Animal Welfare Professionals

I`ve been seeing lots of groups who send out at least two kittens to each foster home, regardless of whether or not they were surrendered together. I`m very interested in starting this at our organization but would like more info before we try it. For groups who already do this: is there a quarantine period before you send out two single kittens into the same foster? Would you still send them out but advise the foster to keep separate for an amount of time? Is there a certain age you would NOT recommend this (like single bottle babies, which we do get in occasionally)? 

Hi Haniah! 

My hubs & I have been fostering for many years now (since 2006) & have volunteered with several groups in TN and NC.  We now live in Eastern NC & are currently working with Pitt County Animal Services & we often have several kittens from several litters here, we have always 'used our best judgement' (and made sure to get permission & a notation on their charts, too).  That said, last summer we had 3 bottle babies from 3 different litters all within a week of age of each other (came as 1 week olds or younger - one still had his umbilical & eyes shut, about 4-5 days).  One was sick with coccidia, but all came in together, so we treated all of them - all have been adopted & are well & healthy now.  Had we known that one of them was sick when we took them in, we would have kept them separate, but in hindsight, it was better for all of them to be together as a group. 

I know you are looking for shelter advisors, and I am definitely not an employee or director of a shelter, but I can tell you EVERY group I have volunteered with has 'put' kittens of similar age together when they have no mother or need fostering.  Here it just a necessity (space, high cat/kitten population, low foster volunteerism).  I do think it is better for the babies - they sleep together, learn from each other and play together.  We also have a great 'foster Daddy' cat who plays, snuggles and helps the babies learn lessons in cleanliness & manners.  He is wonderful & has been such a great help with & for the babies.

In the past, we have combined bottle babies of differing litters, kittens within about a week of age of each other, as well as adding a singleton to a nursing mother with a litter.  We have had success with all the combo's.  That said, there are times to keep babies separate - injuries, sickness, some 'runts', some developmental issues or physical issues that need to be addressed, etc. 

I think it's important to give options to 'new' fosters & let them know that not all people do the same thing.  For new fosters the most important thing is support.  Have other fosters call them, also staff to contact them weekly at first.  Give them someone to contact if they have questions (there are ALWAYS questions).  And, when they bring their first litter back have a new litter ready for them to take home - this is really, really important for a brand new foster, I think.  It can be really hard losing your first babies, so being prepared with the next group is foster parent retention!  Also, when there is a loss, and there will be, work with the foster as they would like.  Some fosters need another kitten (if they only have only one or have children or a special circumstance) and some may need a break...  Every foster is different & your needs & desires will be too.  I, personally, like to have our babies adopted from our home so that their time at the shelter is limited, but not all shelters work like that - we are fortunate that we work with a wonderful organization who has truly worked with us & the cats & kittens.

I hope you get more responses to your question!

Thanks so much for your response! This was actually very insightful to read and it`s even better coming from an experienced foster like yourself. I appreciate your feedback and hope we can begin doing something similar with our program soon.

So, our situation is kind of different...we are a foster-only program, and most of our kittens come from local shelters, where they are already exposed to the same diseases and may have already been matched up with non-siblings.

However, almost never do we stick a singleton in foster care, ESPECIALLY if there are no other cats in the house.  The only exception would I guess be a FeLV+ kitten.  We have had one in the history of the program and he was in a quarantine room in a house with other healthy cats and kittens, and he was also older, about 6 months I think.

In my opinion, being a singleton kitten (we call them only lonelies) is one of the worst things for a young kitten.  It's not only bad for their social well-being but I think that in turn affects health and development as well.  We do our best to test non-siblings for FeLV before grouping together but the chances of a positive in our area is very low.  We try not to mix directly-owner surrendered with shelter-obtained kittens because the shelter kittens are all exposed to URI already, as well as god knows what else, and the owner surrenders may have a chance of not getting URI.  However, they can go to the same foster home, we just don't house them together.

But if the shelter calls and says hey, we have a 4 week old who needs you, and they have nothing else in the remote age range, we will take it, but pair it as soon as possible with another kitten as one becomes available.  It is sooooo much better for them, even if they get each other sick.  I would honestly rather have a kitten give a buddy URI, or giardia, or coccidia, then be solo.  I can treat them both together and they'll bond all the more for it.  The only time I stop is when I suspect panleukopenia, because I'm not giving another kitten a likely death sentence just for buddyship.  However I've only ever had panleuk in groups to begin with, anyway.

Takeaway--Pair and Trio and Quartet those babies!  It's good socialization, it's good to learn how to be a kitten, especially when a mom isn't around to model that behavior. FeLV test before-hand if possible but if not, don't fret unless it is common in your area.  Kittens don't have to be the same age but within a few weeks is good if they are neonates.  Track weights always to make sure older kittens aren't hogging the food if they are free-feeding.  Treat URI and runny poo issues generously but they are rarely the end of the line for a kitten in foster care.  Kittens over 8 weeks can be paired easily too.  Once they get past 3-4 months if they have been solo their entire lives, it will be more difficult but can (and IMO should) be done.  But with slower introduction.  Around 4-12 weeks we usually just toss them in a q cage together (we use large multi-level ferret or cat cages for quarantine) with plenty of resources.  Yes, that means multiple litter boxes and multiple food and watering stations, and multiple beds.  No resource guarder can successfully protect everything from the others and they learn quickly at that age it's unnecessary.

Lucky for us, our main partner shelter feels similarly to us and frequently pairs and trios the kittens before they even reach us.  (It is also a space saver for them, of course). 

So I would go ahead and send two singles to a foster home with no quarantine/separation period.  Especially if they come from the same source.  Heck, send three or four.  No point in limiting it to only two.  If you get singleton bottle babies, that sometimes happens, but make sure they have cuddle buddies--a stuffed animal their size (we have beanie baby-type stuffies up through larger kitten sizes for this express purpose), but if you have two only lonely bottle babies, why not stick them together?  If a foster is getting up every 2, 3 hours to feed it doesn't take that much extra time to feed two versus one.  And don't bother trying to test the bottle babies for FeLV...too hard and stressful, IMO, to try to hit a vein and I don't believe in other methods of gathering blood for testing.  When they are that little, they need every drop.  Test when 4+ weeks of age when they're more robust and can spare it.