Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Joy of Fostering Pets


Tryg - foster cat turned adopted pet by Dr. Evans

Written by Jennifer Evans, DVM

I recently fostered a litter of orphan kittens from the county shelter and I loved it!!  I got them at about 3 weeks of age and raised them until they were old enough to be adopted out.  I actually ended up keeping two of them because I had an “opening” in my household!  Fostering pets that need homes can be a very rewarding experience.  It provides “special needs” animals a place to thrive until they find their permanent homes.  It also gives the foster family the joy of having a new friend along with the satisfaction of placing that friend in a wonderful permanent home.

Fostering is a serious decision to make.  Potential foster families need to make sure they have adequate time and training to take on the pet and equally important is the need for adequate facilities.  If there are other pets in the household, there needs to be a place to quarantine the newcomers for a sufficient time to make sure they don’t bring home an infectious disease.  Relationships between current pets and incoming fosters also needs to be considered and closely monitored initially.

My foster kittens were a lot of work but it was wonderful to know that I helped raise well-adjusted, friendly kittens for some lucky families!

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