The Northwest Animal Shelter is looking for more foster homes for some of their feline friends.
The shelter currently has 25 kittens looking for forever homes and they are getting more cats in shortly.
“We are expecting a mother cat and her young kittens, and two very pregnant cats to come into our care this week,” said NWAS foster coordinator Ashleigh Ballevona. “Fostering helps NWAS by freeing up valuable space and resources, allowing us to help more animals in need.”
Opening up your home temporarily to some animals can be easy and can be for a couple of days, weeks or months.
“Fostering is easy and so rewarding. Fostering can be short-term or long-term. Right now, we are looking for longer-term— around six to eight weeks, foster homes t o care for the families of moms and kittens,” said Ballevona.
The shelter recently had to deal with an unusual situation and Ballevona said they were able to help some motherless kittens.
“A cat named Pumpkin came to NWAS pregnant and the foster coordinator was able to place her directly into a foster home where she gave birth to four healthy little kittens,” she said. “A couple weeks later NWAS received four hungry little kittens about the same age as Pumpkin’s. These kittens were found in a shed and the mother never returned. The foster home was up for helping out, and thankfully so too was Pumpkin. The kittens were introduced to Pumpkin and she immediately accepted them as her own, letting them nurse and grooming them. Watching Pumpkin accept kittens that weren’t hers was nothing short of amazing.”
Anyone over 18 years of age can apply to be a foster home.
“Right now, our biggest need is for foster homes that can take expecting mother cats, and families of moms and kittens,” Ballevona said. “These foster homes will ideally have a spare room as the mother cats need to be in a calm environment so that they can be stress-free and feel like they are keeping their kittens safe.”
The shelter provides all the supplies and covers all vet expenses.
Anyone interested in fostering can request an application form from info@nwas.ca or download it from the NWAS website. (http://nwas.ca/programs/foster/)