6 Reasons Why You Should Foster a Kitten Right Now
May 24, 2017
Guest Post: Alexandra Birr (Editor)
It’s May, and we are well into the beginning of what rescue organizations have affectionately named “Kitten Season!” This is the time of the year when many stray cats are giving birth, causing rescue organizations to be flooded with requests to take in a pregnant mother, or an entire litter of new kittens. Many organizations are unable to keep up with the number of requests, and rely on the help of foster parents to take the kittens into their homes until they’re ready for their forever families. If you’ve never fostered an animal before, kittens are the perfect place to start!
1. Kitten fostering is a low time commitment
Many people may be wary of fostering because they worry that they will have a cat for a long time, with no end date. Perhaps they’re daunted as well by the idea of adopting a cat who will be their companion for many years to come! Not so, with kittens! Kittens, as is easy to imagine, get snapped up as soon as they’re available for adoption. Foster parents will usually keep the kittens until they are old enough that they’ve been fixed and have had their first round of shots. If your spring is rather uneventful, you can foster a pair of kittens during this busy season, and then likely have your home cat-free (or sadly cat-less! L) within a month or two.
2. Kitten fostering is a low financial commitment
Owning a pet can become very costly. Food, supplies, vet check ups, illness, vaccinations… However with fosters, most rescue organizations will cover all the costs of your foster’s vet bills, and many will even buy food and litter if need be! What these organizations often lack the most is warm, loving home where the kittens can get the attention they need to grow into happy, healthy cats—that’s where you step in!
3. So small!
Perhaps you don’t have much extra room in your home, and a pair of adult cats might seem a bit cramped. Luckily for you—did you know? Kittens are very small! ;D They won’t be too confined, even in an apartment. To them, the chair legs are a jungle gym, the couch is a mountain, and the trash can is a vast canyon to root around in—er, wait, no, I didn’t mean that last one.
4. So cute!
Need I say this one? There is a reason why kittens get snatched up so quickly. Instead of fruitlessly attempting to do justice to just how cute these furry foster babies can be, here are some pictures of my (recently adopted!) foster kitties.
5. You can see how a cat will fit into your environment
Foster organizations have a term for when your foster cat somehow turns into your forever cat… “foster fail.” :) Perhaps you are actually already looking for a new addition to your family! Maybe you already have a cat and would like to see how a new kitty gets along with the older one, or you have kids and want to see if they’re up to the responsibility of owning a pet. A foster is a great way to see if the kitten is a good fit—and if it’s not, you’ve given it a loving home on its way to its forever home!
6. You’re saving a life
Fostering may not seem like a big deal, but to that one or two or three little kittens that you fostered, it’s the biggest deal in the world. Fostering saves the kitten from the streets, and from staying in a shelter where—at their young age—they are more liable to become ill. You also have the opportunity to properly socialize the kitten, so that he will grow up into a happy adult cat for the rest of his life!
If you have a little room in your home and a lot of room in your heart, consider fostering a kitten this season. If I haven’t convinced you, maybe Bert will. :)
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