Fostering a pregnant cat

[Willowcat77]

One of my ambitions in life is to foster a pregnant cat and subsequently the kittens. I'm now at a stage of my life where I have the time and space to do this. Ideally I would like to do this via a charity so I get some advice and help towards cat food and vet's bills etc

I already have two cats - hopefully that won't count against me. I do have many years experience living with cats but none with pregnancy and new born kittens. I live in a very safe rural area in Wales.

I would be interested in hearing any experiences and advice. Is it easy to become a foster carer? Is it better to approach Cat's Protection or a local charity? Would I have to do some kind of training beforehand? Will I need to keep them separate from my own cats? How difficult is it? Thank you! (Pictures of my cats, Larry and Mabel below!)

Hi OP, I've fostered cats for twenty years now, volunteering with three different local (not national) cat rescues. A few weeks ago I took in two heavily pregnant sisters, who've had 11 kittens between them.

Cat fostering is useful and really enjoyable but you do need to have a spare room to confine the cats to (for a while at least) and rescues usually state no other cats. Pregnant cats especially need their own space and a quiet environment. It doesn't matter where you live as foster cats can not go outside.

Pregnant cats and kittens are the easiest to get foster homes for, it's elderly or shy or ill cats that most need foster homes. I'd suggest contacting local rescues though lovely Larry and Mabel might mean they wouldn't consider you. Happy to answer any questions...

Thanks @Kitkitkitty I do have a separate room they could be confined in and be kept apart from my cats.

Did you have to help the mother during the birth process? Is it difficult and would I need training?

How much time do you devote to them after the birth? Any tips for socialising the kittens?

Do you eventually let them into the rest of your house or must they be kept in their own room at all times?

How long do you keep them before they are adopted? Is it hard to let them go? Are you ever tempted to adopt a foster cat/kitten permanently?

Thank you! 😺

Both my current cat mums had an uncomplicated labour, big litters of six each and only one kitten was stillborn. Cats invariably do and human intervention is rarely necessary, infact getting involved, or even too close, is stressful for the cat and can cause problems. A watching brief is usually all that's required but you should read up on all the signs of things not going smoothly so you know when and how to help.

For the first week I have very little to do with the kittens other than to quickly check them over and ensure that they're all feeding well from mum. After that I start gently stroking them and by two/three weeks I'm picking them up everyday. I've never had a cat mum object to this.

By three weeks they're regularly venturing out their boxes and I just hang out in their room a lot, chat to them and pet them. Kitten socialisation is really important and you can get friends to join in, but they still need a calm and safe environment.

I prefer to keep them in one room until they're litter trained as that can be very hit and miss! I don't think it's a good idea to foster if you gave other pets but I know some rescues do allow this.

They stay with me until they are minimum of 10 weeks, usually around 12 weeks. Their mums are neutered before being rehomed. I am always pleased to see them go, a house full of older kittens gets quite chaotic, litter trays are a pain, and I happily hand them to their adopters feeling satisfied at a job well done!

Hi I currently foster started in October and I really enjoy it! Would highly recommend. For you to be a fosterer for where I do it for your cats must be fiv/felv negative, chipped and neutered and have a separate space. Ideally be able to transport to vets, they maybe poorly when they come into you, if they are street cats. Some people do intros to their cats after a while but I think it depends on your cats and also the cat you have in foster. If your south Yorkshire give me a shout as there are 3 places I know looking for fosterers. You can probably find local rescues on Facebook that’s how I found the ones I foster for. They might not give you a pregnant one straight away I have had 3 adults (1 is a foster fail) and 2 kittens so far. You need to be prepared to put time in to socialising and getting them used to people etc but do it if you can it’s amazing