Fostering Felines

 We have now been fostering tiny felines for a couple of years. It wasn’t planned; it just happened. Like most things, I guess. To be honest, the concept had never seemed like a possibility for us. Even when we adopted our first cat from our then neighbours who were fostering cats, dogs and pretty much any other animals you can think of, even then we never thought we could ever do it ourselves!

Vader

But fast forward four years when one day one of our new neighbours asked if we could look after a couple of her foster kittens for a week or so, and we just said ‘yes’. This means that our first two fosters were really just a small babysitting affair. And after that it started to feel more and more natural to say ‘yes’.

Although, to be truthful, to have any more than 2 foster kittens in the house at once never seemed like something we would be able to do, or perhaps even want to do. And at first, we never had more than two at a time. The most we had in our first year was the Fab Five. They, however, were already booked, so there really wasn’t much to worry about. Just making sure we counted 5 every night😉

So, yes, for quite a while it was no more than 2 at a time, maybe 3 at a stretch. Until one day a corner in our kitten room looked like this:

The sextet. Which became septet. And then – you guessed it – octet.

What can I say, if you sometimes feel, like Quiz Kid Donnie, that you have lots of love to give but just don’t know where to put it – little felines will provide an ample receptacle for all of it!

I started writing this blog because I wanted to document our journey with our fosters. To write down a couple of things we’ve learnt on the way, with a few rants thrown in for good measure, possibly. But more importantly, I’m hoping this will help us not to forget them. For instance, recently we counted 61 fosters, but it is entirely possible that we have left a couple out of the count. So I thought that if I made this here an obligation for myself, it just might go a little way towards making me keep better record of them. And then, admittedly somewhat presumptuously, I thought that if I shared our experience with a few readers, some of them might become interested in fostering. Because it truly is a highly rewarding experience. It is not always fun and games (and I’ll get to that in future posts), but most memories you make are sunny and joyful. And when you see a formerly reluctant, reticent, or rowdy kitten come out of their shell and expose their sweet and soft side – your heart will melt!

Yes, you might feel happy, relieved, proud; you might even feel like you’ve accomplished something when you have a kitten purring on your lap for hours on end, after having hissed and spat at you for the first week of your acquaintance. So, if the aforementioned feelings appeal to you – go for it😊

Of course, fostering is easy when you work from home – the kittens are a welcome distraction now and again, and your lunch break is never boring, that’s for sure. They say you should spend at least 15 minutes playing with your cat every day. Who ‘they’ are I don’t know, but 15 minutes seems a bit meagre to me, to be honest, especially when it comes to kittens. So we try to get at least a couple of half-hour play sessions in daily. And then there’s cuddling, of course.

People often ask if it’s hard to say goodbye to the kittens when they leave for their forever homes. Of course it is. And it’s a lot harder with some than others. Some of them manage to burrow to the very bottom of your heart (and it’s often the ‘difficult’ ones - perhaps because you’ve had to spend more time with them, or put more effort in; or else it’s the ones that have stayed longer than average; or those with whom you have just clicked for no specific reason). But it is reassuring to see them leave with good people (and people who adopt rescues usually tend to be of that kind). Yes indeed, it is cockle-warming to imagine them becoming fully fledged family members somewhere over the rainbow😊.

So, again: why foster? Well, first of all, you actually get to help a few little someones in need! And that is a mighty feeling. And, to be honest, letting them go in the end is one of the best parts of this process. Of course, it is loaded with sweet sadness - you have had the privilege to witness their first tentative steps in their life with humans, you have been their first human friend, but you also get to pass the baton to people who are very eager to meet and love those little creatures. In other words, fostering offers great lessons in non-possessive love - letting go is the final and perhaps even the most important act of love on your part.

In addition, by fostering you’ll learn to appreciate the complexities of another species, you’ll witness many myths busted right in front of your eyes, you might even start questioning your own prejudices, superstitions and other crippling factors in your relationship with the natural world.

And to top it all, there’s a chance that one day a kitten might enter your life that looks like this:

or this:

or they may come in pretty bundles:

And your days are brighter.

In the end, it’s very simple – with foster kitties you’ll always have love in your life (and a few beautiful places to put it, too😉).