Over the years, we've fostered dozens of puppies, dogs, kittens and cats -- and I believe it's one of the best ways we can help animals find forever homes! Fostering is such a needed service and it provides so much for the animals (and us!), including a warm and inviting home, food, and tons of love.
That's why I wanted to highlight some information on fostering cats and kittens today on the blog, especially since it's kitten season here in Nashville! Read on for more information (and adorable kittens!)
Although it may seem like a big undertaking, fostering pets is really easy. Some people choose to integrate the kittens right into their entire home, but since we have three dogs and a grown cat, we choose to keep them separate from our animals.
Here's how we do it!
My husband and I both work from home, so we set up a large dog crate in my office complete with a litter box, food, water and a small box for them to chill out in until they get used to being here (kittens love to hide).
Then, while I'm working during the day, we let them run around and play in my office. We don't like to leave them unsupervised because kittens are notorious for chewing cords so when I leave the office for the day they go back in the crate. They have just as much room in that big crate as they would in a cage at the shelter, and tons of extra play time.
And we, in return, get adorable kitten snuggles and laughs from all their antics - what is better than that!?
When you foster through an animal shelter, you will normally only have them until they weigh enough to be adopted. If you foster with a group, you might have them until they are adopted by a family, so that time frame is sometimes much longer. This is certainly something to consider when deciding who to foster with.
As a foster pet parent, you are also responsible for transportation to the vet or shelter for their medical appointments. The group you foster with will normally provide everything else: food, litter and medications if they need them. And of course if you are willing to provide some or all of these supplies yourself, it's a huge help for the shelters!
There are several groups in the Nashville area who need foster families for cats and kittens. If you aren't local to Nashville, just reach out to your local animal shelter and they can point you in the right direction!
Here are several shelters and organizations in the Nashville area you may be able to foster cats and kittens through:
Williamson County Animal Center
(this is who we currently foster with)
... and that's just scratching the service! :)
All of the images in this post are of kittens we've fostered along the way. If you have questions about what it's like to foster these adorable kittens, comment below! I promise it's an amazing experience -- we're hooked!
And if you are looking to adopt a cat, you might be interested to read our previous post about the Mewsic Kitty Cafe in Nashville!
~ Mandy