Diary of a Kitten Foster Mom

If you know me well, maybe met me once or twice, or don’t even know me well at all-you will still likely know how much I love cats!! I always have, always will- that’s been discussed before, so we don’t need to revisit all the crazy cat lady jokes etc etc. I have no human children- these are my “kids”. Yes, I know I post tons of pictures of cuddly kittens and cats and I think to myself sometimes hmmmm, maybe it’s a bit much. But then I look at the newsfeed on FB and see other people posting pictures of their “kids” So I figure if I have to look at a pic about your kid’s first poo, then you can look at a pic of my cats cuddling.

Anyhow- since it’s always been a challenge for me to not want to buy and keep as many kittens as possible, I needed a way to get my “fix” without actually turning into said crazy cat woman.

I started off volunteering at the EHS which is great- I love it, and will continue to do it, but it wasn't quite scratching my itch-especially when the kittens were being manhandled in most inappropriate ways by people who should not be allowed to have an animal. Add to that the fact that I wanted to buy almost every single kitten I cuddled with.

So, I decided to try fostering. I knew it would be hard because I’d get them and have to give them back, but it hasn't been too bad. So far I've had a single kitten, three kittens and now lately, two kittens and their mama.

These are the youngest ones I’ve ever had-they were only about 3 weeks when I got them. They were still feeding from their mama and their ears hadn’t even popped up yet. Completely adorable! I named the mom Lily, and the two girls Daisy and Jasmine. I always had kittens, cats etc growing up and they were either outside cats or a bit older when we got them. We just plunked down some cat food and a litter box and they went in no problem.

With these two though- they were actually almost like newborn babies. They couldn’t even walk without falling over. And I had to do things I’d never thought I’d have to do to a cat…..

Week 1 was the time I was supposed to start getting them on the soft cat food and mom was supposed to start weaning them. I could NOT get the little ones to eat. They flat out refused. I put hot water with it to make it smell yummy , I tried putting a little on my finger and let them smell and still nothing. I then settled on finger feeding which is basically putting food on your finger and opening their mouths and shoving it down there. It felt really cruel but they needed to eat.  After a few days of doing that they started to recognize the smell and started pretty much eating on their own.

While this was all going on, I kept checking the litterbox and was wondering what was wrong as they didn't appear to be leaving anything behind…

So after a little call to the shelter asking if something was wrong they told me that the mama takes care of it. I was like “what do you mean” Well apparently when they’re super young, after they’re done eating mom gives them a little bath including their little “areas” and whatever business they need to do they just do and mom cleans it up. This totally grossed me out and made me rethink letting my cats lick my face. But I thought ok well the litter box is there so I’ll just put them in and they’ll get the hang of it.

Daisy went in first, she rolled around and kicked it around and starting eating it, but no business. Jasmine was next-and pretty much the same thing. I was thinking how could you not want to eat cat food but you’ll eat gross litter?

But there were no accidents so I figured the system they had was working.

Then I got concerned because they were eating more solid food and nothing was coming out the back end. So I did a little research, watched a few you tube videos and then braced myself for what I had to do.

If they don’t go on their own, you gotta give them a hand. So you take a wet cloth or paper towel (to mimic the mom’s tongue) and you rub their little private parts until they go either 1 or 2.

First of all- it takes a long time and second of all, since they just sat back and lifted their little back legs with their eyes closed I felt like a bit of a perv.

But happily kitten pee is like a few drops and the towel got it and it was all good. Mom eventually showed them how to use the box and we were set. They had a bit of trouble with number 2 getting all over their bums which resulted in a few baths and clipping of matted hair. That also started out kind of gross, who wants to touch that- but by the time I had done it a few times, it goes away and you just user your hand and run them under water etc.

The little girls are very tight and they do everything together including visiting the litter box. (Another bath story when Daisy pooped on Jasmine)

So I've had them for around two weeks now and they are sooo cute, it is going to be hard to give them up, but I won’t miss the litter smell floating around and trying to roll over at night only to find a little white fluff ball on my pillow.

Even though it’s hard, I really do love fostering and totally am going to do it again next year! I’d encourage anyone else who loves animals to look into it. You have no idea how much help is needed.

Seriously, how could you not love this!