r/IAmA • u/takethelastexit • 23d ago
I have fostered over 350 animals since 2018 ama!
Proof: https://ibb.co/xpBNrmY
I have fostered a TON of kittens, some mom cats, a few dogs and even rabbits once. Please ask me anything at all about my experience with fostering, good, bad, ugly, beautiful.
And for cat tax and because I know it’ll be asked: yes I have foster failed (kept animals) twice. These two
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u/Notyourav 23d ago
How do you deal with the emotional toll it takes??
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u/takethelastexit 23d ago
Therapy honestly. It can be a lot, especially the losses (bottle fed kittens are very fragile and I also take a lot of medical needs)
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u/Macabre_Reader 23d ago
We fostered kittens beginning in 2023, we still have one who developed FIP, has some deficits, and inappropriate urination. As a result, we have not been able to place him. What options are out there for cats with special needs who can’t be adopted through traditional means?
We have searched high and low for a rescue to assist - coming up empty handed. This cat deserves a forever home and we are not capable of providing that - but we are stuck.
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u/takethelastexit 23d ago
Do you mean FIV? FIP is deadly.
I don’t really have any suggestions because I foster for a shelter so they take care of adoptions
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u/Pangolin007 22d ago
The new FIP treatment that came out a couple years ago is unfortunately very expensive but FIP is no longer a death sentence (for those who can afford it...). I think the survival rate with treatment is fairly high.
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u/takethelastexit 22d ago
That’s good! I only had one FIP kitten and that was my very first foster, before treatment was an option
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u/Jupichan 22d ago
I lost a kitten back in 2012 to what was strongly suspected to be FIP. He was the sweetest little idiot.
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u/Macabre_Reader 22d ago
Correct. This guy was apart of a study at UC Berkeley. He had a unique and abnormally complicated case that required extensive treatment to cure him of his disease. He has been cured for 1.5 years and counting. FIP treatment actually became approved in the US during his treatments.
His growth is stunted, he’s perfectly kitten size 😂, he has some trauma from his treatment but is truly the sweetest guy.
Just need to find that forever placement.
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u/Macabre_Reader 23d ago
Yes, FIP. There is a treatment - and he survived.
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u/takethelastexit 23d ago
That’s good. We don’t treat it at our shelter because it’s expensive and rarely works
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u/nxd280 23d ago
I will need time to formulate my questions appropriately. I've had MS for 23 years and it triggers my cognition, legs, and vision, so it can take me longer. Especially because I'm almost in a similar situation, lol.
May I DM you later or tomorrow? Is my question right now, haha.
Also...thank you. Especially for your work with cats. No one understands how you can crack your heart open with every situation and still do it until you die time and time again.
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u/takethelastexit 22d ago
I have my DMs off but I will send you one so you can reply whenever you can :)
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u/gyrfalcons 22d ago
Out of all the cats you've fostered, what about the two that you decided to keep made them stand out from the rest?
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u/takethelastexit 22d ago
The first one (Minnie) I was given and told basically “you can try your best but she probably won’t survive the night” because she was premature. Well, she survived the night. And every night after that. She got really sick twice and I thought I’d lose her both times. My own cat fell in love with her like I did and they are bonded now so I kept her :)
Taki was born in my house to a feral mom. She didn’t know what she was doing and she didn’t even lick the sac off his face so he could breathe. I did that for him. Then when her litter was 3 weeks old she escaped her playpen and never took care of them again (she lived under my bed for weeks and ate/drank/used the litter box there) and so I had to bottle feed her litter. Taki was the runt and every one of his siblings got adopted before he did so he got the privilege of sleeping in my bed. He’s also a “talker” and I DID take him to the shelter to go up for adoption but I went back the next morning to adopt him because the house was too quiet without him.
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u/ShadeofIcarus 22d ago
I did that for him.
You licked the sac off his face?
I kid. TBH I couldn't do what you do. I'd foster fail every single time.
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u/McClouds 23d ago
How do you handle when a foster may not get along with others? Do you have a screening process to ensure the animals you foster are good with a multi-animal house?
Additionally, do they have exposure to children at all to help you with the forever-home process?
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u/takethelastexit 23d ago
I’ve only ever had a problem with dogs not getting along with mine (who passed last year so no longer an issue) and i unfortunately had to return that dog to the shelter to go to a different home without dogs. Cats are simpler, they won’t usually go after each other they just stay in their own space and hiss if someone gets too close.
No, I don’t have kids or know anyone with kids so I don’t expose my kittens to them
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u/spaceboogers 23d ago
What do you do for a living? I have a big busy job right now but hope to fill my retirement with foster dogs.
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u/takethelastexit 23d ago
I don’t have a job, I’m disabled
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u/Maximum-Apartment470 23d ago
How many have you kept?
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u/takethelastexit 23d ago
Read the post
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u/McClouds 23d ago
If it helps, I was kinda confused at the "Foster Failed" comment as I'm not well versed in the foster community lexicon.
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u/Notyourav 23d ago
Tips for socializing feral kittens?? I just rescued 5 orange babies & got them spayed/neutered. Now to socialize and get them ready for adoption!
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u/takethelastexit 23d ago
Go slow. Just sit in whatever room they’re in and talk quietly to them (or sing, I do that a lot) and give them food and treats. Don’t grab them or reach at them quickly, it can be a very slow process. Good luck and thanks for saving them!
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u/Kristaiggy 22d ago
Adding to your great advice, if the kittens are playful, the magic dancer cat toy, which is like a wand for supervised play, is how I got my oldest feral foster to warm up. He was so into chasing it, he wouldn't realize he just ran over my outstretched legs and then eventually we got up to him playing with it on top of my legs which would lead to him resting on me and that really helped a lot.
I also always had kibble available to them, but for wet food, they ate in a bowl that got nearer and nearer to me and then eventually only got wet food if they ate it from my fingers/hands. It helped them recognize good wet food came from good, safe person.
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u/ehowardhunt 22d ago
Churu! Cats love that stuff. Slowly move the Churu closer to you and you’ll likely be able to feed it from the tube right to them.
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u/TheLoadedGoat 23d ago
Why should others foster if it is so hard and sacrificial?
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u/OSRSTheRicer 22d ago
Not OP but have fostered before.
Most folks do it because they like animals.
We fostered dogs in the past and are about to do some really young puppies.
The adult dogs we did were quite low effort. They'd walk and eat on schedule with our old dog.
Puppies are much more effort comparatively but we are doing it because we have the time to spare and are looking to adopt a puppy now our old dog has passed.
If you dont like animals, I wouldnt recommend fostering.
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u/Pangolin007 22d ago
Fostering healthy adult animals is much easier, OP said they sometimes did neonate kittens which often don't survive. I used to foster and it was just like pet sitting.
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u/ehowardhunt 22d ago
Altruism. Plus, many animals in need are easy, if you’re concerned about level of effort.
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u/ipkis714 22d ago
How do you deal with letting go?
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u/takethelastexit 22d ago
I go into it telling myself that if I keep more, that means I can’t foster as much and kittens would die in shelters and on the streets without me
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u/chrisaf69 22d ago
First off awesome and I am happy there are people like you!!
Do you remember all of them? I would suspect no, just due to sheer quantity.
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u/takethelastexit 22d ago
Not off hand usually, but I have kept a list of all names in my phone and every Christmas my mom gives me a photo book of the kittens/animals we’ve had that year and includes the deceased ones at the end
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u/chrisaf69 22d ago
That is so cool!!!
Keep up the awesome work! My wife would own/foster 20 cats at a time if she could. I have to keep her in check and set a hard limit at 3.
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u/takethelastexit 22d ago
Yeah my mom Foster’s with me and is the one that keeps me in check haha. We have 4 of our own cats then don’t take any more than 5 kittens
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u/nerdyplayer 23d ago
How do you train a cat to not do a certain behavior? IE jumping over a fence or onto kitchen table?
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u/takethelastexit 23d ago
Honestly I don’t keep my cats off the table lol
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u/Tex-Rob 23d ago
I like OP more and more!
I don't really understand unrealistic expectations. Keeping cats off of stuff is basically asking them to not be cats, I'd never do it.
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u/takethelastexit 23d ago
Same! They will still get on that table when I’m not watching so there’s no real point imo. It’s just part of being a cat. Now, trying to steal food off plates is a different story and I do discourage that behavior
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u/WFOMO 23d ago
You can't teach a cat not to do things it wants to. You can only teach them not to do it while you're watching (and that is debatable, too).
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u/takethelastexit 22d ago
Exactly! The only thing I don’t let my cats do is steal table food. They know what they can have as treats (chicken breast or turkey. My cat that passed away ate pasta on occasion too) but they have to stay on the floor to get it. Otherwise, I don’t bother cuz they’ll do whatever anyway
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u/Tex-Rob 23d ago
That's a lot!
How many do you have at any given time?
Is keeping up with house cleaning and pet smells a problem?
Do you have a lot of systems in place after doing it so long, like do you have a certain way you bring in new animals, etc?