by Janet Farricelli CPDT-KA

Created on: January 21, 2009

The Joy of Fostering Feral Kittens

It all happened on a cold, fall day. I was working at the animal hospital and we received several calls from time to time, from rescue groups looking for foster parents. After my cat had passed away, I must admit that my home felt empty and dull, so when the voice on the other line encouraged me to give fostering a try, I felt like it was the right thing to do.

While I was planning on fostering only one kitten, the director firmly told me that "no, both had to go" so I ended up going for two kittens and not one. We therefore, purchased two litter boxes, two food bowls, two sets of toys, two carriers and two blankets.

So on a cold and windy Halloween evening, with two cat carriers in hand, my hubby and I headed towards the shelter. I must admit that I felt very emotional that day, as this was a whole new experience and it almost felt like if we were adopting a child, well let's say, two furry children.

Upon arriving at the shelter, two squeaky 5 week old black (Halloween!) kittens were taken out of the cage. They were two black, fuzzy litter mate kittens, a brother and a sister. The director told me that they were sick as she was handing me over bottles and bottles of medicine. She then took each kitten and wiped up their ears, a bit too roughly for my taste.

The whole ear cleaning ordeal took a good 15 minutes as she wiped out a good amount of goo laying about a dozen of dirty q-tips by the side. It was evident that they suffered from ear mites and required a good daily cleaning. Afterward, they were given shots, a dropper full of antibiotics for their upper respiratory infection, a dewormer and eye drops for their conjunctivitis. She then put them both in one carrier as the squeaky fellows complained a bit for their rough day.

I surely thought at that point that I probably was getting into something that was too much. I was concerned about their URI and their eye infection and their over all malnourished state. Evidenty, they were neglected kittens that needed lots of care!

Upon letting the kittens out of the carrier they also immediately pooped in my living room floor and it was diarrhea, of course. However, what was done was done, these kittens were now my responsibility and I would have done all it would take to get them back to health.

While both kittens seemed to be black, as the evening went by, I noticed they both had a cute chunck of white hair right on their chest. They were very similar kittens with still those adorable

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