What is required of me as a foster parent?

Providing a safe, ‘kitten-proofed’ room in your home that contains the kittens’ necessities; food, water, bedding, litter box, toys, etc.  You are responsible for ensuring that your kitten receives any scheduled medical treatments on time, is healthy, and well socialized. 

I found a litter of kittens.  Can I foster them through your program?

Yes, with approval and appointment. We will try to work with you on setting an appointment if you are the foster parent. If you cannot foster this litter it may take us some time to find a foster home. We will do our best to work with you.

What are the requirements for a foster room?

The foster room needs to be a designated place for your foster kittens to live the entire time.  SSHS recommends a bathroom for ease of cleaning. A spare bedroom, or other room could work as well. This room will need to be ‘kitten-proofed’ and have plenty of space for a litter box, food and water dishes, as well as sleep and play areas. 

What supplies do I need to provide myself?

SSHS will provide you with a baby bag full of basic medical supplies as well as provide all vaccines and medication necessary for your kittens.   We also have food, bowls, litter, aluminum litter pans and a few toys available for foster kittens. 

How much do I need to supervise my foster group?

You need to do welfare checks on your foster group three times a day.  This is to make sure everyone is healthy, eating, and using the litter box.  You need to spend about 1-2 hours per day interacting with your foster group so that they become well socialized. 

Can my foster kittens and mom cat interact with my resident pets?

You must wait at least two weeks before introducing vaccinated foster kittens to your resident pets. You cannot introduce unvaccinated kittens to your resident pets until five days after the kittens receive their first vaccines. If your kittens or resident pets are sick, they cannot interact with each other. You must supervise all interactions between your kittens and resident animals. 

Can my children interact with the foster kittens?

We encourage your children to have supervised interaction with foster kittens.  Children should not be permitted to handle newborn kittens.  Caution and direct supervision is a must! 

Do I need to give my own vaccines? Can I learn?

The foster coordinator will be in touch with you the week that vaccines are due. We encourage foster parents to learn to give vaccines and can show you how.

If my foster kittens get sick do I take them to my own vet?

All veterinary care will be provided through SSHS. Foster parents are not permitted to seek veterinary care from outside clinics.  Any visits to outside veterinarians that are not pre-approved will be the financial responsibility of the foster parent. 

What do I do if my own cats get sick?

Your kittens should be kept separately from your resident cats.  However, we do recognize that cross contamination can happen.  If your own cats get sick it is your responsibility to seek veterinary treatment.  In some instances, SSHS may be able to help you by seeing your cat and prescribing medications for specific conditions.  However, this is not possible for us to do all of the time and you should not count on this service. Remember there is always an inherent risk of disease when you bring new animals into your home. This is why we require that all animals in the home are currently on vaccinations.

Do my resident pets have to be up to date on their vaccines?

For everyone’s protection and safety your resident pets are required to be up to date on vaccines. 

What if I have to leave town unexpectedly?

Contact the foster coordinator as soon as possible so that we can find alternate placement for your kittens. If you have a trusted family member or friend that is willing to help care for the kittens, that would work out well too!

Overview of Key Responsibilities and Policies

To ensure a successful foster program, we ask that you follow our general policy guidelines to ensure that each foster home is responsibly providing a wonderful home for these kittens to grow up and explore the world in. To this effect, you will want to keep in mind the following: 

1. Keep cats/kittens inside at all times.

2. Cats/kittens should be in a carrier at all times when leaving the house.

3. Keep doors/windows closed at all times, unless covered with a screen that is securely in place. The window should only be open no more than 1 inch with a support in place so the window cannot be opened any further. A frightened cat/kitten can escape through the tiniest holes!

4. If a cat/kitten does manage to get outside, you must attempt to get the cat/kitten back inside immediately. If you delay, the cat/kitten may get frightened and run away, decreasing your chances of getting the kitty back inside. Do not chase the cat/kitten as this may make him/her run further away from your home. The easiest way to get your mother cat back to your home is to put her kittens in a secure carrier by the door or window that she went out. The kittens should cry for her, and her maternal instincts will kick in bringing her back to them. Often mother cats will come back in to the house or foster room to be with the kittens. If this is not working, you can also place her litter box outside your door so she will smell where she needs to come back in. Most mother cats were strays and are familiar with being outside, but that does not mean that they all have 'street smarts'. Some will hide and be scared as soon as they get out. Look under bushes, decks, foundations, etc. If the mother cat is injured, she may be silently hiding so as to not attract predators. If you cannot get the kitty yourself within 1-2 hours, call the shelter to determine a strategy to recapture the kitty.  

When fostering a mother cat who has not tested positive for FeLV or FIV, it is important to keep her and kittens separated from your other animals for at least two weeks to ensure they are healthy. A seemingly fine cat can become ill due to stress from a move.  Foster kittens must not be introduced to your resident cats unless your resident cats are indoor only cats.  Kittens must be vaccinated for more than 5 days before they can meet any of your household pets and these visits should be limited and supervised. Food dishes, water bowls, and litter boxes must be picked up so they do not use each other’s boxes or bowls, or they should meet in an area where litter boxes and food/water dishes are not present 

Kitty-Proofing Your Foster Room and Home

Cat-proofing and especially kitten-proofing your home is much the same as child-proofing it!  That means hiding or removing cords, removing small items that kittens can choke on, etc.  

To begin, your foster room should be COMPLETELY cleared out and only consist of basic cat necessities (i.e bed, food, water, litterbox, and toys).  This means removing all toiletries and decorative items from the bathtub, counters, or any other surface the kittens can access. Kittens love to play with anything they can get their paws on and could be injured by heavy or sharp items.

Make sure to put your baby bag in a separate room.  Please do not leave it out for your foster kittens to get into as the items inside can be very dangerous to them. 

Once your kittens are vaccinated and clear of any illness , you may decide to have them visit other areas of your home or interact with your resident pets. These visits should be short and well supervised. DO NOT give the kittens free reign of your home unsupervised. They can get injured, lost, have accidents outside the litter box, etc. 

Before introducing your kittens to other areas of your home, please do a thorough walkthrough, and keep the following concerns in mind:

• Kittens might chew on electrical cords resulting in burns or even death. Protect your electrical cords with plastic tubing or by spraying them with “Bitter Apple”, a bitter tasting deterrent that you can find at pet stores.

• Kittens can choke on small items. Keep rubber bands, paper clips, needles, – anything kitty can swallow – out of reach.

• Keep plastic bags, which can cause suffocation, out of reach.

• Secure any heavy items that could fall and potentially injure them.

• Refrain from using any hot appliances while the kittens are out. Kittens are naturally curious and could get burned.