Does anyone have any experience fostering kittens?

[Maxwellthecat]

My and DH are really interested in fostering kittens but we would love to hear some peoples experiences of this first.

We are in an ideal position as we have no children, a spare room, a secure garden and the way our shifts work there is usually someone in the house. We understand it will be hard work and are willing to get up to do night feeds etc but I can't help but feel we may have missed something.
We have two cats but we would keep them separate by creating a 'kitten room' in the spare bedroom.
We have no plans to have children and this is something I would like to invest a lot of time and energy into.
Our local Cats Protection is no longer taking in any cats as they are so full and I know kitten season is coming up so I feel I could really help.

So tell me your stories, should I do it????

Contact your local CP and have a chat with them. The one I volunteer at are short of fosters at the moment as I'm sure most shelters are so I'd say do it! CP provide the essentials for you ie. food, litter, any medication.
There's a few people on here who foster and no doubt have some stories.

*fosterers even

You sound perfect. Any of your local shelters would be grateful for your help I'm sure. It's not normally necessary to do any feeds as the mother cat comes with the kittens. All you need to do is keep them in a safe room and socialise the kittens by handling/playing with them.

Occasionally there are orphaned kittens or kittens from mothers with problems producing milk and they will need hand rearing. But this is a specialist job and a newbie fosterer wouldn't be given something like that.

The kittens need to stay in foster until they are ten weeks old when hopefully mum and kittens will go for homing.

I hand reared dozens of kittens about 20 years ago! Rehomed lots of bigger kittens and a few puppies!!
Emotional journey.

Lack of sleep is to be considered!
Well worth it tho!!

I foster for my local branch of CP - and I think they'll bite your hands off! You sound perfect. Go for it!

Thanks everyone! I'm really excited.
My only concern is my own cats, does anyone that has done it have their own cats?
We thought we could just keep them in a separate room and be extremely vigilant but am I being nieve?

Yes exactly. You just keep them in a separate room. It should be fine

i foster for a cat rescue .
i usually do feral kittens, who come to me at around five to six weeks old, and are at mine for taming socialising and friendlying, these usually come with a multi level cage which is handy as they cant go and hide under the sofa,
i have three cats of my own, and the last mom and kittens i fostered was only two weeks ago, i have a spare room too, and what i do with moms and kits is keep my lot and mom seperate to start with as my cats are fine but the moms get protective,
but by the time the kittens are around 7 -8 weeks they are getting more independent and adventurous so i leave the bedroom door open and leave it up to them how much interaction they want with mine, usually by 11 weeks when they go back to the centre they are all mingling and all friends,
the way i look at fosering is the cats and kittens do not belong to me
they belong to the rescue
they are on holiday at my house
they will get all the love, food comfort they need at mine
i am then sending them off on their new adventure
and someone else will get the lifetime of food, litter, and vet bills,
some kittens though are harder to take back they will worm their way into your heart
so if you go for it dont be surprised to find yourself the owner of one more cat (as in a mommy) or kitten many people become failed fosterers lol

our rescue does an induction day for prospective new fosterers and makes sure first fosters are nice easy ones,

Haha I have a feeling it won't be me but DH who'll have trouble sending them on their way, he's a crazy cat lady at heart.
thanks for sharing Issey that makes me feel a bit more relaxed about the idea, I think it will work well for us as we have lots of time and energy and would prefer to help lots of cats rather than just adopt a couple.
I'll keep everyone up to date with how it goes and obviously share pics if I get any kittens x

and be prepared for how addictive having kittens in the house is, when mine go back to the centre its too quiet and grown up and i start scanning the emails looking for litters or kittens that are suitable for our house , i dont do pregnant ones not experienced enough for that other fosterers only do pregnant ones