Considering fostering kittens? What are the challenges, requirements, and benefits?

Fostering kittens is more than feeding and caring for them over a period of time. Fostering plays an important role in the growth and life of a cat. It helps with socialization and prepares cats to be adopted into their forever homes. It’s kind of like a cat internship.

My guest on this episode is Summer Preuit, the kitten fostering coordinator at The Cat House in Lincoln, NE.  Summer discusses foster parent requirements and preparation, including having a proper environment for fostering. She also talks about the supplies needed for fostering kittens. Summer discusses the challenges of fostering and benefits of fostering (for cats and the fostering person). She includes a fostering success story about a mother cat that lost her kittens paired with kittens that lost their mother.

Finally,  Summer lists several resources if listeners want more information about fostering.

https://thecathouse.org/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

This is the Hissing Feline Podcast, a weekly program that is about everything cats. The Kissing Feline features experts and other cat aficionados who share their knowledge and perspectives about dealing with felines. From strays and ferals to adoption, health, and cat psychology. We hope the topics give you helpful and interesting insight into the world of cats. Now, here is the host of the hills in feline, Clark Freer.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Fostering cats is more than just feeding and caring for them over a period of time. It plays an important role in the growth and life of a cat. It helps with socialization and prepares cats to be adopted into their forever homes. It's kind of like a cat internship. I want to welcome Summer Fruit to the hissing feline today. She's the kitten fostering coordinator at the Cat House in Lincoln, Nebraska. Summer, thank you very much for joining me today on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Hello, and thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Given the number of kittens the shelter sees, it sounds like handling kitten fostering is a big responsibility.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Yeah, I would say we at our shelter probably see uh roughly a hundred kittens coming through on an annual basis, sometimes more, sometimes less.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

The cat house has been around almost 30 years. It started in 1998. What prompted starting it and uh the mission of the organization?

SPEAKER_02 1:33

So I wasn't around at the beginning, um, but I do know a couple of the founders, and our mission statement is providing a safe no-kill shelter and adoption facility for cats in the Lincoln, Nebraska area. I joined when we were in our Q Street location, which was a rented building, and we had a lot of partitions in the building, and it was kind of dark and dreary and just not a great setup for us. So uh I want to say maybe 10 years back or so, we purchased our own building that's here on O Street in Lincoln, Nebraska. Uh so it's front and center in our city, and it's just it's built for the cats. We built it from, well, the building existed, but we re-modeled everything on the interior. And our goal with that was so that all the cats either had window or they had light coming into their room from a window.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

And from what you've told me, it's a pretty nice facility. And yeah, you would get tourists, you would get tourists that come in and look at your facility.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Um, we are open every Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. and then on Sundays from 1.30 to 4 p.m. for the public. But you can always contact us uh either through our website at thecathouse.org or by phone and then uh schedule a tour with us.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

There are different categories of fostering, for what I understand. Uh, what are those uh different types of uh foster programs?

SPEAKER_02 3:06

So broadly we split our foster program into long-term and short-term, which we've already covered, but more specifically in the short-term arena, uh I sort my fosters into groups of kittens. Uh we have bottle babies, which are the kittens that need care around the clock every three hours. We have mothers with babies, pregnant cats, and then feral kittens.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Now, foster parenting is not just as simple as, oh, we like the kitten that's bringing into our house. There are actually some requirements and preparation that people need to do before they foster.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Absolutely. One of the first things that I'll ask prospective foster parents when I'm interviewing is if they have a space dedicated to the kittens. And uh, if you have other pets in the home, obviously that's for the protection of your other pets and the kittens. But also, kittens can be very destructive. So I want to make sure that foster parents are aware of that and that they're able to kind of keep them contained into an area that they know that they can keep clean, easier, or so that kittens don't get lost since they are quite small and crafty. So that's one of the main considerations.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

That's part of the environment, obviously, is the safety of the kitten. Uh, is there any other thing that people need to think of, maybe look around their house to be sure that it's appropriate for bringing in fosters?

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Uh, one of the main issues is teething. So a lot of them are cutting their baby teeth, and so you don't want to leave cables around because they have that nice gummy texture, and kittens really love chewing on cables. So we use a lot of standard child proofing. So we've got locks on our cabinet doors, we've got the little plugs that go in our outlets so that we're not exposing them to unnecessary risk.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

We have a five-year-old Tabby. She could be very easily six months old. She loves to get into cabinets. We've got child locks on six of our cabinets in the kitchen, obviously below the sink because that's where cleansers and things are, but she'll get into anything she wants to get into things, and so we've got child locks. I feel like we've got a toddler in the house. So those are those are some really important things that you were talking about. When somebody wants to foster uh some kittens, are there some supplies that they will need to do that?

SPEAKER_02 5:31

For our program specifically, we provide all of our food. And the reason that we do that is because, first of all, we want our kittens to be on a high-quality diet to ensure that they're growing. And we also want to make sure that they're on a consistent diet. So when they move from foster into our shelter, we know what we feed in our shelter. So we want to make sure that they're not gonna have stomach upset when they move in. So we provide our food. Um, we also provide most of our supplies, although fosters are welcome to buy some of their own things like dishes, litter pans. Uh a very important thing is to have non-clumping litter. And the reason for that is that kittens inevitably go through a stage where they want to mouth everything, and that clumping litter can get clogged up in their intestines. So non-clump is a must because that will thankfully go right through them when they decide that they need to eat that. So the dishes, uh, you want to make sure they have access to water around the clock. We want to make sure they're getting wet food and dry food, and then that non non-clumping litter.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

We had some friends many years ago that fostered some kids. They were just absolutely adorable. Uh, but there are some challenges of fostering. Uh, what are some of those?

SPEAKER_02 6:53

One of the main things is that they are a lot like children in that they are constantly sick, and that is not a failing on the foster. It's not something that I ever am concerned that you're doing a bad job. It's that they just have very new immune systems, and so every little germ that they come across, they're gonna get a snotty nose or they're gonna have some issues with their stomachs or whatever. So it's very important that if you are fostering for an organization, that you report these symptoms immediately so that we can get the proper vet care scheduled for you. Um, so that that's one of the main considerations is that they just they they routinely get sick. I I think every litter of kittens gets something at some point while they're in foster, and that's expected.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Are there differences between fostering senior cats and kittens? You were mentioning that you have uh two coordinators to those types of things. Uh, are there differences in how those cats are handled?

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Yes, we have very different approaches. So I've never worked in the long-term division, but I do uh work with that coordinator quite frequently. So I know some of the struggles and challenges that she comes across. Uh, one of our major differences is just length of time. I know that our short terms are generally going to be about three months because that's how long until we can get uh their shots and get them spayed, neutered, and any necessary health care. Whereas our long-term fosters, they're generally coming in with some kind of illness, a special diet, something that's going to make them unsuitable for a traditional adoption. And so this is looking at usually a life term.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Do kittens come at a specific time to you? Do you have, I guess they're called neonatals? Uh, do you have kittens that are older or do you have a variety of ages that you have to work with?

SPEAKER_02 8:53

We go for my program, we start at pregnancy. So if a cat is very heavily pregnant, then we will usually just go ahead and let her have those babies. Uh and then we go through about nine to ten weeks. And if they're older than that and they are sociable, then we'll just go ahead and get them fixed and get them into the shelter and they can immediately find their homes. If they are feral, we'll put them into a home to try and get them socialized to human contact.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Do you have problems with feral kittens? Do they uh ultimately become a little more domesticated as they work with fosters?

SPEAKER_02 9:35

So feral kittens are generally our rule is about 12 weeks. If we get them in, even if they've never met a human before 12 weeks old, they'll usually come around. There will be ones that are a little more shy, but they can still be handled. But once they hit about 12 weeks, they start settling into their more adult personality, and it becomes a much larger challenge, which is not to say that they won't come around at some point, but it's a decision that the cat would need to make at that point.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

We had a cat that we adopted and we had her since she was about weeks old. She never really became socialized, but she never really got a got outside of the feral thing. She pretty just trusted us. But when it came to guests coming over, we had the hissing and the lowered ears, those types of things. So I don't know if she was maybe a little past the time when she could be 100% domesticated and she would lose those feral uh characteristics.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Yeah, and just speaking anecdotally, it always seems to be the girls that are a little bit harder to tame down. Boys usually come around quicker. I don't know why, but that's been my experience.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Okay, well, and and she did have a brother, and uh, I guess he was just a love bunny. I mean, he's just a wonderful cat. But we had Sadie and Sadie just like to hiss. I don't know if she just had an attitude with making those uh those things.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

So uh and it's also just very common for them to uh if they come in feral and close to that three-month age, it's really common for them to just pick their person, and that's gonna be pretty much the only person that they're social with.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

That was my wife. She was kind of nice to me, and as she got old, she was she would actually lay in my lap. I'm not sure if I changed or she changed or she just gave up. I'm not sure what it was.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

I call it retiring. I I feel like a lot of ferals they hit a certain age and they're like, this life isn't for me anymore. And they just kind of pick a person and they retire.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

That's good. It's it's also important to make connections. So that's one thing fostering does is it enables the cat to have that socialization.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Yes, absolutely. That is the most important part of fostering. Uh, nutrition and healthcare, obviously, those are valuable pieces, but in order to be a good pet, they need to understand humans, they need to understand how houses work. So a lot of things that we want to do is just expose them to a lot of things when they're young. So the sounds of the vacuum cleaner, the sounds of the dishwasher, and potentially uh children, other household pets such as dogs and cats. So we want to make sure that they're exposed to a lot when they're young and more accepting of it.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

And then it's easier for somebody to adopt them and take them home because now they're used to being around people and uh other pets in the house.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

You're listening to the Hissing Feline podcast. I'm your host, Clark Greer. Today's guest is Summer Pruitt, kitten fostering coordinator at the Cat House in Lincoln, Nebraska. We'll have more about fostering kittens coming up after this break.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

The young couple were dyed in the wool dog people who dreamed of someday having a faithful mutt. Cats were not even on their list. That was until they adopted a timid gray tabby they named Sadie. The cuteness quickly turned into reality when Sadie took charge of the house. The good news was that on her best days, the cat was only slightly difficult. Yet, over two decades, Sadie became a beloved part of the family. The Striped Tornado, Life and Times of a Rotten Cat, is Sadie's story, a memoir that will inspire readers to rise above their challenges, to find companionship and love in the most unlikely places. The Striped Tornado, available on Amazon.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

If you're just joining us, this is the Hissing Feline podcast, a show about everything cats. My guest on today's program is Summer Pruitt. She is the Kitten Fostering Coordinator at the Cat House in Lincoln, Nebraska. There are benefits of fostering, not just to the cats, but also to the person who is fostering them. What are some of those benefits?

SPEAKER_02 14:10

I've been fostering myself since about 2013, and I would say one of the largest benefits to me is just the knowledge I've gained over the years. The more times that you see a certain thing or that you encounter these issues, and it makes it a lot easier not only to like get treatment faster if it's something illness related, but it also makes it so that within the fostering community, I'm able to share that knowledge and help others. One of the other benefits I would say is adoption day. That is my absolute favorite thing. The ultimate goal is to get these kittens into their own homes. And so it always makes me happy if I happen to be at the shelter and see one of the kittens that I've raised choosing their person. That is a very special connection to get a see in person. And we also offer free nail clipping for our alumni at our shelter. So it's wonderful when people bring them back and we get to see how much they've grown over the years. It's a very special thing.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

The whole process of adopting it's got to be very uh satisfying to see kittens that you've worked with, and then, as you say, going home with their forever parents. I think it's it's gotta be really cute. It's probably also, I would think for fostering folks that it might be a little bit sad because they've gotten so used to the kittens.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I've had people come up to me and say, Oh, I would foster, but I would get too attached. I think a lot of people overestimate how connected they will get to these kittens. Each each kitten, I mean, they all kind of start out like little blobs, but as they grow, they do develop their own unique personalities. And sometimes you're gonna click with that personality, and others it's you know, they're gonna get on your nerves or whatever. And they all around that three-month mark start going through their teenage years, and that's when they start getting more aggressive because they're teething, they start tearing into things, they're climbing everything. And so it's very common when they start hitting that three-month mark for my fosterers to start saying, Hey, you got room in the shelter? These guys really need to be out of my house now.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

Some people might have a little concern about fostering. They have this attachment concern that they're gonna get attached, and then there's an expectation that they'll need to adopt those kittens that might prevent some people from fostering. What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_02 16:46

I think it's wonderful when it does happen. We call it a foster fail. And I have one of them myself. I've fostered well over, I would probably say around 200 kittens myself.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

Oh, that's a lot of kittens.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

I have I lost count after a while, but uh I out of all of those hundreds of kittens that have passed through my home and through our program, I've only ever kept one. So it does happen, and when it does, it is a wonderful thing. I have had rarely some people keep their entire litter of like two or three or four kittens, even. And for them it works, and I think it's great when it does happen, but it is not going to be something that you fall in love with every kitten, because like I said, they have their personalities. You're gonna click with them or you're not.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Yeah, but fostering is still a great thing, even if somebody intends on adopting because of that or not. It just gives the kitten some experience and um and connectivity with humans and their surroundings. Now, you were telling me uh when we visited a couple weeks ago a success story of fostering about a mother cat versus kittens and the fact that the mother cat adopted the kittens herself.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Yes, that's the story of Mabel. Uh, Mabel came to us because a woman had bought a property that came with a community of feral cats, and one of those cats was Mabel, and she had had a litter of five or six kittens in a barn, which they thought was walled off with like chicken wire. But a raccoon managed to dig under the fence and get in there, and unfortunately did kill all of her kittens. And she, after having such a large litter, had a lot of milk, and this woman didn't know what to do, so she contacted us. And about the same time, like maybe the day before, I'd gotten notice of three kittens that had been abandoned by their mother. So I was like, How about you bring her over to my house and we'll see what she thinks of these kittens? And it was just love at first sight. The kittens were all about Mabel, and Mabel, like you could see it in her eyes, how meaningful it was to her to have something to love on again.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

Yeah, it's really a great story to see that how cats can actually take on another cat's kittens and raise them. Do you collaborate with other shelters when it comes to uh fostering?

SPEAKER_02 19:20

We do. Um, like I mentioned in the first half, we are a no-kill shelter. And so that does unfortunately mean that we have limits to what we can take in. We only have so many foster homes, we only have so many spaces available in our shelter. So when that happens, we do communicate with other shelters and try to coordinate care, and they do the same with us. Uh, we've gotten kittens and cats in, I think, all the way out from Kearney before. So it's something that the greater Nebraska community of cats all kind of collaborate together. But we frequently work with like the Capital Humane Society here in Lincoln. We also have uh Brave Rescue and Guardians for Felines that we work with frequently. So we all try to do our best by each other to work together for the cats.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

Yeah, collaboration is really important in your community. We obviously have people who listen to the show from all over the country, and they don't live necessarily in the Lincoln, Nebraska area. Can people help the cat house remotely?

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, we have on our website at thecathouse.org, we do have a donate button because we do run on donations, and I can tell you from seeing the bills myself that the amount that we pay to get these kittens healthy does not at all compare to the adoption cost that we're accepting for them. So it is really important to us that we get those kinds of donations, and then also supplies take a cost. So we do have a wish list that's posted on our website as well, and we also have an Amazon wish list at uh the cat house-linkin. And we also have a Chewy wish list under the Cat House.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

If listeners are interested in fostering, whether they live in the Nebraska uh in the Lincoln, Nebraska area or someplace else in the country, what are some resources that people might look to to find out more about fostering? Obviously, they could probably look things up online uh for uh shelters and so forth in the area. Are there some uh are there some resources that you would recommend?

SPEAKER_02 21:34

The one that I hear recommended a lot is the kitten lady. So I know she's on Facebook, I believe on Instagram, she's on YouTube, she has a book. So that I would say she and I align on a lot of our policies. So I would recommend checking her out. Um, I also strongly suggest that if you're gonna foster for an organization, ask them what their needs are because each program is gonna be ran just a little bit differently. I've had fosters that foster for multiple organizations or have switched from a different organization to mine, and we have different rules. So it's very important that you not get locked into what you might have seen online and be open to the feedback from the actual rescue that you're partnering with.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

That's really good information. I appreciate it. Today I've been chatting with Summer Pruitt, kitten fostering coordinator at the Cat House in Lincoln, Nebraska. It's really been great to talk with you about fostering kittens and how it can be a big benefit for cats that help lead to adoption. Thank you, Summer, for being on the podcast today. Yes, thank you so much for inviting me. Tell your friends about the Hissing Feline podcast, follow the program, and leave a review of the show where you listen to the program. Join me for the next episode of the Hissing Feline. Until then, remember to keep curring.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Content on the Hissing Feline podcast is for information and entertainment purposes only. And it's not intended to provide medical, veterinary, or legal advice. Please consult your veterinarian and local and state authorities before dealing with feral and stray cats. Opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily those of Derecho Cat Media LLC. References to products or services do not imply an endorsement. The Histing Feline podcast is a production of Duracho Cat Media LLC and has been blessed by our rescue cats, Bridget and Maddie. All content is used with permission or under fair use.