fostering with own cat

sarahbro

Decided recently to start fostering cats/kittens for our local rescue centre. Was meant to start today but pair thing wasn't well enough.

We have a 9 month old tom (neutered).
He's extremely friendly to me and my boyfriend and eventually warms to new people. He's outdoors during the day but sleeps with us st night.

The problem is....we get the feeling he doesn't like other cats? This could be due to the fact that we adopted him at 7weeks old and until he was 7months old (and we moved from an apt to house), he was an indoor cat with no interaction with other cats.

Can his 'dislike' of other cats be changed? Will us fostering get him used to being around other cats or is he set in his ways now?

planetX

He'll most likely be disgusted, but should get over it eventually. It's very individual. I took in stray kittens, one of my cats gets along with one but not the other. My other cat who used to be very sociable has taken a dislike to them all. I think every time you add another cat or kitten the whole social order disintegrates. In otherwords be prepared for a period of chaos and scrapping, but things eventually settle down.

Acoshla

Our cat arrived to us at 7 months old and was very nervous, we rescued him so don't know his history. We have since foster cats and kittens and every single time he hates them with every fibre of his being, stays away from them for two days, sniffs them and growls for another 2 days, and by the time a week has gone by he just pays no attention to them at all.

MaryK666

Our original two cats are rescued ferals (part of a farm colony) that we only got when they were a year and a half old. They were quite set in their ways but adapted to indoor life very well. Neither were afraid to use teeth or claws if they felt threatened but it didn't take them long to realise which side their bread was buttered and soon behaved as if they'd been born to indoor life and servants and both became very cuddly cats.
We took in two foster cats a year later and our original male, who was fairly snappy when we got him, immediately took over and helped them to settle in while his mate threw a swipe every chance she got, as if she resented them being there.

Shortly after they left we adopted two kittens and the same thing happened. He played the father figure and she dealt out the slaps and didn't want to know. The kittens are now over a year old and our original male is the one they go to for games, for cuddles and for washing while an uneasy truce exists between them and our girl. She doesn't appear to like any other cats except her mate but she's at the stage where she tolerates the kittens as long as they leave her alone.

In the interim, we have has a few short-term foster cats and he's always the one we take in to see how the new arrivals react to other cats and, even with a hissy cat, it doesn't take him long to get around them while she will sit outside the door and hiss at them. It's quite comical to watch.

The kittens, despite being just over a year old, are eternal kittens and everything's a game for them so we try and keep them away from any short-term guests if possible - at least for now.
We will, no doubt, have more foster guests in the future but it's always a process of trial and error as to who gets on and who doesn't. You just have to make sure that your own cats know that they're still the most important people in the house and they will work it out between them.

sarahbro

Picking up our foster cat this evening. Poor girl got hit by a car on Friday and in a bad way. Has her jaw wired and all can't wait to get her home and mind her

sarahbro

Quick update.
Brought her home Thursday and she's doing well.
Our fella hates her with a passion but we were talking to a woman from the rescue centre and she reckons it is because she has a cone on?
Hopefully things will improve when it comes off on Saturday

The Sweeper

sarahbro - I always keep fosters away from my house cats for quarantine purposes. There are a variety of ailments and viruses that could be incubating happily while the cat is in a shelter - especially if they've only passed through quickly before being fostered out.

If the foster cat has been an outdoor or stray, I won't integrate them at all because of the risk of developing feline AIDs in the foster - any stray or outdoor cat coming into a rescue and tested for feline AIDs should be retested in three months to ensure the all clear.

I'll only integrate new animals with my cats if I intend to keep them for a long period of time (e.g. > 3 months) and then only if I know the history of the animal, or if all test results are negative.

I'm surprised sometimes at the lack of information given by rescues to their foster carers. The attitude to quarantine appears to be especially relaxed, with lots of 'Oh I've never had a problem'.

How long do you have this foster for? Are you fostering with a view to keeping her? If you are, I'd still quarantine, which can be done as part of the slow introductions you should be taking with your cats.

JDxtra

Never heard of fostering cats from a shelter. Is it just a ploy to get rid of a few animals in the hope that you get attached and keep them permanently?

The Sweeper

Kittens will be put out to foster if they're a bit hissy and a little too young to adopt out. I've taken on a fair few litters of 4-5 weeks of age and fostered until 7-8 weeks, daily handling and adjusting to noises of the house (OH plays his guitar for them - the first time they're petrified, by the end of the stay they're usually crawling all over him and his guitar as he plays).

Older cats can be fostered to help them adjust to home life. Some very good natured cats may be fostered to prevent them becoming unhappy and stressed in a shelter environment. Some cats who hate other cats may be fostered in a no-cat household just to keep the peace.

All in all, there are lots of reasons to foster out cats.

sarahbro

JDxtra wrote: »

Never heard of fostering cats from a shelter. Is it just a ploy to get rid of a few animals in the hope that you get attached and keep them permanently?

No its not. the shelter relies on people fostering as they haven't enough room to keep all the animals. they are currently fundraising for a new premises

sarahbro

The Sweeper wrote: »

sarahbro - I always keep fosters away from my house cats for quarantine purposes. There are a variety of ailments and viruses that could be incubating happily while the cat is in a shelter - especially if they've only passed through quickly before being fostered out.

If the foster cat has been an outdoor or stray, I won't integrate them at all because of the risk of developing feline AIDs in the foster - any stray or outdoor cat coming into a rescue and tested for feline AIDs should be retested in three months to ensure the all clear.

I'll only integrate new animals with my cats if I intend to keep them for a long period of time (e.g. > 3 months) and then only if I know the history of the animal, or if all test results are negative.

I'm surprised sometimes at the lack of information given by rescues to their foster carers. The attitude to quarantine appears to be especially relaxed, with lots of 'Oh I've never had a problem'.

How long do you have this foster for? Are you fostering with a view to keeping her? If you are, I'd still quarantine, which can be done as part of the slow introductions you should be taking with your cats.

Yes we're looking to keep her, we're too soft for this fostering!
Well she was in the vets, that's where we collected her from, as she had been hit by a car.
I have wormed and given her flea treatment just to be safe.
We got our other cat from there when he was 8 weeks old and no problems so far.