Offering cats a foster home

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The shelter is no place for very young kittens who need regular feeding throughout the day and night and continual monitoring to ensure their health and development and ensure their socialisation.

Offering a foster home to a small kitten may sound like a fun thing to do, but the sad reality is that many kittens are abandoned and found in terrible condition. It is often a question of life or death, and the specialist knowledge and dedication that some of our carers have in dealing with very young and delicate babies is amazing.

Adult cats who need some extra care and attention due to ill health, lack of confidence or maybe just can’t cope in the shelter environment need more individual care than the shelter can provide. Going to a foster home is the best solution in these instances.

That is why volunteers who offer foster homes are so important to us. We are very reliant on these heroes who often also work with us to find permanent homes for their charges so that they do not have to come back to the APROP shelter at all.

When you foster for APROP we will provide everything that you need and a team will support you and provide whatever advice and help you may need.

Offering a foster home can be hard work and challenging but it can also be fun and very rewarding. See the thoughts of some of our volunteers below.

If you think that you have what it takes to offer a foster home, we would love to hear from you.

What some of our foster carers say:

What made you want to offer a foster home to cats and kittens?

Jo: It was our second week at the shelter and two tiny kittens had been brought in, they were so fragile and lost, there was no way we could have left them there in a big pen without anyone to cuddle them warm so we took them home. The babies are often only a few weeks old when abandoned, they are terrified, hungry and usually running with parasites, they come home to Casa Cat to experienced warmth, a full belly, tenderness and most of all love.

Sabine: To help cats (when they have no chance because if they need warm and special food or medicine or they are to small with no Mom) growing up

Jan: I love cats and kittens. My husband said three cats of our own was enough (!) so the only way I could meet the need to love more was to offer a foster home.

What keeps you doing it?

Sabine: I love Cats and here in Spain they are so many cats who need our help and it’s nice to see them growing up and find a lovely home.

Jan: I love them. I love seeing their different personalities and their little ways. I love seeing their confidence grow and their shyness dwindle as they get used to being handled and cuddled.

Jo: … it’s a joy to get updates about how they are getting on in their new homes …growing up and happy.

Do you have pets of your own and what do they think if all the waifs and strays you bring home

Sabine: I have four cats, all rescues from the street. At first they don’t like new cats here, but it takes a little time. It’s better to separate them at first or put them in a big cage so they can smell each other. After they are good together or not – smile ….it’s the same with humans, some people we like, some not.

Have you had a favourite that you were tempted to keep?

Jo: All of them! There was one kitten in particular her name was Nika, I had even renamed her Ursula. She was just a few weeks old when found and she was in such a state, had horrendous eye damage which caused blindness, we bonded immediately and my heart melted every time I saw her.

Sabine: I love and like them all, but four is enough, and I am happy when they find a home.

Jan: Yes lots of them! Self discipline is needed otherwise I would have a houseful!

What has been the sweetest experience with fostering?

Jan: The sweetest is when they start to trust you and jump on your back when you are pooper scooping or climb up your body because they want a cuddle. I love it when they fall asleep on your neck or chest as they can hear your heartbeat and it settles them. They open their eyes and look at you in the most adoring and adorable way.

Sabine: With the smallest and youngest cat I ever had. He needs the bottle with milk and was sooooooo small. This was a huge experience for me.

Jo: Oh my goodness there are so many but I think the one that was the most deliciously cute was when Sara my Siamese new mum decided that the ensuite bathroom was not good enough for her six new born babies and she moved all six teeny weenies into our bed under the covers, I was putting the washing away and I heard this squeaky noise …it was a delightful sight to find five babies in a heap under the sheet then to watch Sara bring in the sixth before setting down to feed them all..I have never been kicked out of my bedroom by a cat before.

What would you say to anyone considering offering to be a foster home?

Sabine: Do it…. Help the cats. They bring you a lot Love back and you feel better………

Jan: Do it. It’s hard work but it is so rewarding. Also remember they are just with you short term until they are found a forever home. It is heartbreaking saying goodbye and I always cry but then you make ready for another injured little soul who needs you.