For the Foster Program!

The foster program is very near and dear our hearts, and because of this, we always devote at least a day of our donations during the fundraiser to this program.

This amazing program allows both cats and kittens to receive the best possible care while they wait to reach an "adoptable" state.

With these cats and kittens temporarily living in our huge network of foster homes,  more space is created at the shelter for incoming cats, and this time of year there are a LOT of incoming cats.  It frees up shelter staff, too. Animals in need of fostering require more care, sometimes 'round the clock, and special attention, too.



Foster homes give mama cats a safe and quiet place to raise their babies. For orphaned kittens, foster families are able to socialize them and monitor them closely to make sure they're getting all that they need.

The foster program helps big cats, too. Adult cats are fostered when they need time to recover from an injury or illness (like a highly contagious upper respiratory infection) or if they just need to spend some time working on their social skills.  By sending recovering cats into foster homes, it keeps the remaining cat population healthier too.

Fostered cats and kittens tend to be happier, healthier and better-adjusted pets. So when they return to the shelter and are put up for adoption, they get adopted quickly, and the likelihood of them being returned is very, very low.

A lot of kittens pass through the foster program each year -- last year there were 968 and 292 of those were neonates (four weeks and under).

Currently, we have 120 active foster homes and we're providing care for 185 kittens (the week before it was 265!!).  As you might imagine, it takes a lot to keep all of the foster homes stocked with supplies they need to care for their wards.



All day long, and through the weekend too,  the funds we raise will support the Foster Program.

The money will be used to purchase the essentials like kitten formula, bottles and syringes, canned and dry food, bedding, crates, kennels, scales,  kitty litter, litter boxes, vaccines, flea treatment,  heating pads,  probiotics,  nutritional supplements, medicine, sub q fluids, and more.

Kitten season is far from over, so I'm hoping we'll be able to bring enough to really bulk up the Foster Room shelves with all that they need!



Thanks to our Awesome Anonymous Donor, we've got another match!  It's a big one, but we love our foster kittens, so I'm confident we can complete it!

For every single dollar we donate, she will match it until we meet her very generous $5000 cap.  The match will run until 7:00 PM (Pacific Time) tonight, so we've got 12 hours to get it done.

Once the match is over, we'll still collect donations for the Foster Program until 11:59 PM on Sunday. I know many of you will be slipping away for a long holiday weekend, so before you head out of town, please get your donations in!

Thank you, EVERYONE, for all the support!  Thank you, Awesome Anonymous Donor, for this generous match. And thank you to all the foster families out there taking care of those many kittens and cats.


To make a tax-deductible donation, please pay a visit to our FUNraising page.

THANK YOU!

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Just in case you missed it yesterday, I did create a space for us to leave our comments after making our donations.  You can read about it HERE.

Also, we passed the $25 squillion mark yesterday and we're now over a quarter of the way to our goal!!  Of course, we still have a long row to hoe, but we are making major progress!  Thank you for helping us go so far in just a few days of fundraising!

I'll be back with more today.  I'm going to take you on a little tour of the Foster Room next! Stay tuned!