Animal Welfare Professionals

Tell us about the first pet you fostered!

Share pictures and stories about your first time fostering. What did you learn from the experience? 

Trying to test out if my replies are posting. I am typing responses and clicking submit but the comments don't appear on my end.  Sorry if this posted multiple times!

My first foster, Ruth, was a pitty. Not only was she my gateway dog into fostering but my first experience with a pitty. She broke all my stereotypes (and my mother's).  While she was not the easiest dog to foster (I had her for 9months), she taught me so much about dogs (even though I grew up with dogs).  She developed a love in my for helping the more "quirky" dogs in our shelter/foster care program. Helping to increase their enrichment, socialization, and training. I now help to lead multiple socializations a month to get our foster/shelter dogs out for the day to work on behaviors that will be more appealing for potential adopters - not to mention getting them out of the shelter to be seen by people!  I may have only fostered two dogs (in two years), I truly love watch these dogs grow!

I'm seeing your comments and they weren't posted multiple times! 

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A photo from my first fostering experience just popped up in my Facebook memories. This is what I wrote...

In my FB memories today, a picture of my very first cat campers. They came in very undersocialized and didn't want me to touch them or even look at them. They were only supposed to stay with me for two weeks until they headed to a shelter but when the shelter was elusive about what would happen if they weren't social enough to be adopted, I knew they couldn't go.

I had no idea what I was doing so all I knew to offer them was patience and it turns out that is all they needed. They destroyed most of the in-home photo studio that I had at the time and prompted the creation of The Kitten Room (RIP my guestroom) which is entirely kitten-proof. We learned together, we tested each other and we loved so much. I was convinced that the most difficult one to come around would have to go to a barn but she ended up being the most loving of the bunch. I cried for two days leading up to her departure and afterwards, too. I still think about her as "the one who got away" but I know she went to a great home with her sister.

And the Kitten Room hasn't been empty since. 

#FosteringaPet

Jade was the first dog I fostered. She was a mix of thoroughbred, kangaroo, and monkey. As you can imagine, after a few days she was not showing well in the shelter. From my fostering Jade experience I learned how to build an escape-proof enclosure, how to go from 0 to 100 to 0 on rollerblades behind a dog on a sled harness, and how being in a foster home can make all the difference in a dog getting adopted by the right home. Her adopters later sent me a photo of her standing on the dining room table saying, "We came home and found her like this. She figured out how to get out of the kitchen by opening then jumping through the pass-through window. She's so smart!" 8 years later I was still getting updates like that!

My first fosters were named Fox and Dana (for the X-Files characters); I attended an adoption event and didn't feel quite ready to adopt yet because I had never taken care of cats before, so the rescuer suggested that I try fostering instead.

Several weeks in, we put together this page with their bios and photos to help in their quest for a forever home. Dana (the white kitty) was actually adopted quickly after that, but Fox remained with us for months despite putting his best paw forward at adoption events week after week. He became more and more attached to the humans and transformed into a cuddly purr-monster.

At some point, I finally realized that I was dreading Sunday adoption events because I didn't want him to be adopted by someone else, so I made the plunge and decided to adopt him - with a new kitty buddy, of course, that the rescuer found for me.

Some lessons (keep in mind this was my first time taking care of cats!):

• Foster failure is real
• Cats are just on a completely different level from dogs - their personalities are much more complex
• DO NOT close the bedroom door at night - one time, in the middle of the night, Fox couldn't reach his litter box and had explosive diarrhea all over the white down comforter we were sleeping under (what a way to wake up!)

I love the page that you put together about Fox and Dana (and LOVE their names). Such a great way to add a personal touch and details about how they're behaving at home. And it definitely sounds like those lessons learned have stuck with you 

First of all, how interesting how this question is phrased...  I don't think of my fosters as pets, they'll be someone else's pets, but they're my fosters...  I stopped counting how many cats and kittens I've fostered at 800, so going back to my first one, well, there are only certain things that stand out. 

I was volunteering at a spay neuter clinic for low income and community cats (mostly feral).  The organizers of the event often recruited volunteers to foster and tame kittens that had been trapped and brought into the clinic.  I was a sucker and decided to try it.  It wasn't a tiny kitten... as I recall, probably 8-9 weeks old, which I now know presents a challenge for taming.  I asked how I should transfer him from the carrier he was in to my own carrier.  The woman recruiting fosters said "just reach in a pick him up"... Uh, yeah, the lesson I learned is that feral kittens bite hard!

I can sum my first foster experience in 2 words: EPIC FAILURE. 

Sweet, googly-eyed (and mostly blind) Blossom was surrendered to our rescue by her previous owner (who I am convinced mistreated her) who was getting married and no longer wanted the responsibility of a cat. (like a spouse is going to be less work???)

Poor Blossom was terrified of everything that moved or made noise. She spent most of her days high up on a perch where no one could reach her, or cowering in her kitty condo. One day, I volunteered to take her to a veterinary eye specialist for her appointment.  She was a completely different cat: inquisitive, friendly, and so calm during the car ride I forgot she was a passenger. (Only when I pulled into my driveway and noticed her snoring did I realise, "whoops. someone needs to go back to the rescue!")

I hadn't fostered before because my beloved elderly cat was nearing the end, and I didn't want to put unnecessary stress on her. (That probably saved me from at least 5 foster failures prior to the googly-eyed wonder!) No one was interested in Blossom: "she's too afraid," said one person. Worse yet, visitors and potential adopters would make fun of her googly eyes and limited vision! (The nerve! Biting my tongue became difficult.)

I was about a couple of weeks away from relocating cross country for my husband's job, and dreading the thought of where she might end up. One day, a couple came in, very eager to adopt her. They had adopted from us before, so no one saw a problem...except me. Blossom was not right cat for their environment. (They had a small, active dog, and also wanted to declaw her so she wouldn't ruin their couch. They were also very rude, which I didn't appreciate. That's right, take the blind cat's one defense mechanism away from her as she tries to coexist with with a puppy. That's a terrific idea...said no one, ever.) My inherent bias aside, she just wasn't the right cat for them. As I closed up the rescue for the night, I called our director and said, "Blossom's really stressed. I think she could do with quiet decompression in foster. I'm taking her to my house for a week." Still worried about my elderly cat, I thought, "Ok, I'll give it a week. If it stresses my cat out in the slightest, I'll take her right back to the rescue and know it wasn't meant to be."

My worries about the two cats interacting/fighting were unfounded. My elderly cat snoozed on the dining room table all day and Blossom kept a respectful distance. It was almost as if she knew our cat was close to crossing the rainbow bridge, but she decided to come into life to take away some of the forthcoming pain. (Unfortunately, our elderly cat was in no condition to make a cross country trip and crossed the rainbow bridge the weekend before the move.) As I bawled my eyes out over my elderly cat's passing (17 great years), Blossom just curled up on my lap  and took some of the pain away with her purrs. 

I signed the official adoption papers the next day, and we renamed her Meatball because she's quite the goofy little goober. She picked me. She knew I needed her, and I'm forever grateful to her. 

And that is why I am a proud foster failure. 

#FosteringaPet

I also 'foster failed' my first time (but that's the only one I've ever kept!)

Thomas was adopted from my shelter (at the time) as a kitten and returned a few months later due to "behavioral problems." He had alopecia (he was overgrooming and ripping out his fur everywhere he could reach - I called him "the little werewolf"), threw up his food regularly, and would yowl in his cage (also part of why I called him a "werewolf"). After watching him go back and forth between adoptable and medical for weeks, I couldn't take it and stepped in to foster him.

While fostering Thomas, I learned he has chicken and grain allergies, he eats too fast when free-fed which causes him to vomit (he eats exclusively from puzzle-feeders now, which slows him down just enough), he has separation anxiety (a consistent routine with lots of exercise and mental stimulation has helped with that a lot), and he dislikes other cats (but loves dogs - having a dog brother has also helped with his separation anxiety).

It was mentally exhausting figuring him out, to be honest. I had no idea cats could be so complicated! But it was so, so rewarding because with the right environment, Thomas is the happiest, most confident, greet-you-at-the-door cat with a completely gorgeous soft furcoat.

Eventually, I was getting ready to move across the state... and couldn't even find another *foster* willing to accomodate Thomas (forget finding an *adopter*). So after 9 months (6 months in foster care), I signed the adoption papers.

And it was the best decision ever. I adore him to the moon and back. Plus, he keeps me from adopting any other cats 

Thomas' 6th birthday is actually this week (the 27th!) 

#FosteringaPet