Foster Program

The Tree House foster program helps to get more kittens off the street. By keeping vulnerable kittens in foster homes they are less likely to be exposed to disease than they would be if they stayed at the shelter. In foster homes they have more space to run and play. They have people who can spend lots of time giving them attention and socializing with them.

Foster kittens are placed in homes according to how much supervision they need and the ability of the foster home to care for them.

Orphan kittens have lost their mothers and need to be bottle fed. Bottle feeding kittens requires lots of attention and care. These tiny babies need to be fed every few hours, even in the middle of the night. They need to be kept warm and to be stimulated to help them to go to the bathroom. These very young kittens sometimes need help learning to eat solid food and need to be syringe fed until they are able to eat enough on their own.

Young kittens that are eating on their own can take care of themselves, but need to be kept in a small area. Once they get bigger they can explore around a larger room, but when they are very little they may have trouble finding their litter box if they are in a big room. They need to be fed about 4 times a day and monitored closely to make sure they are gaining enough weight.

Older kittens can stay in a bigger room and don’t need as much supervision. They still need to eat three or four times a day, but they just want to play and cuddle.

Kittens who have a mom cat to take care of them are very lucky and so are their foster parents. Mother cats keep their kittens very clean and well fed. Foster parents can enjoy these tiny kittens with less worry because mom is doing all of the work.

Adult foster cats are easy to take care of if you have enough room and your resident cats don’t mind that there is another cat in the house. These kitties are so grateful to have gotten off the streets that they just want to relax. Adult cats in foster care are less stressed out than cats at the shelter because they don’t have to spend their quarantine in a cage.

Interested in fostering for Tree House?

...to be able to keep the foster cats and kittens completely separated from your own pets. Since foster cats and kittens are going through their quarantine at your home you will want to keep your pets safe by keeping fosters in an isolated living space away from your own pets.

...to be able to commit to weekly visits to our Uptown Clinic for routine veterinary care. Medical standards for our cats are high at Tree House, so we require at least three to four weeks of dewormings, vaccinations and monitoring before foster cats and kittens can go up for adoption. Younger kittens will need to stay longer in foster care until they are old enough to be spayed and neutered.

...a big heart, to love and care for kitties who are in need of special care and attention.

If you're interested in becoming a Tree House Foster Home, contact programs@treehouseanimals.org.