them. She also becomes a bit stressed when they are adopted. (Any change is difficult for her.) None of my cats are declawed nor have any of my fosters been declawed, so I have had no experience with that.

Thank you! I guess I'll have to wait and see what kinda set up I can figure out when I'm ready. I wonder if my son would mind me turning his room into a cat room when he goes to college

I believe that all shelter and rescues require that you set a room aside for fostering, especially if you have other cats (or dogs for that matter). Be warned, though - we have a fair number of 'failed fosters' here on TCS! It's not at all uncommon for foster-ers to fall for their foster kitties and end giving them a home for life

I'm guilty! Bella and Rascal are both failed fosters!

It's wonderful that you want to give time and space to fosters. From what I've seen it can be important with rescues. Not only will you be opening up a space in a shelter for another cat, but you'll be giving a cat a temporary shelter yourself. You will also be offering some the first and only human contact they have had. By spending time with the cat, you'll be the first call to a new potential owner to give an overview of the cat's personality, their likes and dislikes any foibles they might have and also their golden points. I think your resident may struggle at first, and be prepared for territorial aggression ( hissing / marking). You're in a good position though, as you haven't yet chosen the house where you will consider foster. If you are very concerned with the interactions between your resident and your potential fosters, you might consider making sure you pick somewhere with a seperate room, seperated from your resident's space by a neutral space. This way, you never need the cats to meet if you think it will stress out your resident too much. Somewhere low-traffic and easy to clean is also a bonus as you'll want to give the area a good scrub between fosters, even though the vet will have done a check up etc. Scents of previous residents can persist between hoovering and make it difficult to settle the next resident so a hard floor with rugs you can throw in the machine make your life a little easier.

Thank you, that's great advice!

Declawed vs. clawed is usually not a problem unless the cats actively hate one another. A spare room is a must when fostering - the newbies may have germs your resident cat hasn't met and vice versa, so best to keep them separated until the all-clear.

We fostered for years - we had a sun porch that was perfect. Our cats would either ignore the newcomers or sit at the door and watch them. They never did adjust to them, though, so I seldom introduced them.

I have a friend who has 11 cats of her own and another nine or ten fosters. They all get along well. She introduces very, very slowly and allows her residents to call the shots. (She has a big house, BTW). She mostly fosters kittens, which helps, as all her resident cats seem to be very maternal.

I'm guilty too! Foster fail on family of 5 in 2013, and another "fail" now where we're keeping mama and 1 baby. Have 2 kittens being adopted as a pair. Household resident total will now be ELEVEN. Rationalization of the fails is primarily having to socialize semi feral moms. Couldn't just TNR, esp when we've had coyote sightings in our yard.

U have a spare room for them and keep extra dog cages to put up if they need them. I rescue on my own and a well to do lady adopts them through a rescue here for me. I also foster for another rescue but only special needs kitties. I would say the experience I have had with the declaw is they tend to be more timid and scared. If u have a small space kittens are good, or even just 1 as any helps. I keep mine in the room and then they get to come out once my cats can't take it anymore and must see them. I have 1 who can't come out unless my door is shut bcz she peed on my bed bcz she was scared (twice). The others all mingle in and interact with my 6 and my 4 dogs so they are well socialized. By the way 4 of mine were foster failures, 3 are related and I kept 1 bcz he's incontinent and his mom and brother for support (I love them all but I realize now he did NOT need them). I think it is wonderful u want to foster as it helps so much, and they have a better chance at a home.