At Cat Adoption Team (CAT), our foster volunteers are a big part of preparing our cats and kittens for adoption. We are lucky to have more than 130 foster families helping us to care for kittens and cats in their homes. In total, about 600 kittens and 200 adults— including mom cats— receive care and love through our foster homes. Heather, Juanita, and Bruce have been fostering cats and kittens for several years. They took time to share their experiences with us:
CAT: How long have you been involved in fostering with CAT?
Heather C.: I started fostering with CAT in the summer of 2020— it was a very unique time to be new to fostering!
Juanita J.: I have been volunteering with CAT since Sept 2017 and started fostering June 2022.
Bruce B.: We got our first CAT foster kittens in the Spring of 2015.
CAT: What inspired you to start your foster journey?
Heather C.: I’ve been obsessed with cats and kittens my whole life. Some of my happiest memories from childhood involve the family cat. I lived in Eugene for ten years before I moved up to Tigard, and I knew after I became “an adult” that I wanted to help a shelter be able to connect more cats and kittens to their homes! I have always had a calm household, so I love being a place for shy, scared, or brand new babies to have a soft landing before
their new homes. The focus on cats and kittens at this particular shelter doesn’t hurt either!
Juanita J.: I always wanted to foster since volunteering at CAT, but I felt like I didn’t have the space in my home. Well my foster friends at the shelter and a couple dear friends helped me realize I could do it. My kiddo, Atlas, and I decided that Kitten Palooza was the time to try it out. Our Winnie the Pooh crew was our 1st group. The rest is history!
Bruce B.: Besides my lifelong love of cats, I was in between jobs and decided to volunteer at another small cat shelter nearby back in 2009, cleaning cages and such. One morning someone abandoned a tiny kitten, not more than a few weeks old, in a cardboard box in front of the store where the cats were kept. I volunteered to take her home and have never looked back.
CAT: Why do you continue to foster for CAT?
Heather C.: I have found a wonderful community of fellow fosters and volunteers at CAT. I’ve made true friends, as well as received so much support as a foster. I can’t imagine my life now without my rotating cast of guest cats and kittens, and my resident cats are such good ambassadors that I think they would miss having fosters around!
Juanita J.: Oh you couldn’t get me to stop. The ability to make kittens feel more confident, heal from being sick and eventually get to their furrever family makes it all worth it.
Bruce B.: CAT is very well organized and run and they make fostering super easy and are very supportive, even if it’s the middle of the night on a weekend. Of course, getting to love on tiny kittens is also a plus, and the people who work and volunteer at CAT make it a great experience.
CAT: Do you have a meow-morable fostering experience you’d like to share?
Heather C.: Honestly, fostering involves working with cats who are often sick, have behavioral issues, or are very, very young. So a lot of my meow-morable moments are not as happy. However I was working with one of my first very shy kittens, Leto. He was almost a year old but just a baby at heart. He was a tough sell to the world of humans, but I still remember the first time he sat next to me (we weren’t
snuggling, he swears!) and I got rewarded with a nice deep, rumbly purr. The first time I heard him purr, I felt like I received an award. Seeing any kitten hit a milestone or take steps forward is the best part of fostering for sure.Juanita J.: I have so many fond memories of my babies. Each and every one has taught me something new, given me a new skill, or just has shown that with a warm heart you can get them to trust and love. I will say my foster fail (success) Nellie was pretty darn special. This tiny frail little princess was about one pound smaller than she was supposed to be, but absolutely packed a punch with her personality. She was so full of parasites and had no interest in eating. With a wonderful med team backing me, friends to help encourage me, and all the love I could give, she flourished. I couldn’t let her go and she is now a healthy 2 year old.
Bruce B.: Anybody who has fostered kittens for a significant amount of time will unfortunately have to deal with death. Several years ago, I got a mom with five kittens who were not more than a few days old. Within 48 hours, only one of them had survived and she was actively trying to die on me for quite a while. I don’t believe I slept more than 4 hours straight for about a month trying to save this little girl. My efforts eventually paid off and this special kitten is now living her best life with some friends of ours. Not everyone is expected to be capable of this type of effort, but I was glad I was able to be there for her and I will never forget her.
CAT: What advice would you offer to somebody considering fostering?
Heather C.: I promise, you won’t want to keep all the cats or kittens you foster. You’ll find a deep, abiding joy in helping out a cat, or a litter, and sending them off to a family who will spoil them more than you ever could. And then you get to keep helping more cats! Be sure and foster a litter of six kittens and their mom right away and you’ll see what I mean. There’s a very real sense of accomplishment when they “leave the nest”. Also- you don’t need a lot of room to foster! Everyone says it, but it’s true! A small space and a lot of love is all you need!
Juanita J.: First thing: Know you can do it. You don’t need a lot of space, truly a bathroom is enough. Next: Know you can’t keep all the babies, the joy you get in giving the babies to their families will make it all worth it. Finally: Find a support system that works for you. I have had several hard times that I have experienced and with a couple sweet friends I was able to talk, cry and reset. It truly is all worth it, I promise.
Bruce B.: Start simple with a few older, healthy kittens to make sure that fostering fits into your household, lifestyle, and schedule. If you have resident pets then you will definitely need a dedicated, temperature-controlled room where you can keep your fosters. And don’t fall in love, otherwise you’ll eventually own a hundred cats. OK, you’ll fall in love with all of them, but you’ll eventually get used to having them move on to their new homes.
CAT: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Heather C.: I work a full time day job (not cat related) and foster, so I’ll say it’s important to know your limits! Having the support of a shelter community when you foster is critical for this. It absolutely can be done, especially if you enjoy a little bit of chaos!
Juanita J.: The ability that CAT has to train is top notch. I can’t believe the medical skills I have learned, from medicating kittens, to giving vaccines and even tube feeding. I wouldn’t have ever imagined that I could do it.
Bruce B.: Fostering kittens is great fun and very rewarding, but it can also be quite a bit of work at times. Be prepared for the unexpected and to potentially have to sacrifice some sleep every once in a while. Also, no matter how much you kitten-proof your place, they will always find a weakness to exploit.
CAT: Shameless social media foster account plug in 3, 2, 1:
Heather C.: Find me on Instagram at catfostersoutheast but fair warning, I’m by no means an influencer or a social media maven. However, you’ll at least see some cute kittens there!
Juanita J.: nitas_foster_home on IG. I love posting about my babies and giving fun lessons on how to handle little kittens.
Bruce B.: My Instagram account is kittenandflowerguy. (Though I will admit that I don’t post as often as I should.)
If you missed Part 1 of our foster blog, go back and read it right meow! Feeling inspired to foster at your place? Check out the foster page of our website, read about the requirements, and reach out to us via the Foster Interest Form button near the bottom of the page. We’d love to have you as part of our CAT foster community.
