Experience of being a new fosterer the story so far........

Our first foster cat (Tinkerbell - Right) arrived and we were both a little apprehensive, here we were with a real life cat in our home who was a little lost in a new place with new people, we didn’t know what she would like and how she liked to be cared for.  We hadn’t had a cat for several years and not as a couple. It was a big responsibility to know she had come from the cattery and we were here to look after her and help her on her journey to being adopted, and what a  wonderful and rewarding journey that has been so far.

We have the enjoyment of having a lovely little cat around who has gone from being tentative but curious of the new environment to a cat who now confidently strolls in to the living room to join us watching tv in the evenings. She has developed from wanting head rubs only to now flopping down on her back for tummy rubs constantly and its lovely to see how she has adapted to the home environment which gives us great satisfaction for her future.

We have got to know each other step by step, finding out which cat food is a yes and is gobbled up and which is a no and rejected after a sniff, learning boundaries; bedroom is off limits but she is very good and will sit by the open door when you tell her no, being picked up is only tolerated for 3 seconds, carpet is not for scratching the scratching post is (still working on that!). This has helped us understand each other and means we now have lots of information for potential adopters.

Our friends all say to us ‘how will you give her away surely you’ll want to keep her’, but when you foster a cat you know its for a limited time and you enjoy that time together learning to live together knowing that what you are doing means the cat will be in a better position to find its perfect future home. So far its been good fun and our foster cat has given us so much so I’m sure it will be hard to say goodbye but then we can always foster another cat and start the journey again.

Imogen