We had a visit from one of our foster parents today to get another round of vaccinations for her three feline friends.
I like to call her Paul Revere because she is just like the Minute Men from the Revolutionary War. She is ready at a minute’s notice to come to the shelter and get a litter full of babies to foster for us. The ones she has now are so stinking cute and they look so healthy.
It helps these babies to get out of the shelter and into home until they are old enough to be spayed or neutered and that’s what our foster parents do for us. The lady that was here today has likely saved thousands of animals in the time she has been fostering for us.
And that’s the bottom line: our foster parents save lives. We are currently in the height of the time of year when the cats are out having a grand old time and bringing the consequences of that “fun” to shelters nationwide.
There’s a statistic that says one male cat and one female cat in 10 years can make more than 13 million cats. It’s actually a mathematical equation (my dad and brother would be so proud right now). I’ll be conservative. Let’s say that one female cat can have four litters of kittens in a year and four kittens in each of those litters.
We had a mother cat who came into the shelter a few years ago with nine kittens in one litter (she couldn’t physically nurse them all at the same time), so four really can be conservative.
At any rate still using my four kittens in four litters, that’s 16 kittens in one year. Each of those 16 can go out and have 16 of their own, each of those 16 can have 16 of their own and the numbers continue to increase exponentially as the years go on. Take a calculator and multiply 16 times 16 and see how quickly you get the error message.
You can easily see how we can get overrun and that’s why spaying and neutering is so incredibly important.
It’s also why we always need foster parents.
Our foster parents essentially open their homes as a temporary residence for kittens, sometimes with or without a mama. We’ll provide the food, bowls, towels, litter, medicines, vaccinations and sometimes even a crate if necessary for you to care for the animals.
With litters of kittens who have a mama, it’s the foster parent’s responsibility to wean the kittens onto solid food before being returned to the shelter – and don’t worry, it’s not as difficult as you would think. The little squirts like eating a mixture of what we at the shelter call “gruel.” We combine a little warm water with hard and soft kitten food, mix it around until it gets mushy and nine times out of ten the little ones gobble it up.
Keep in mind that in some instances, we’re talking about animals being in foster care for possibly up to nine weeks, so our foster parents will sometimes need a time commitment. Foster parents are solely
responsible for the babies in their care and shouldn’t leave the animals with someone else while they vacation.
It’s quite rare that we would need foster homes for dogs, but from time to time it could happen, so canines are also a possibility.
If you are interested in becoming a foster parent for CVAS, please give us a call at (717) 263-5791 or check out our website www.cvas-pets.org and click on the foster parent link to fill out an application.
Naturally, if you fall in love with one of your wards, adoption is not only possible, it’s very welcome.
Our foster parents have some of the biggest hearts of anyone I’ve ever met and the lady today is no exception. Please considering joining their ranks and help us help more four-legged souls today.
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Jennifer Vanderau is the Director of Communications for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter in Chambersburg, Pa., and can be reached at [email protected]. The shelter accepts both monetary and pet supply donations. For more information, call the shelter at 717-263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org. CVAS also operates a thrift store in Chambersburg. Help support the animals at the shelter by donating to or shopping at the store.
