Foster cats

[Babyshoes]

After mentioning the foster kitties who interrupted my soapy plans at the weekend, I thought it might be nice to introduce them. They have spent a few days at the vet, and the nurse assures me their tummies are on the way to normal.

Meet Alfie and Muffin. They are an older pair, sadly surrendered after a change in family circumstances. Both very sweet cats, though neither will sit on a lap, Muffin will sit right next to me for a fuss.
Alfie (ginger) has diabetes, which is why I volunteered (in the foster group chat) to take them initially, as I've given injections before. I'm not having any issues with the insulin jabs, thankfully.

I usually do short term, emergency foster, until an appropriate rescue space opens up, after which the cats will be available for adoption, though occasionally the charity I work with will do a direct adoption if the right home appears.

 

[cmzaha]

What a beautiful Tortie Muffin and Ginger is a very pretty color. Hopefully, they find a permanent home soon.

 

[KimW]

Oh no - TOO cute that pair. So funny how Alfie is eyeing Muffin eating, yet appears to be waiting ever so patiently.

 

[Babyshoes]

What a beautiful Tortie Muffin and Ginger is a very pretty color. Hopefully, they find a permanent home soon.

They'll be with me for a little while yet, we want to get their health stable first, but then we'll find a good home for them. Alfie's diabetes was undiagnosed for a while before they were surrendered. The vet wants to see him again in 3 weeks to check if we have his insulin dose right.

Oh no - TOO cute that pair. So funny how Alfie is eyeing Muffin eating, yet appears to be waiting ever so patiently.

Not so patient, actually! If I wasn't standing right there stopping him, he'd be up on the windowsill trying to bully her away from her bowl... It's why I started giving Muffin her food separately.

 

[AliOop]

Ohhhh Muffin's coloring is just beautiful! I tragically became allergic to cats in my 30s, so I have to enjoy them vicariously through pictures. If I am around them in person, I can't stop myself from petting them, and then I'm sick for a week. If that were not the case, I'd be trying to adopt Muffin right now!!

 

[Arimara]

Ohhhh Muffin's coloring is just beautiful! I tragically became allergic to cats in my 30s, so I have to enjoy them vicariously through pictures. If I am around them in person, I can't stop myself from petting them, and then I'm sick for a week. If that were not the case, I'd be trying to adopt Muffin right now!!

That is me and MOST dogs. I don't know when I became allergic to dogs though. I grew up with them too.

 

[Babyshoes]

Ohhhh Muffin's coloring is just beautiful! I tragically became allergic to cats in my 30s, so I have to enjoy them vicariously through pictures. If I am around them in person, I can't stop myself from petting them, and then I'm sick for a week. If that were not the case, I'd be trying to adopt Muffin right now!!

Oh that is tragic! I'm not sure what I'd do if I became allergic to cats, especially since we have 5 permanent feline residents too... Do allergy meds not work for you?

 

[DKing]

I love Alfie! Look at that sweet face!

 

[dibbles]

Sweet kitties - I hope they find a forever home together. Thank you for fostering.

 

[AliOop]

@Babyshoes I have taken every allergy med out there. They all work for awhile, until they don't. Well, not all of them work; Claritin never did a thing for me. Others gave me terrible heart palpitations to the point that it felt like a heart attack. Zirtec was the best, but I don't care what they say, they changed the formula when they made it available OTC instead of by Rx. It immediately quite working for me, even when I doubled the dose to make it equivalent to the Rx dose.

Allergy shots have helped some, but mostly just to postpone the effects of contact with the allergen, or to make me able to tolerate short exposure to it rather than none at all. But cat dander remains the absolute worst, which is such a bummer. I can't even go into some folks' houses.

 

[Babyshoes]

@Babyshoes I have taken every allergy med out there. They all work for awhile, until they don't. Well, not all of them work; Claritin never did a thing for me. Others gave me terrible heart palpitations to the point that it felt like a heart attack. Zirtec was the best, but I don't care what they say, they changed the formula when they made it available OTC instead of by Rx. It immediately quite working for me, even when I doubled the dose to make it equivalent to the Rx dose.

Allergy shots have helped some, but mostly just to postpone the effects of contact with the allergen, or to make me able to tolerate short exposure to it rather than none at all. But cat dander remains the absolute worst, which is such a bummer. I can't even go into some folks' houses.

Ah that sucks, I'm so sorry.

 

[Tara_H]

Oh, they're adorable! I'd love to foster, but we already have 3, and even if we could work around that, my husband gets far too attached and would never want to give them up!

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Awww So adorable. Ive got a feral calico cat I feed' its cold through the winter so she sleeps in a wood box right outside the backdoor' which I have a heating blanket plugged in for her.

 

[Babyshoes]

Oh, they're adorable! I'd love to foster, but we already have 3, and even if we could work around that, my husband gets far too attached and would never want to give them up!

We are lucky enough to have a spare bedroom to keep them separate from the resident cats. As I have the space and ability to foster, it would feel immoral not to help. It would be different if I was working long hours or if my health issues were worse. We do sometimes fall in love and end up keeping a cat, but it's only a true fail if you stop fostering after that!

Our first foster fail was because my partner fell in love with an anxious kitty. She ended up spending the first night sleeping on the spare bedroom sofa with Freya on her lap all night.

The second, Levi, is technically still a foster - he is quite old with various health issues and serious anxiety about being locked in anywhere. He would have struggled to find a home with his expensive health needs, and being in a cage or pen for long would have broken his spirit. We agreed he could have a loving home with us permanently for however long he has left, but the charity covers his vet bills and expensive specialist food.

The third was an older kitten I fell in love with, who is just sweet and loving, and has changed the dynamic amongst the others for the better. We named her Harley as she purrs like a motorcycle.

Our other 2 cats, Mishka and Jellybean were adopted from a rescue before I started fostering. They've been pretty good about accepting the other cats.

 

[Tara_H]

Our other 2 cats, Mishka and Jellybean were adopted from a rescue before I started fostering. They've been pretty good about accepting the other cats.

That's lucky! Our cats are all rescues too, and they have some issues, but they're not what you'd call accepting. The older two have only just about accepted the youngest, a year and a half since she joined the family...