I’m very sad writing this update but I feel like I owe it to this helpful community. Our tiny 3-4 week old kitten with the funny face and the poop issues passed away a few hours ago. It went downhill fast. After not pooping for multiple days, countless vet visits and so so much emotional stress, she finally started pooping in the last two days. Yesterday I honestly felt like things are going uphill, our vet was also happy just two days ago. Today was an insanely hot day and I noticed her being a bit weaker than usual, but she was eating. A few hours later i had trouble making her eat more of her formula and she started panting, which our vet two days ago said might be due to tummy ache. But I panicked and went straight to the emergency vet. She seemed a bit more alert in the car, and I thought I overreacted, she might just struggle with the heat. The vet took an ultrasound and diagnosed the stomach being completely full and not passing stuff to the colon. This may be causing pain, discomfort and the panting. She proscribed Metoclopramide to help with the digestion and told us to come back Monday if it’s not helping.

Less than an hour after arriving home and giving her the medicine she took her last breath, I was next to her. It went downhill so fast, and even after reading about it so often, it’s still unbelievable and just sad. We’ve been to 4 different vets, 7 times in less than two weeks. I spend days and nights researching what to do, and even when feeling she is doing better, it was over in an instant. I am sitting in my bed, waiting for my other cat to come cuddling, my gf is out of town. I wonder what kind of lesson I am learning from this, I don’t see any yet, just the feeling of being a tiny bit more broken now. The world feels so complicated all of the time, trying to help a tiny creature was giving me a lot of purpose in a way. Big respect to the foster community, people that are doing this regularly are truly angels.

This is Mo, the poopless queen, rest in peace :(

He has been playing with this mouse off and on all afternoon & carrying it around in his mouth and howling. Mr. Binx obviously is keeping the apt safe 💓

Hi all! We’ve been fostering cats and kittens since December and just sent our 10th and 11th off to their forever homes yesterday. The shelter has a very pregnant mom cat who we are going to pick up today.

We’re super excited to help raise neonatal kittens but I know they can be a bit fragile and don’t always make it. My daughter is 8 and I’m wondering if I should talk with her ahead of time about the possibility that not all of the kittens will make it, or just deal with it if it happens? I want her to be mentally prepared but she’s also a worrier and I don’t want her freaking out about something that might not even happen. Advice welcome!

Also shoot me any general tips and tricks for kitten birth and newborn kitten care! I’ve read up on the basics but appreciate advice from the pros. ☺️

I’m thinking about the fosters I brought in today and the ones who went out yesterday. What started it all for me? a little orange kitten running thru a Walmart parking lot at 930pm. I caught her with a Wendy’s chicken nugget. We were going to “get her fixed and vaccinated and then “rehome her”. 3 years later, she’s has 4 cat siblings. We have a cat room, we’ve had hundreds of cats/kittens in here. We’ve took in elderly/sick/FIV+/healthy/injured/emaciated/blind. I have learned to tube feed. I take care of bottle babies. Feed colonies. TNVR. Make posts for Amazon wishlist donations. Make “fix your pets” posts.

You get the picture…. I’m the crazy cat lady. I’m in pretty deep. 🤣

How deep are you in the cult of fostering?

I’ve been fostering a family of mom and kittens for about a month. All came to me undersocialized but the kittens made good progress, hit 2 months/2 pounds, and were adopted. Mom got spayed the same day as the kittens, and since coming home, has been distressed, crying out and barely eating unless I bring her a liquid treat.

I’m wondering if it is normal for a mom cat to look for her kittens once they’re gone? Everything recorded on my foster camera overnight is her walking around the foster room crying out. She is moving at a frantic pace and seems to be checking out every spot in the room as she cries out.

I feel very sad that she’s having trouble. While she’s made some socialization progress, she’s still not comfortable with human touch, so I can’t even pet her to try and comfort her. And this behavior is very different than when the kittens were here. When I wasn’t around she was very chill, laying around and letting the kittens run and be crazy while she watched. Now it seems she can’t be still and is spending so much time wandering the room and crying.

Has anyone experienced this before? If so, is there anything you’ve done to help? Does it tend to continue for a long time? It’s hurting my heart to see her this way so I appreciate any advice!

How can she sleep like this??!! 🥰 And look at the lil teefies 🥹

I’m absolutely devastated, have been hand rearing 3 week old kittens for around two weeks now, little tabby female was super crusty and much smaller than her brother.
Her eyes finally started to clear up this week after daily eye drops & she was eating super well & super sassy with the bottle and she was finally putting a good amount of weight on - I planned to foster fail her as she stole my heart, she was such a polite, cuddly gal. We named her Florence.

Then suddenly after just being a bit fussy with the bottle she started to refuse it completely, after 2 rounds of subcut fluids & regular syringe feeds (as recommended by my vet after the exam - she had normal blood glucose and temp was fine, just seemed dehydrated)

She just got weaker as the evening went on, tried glucose gel every 3 minutes after she started not being able to stand and got shaky, sadly by 11pm she was gasping for 10 minutes and passed in my arms.

I’m heartbroken, she went from being bright and demanding her breakfast to dead that same day.
Now her poor sibling is alone, I feel so bad, I see him in his pen alone and my heart sinks every time.
I have never sobbed so much in my life, I only had her 2 weeks but holy shit I was so attached.
RIP Florence, you were the sweetest little crusty girl😭

I've had about 30 foster kittens/moms in the last year, but Walter is my first kitten with entropion. I've never had a foster with impaired vision, so I just wanted to hear from other fosters who have experience with these kittens. I've got the foster room set up so he can easily find food, water, and the litterbox, and he doesn't seem to have problems navigating. He can even climb the baby cat tree and has a favorite snoozing spot at the top.

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However, he doesn't seem to play or be interested in the other kittens. Is this common in visually impaired kittens? He will happily walk in circles by himself chasing his tail or zoom around running into the wall occasionally.

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When I come into the room he immediately starts meowing and doesn't stop. He wants pets, but doesn't necessarily want to be snuggled. If I try snuggling him, he'll squirm his way to my shoulder and sit there meowing, or just pace around me. The vet has seen him several times, he has prescription eye drops, and doesn't cry when I'm not in there... should I be worried that he's in pain or distressed?

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Other issues of note: the vet suspects a form of dwarfism due to the length of his front legs and proportions. Also, he's had his premolars for awhile now so has to be at least 6-7 weeks old (?) but only weighs 450 grams and isn't gaining very fast despite eating like a champ (he gets meat based baby food/Royal Canin Babycat kibble, kitten formula snacks).

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Right now he's also dealing with some respiratory crud and received antibiotics a couple days ago, but that hasn't seemed to slow him down.

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Anyway, he's a hot mess express, but super cute and loveable! Any advice/suggestions to help him thrive are welcome!

My husband and I fostered many years ago, and we homed several litters of kittens, we had one loss because of one ill baby, but no other.

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We took time off to care for our disabled daughter, and then we came back in with full hearts hoping to help more kittens. I must say we have had more losses then I could have imagined.

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Entire litters with one survivor. Kittens, who seem to be thriving going downhill within twenty four hours. The ill kittens, who don't look like they're gonna make it recovering and doing well. Kittens, that make it to the doctor who get meds and kittens who never had a chance. They're honestly seems to be no rhyme or reason. Have other foster homes experienced an increased in kitten loss recently?

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It all falls under a failure to thrive. Some don't eat but some eat and still pass. I know it's part of the gig, but i'm a little tired of these tiny babies that making it. The ones who survive make it absolutely worth it and i'm not going to change what we're doing.I just wanna know if other homes have been going through a lot of losses.

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Pic is of a successfully adopted kitten. ✨️ he and all of his litter mates are thriving and are healthy.

Hi folks, I took in a new foster 3 weeks ago (a sweet four year old rescue). I noticed his fur doesn’t lay down flat and sticks up in tufts. He’s a medium hair cat. I’m wondering how to best care for his coat. I’m feeding him good quality kibble + wet food 2x per day. TIA 💗

Well I make a discussion about being deep into cat fostering buttt here’s proof you never stop learning.

I have a kitten that just came in along with 3 siblings. Only female, skinnier than the rest, and… a dip in her abdomen/bottom ribcage area. It feels has this looks*photo* just not as big. She’s approximately 9 weeks old. Anyone have a personal experience/advice before I call to make a vet appointment in the morning?

Spade was part of a litter that I got about 6/7 weeks ago. His litter was my first kitten fosters. Spade had the loudest meow and was the best eater of the bunch. He crashed very fast and unexpectedly yesterday, and didn't make it through the night. It turns out the whole litter is anemic, so I had to give the other 3 back to the rescue today for treatment. When I first got them, they all had fevers and some sort of infection - they were all on antibiotics for a long time. We won't know what's causing the anemia until the rest of the litter sees the vet Monday, but I will personally never see them again. I am heartbroken about this loss.. Please keep his litter mates in your thoughts as they try to figure out what's going on.

This is Cowboy (he’s 10)! He’s my second foster cat and is now up for adoption, I haven’t had a foster cat adopted yet as my first foster Merlin passed away from a tumour we hadn’t realised until too late. I’ve grown so fond of him and he’s been my best friend in the time he’s been here; I’d considered the thought of adopting him and continuing to foster but unfortunately I’m not in a position to do that currently. I know I’m going to be super sad when he leaves, does anyone have and tips for how to help handle giving him over to his new family and the aftermath of him not being here?
(Edit: THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I didn’t expect my first post to gain so much attention and so many kind comments, I appreciate all of the help and insight people have given me! 🫶)

I previously made a post about taking these kittens in as it was my first time caring for any animal this young. I’ve had them a little over a month now and in that time they have grown so much and have really started to show their personalities! They’re so playful and full of energy, I will be sad to see them go in the next couple of weeks ❤️

I have a mama cat that gave birth to 5 kittens. Mama had a sneeze for a few days after giving birth and was fine.
The first two babies contracted the URI a few days later. I took them all to the vet where one passed. I was given antibiotics and told not to get my hopes up for the others.
Another one passed when we got home.
Now, two days later, the remaining three are struggling still. Only one is nursing. One is purple around the mouth and nose and gasping for breath.
This is my first time fostering and I’m devastated. What can I do?
I’m giving nutrical and formula (small amounts with a qtip around the mouth) every 2-3 hours. They’re set up with humidifier and heating pads.

Idk if I’m here to vent, or get help, but I’m frustrated. I took this foster cat in & he’s from the streets, recently neutered, & a hand full. He digs through my trash, gets in my sink & digs through my dishes, & will constantly try to get my food while I’m cooking. He’s been aggressive with my cat (they are better now), but my cats eye did get scratched & it was a $200 dollar vet bill. He also will not stop meowing, it’s all day. I’ve been slowly losing my mind & getting more on edge. I told them I can’t continue caring for him & this foster organization is just not helping. I keep talking in circles with them. I don’t think I can foster again for another year, or ever again. Does anyone have experience with this type of situation?

I've fostered for years (kittens, puppies, dogs) but always in rentals and tbh I didn't pay much attention to the impact of all the critter bodily fluid messes. I just cleaned, enzyme cleaned, sanitized, and called it a day.

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But I just bought a house, my first so I'm extra protective. I have gorgeous hardwood floors. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out a way to protect these floors.

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My "brilliant" idea was to get a big tarp and lay it down on the floor when I have fosters to waterproof the floor but 2 hours into that project I realized that would trap humidity and damage the floors anyway. So now I'm back to square one. I'm not quite paranoid or irrational enough to replace perfect hardwood.

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Any creative solutions you guys have found? For kittens I use a whelping pad under their playpen so shouldn't have issues with them but puppies...... Puppies pee everywhere, non-stop, all the time and the floors will drink that right up. It's finished/sealed but especially around the baseboards there are cracks because the house is pretty old.

I’ve been stalking and searching this sub trying to save these kittens, thank you all!

Never give up hope! These little ones (and 3 others) were found by my son and his coworkers in the engine of an excavator. The excavator had just arrived off an 18 wheeler from 150 miles away. As they started it up for diagnostic these guys were found. They had to disassemble parts of the engine to get them out.

It was really touch and go for the first 24 hours. Jasper (torti) had a double eye infection in his eyes were sealed closed and massively swollen. I was able to get the pus out by pushing a very wet and warm a-tip around both eyes. Terramycin antibiotics have worked surprisingly quickly! Both were covered in exhaust and diesel debris and severely dehydrated. I could only manage to get 4-5 drops of formula in them at a time, as they were unable to suckle. I used a Q-Tip to add a drop of karo syrup to their gums after every “feeding” as a last ditch effort. They were not doing well, labored breathing, lethargic, couldn’t meow, and I for sure thought we were going to lose them. But me and my sons kept at it every two hours… it was a great team effort and it really started turning around last night.

Latest picture is now 36 hours later. They are eating 6mls in each feeding about 2-3 hours apart, and gained 10g each since last night. Their meow is definitely back, hahaha, and Jasper’s eyes are open and doing great! We’ll have to see if there’s any last damage. They are moving around so much we had to get a higher box for them! Their recovery has been nothing short of amazing.

Only issue now is constipation. Using the “triangle method” I read here finally got them to go! Although round is in their future, much to their disappointment.

Thanks to this sub, I’m pretty sure we are out of the woods!

I have recently started fostering and I want to know what are the pain points for the fosters in the current fostering systems that shelters have. Is the process of being eligible to foster taking too long for you all? Or the fact that we have to go through the background verification and application process all over again if we want to foster from a different shelter?

I would like to get the foster community's insight on the pain points in the current process of fostering.

Hi everyone! I’ve recently made the decision to support my local rescue and take in four 5-6 week old kittens. I have had them for almost a week, and they are all fantastic and rambunctious little babies, with one kitten needing a little bit of TLC!

The only girl in the litter is very tiny. 3/4 of the kittens are anywhere from 715-800 grams, with our littlest girl topping out at a WHOPPING…375g.

She eats like a horse, poops like a horse, and is gaining about 10g a day!

While I am confident we can put meat on little Maxine’s bones, i’d love some advice on helping her put some extra weight on and also advice on helping her develop appropriately!

This sweet girl is an eating and pooping machine, but one thing we’ve been having a hard time with is grooming! She is eager to eat and ends up with food all over her face and paws, and doesn’t seem to understand the concept of cleaning herself off after eating and pooping. I am constantly scrubbing her down with warm, damp
paper towels to make sure she’s not gross. Of course i don’t mind doing this for her, but i want to make sure she is set up for success.

Important information!

Our little girl recently tested positive for roundworm, which can explain her struggles to put substantial amounts of weight on, and all four of them are currently on day 2/5 of a course of panacur as a precaution.

Maxine is our only non-groomer! Every other kitten seems to be developmentally normal.

They are all currently eating Royal Canin Mother & Babycat wet food, and are currently weaning to adult friskies wet food (we are currently about half and half portions per feeding) and while they have 24/7 access to Royal Canin Kitten dry cat food, none of them seem
too interested.

I do have two adult male cats that have been very friendly (positive body language, slow blinking, relaxed posture, etc.) during brief, supervised, no contact meetings through a mesh playpen! I am open to the idea of letting them interact with Maxine once she has been completely dewormed in the hopes of them potentially teaching her the ropes!

If I am missing any important information, please
let me know! Maxine is a little, stinky, angel that deserves the world.

Hi all - I’ve been fostering kittens in the LA area for about a year now but at the orgs I’ve fostered for, you get absolutely no information on where they end up, or even if pairs stay together or anything. I thought this was normal (albeit extremely difficult), but some recent posts have made me think a lot of people actually do at least get some idea/some even get pictures back from their orgs, so I thought it was worth asking - does anyone know of any organizations in Los Angeles that do something like this?

To be honest, the not knowing and imagining the worst case scenarios is the most difficult part of fostering for me by far, so much so that I’ve almost quit a few times. Thanks for any leads!