Foster Care
LFFAC’s Foster Program provides foster care for a variety of cat needs. If a colony cat is injured or ill and needs extended medical care or healing time, cats are cared for daily with food, water, and a clean litter box while recovering in a calm, low-stress environment suitable for a feral cat.
If a tame cat needs medical care or has a wait time until it can be transferred to a local shelter, they are cared for daily with food, water, and a clean environment while receiving love and attention, e.g., playtime, petting, holding, from a caring foster family. Often that includes receiving medication or special food, daily weights, and other care needed while healing, if ill.
During kitten season, we receive young kittens who need medical care and time to grow before they can be neutered or spayed, vaccinated, and microchipped before going to a local shelter for adoption or adoption through LFFAC. Because many of the kittens who are relinquished to LFFAC are found outdoors or are taken out of our TNR project sites, they may have upper respiratory infections, diarrhea from parasites or food changes, eye infections, etc., and require more care than daily feeding and freshwater. In addition, they need a large space to run and play, which must be kept clean. Kittens are a joy to play with and love, but some require a great deal of care.
Older kittens and young cats who come to us from outdoor settings, or an indoor environment where they receive very little attention, are under-socialized to humans. Our skilled foster families spend time patiently winning over their trust and helping them acclimate to life with humans. This is a very rewarding role, but takes a great deal of time, love, and patience to complete the process so that these kittens can find safer, better homes than they would have found in their original circumstances.
