Help: How to Prepare to Foster an Animal

[CoopBoots]

Hey all, I'm in a weird situation where my family might be fostering an adult cat for around 2 years before their owner will be able to take over again.

I own two cats already and I'm going to brush up on safe introduction techniques before this starts, but I'm more concerned about the emotional aspect of making certain we stay clear that this is fostering, not adoption, and try to love and care for this animal without attaching too much.

Is there even a way to limit your attachment? Or do you just have to be prepared to break a few hearts?

I have younger kids in our home and I worry that they may really suffer at the end of this. But maybe there's a super important lesson in this, too. After all, if we were in a tough situation we might need someone to do the same thing for us one day.

Any advice? I appreciate your thoughts!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Just make it really clear from the start that this is a kindness they are doing to help somebody out and that a day will come when the cat will go back to its owner. This is a very loving thing you all are doing, and yes it will be hard, but being up front with the children from the beginning will help make it easier in the end. I fostered many a dog in my day, sometimes not even realizing I was fostering. What I did was rescue, assuming the dog would be mine forever, but after a time, anywhere from six months to two years, someone would come along that was perfect for that dog. And I would realize that the best thing to do for that dog was to pass it along to that person. Yes I shed a few tears. But realizing I had helped prepare that dog for that home gave me great joy, too. I felt happy and successful, knowing I had done a good thing, and brought joy to dog and new owner alike. Explain this to your children, that they will be doing something wonderful for the cat as well as the owner. The cat needs to be safe and loved and the owner can't do that right now - but your children can. And the owner needs to know that someone is taking good care of the cat and loving it while they cannot. Their job is to love and care for the kitty until the owner can do it again. I'm sure they'll do a wonderful job!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh. And when the day comes to turn kitty over to the owner - please don't tell them not to cry! Let them cry. And hold them tight. Those tears will indicate how deeply your children feel, how much they are able to love, and how much they invested themselves into the cat. Of course they'll cry. And likely you will too. But hopefully some of them will be happy tears, knowing you all did a good job. Sometimes ... love hurts.