Page 2 | Foster cat got adopted today

Original poster

Catt1sh · 04/12/2025 20:03

Thanks so much, all these comments are setting me off again 😭

OP posts:

Thatsanotherfinemess1 · 04/12/2025 21:38

I'm a failed cat fosterer for a local rescue, we cared for lots over several years but had to stop when the unhomable ones reached 5 as I just couldn't keep any more (and these 5 permanent residents are a ragtag lot)! At first I was sad to see the fosters go, but the homes were always great (and I had the final say) and it meant I had room to take the next one/s. The trick is never to have a gap as the next little soul will need you just as much as the last one and you'll make a huge difference to that life too. I didn't keep mine separate from the fosters as the frightened new ones took a lot of comfort from the oldies, looking back I should have been more aware of potential infections but we were lucky

Toddlerteaplease · 04/12/2025 21:59

Wow. She is a stunning cat! You’ve done a great job OP.

Toddlerteaplease · 04/12/2025 22:02

I’ve only done very short term fostering. But I had a couple of wonderful cats that I was really sad to part with. Even though I had only had them for 1-2 nights. My parents volunteered to take one of them to the rescue early, as he’d have been. Foster fail other wise. He was a stunning lovely boy.

Hapagirl48 · 04/12/2025 22:07

You sound like such a lovely person. Once kids are out of the house and I don't have any pets (I currently have a cranky cat and excitable dog), I plan to foster cats.

EmpressaurusKitty · 04/12/2025 22:30

You’re doing a wonderful & much-needed thing, @Catt1sh, and feeling like that is completely normal.

I fostered 9 cats over 2 years and I was in floods of tears when my first foster left.

It helps if you can get into the attitude of always thinking forward to the next one who’s going to need your care. I always waved mine off with a couple of their favourite toys & a crocheted blanket & I still get updates from a lot of the adopters, which is great.

Some were harder to say goodbye to than others, but the 9th cat turned out to be My Cat & not going anywhere. Since I’m in a one-bedroom flat, that ended the fostering. I’m now helping the rescue in other ways. But please, keep on doing it as long as you can - you’re really changing lives.

coffeeandflipflops · 04/12/2025 22:54

I adopted a cat that was fostered. She was my best friend for 16 years. I loved her with all my heart. Thank you for doing what you do.

Ijwwm · 05/12/2025 00:54

Oof, this thread has really hit the Cat Love section of my brain! You’ve done a totally amazing thing.

Try to take comfort from the fact that, firstly, she had time spent with a loving carer rather than being in a pen at a rescue. And that she has then gone on to a whole house which she will take over, rule the roost and be totally loved in.

I have much admiration for fosterers, thank you all for helping every single cat on its way to a new life.

bodyofproof · 05/12/2025 01:04

I adopted a cat that was fostered (in a pen not her home) and I kept her updated for a few weeks. When I had some cat food he wouldn’t eat I asked if she wanted it and she came to pick it up and visit him which I think made her really happy to see how he had settled down a year later

sparkleghost · 05/12/2025 02:07

This is such a sweet thread. You’ve done such a lovely thing OP! And it’s so heartwarming seeing all the kind and supportive replies 💗

EmpressaurusKitty · 05/12/2025 06:42

Also, @Catt1sh, if it helps - in all that time I only had one foster who isn’t still living very happily with the people who adopted him from me.

And in his case, he had to return to the rescue briefly because of trouble in the family - but he was then readopted & is now living his very best life. They really do adapt & thrive in new homes.

Jllllllll · 05/12/2025 16:58

it must be so hard. How you’re feeling is perfectly normal. She will have the best life and you can hopefully foster again once you feel up to it and give another cat a chance it wouldn’t otherwise have. 🥰

CatServant2020 · 05/12/2025 18:25

Hi OP, I,ve also fostered. Handing back the first one was the hardest (although they all are a little bit).

What helped me was the night before they left I explained to them what was happening, I told them that I loved them but a nice new family had chosen them because they loved them. I also explained that as much as i loved them that if I kept them then I wouldn't be able help other kittens in need like I was able to help them when they needed it, usually I was in tears giving the "talk".

I know the kittens wouldn't have understood what I was saying but it helped me to verbalise it with them.

Hopefully you will be able to foster again in the future, it's so rewarding seeing the little furry heart stealers/breakers blossom in to the cat they are meant to be and to trust humans, there's no better feeling than the first time they purr or come to you to ask for attention. Fosters always always have a little place in your heart but you will also have a little place in their heart ❤️

EmpressaurusKitty · 05/12/2025 18:39

CatServant2020 · 05/12/2025 18:25

Hi OP, I,ve also fostered. Handing back the first one was the hardest (although they all are a little bit).

What helped me was the night before they left I explained to them what was happening, I told them that I loved them but a nice new family had chosen them because they loved them. I also explained that as much as i loved them that if I kept them then I wouldn't be able help other kittens in need like I was able to help them when they needed it, usually I was in tears giving the "talk".

I know the kittens wouldn't have understood what I was saying but it helped me to verbalise it with them.

Hopefully you will be able to foster again in the future, it's so rewarding seeing the little furry heart stealers/breakers blossom in to the cat they are meant to be and to trust humans, there's no better feeling than the first time they purr or come to you to ask for attention. Fosters always always have a little place in your heart but you will also have a little place in their heart ❤️

This is really lovely, @CatServant2020.

I fostered two sisters who went to one of my friends, so I still see them sometimes & they always come straight up for a fuss.

SandyY2K · 11/12/2025 22:48

Catt1sh · 04/12/2025 14:11

She got picked up 50 minutes ago and I haven’t stopped crying. I can’t go upstairs because she isn’t there and it’s breaking my heart. All of her toys and bed are there and I can’t bring myself to move them but seeing them is making me so sad.

I know this is a happy situation, and I am so happy for her. But I am first of all worrying about her because she was so scared when I put her in her crate and handed her over, she hid under her blankets. Even though she’s going to a brilliant home and will have a great life, she doesn’t know that in this moment and right now is feeling scared, stressed and confused. And I hate knowing that she’s feeling like that.

Also I will miss her so much. I don’t think I can do this again. It’s my first foster and I feel genuine grief right now. Has anyone fostered before and felt like this? Or can anyone just offer a hand hold and some nice words? 😭

I used to foster cats. It can be really sad when they get adopted especiallythe nice ones, but I got used to it. It was hard when my foster cat had kittens and after they were weaned they got adopted. The kids missed them a lot.

I just look forward to the next set. I usually got 2 or more at a time.

I found it nice seeing the different personalities of all the cats.

Orangechoc83 · 07/01/2026 10:47

I'm currently going through the same thing now. A cat showed up at my property 6 weeks ago, very hungry etc but very skittish around people, I fed him every day, bought him an insulated cat house which he spent 24/7 in as he wouldnt come inside. I was going out putting hot water bottles in his house to get him through the cold weather. He became less and less skittish and yesterday he let me stroke him for the first time and I definitely built up a bond with him. He has a funny eye which needs vets attention ASAP and a local kitty rescue came out last night and managed to trap him and took him to a foster carer and he's going to the vets on Friday. I am absolutely heartbroken because he let me stroke him yesterday after 6 weeks and now he's gone, feel like I betrayed him but have to keep telling myself that although he's likely scared in his new place now, he'll get used to it and will warm up to his foster carers, he's in the best place. I couldn't keep him as I already have a cat and couldn't afford 2 cats at the moment. Although I am heartbroken, HE is in the best place for him. ❤️

Orangechoc83 · 24/01/2026 22:48

Update: my mum has adopted him 😁