fostering cats

[maxey34]

Hi, have been thinking for a week or two about fostering cats? I don't have any of my own but grew up with them and miss having cats around. I have read that some rescues provide a pen in the garden for the cats to be kept in but how does this work? It seems a bit cruel but I'm not sure we could foster cats successfully in the house as I have a small dog who is a bugger for chasing cats. He wouldn't harm them,but still,not ideal for any potential foster cat:) I was hoping that perhaps someone could point me in the direction of reputable rescues please that foster cats out using pens? I have looked on the Cats Protection website,but can't find any info on fostering so am thinking that they don't use them? Is this correct?
Any advice with regards to fostering and these garden pens would be great:)

There are at least a couple of regular posters here who either foster themselves or are involved in it, maxey - just hang on until they see your post and can advise.

Where, roughly, do you live?

Where in the country are you OP? Fostering with pens in gardens is usually only used for feral cats - and these would generally be long-term fosters for feral cats that need particular care and can't go to farms or similiar. Maybe they are blind, or deaf or a bit disabled for example. Even then they would normally be expected to have access to the garden eventually.

Most short-term fostering is of mothers with kittens - until the kittens are old enough to be homed. These would not be in outdoor pens but in a spare room in the house, which they would generally be confined it. Even feral mother with kittens would be fostered in this way as the fosterer would need to spend a lot of time interacting with the kittens to ensure they become tame. If you have a spare room then it wouldn't matter if you have a dog or not.

Thanks for replies:) Sorry,I live in Dorset,forgot to mention that!! That makes sense with regards to the garden pens. It did seem a bit much to expect a cat to live outside that was used to a house. I thought maybe I was being a bit precious I don't have a spare room sadly so would that rule me out in terms of fostering? I could confine them to my room when needed and at other times let them have the run of upstairs as I could easily prevent my dog from going upstairs. Would this be workable in some instances? I guess that wouldn't stop the cat from going downstairs over the stair gate if it wanted to though as I couldn't confine it to my room at night

Unfortunately maxey that wouldn't work as the cat, and of course the kittens if you were fostering a mother, would be able to get downstairs and so into the path of the dog.

When mother and kittens are first fostered they are generally kept in a queen cage until the kittens are about 3 or even 4 weeks old. A queen cage is basically a large wire pen. You could certainly put one of those in your room but they would need to go somewhere else when they got old enough to start running about. However charities are often so pushed for space, particularly in kitten season, that this could be a big help. You would need to spend time handling the kittens to make sure they become accustomed to people. If that appeals to you you could contact any of your local cat rescues to see if you can help.

Yes, maxey. Why not contact your local shelters and see if you can help. There are lists on catchat - go to 'find a shelter' and click your county.

\link{http://www.catchat.org/\catchat}

Be completely frank with them about your home situation - they'll likely want to come out and give you a home check anyway. You never know but that there might be ways you can help even if your situation proves unsuitable, eventually, for a foster.

Thankyou for the replies,much appreciated:) I will contact my local shelter. It sounds as though my set up may not be suitable for fostering sadly but maybe other ways I can help. cozietoesie I would love a resident cat!! But I would prefer an adult cat and have been told that because I have a dog that shows exitement where cats are concerned,not many adult cats would tolerate that(understandably!!) and I would struggle to find a rescue that would allow me to adopt:(
Fostering seemed like a nice solution as I could keep the dog away from the garden pens if these were widely used,but I now know they are not. Thanks for the guidence though:)

I have seen the odd listing on the Battersea website that specifically say that the cat would be a great choice if you have a dog so they are out there. I'd say get yourself registered with your local rescue and ask them to let you know when a suitable cat comes in.