Fostering a pup/kitten

serenacat

Hi,

has anyone fostered a pup/kitten from dspca?
I am thinking of it and was just looking to hear anyones experience

PurplePrincess

I foster cats/kittens. Its great fun and very rewarding. If you are thinking of getting a pet its a good way to see if your lifestyle is suitable. Be warned though, its hard not to get attached. I cried a river of tears when the first one went off to her forever home

Whispered

With the animals, experiences vastly differ depending on the animal. Do you have pets already?

You say kittens and pups, very cute, but I would recommend you rethink that slightly. I can promise you that older dogs and cats are often easier than the babies! 9 times out of 10 pups come to you without being vax'd or wormed, can often be sickly after a tough start, and of course are MUCH messier .

Also if you only take the babies you run the risk of being asked to take young young animals, needing fed every 2 hours and other specialist care.

My husband was the same about wanting to take the pups, not realising that they are much harder work! My view on it is - I make myself available for foster, I specify what I cannot take (adult males) and whoever ends up with me, is the dog that should be here. Easy fosters are great, but the sense of achievement with the more challenging ones when you make some headway is amazing.

Fostering is very very rewarding, can be very tough, when you see "your" dog go to his new home, it's very bittersweet. And you get so protective over them

Regarding the DSPCA, of course it's a personal choice who you foster for, but I would urge you to consider fostering for a volunteer rescue without a premises. They rely much more heavily on their fosterers than the DSPCA.

If you have a look here http://www.facebook.com/#!/IrishAnimalShelters you can post saying that you are available and the area you are in. You will see the posts coming up asking for fosterers, so you can offer for specific animals too. It's a great resource.

magentas

serenacat wrote: »

Hi,

has anyone fostered a pup/kitten from dspca?
I am thinking of it and was just looking to hear anyones experience

are you fostering with a view to adopting?

or is it just to take the animal off their hands for a while and assess them?

either way, fair play to you, I'm sure they need all the help they can get

almae

i do this and it is so rewarding ....

here are past ones

serenacat

Thanks for everyones responses

I have never had a dog or cat but love them! I was thinking I would look after some without the long term commitment involved until I move out of family home (where cat/dogs are not allowed)
I have two gerbils and two guinea pigs.

I'm not looking to adopt yet but definitly will adopt some dogs in the future when i get settled down.

Are they kept in a pen? What do you feed them? Bottles of milk? Is it a full time can't live the house job? I wanted to do some spray tanning for money during the summer as well.

iheartthailand

serenacat wrote: »

Thanks for everyones responses

I have never had a dog or cat but love them! I was thinking I would look after some without the long term commitment involved until I move out of family home (where cat/dogs are not allowed)
I have two gerbils and two guinea pigs.

I'm not looking to adopt yet but definitly will adopt some dogs in the future when i get settled down.

Are they kept in a pen? What do you feed them? Bottles of milk? Is it a full time can't live the house job? I wanted to do some spray tanning for money during the summer as well.

Hi OP,

I volunteer as well as foster kittens/cats for the DSPCA and would most definitely recommend it. Like you I live at home and although I would love a dog and/or cat my parents dont so for now fostering keeps me happy! Also many of the kittens/cats have to go to cat/dog/animal free homes as they might have flu or infection which the DSPCA dont want to pass on to your pets so not having a pets means I can foster ones that others cant.

The DSPCA will answer all your questions when you collect your foster kitten as well as give you all the equipment/food you will need (btw you never feed a cat/dog cows milk, they will tell you only to feed water).

I usually keep the kitten confined to one room when they are on their own and then let them run loose between the kitchen/other living room when Im about. It wont be great for the kitten if its going to be left at home for 8/9 hours a day but i get the feeling you dont plan to be out of the house that long so i dont see it being a problem. I work during the day but my mam would be at home a lot during the day so the kittens dont get bored and lonely.

It can be hard giving them back, the first kitten i fostered was particularly hard to give back, we all got so attached to her. but it was so satifying knowing she had come to us semi-wild, hissing anytime i went near to her and left an absolute dote who loved nothing better than lying in my arms like a baby having a snooze! whoever shes ended up with im sure shes made very happy and its rewarding to know i had something to do with that.

serenacat

iheartthailand wrote: »

Hi OP,

I volunteer as well as foster kittens/cats for the DSPCA and would most definitely recommend it. Like you I live at home and although I would love a dog and/or cat my parents dont so for now fostering keeps me happy! Also many of the kittens/cats have to go to cat/dog/animal free homes as they might have flu or infection which the DSPCA dont want to pass on to your pets so not having a pets means I can foster ones that others cant.

The DSPCA will answer all your questions when you collect your foster kitten as well as give you all the equipment/food you will need (btw you never feed a cat/dog cows milk, they will tell you only to feed water).

I usually keep the kitten confined to one room when they are on their own and then let them run loose between the kitchen/other living room when Im about. It wont be great for the kitten if its going to be left at home for 8/9 hours a day but i get the feeling you dont plan to be out of the house that long so i dont see it being a problem. I work during the day but my mam would be at home a lot during the day so the kittens dont get bored and lonely.

It can be hard giving them back, the first kitten i fostered was particularly hard to give back, we all got so attached to her. but it was so satifying knowing she had come to us semi-wild, hissing anytime i went near to her and left an absolute dote who loved nothing better than lying in my arms like a baby having a snooze! whoever shes ended up with im sure shes made very happy and its rewarding to know i had something to do with that.

I have guinea pigs and gerbils but they live in a cage, think that would be ok if I kept pup/kitty in different room?
I'm home most of the time and week so sounds like it would be fine!
During the summer I want to volunteer for DSPCA i couldnt before I had my driving license and a car!

missmyler

I fostered a blind dog from the pound once and the place never came back for him. Apparently they had closed down in the meantime. Good job we had already fallen in love with him

Whispered

That's terrible! what organisation was that?

missmyler

Was one in Kildare, can't remember the name

Anyway wasn't the end of the world, dog lived happily ever after with us till he died!