MY FIRST EVER FOSTER KITTENS
I started fostering kittens in the summer of 2020. There were two scared kittens in the animal shelter who needed to be socialised. At the time I didn't know a lot about kittens or about caring for them. I also didn't have an extra room to keep them in. Today I'll tell you how I managed to socialise them and how I cared for them.
Dusty & Bollie
My first two kittens were named Dusty & Bollie. They were in desperate need of socialisation. When they showed me the kittens in the animal shelter, we had to wear gloves so we wouldn't get bitten. I noticed their eyes were shut and infected. Luckily the shelter was able to give me all the information and medication I would need to get them back on their feet.
If you read my post about how I started fostering kittens, you would know that I had to quickly convince my parents to foster these two, so I didn't have a lot of extra time to set up a room for them. The shelter gave me a huuge cage that I put in my garage on top of a bunch of boxes, so my dogs couldn't reach them. I filled the cage with pillows, blankets, a scratching pole, a little basket they could hide in and of course a litter box, food and water.
Eye infection
The first few days were all about taking care of their eyes. Bollie & Dusty needed eye drops two times a day, as well as an eyecream on their waterlines. As they were still scared, I had to ask my boyfriend or my family to help and hold them with the gloves on. Luckily their eyes started getting better soon.
Socialisation
This is where I could start the socialisation process. The eye drops and eye cream didn't really help to get the cats to like me. So I had to carefully put my hands in the cage and let them sniff them. Day by day, I could notice them starting to tolerate my presence. When I felt like I could trust them, I let them go upstairs and discover my room.
At first, this didn't really go to plan, as the big space scared them. They just hid under my bed or my closet. But each day they started exploring more and more. One thing that really helped was a cardboard house I had in my room. They loved hiding in there and would often fall asleep in it. When they were in the house I could pet them a lot better as they were relaxed and didn't try to run.
When they got used to my room, they started playing and running around. One day when it was too hot in the house, I had to put them in my bathroom because that's the only space in my house that stays cool. Here are some pictures of that day.
Dusty's adoption!
Dusty was the first kitten to get adopted. He always stayed a little scared, even until his adoption day. His new parent was a lovely older lady, who recently lost her black cat. At the shelter, when she first saw him, Dusty sat scared and quietly in the back of his transport box. I was really nervous to see how he would react in his new home. Luckily I got a message the day after the adoption that Dusty was already settling in and even came to cuddle the lady! I was surprised, but very relieved. He is still doing well in his new home.
Bollie 2.0
As Dusty was now in his new home, Bollie only had me to play with, which made a huge difference in his behaviour. He stopped being scared and wanted to be with me all the time. He came to cuddle me in bed or on my desk. Everywhere I went, he went with me. This was great news because social kittens have a higher chance at getting adopted quickly.
Bollie's adoption!
As soon as Bollie went up for adoption, he got a lot of reactions. Bollie now lives in a lovely family and is a very spoiled kitten. He recently celebrated his first birthday and the family sent me some pictures to update me, as you can see below.
It was definitely a challenging litter to begin my foster journey with, but it gave me so much satisfastion seeing how happy they were in their new loving families. The joy of the people who get to adopt a new pet also makes me so happy. Even though leaving the kittens is hard, the opportunity to foster new ones and to give more cats a worthy life is one I love to take.
Paws and purrs,
Amber
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