King Street Cats: Consider Fostering Homeless or Acclimating ...

Kitten season is upon us, and that means?

the need for foster homes escalates rapidly. ?

King Street Cats had a local shelter contact us re. fostering?

5 (FIVE) different sets?of mamas and their babies this past week! ?

I came across a great article the other day?

that I thought I would share with you.

After reading this article, if you are interested in fostering,?

or have more questions,

please don't hesitate to drop us a note at Contact@KingStreetCats.org.

If you have fostered, share your experience(s)?

in the comments section below!

Why consider fostering, at a glance:

• Most shelters and rescues across the country have a need for pet foster families willing to temporarily house and care for homeless animals.
• Foster homes are needed for many different reasons, including overcrowded shelters, for pets with special needs (including medical), for kittens and puppies too young for adoption, for pets with a very low tolerance for shelter life, and for animals with little or no experience living in a home or with people.
• Pets do better in foster homes than shelters. They are less stressed and less likely to develop fear-based behavior problems. Their foster family can more easily evaluate their true temperament. They often receive help to improve physical, emotional or behavioral issues. They can be socialized to a wide range of home situations involving children and other pets. Animals who?ve been abused can learn to trust people again.
• What you can expect if you foster a pet will depend to a great extent on the type of pet you help and the circumstances the animal has lived in up to the point he enters your home. Some animals require a minimum of time and energy, while others will need a lot of time and attention to help them improve their chances for adoption.
• The easiest, fastest way to get connected to a pet fostering program is to contact your local animal shelter or breed rescue group.

If you're interested in making a real hands-on difference in the lives of homeless pets,?there are many ways to help, depending on your time, resources and talents.

Many people volunteer at their local animal shelter for a certain number of hours each week or month. Other people have pets in need come to them, instead, by serving as foster families for animals awaiting adoption. The need for pet foster parents varies by location. Pets are fostered for lots of different reasons, including: ??????? An overflowing shelter ??????? An animal with special needs ? she might be pregnant or nursing, or recovering from an injury, illness, or surgery ??????? A kitten or puppy still too young to be adopted ??????? A pet showing significant stress-related behavior (pacing or hiding, for instance) ??????? An animal who has never lived in a home or had much contact with people who needs to be socialized to a home environment Breed rescue organizations also often have extensive networks of foster families willing to temporarily house a dog or cat awaiting a new forever home. Fostering sets off a positive domino effect. The more people willing to open their homes to foster pets, the more pets local shelters can accommodate -- and for longer periods. This gives each animal the best shot at finding a new home. Fostering is Better for Pets Living in a home with a family better prepares pets for adoption than institutional living. It's also much less stressful for the animal. Fostered pets are much less likely to develop fear or anxiety-related behavior problems than animals who spend time in a shelter environment. Foster families are better able to assess a pet's true temperament because they can observe the animal extensively in a home environment. Brief visits with an anxious or fearful shelter resident are often not adequate to learn the pet's true nature. Also, many foster parents spend time working with their furry charges to help overcome physical or emotional challenges or training deficits ? for example, house soiling. Fostering in a home in which there are children and other pets provides an animal the chance to be socialized to a wider range of family configurations. This opens up his possibilities for adoption to a greater number of families. Or ? if the foster pet can't be adequately socialized to small children, for example, the shelter or rescue will know this particular animal must be adopted to a family with no young kids. If an animal has been rescued from an?abusive situation, her foster family can build a bridge from her past (where humans were scary), to a hopeful future full of people who are caring and loving. What to Expect If You Decide to Foster This will depend a great deal on what type of pet you agree to foster, and the circumstances of the animal's life up to that point. General pet rules apply, of course. Dogs require more time and energy than cats. Puppies need more attention than almost any other type of pet. If your foster cat is recuperating from an illness or injury, she might need nursing care or extra TLC. If the dog you took in has no manners, he'll need your help to learn basic obedience commands like Sit, Stay and Down. A healthy kitten will need appropriate nutrition, a litter box, a few toys, lots of gentle handling, and your watchful eye to keep him from getting into anything around your home that might harm him. By contrast, a large breed adult dog who has lived up till now banished to a backyard and ignored, will need all the basics including daily walks and exercise. Plus she'll need to be house trained, leash trained, obedience trained,?socialized?? and there may also be?behavior problems?to address. Obviously, many more people can conveniently take in a healthy kitten or cat than a large, untrained adult dog. Both situations will be rewarding for the foster families who help these animals. But if you have the time and resources necessary to turn a rather unmanageable, large breed shelter dog into a balanced, mostly well-behaved pet, not only will you feel tremendous gratification ? you will also very likely save the life of that dog by dramatically improving the likelihood she'll be adopted. So both the effort and reward of fostering depends on the type of pet you agree to help. Perhaps you're not sure what type of pet you want to foster. Keep in mind the animals who languish the longest in shelters are?older pets, those with medical problems, dogs suffering from breed prejudice, shy pets, those who need to be the only animal in the home, large dogs, black dogs, and pets with special needs. In terms of who would benefit most from your help, an animal in any of those groups would certainly qualify.??

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