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Fostering-A-Cat....

Children aren't the only creatures who need foster parents. Cats and kittens need a temporary home to save them from living at a shelter, being euthanized, or living the harsh life of a stray animal. Fostering provides many homeless cats and kittens the opportunity for a second chance at life – literally. A big part of what Saved Whiskers Rescue Organization, Inc. does involves fostering cats until permanent homes can be found for them. A cat can be in foster care for as little as a few days or as long as year. By being a foster parent, you provide a safe, healthy, yet temporary home for an animal in need, and as soon as an adoptive person can be found to give the animal a permanent home, the animal leaves your home.

Foster parents have saved many animals from a painful and dangerous life on the streets, and by having a place to live until they're adopted, the animals are saved from the euthanasia they'd face in animal "shelters". Most of the cats and kittens are turned into our rescue due to medical or behavioral problems, or because the novelty of the kitten or cat has worn off, while others were strays living an uncertain life in a dangerous environment. The foster parents provide security, love and someplace for the cats and kittens to call home temporarily. Foster parents truly are life savers, and all it takes is a spare room, a little time, and lots of compassion.

So if you're not sure you can take on a pet full time, or if you have pets of your own and would like to help other animals find their own loving homes, fostering may be for you! If you have no previous cat experience, we will match you with a low-maintenance, friendly feline and provide you with all the information you will need to care for him or her. If you have cat experience, you may consider taking a "special needs" cat or kitten. These are animals that need short-term medication or who need to be socialized or re-socialized (We always need people with experience taminig feral kittens or semi-feral cats). In addition, we often need long-term foster homes for Feline Leukemia, FIV or FIP positive cats. These homes should have no non-Feline Leukemia, FIV or FIP cats in residence, as these viruses are transferrable to cats (but not to humans or other animals).

We are always in need of reliable foster homes. If fostering sounds like something you'd like to do, please e-mail Pam at SavedWhiskers@aol.com. She can give you all the details and help you decide if fostering is right for you. The rewards of being a foster parent are tremendous! You are giving the cat and kitten a second chance at life and a warm cozy place to call their own while they await their new home. That is reward in and of itself!

IN ORDER TO FOSTER, YOU MUST HAVE:

  • A secure, cat-proofed indoor environment (this means no hiding places inaccessible to humans such as holes in walls, and no access to objects or substances harmful to cats). Foster cat cannot be permitted to go out, so your windows and doors must be securely screened in.
  • A schedule that allows prospective adopters to make appointments to see the cat.
  • Approval and co-operation of landlord (if necessary), roomates or other household members.
    Other animals (if you have any) that will tolearate a new cats.
  • Ideally, a room with a closing door where the foster cat can be confined and accesible to you until it becomes relatively acclimatized. This is especially important in the case of feral kittens or semi-feral cats wholse first instinct is to run and hide.
  • If possible, the financial ability to provide food and litter for the animal (this eases our finacial burden). However, S.W.R.O. will pay for all vet services and medications, and we can provide supplies if you are on a fixed income or have limited mobility. Remember that you can get VERY attached to foster cats or kittens, and letting them go can be emotionally difficult. In fact, a lot of foster folks end up adopting their foster cats! But there is enormous satisfaction in the job as well, especially with cats that arrive sick and/or feral (and who would have died or been euthanized by the large shelters) and leave helathy and tame to go to a loving home.
Be A Volunteer!

Saved Whiskers Rescue Organization needs volunteer help with:

Fundraising
Foster Homes
Permanent Adoption

Please let us know if you have any special skills to offer.
 
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