Fostering a Kindle of Kittens

Being a regular donor and supporter of the ASPCA, Humane Society, and cat-dad of two sweet/fun 5 year old cats, my girlfriend and I decided to help with the always necessary adoption and fostering needs of the Charleston Animal Society. We’ve never done this before, but Arielle has been following a girl up in DC (kittenlady) that has been regularly rescuing and fostering little kittens in need. With this inspiration, we decided we’d give it a try, with the goal of also getting them adopted when they are ready to.

While a lot of people may feel like this is a big commitment to care, even if you don’t feel ready to own any animals, it really is very low maintenance, fairly easy, and of course, fun.

The process was simple:
• Contact the ASPCA Foster center at 843-329-1543, or just head up there (2455 Remount Rd, N Charleston, 29406) any day of the week including weekends.
• Fill out an application, which is mainly saying you are over the age of 18, and have no other pets that are NOT fixed in your home.
• They provide you with food, litter boxes, and a carrier.

As for caring for these kittens, all you need is a small bathroom that can be the kittens home for a few weeks. Ensure it’s clean, free from any hazards (keep the toilet cover down!) or small holes they can crawl into. We have a little dog gate up so we can keep the door to the bathroom open for them, and also keep our guest room door closed while we are not yet ready to introduce them to our 2 cats.

The goal of fostering is to care for them till they are big enough to be spayed or neutered. We took 4 kittens at about 4 weeks old. They are already trained to use their litter box. We simply feed them twice a day and enjoy playing/watching them them a bit. Kittens like to sleep about 18-20 hours a day, so again, they are not high maintenance. From what we are told, we’ll likely have them for about 4 weeks till they are big enough for their surgery. We’ll then be able to continue care for them while they recover for about a week. And at that point, they are adoptable… by us, or friends.

So… who’d like to meet our 4 little foster kittens and maybe adopt one or two!!!?!?? Here’s some adorable picts and videos!

Note: I bet you didn’t know that aside from the common noun for a “litter” of kittens, they can also be referred to as a “Kindle” or “Intrigue.”