Adoptive and Foster Homes Needed Challenge. Note from Liz Pease, Director of Operations - 10/16/08

Hi all,
As many of you know, times have been pretty tough here in the last month or so in terms of intakes. With the economy being so bad, we are seeing more desperate surrenders than usual—people who are losing their homes or being evicted from their apartments—and we are seeing quite a number of cats dumped at the shelter… cats like Monday, who was left at our front door in a carrier, or Cider Donut, who was left loose in our hallway last week.

As a result of all this, our numbers are much higher than they should be, and we need your help! We are essentially closed to intakes right now, which is something we hate to do, because there are still lots of cats out there in need!

I am challenging all of you to help me get 15-20 cats out of this building in the next couple of weeks. If each one of you can take just one adult cat for 3-4 weeks, we can focus our energies on adopting out some of our more challenging kitties—our wallflowers and special needs kitties—and make room for those foster kitties to come back in to a less crowded, healthier shelter.

So, in order to help each of you start to see yourself as potential foster homes, I have compiled a list of the top eight reasons you might give about why you can’t foster…and the reasons why you really can!

Read this over, and then give me a call, or shoot me an email and we’ll pick you out a foster kitty!

Liz(info@mrfrs.org)

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1) I DON’T HAVE THE SPACE — I used to think this, too… and then there was a cat who really, really needed me… and I made the space! All it takes is a small spare bedroom or office, a bathroom, or even a corner where you can set up a playpen cage (which you can borrow from us!). We do need foster cats to stay separate from your own cats, but it doesn’t take much space to do that—and whatever space you have is probably more personal space than the kitty you take home has here at the shelter now!

2) I DON’T HAVE THE TIME — Even if you have only 5 minutes a day to spend with a cat, I guarantee you it’s more time than the cat is getting from anyone here at the shelter now… And even if that’s all the time you have, just the calm of a home environment is a major improvement from life here at the shelter!

3) I MIGHT GET ATTACHED — OK, yes, you might. I can’t argue with this one… but I can tell you that no matter how difficult it is to bring your kitty back to the shelter eventually, keeping in mind that you are helping save lives will help ease the pain! Taking a foster cat in allows us to have room for other cats out there who might otherwise be brought to non-no-kill shelters… it also allows us to learn more about a particular cat’s personality than we can ever learn here at the shelter (both because we’re too busy and because the shelter is a lousy place for a cat’s true personality to shine!)—which makes the cat much easier to adopt out. I’m not going to lie to you, some cats are harder than others to bring back, but be strong! You can do it! (And yes, I’ve kept one foster cat… but I HAVEN’T kept the 60 that followed the first one!)

4) MY OWN CATS WON’T TOLERATE A FOSTER CAT, ESPECIALLY AN ADULT — If you have a separate room, this really shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Yes, your cat(s) will know there is another cat in the house, and they may be a little upset about it at first… but chances are, they will get over it pretty quickly, especially if you make sure you wash your hands after visiting with the foster cat (which you should anyway), and keep the cats from seeing each other if possible. Feliway Comfort Zone diffusers or Rescue Remedy flower essence can help, too. Tell your cats they need to help do their part, too! Eventually, they will be totally unimpressed with the whole idea of fostering… My cats no longer even bat an eyelash when a foster cat comes into the house.

5) I CAN’T AFFORD TO TAKE ON ANOTHER CAT — This one is easy! You can get all your food and litter from MRFRS if you like, and MRFRS of course covers all medical expenses associated with foster cats! If you buy your own supplies for fosters, save the receipts so you can take a tax deduction!

6) A SHELTER CAT MIGHT GET MY OWN CATS SICK — If you follow basic health protocols, such as washing your hands between handling the foster cat and your own cats (and vice versa)—and, ideally, have an overshirt you wear when handling the foster cat, you shouldn’t have any problems with disease transfer, should your foster cat happen to be ill (or if you agree to take a sick cat in). A sick cat should be kept in a separate room (not just in a cage in a room open to your own cats), and bedding/clothing should be washed with bleach after use. We are also happy to provide you with a bottle of heavy-duty kennel disinfectant for cleaning if you like!

7) SOMEONE ELSE WILL SAY YES / THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER FOSTER HOMES — They won’t and there aren’t. It’s that simple. We have lots of folks who will take kittens, but there are a mere handful of us who will take adults in, and an even smaller handful of us who will take sick cats, feral cats, and/or rabies quarantine cats. Please help us! Kittens are so easy for us to find foster and adopters for, but our poor old adults get the short end of the stick!

8) I ALREADY HAVE A FOSTER CAT — Alright, well this gets you partly off the hook… but wouldn’t your foster kitty like a friend???