Caring for kittens requires a lot of effort. Surrendered kittens often need around-the-clock care, which many animal shelters simply don’t have the time or money to provide. Therefore, they rely on foster families to take kittens into their homes and care for them until they reach a certain age. If you’re trying to decide whether or not to become a foster family, here are three things to consider.
1. Do You Have Extra Space in Your Home? You must have a separate, climate-controlled and cat-proof room in your home. Foster kittens often need to be quarantined because of contagious infections, viruses or parasites. A specially dedicated foster kitten room is especially important if you have other pets in your home. It gives all your pets a sense of security and ensures your little newcomer won't cause damage to your home while you’re away. 2. Do You Have Free Time? Taking care of foster kittens requires a considerable time commitment. For example, you may need to be available as often as every two to three hours during the day as well as overnight to bottle-feed kittens that were taken away from their mothers too soon. You may also need to administer medications to sick kittens multiple times a day. Moreover, a large part of fostering is socialization. Therefore, it’s important to be home frequently to interact with them. The more time you spend with your foster kittens, the more socialized to people they’ll be. 3. Can You Say Goodbye? As a foster family, your job is to care for and provide a safe home for the kittens until they can be adopted into a forever home. Letting go at the end of a foster period can be the hardest part. Therefore, you must ask yourself if you’ll be able to handle this. Furthermore, the sad truth is that rescue kittens are often fragile, so it’s possible for them to become ill and pass away while in your care. Therefore, you must ensure you’re emotionally ready to deal with this reality. If you think you’re prepared to foster kittens, the first step is to contact a shelter and make sure your own pets are properly vaccinated and on prevention prior to fostering as they can very easily contract diseases even if separated. You’ll need to go through a process of being approved to provide a cat foster home. Although foster parents aren’t financially compensated for their work, the shelter usually provides food, medicine and veterinary care.
KITTEN VACCINATION AND VETERINARY CARE NEAR TORONTO
If you’re interested in becoming a kitten foster family or forever family, Bellamy-Lawrence Animal Hospital is here to support you. Our cat clinic provides a range of services, including spaying and neutering, surgical, and dental procedures, vaccinations and more. If your family already has a feline newcomer, don’t delay booking your kitten’s first visit. Contact us for more information or to book an appointment.
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