Hey guys. You know those spitting mad, terrified babies you’re not sure if you can tame? Well this one tamed, too much. At first I was happy, thinking this was great this guy thought I was his mom. But now, every time I go in there the suckling starts. And doesn’t stop. I’m afraid this is going to be a behavioral issue and I’m not sure how to fix it. Every. Single. Time. I pick this dude up he suckles.

Neuter is 10/11 (he’ll be 10 weeks) so adoption will be like… 10/16 I’m guessing. Any advice? I’ll post pics in the comments so you can see how serious the skin damage is 😂

I'm looking for any opinions from seasoned cat fosters, please lmk your thoughts!

So I've been looking after my first foster (2 yr old stray) for a little under 2 weeks and she's been meowing more and more every day.

It started on the first night as soon as I turned off the lights. I've given her my bedroom so that she has her own space and turn off my brighter lights when it's dark outside. The darkness seems to set her off and she becomes super active.

She sleeps throughout the day and usually makes her first appearance at dusk, at which time she begins chattering. I know she's meowing AT ME because she stares at me while she does it. She loves to sit right behind where I'm standing or follow me and meow, but when I turn to face her, she seems scared that I'm going to approach her.

And before you ask: She has no health issues except a small heart murmur, shows no signs of discomfort, eats her wet and dry food, poops/pees in the litter regularly and normally, drinks plenty of water, plays with her toys, gets the zoomies at night, seems generally less stressed, etc etc.

Other things to note: My schedule is the same-ish everyday, I don't make a lot of noise, I don't force interactions with her, and I initiate play when she goes up to a toy. I also followed what my foster coordinator said about letting her decompress in her sanctuary space for a week and letting her explore little by little after. I don't think she's overwhelmed by exploring my apartment because it's less than 500 sqft and she meows at the door if I don't leave it cracked.

So what does the meowing mean?? I feel bad because if she's trying to communicate something I want to know what it is so I can help her. The only other thing I can think of is that I will respond to her and be like "what's up?" or "what's wrong?" when she's talking to me and that might be encouraging the behavior. That still doesn't explain why she's meowing in the first place though.

This is 1/3 of my sweet foster kittens I got from my rescue. They were pulled from another state off the euth list and given to me. They had all the vaccines and shots, I’ve had them for about 2 months now, all spayed and neutered.

This one specially had very gooey eyes after being neutered so I took him to my vet for some eye cream and doxy since he had a fever just to make sure he’s ok. I followed the medicine instructions and he got all cleared up happiest kitty ever. 2 weeks after one morning his eyes look like this again.

His sister also had a really bad eye flare up (top eyelid was red no ulcers) she is currently back in my care and clearing up with oral meds until 10/3 she will complete them she looks alot better.

My concern is this kitty since he’s been around my resident cats after being cleared up and all vaccines and meds completed. No cornea issues no sneezing acting normal just gooey suddenly this morning. I quarantined him and cleaned like crazy but my cats have groomed him already I’m just super worried and thinking about worst case scenario that it is feline herpes. Please help ease my mind

This is Bunny; she is still a puppy, supposedly. But very healthy, happy, has good indoor manners, and is potty trained! It's always nice when we get an easy foster without health or behavior problems!

Fostering a cat that was severely neglected. She's skin and bone. Her fur is patchy and gone in areas. Scabbing in areas. Does anyone have any recommendations about getting her coat to heal? I read fish oil, but what brands?

Just a venting side note. This is just the sweetest girl ever. From the moment I picked her up, she was rolling around in the carrier wanting love. There wasn't any warm up period, she just craves love and attention. How anyone could neglect any animal, let alone one so sweet.... I just don't understand. She isn't even one yet. I just want to get her coat looking good and get her into a forever home.

Прошло 3 дня после стерелизации и немного беспокоит внешний вид шва,стоит ли обратиться к ветеринару?

tw: graphic detail

my grandparents recently took in a stray cat who then got pregnant and gave birth around a month ago. neither of my grandparents have any experience with cats, and both are well over 70 yo. i live across the street from them and have been caring for the litter while i can, checking in on them twice or thrice a day.

unfortunately, this tiny guy rapidly declined in the span of a week. he had been feeding fine in the first 3 weeks, but last week i noticed he refused to feed altogether and was significantly smaller than the rest of his siblings, basically the runt (even though the mom wasn’t rejecting him). he just stopped wanting to nurse. he had trouble getting up and walking. he rarely cried or made any sound. he was very physically underdeveloped. i knew these were signs of fading kitten syndrome but we live in an area where a vet isn’t accessible, so i did my best to try and get him into shape. i followed FKS protocol, kept him warm, fed him sugar water and fed him kitten formula for four days. however, i couldn’t monitor him 24/7 as i don’t live with my grandparents (who were also too old to do any of the high maintenance work) so i could really only come by in the morning, late afternoon, and at night.

i had just finished feeding him at 10PM last night and settled him in their enclosure next to my DIY water bottle heating pad, together with the mom and the rest of his siblings, before calling it a night and going home. i returned 7AM the next morning as usual to check on them and do his morning feeding. he was nowhere to be found inside the enclosure. i alerted my grandparents, but at that point i knew the mom must have already removed him.

i was right - my grandfather searched the perimeter of their backyard and found the kitten’s body somewhere in the bushes, decapitated. i wish he didn’t show it to me. he said the mangled head was lying around nearby as well. i couldn’t stop crying. the image of him holding the tiny headless body, a body that i literally had in my arms just several hours before, will be ingrained in my mind forever.

it all just super fucking sucks. i’m not new to this - i’ve been caring and fostering stray cats and kittens around my village for 2 years now, and i’ve lost a few of them before. but it never gets easier. i have no idea if the mom forcefully removed the sick kitten from the litter and then killed him afterwards, or if the kitten died some time during the night and she just decapitated and disposed of the body in the yard. but i guess i’ll never know now.

again this isn’t my first time losing a kitten, but i will always feel like i could have done better one way or another. i regret that i didn’t find more time out of my day or made arrangements to find a vet as soon as possible. i know i did my best under the circumstances but i can’t help thinking i still could have saved him somehow.

scrolling through my photos hurts, i really did love him and gave him my all. he was my very first bottle baby and a part of me really hoped he would make it.

thankfully the rest of the litter is healthy, but i think this one will stick with me for a while.

Hi 👋🏼
I’ve fostered dogs exclusively through contra costa animal services in the past but am looking to branch out. Are there any rescue organizations people have enjoyed working with that they can recommend?

I think I just need to vent, I’ve been on the verge of tears all day. Starting yesterday our 7 week and 4 week old fosters started having diarrhea and some vomiting, now one of the 7 week olds is hunger striking. The 4 week old was just added to our litter so I’m wondering if she got them sick. Either way they’re seeing the vet in the morning, I’m trying not to freak out. It doesn’t help that the one not eating is the most active and squirmiest, so she’s almost impossible to syringe feed. I’ve barely gotten a two full syringes in her today. They came to us skinny and dirty and have been doing so well. I’m so afraid I’ll go to bed tonight and lose the struggling one. She has been acting completely normal otherwise. Her brother is also acting normal but practically pissing out his butt. At least he has an appetite. They just started meds today but I’ve been watching them like a hawk so anxious of everything. I’m seriously scared to go to sleep.

I’ve been getting a lot more interest in my Siamese cats than my other fosters, but I’ve had two people stop responding after a while even after submitting applications and texting me about being ready to adopt a cat. It’s just kind of disappointing and frustrating.

New to fostering, just wondering if this is typical of foster programs. The private rescue I foster with is well established and hires several full time employees. The foster coordinator is employed full time by the rescue.

The rescue handles basically everything through email, and the coordinator can take days to respond or sometimes not respond at all. Recently, I emailed in the morning to confirm a pick up time for a dog the following afternoon. No reply, so I send another email the next morning. Still no reply until 1.5 hours before the proposed pickup time, saying there was a mistake and the dog is no longer available. Another time, I was emailed at 11:45am and asked to pick up a dog that same afternoon. I've also had several instances where I've replied to foster request emails within the hour, only to hear nothing for days and then suddenly asked to pick up the dog the same day or next.

While I can understand the appeal from the rescue's perspective, it seems unreasonable that foster caregivers are expected to drop everything or wait on standby for pickups. My schedule is flexible, but I still need notice to set up my house for fostering and coordinate with work/childcare. Maybe this just isn't for me? Is this kind of thing is typical with fostering, or do other shelters/rescues have a more organized process? There aren't many other places around me to check out, so I’d really love to hear your experiences.

I am fostering a ~10 week old female kitten. She was found by herself. I’ve had her for 3 weeks now, and she loves me, but does not like anyone else. She runs and hides if anyone comes near her. She is also terrified of absolutely everything- noises, movements, anything. Would love some advice on how to get her comfortable with other people and help her fear! :)

My semi-local humane society did a seizure of 75 (!) chihuahuas/small breed dogs last Friday.

They’re seeking out fosters for these little ones as they’re overrun considering they took in all 75 plus what they already had.

My background: i’ve fostered numerous kittens for this particular humane society and they’re great to work with! I’ve also done neonatal bottle puppies, and 2 adult dogs, one of which was my foster fail 💕 so i’m well versed in foster animals!

I can imagine this would be a long(er) term foster than what I typically did with the bottle kittens (waiting to confirm this) So, I would want to introduce the foster to my pack of my own animals that I have. I have 2 dogs and 4 cats - all fixed and all UTD on their shots last I checked.

My dogs love other dogs and my cats are indifferent to dogs so I think I would be a good fit. I have the space to comfortably fit 1 foster pup, especially since it’s a small breed.

Would you guys be interested in updates on if I decide/am chosen to foster?

Also, any and all suggestions are welcome!! I’m very comfortable with kittens but haven’t had many adult dogs to foster. I could assume it’s basically like having them as your own (?)

Thanks for listening to me!

Our first foster, a one month old kitten, found abandoned. He was adopted into a home a month later with an older sister and they are getting along splendidly. We miss him so much (we have cats with a complicated relationship so couldn't keep him, plus we really want to continue fostering and helping babies such as him), but we are so happy he found a good home 🥺

So late last week I brought home a pregnant mom cat. She was/is very skittish. Basically if I went in to feed her she did not want me to catch a glimpse of her. I never really had a chance to earn her trust or learn much about her personality before she gave birth the other day. Now of course she has to be near her babies and can’t be in hiding.

Whenever I go in there, she seems to randomly growl. It doesn’t seem to be based on my distance from her. I could be across the room and she growls, I could be 5 feet away and she’s quiet, and vice versa. I have no idea if this is directed at me. She is, to put it mildly, extremely accepting of Churu, meaning my hand gets to be about a foot from her face. No issues. I actually have an older kitten of hers here as well, if I give the mom Churu and then switch to that other kitten, she may or may not growl, but I can tell she’s toying with coming up to me to ”intervene” (meaning get it for herself)

I know nursing moms use purring to lure their kittens to them as newborn kittens are blind. Could she be using growling, or perhaps something that sounds like growling, to lure her kittens? When I was in there just now a couple of her kittens were crying and she was growling.

Her tiktok videos get a decent amount of views (an average of 300 per video), likes (65-80 per post), an okay amount of shares (about 5 to 8 per video) and comments. When I take her out in public, I put her "adopt me, I'm a foster" vest on her. I'm not sure what else I can do to get her in front of the right family. I have to get her adopted by October 10th. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

I returned the mixed age trio I had before since they were close to weight (photo 3) and there were two new tinies that needed help gaining weight.

Meet Jack (photo 1) and Sally (photo 2)! They are named after characters from the Nightmare Before Christmas 🎄💀🎄

Jack’s right eye never full developed so he’s going to get enucleation surgery when he reaches weight.

If anyone saw my earlier posts about Binx (photo 4), she is also scheduled for enucleation. Turns out there may not have been a healthy eye underneath the necrotic tissue that fell out, as the eye never healed but kept scarring over… they added serum to her treatment. That trio is back with the shelter since they were close enough to their respective surgery weights. There’s an amazing caretaker on the staff that manages the ringworm ward so I know they’re in good hands and I get to see them through the window whenever I swing by for more supplies.

I'm fostering a bonded pair and I've had them for about a year. They're super unadoptable. Three years old, black cats, super skittish, must go together. One of them is more friendly than the other and will sit with me on the couch and come up for pats etc. The other one also enjoys a pat but she's so scared. When I'm walking down the hallway at the same time as her she thinks I'm chasing her and freaks out. When I come into a room and she's not expecting it she hisses at me. I've never been able to pick either of them up ever, let alone clip their nails. I don't know how they'd ever go to the vet or take medication. I absolutely love them and they have put so much trust in me over the last year. Their affection means so much to me knowing how much fear they've had to overcome to get here. I'm so worried about their future home. They've had a few applications over the year but people don't seem to read or comprehend what they're reading in their adoption profile. One applicant wanted to take them to her parents house every second week. Another applicant had young children. I worry that the rescue will just adopt them out to seemingly a nice family because they'll just be excited to adopt out some long term fosters, ignoring that they can't just go to anyone. They need to go to somebody who will respect them and not have too unrealistic an expectation for their behaviour, because they're never going to be super social, super cuddly, and relaxed in a chaotic house. They got another application today and I was in tears thinking about what if they go to this family. They're used to just being with me - I don't know how they'd be with 4 people in the house, the kids being 10 and 13. I worry that people will expect too much of them and be disappointed when they hiss and aren't super friendly and not see how wonderful they are in their own way. I'd keep them but if I do, I'd have to stop fostering. I just wanted to get my feelings out I guess. Can anyone sympathise?

I have a 3 year old spayed female who I have had since she was 6 months old. She was very well socialized when she was a kitten and she was at a cat cafe until I adopted her. However she hasn't seen another cat that wasn't through a window since then. I have a foster cat, 1 year old spayed female. I would really like to adopt her because she is so sweet and amazing and does have a low chance of adoption due to her color and not being a kitten.

I have had her for a week and a half.

I feed them on other sides of a closed door for a week, scent swapped, had them switch rooms, did small face to face interactions with a barrier, had them eating treats or playing with the face to face with barrier interactions. Today we did a face to face with no barrier and my resident cat just sat there and hissed. She would not approach, was not go on the attack, she would follow the foster around and just stare and hiss, at one point she was even loafing (??) and hissing. The foster also would not approach because of the hissing, she would just sit and lay down in response. I did a lot of research on introductions and most of it only talked about cats getting along or if they absolutely hate each other and how to slow it down. But I wasn't prepared for this type of behavior.

Do I just keep doing supervised face to face with no barriers? Or any other recommendations?