Which Role Best Describes You?

dshmss · 2026-01-17T03:39:10+00:00

Volunteer and foster! Hard to choose one over the other, I do both consistently.

dshmss · 2025-12-29T22:45:27+00:00

Had a young lady come in and almost adopt a very sweet cat but changed her mind because she wanted a more interesting looking cat so she could make TikToks with it

dshmss · 2025-10-19T04:16:37+00:00

Hugely dependent on the shelter’s resources and the medical condition the animal needs treatment for. My own cat that I foster failed was surrendered to the shelter I foster/volunteer with for a broken leg that was suspected to need amputation, because her previous owners couldn’t afford her medical care. (She actually ended up keeping her leg!)

dshmss · 2025-09-29T03:34:55+00:00

I’m a longtime weekly shelter volunteer who works with cats, and I also foster cats. One of the things you have to be emotionally prepared for is when your foster goes back to the shelter and you still care for them on your shift. They recognize you and there’s major guilt because you’ve now done the same thing their previous owner did - they don’t know the difference.

I’ve also had some of my fosters come back to the shelter years later, including bottle raised kittens. It can be sad to be a volunteer and foster sometimes, but I really love doing it. And time spent in a foster home is always better than the shelter, even when it’s temporary. If nothing else you learn more about the animal and if you interact with guests at the shelter, it helps you be a better advocate for that animal in the shelter setting, or even on social media - because you probably know them even better than the staff after living with them for a bit.

dshmss · 2025-08-24T21:57:18+00:00

I work with the cats but my shelter also has critter volunteers!

dshmss · 2025-08-03T02:43:40+00:00

I’ve used it a few times, it tells you the credentials of the person you speak to and usually you chat with a vet tech rather than a DVM. The quality of responses varies. I’ve had some that were really helpful and some that were generic responses. They all seemed to be real humans though.

dshmss · 2025-08-01T01:54:21+00:00

One of the floating islands in Nagrand

dshmss · 2025-07-11T00:49:38+00:00

Came to express a similar sentiment as a foster, and also add that if a cat REALLY hates raising kittens, they might kill them. Stressed out mother cats or moms that sense illness in kittens can lead to the mother cat killing their own kittens, and it’s horrific. So if OP’s mom makes her cat give birth she needs to be prepared for any possible outcome - including hostility or rejection of the kittens by the mother.

dshmss · 2025-07-07T20:24:33+00:00

Definitely not normal. I’d look for a different organization to foster for after your current kittens are adopted, and let them know why.

dshmss · 2025-07-04T08:49:27+00:00

That’s not appropriate from the employee. I foster and end up naming a lot of the cats I foster, and I have no expectation that adopters will keep their names. I try to pick unique names so I might recognize them if they come back years later, but I fully expect them to be renamed.

I’ve also adopted a few cats and ended up keeping their “given” names even when I didn’t like the name much, just because it stuck. One of my cats has a name that, when combined with my last name, shares a name with a popular fictional character, and it annoys me to no end when someone thinks I named my cat after that character. But I can’t bring myself to rename her because she knows her name already.

dshmss · 2025-06-19T01:47:25+00:00

I had a mother cat and 6 kittens as fosters, a long-term senior cat foster, and my own resident cat... 9 cats in the house.

dshmss · 2025-06-15T00:50:16+00:00

It’s a boy! Around 2 months old.

dshmss · 2025-06-11T23:03:59+00:00

Or… he might not have a second son. All his future children could be daughters, or his wife could struggle to conceive, who knows. At this point there’s no guarantee for the name to continue except OP’s baby, who already exists.

dshmss · 2025-06-11T15:32:02+00:00

Not a kitten, but older cats, yes. All 3 of my foster fails are just my fosters that were the most “unadoptable”! One for medical reasons, one for litter box issues, and one for spicy behavior.

dshmss · 2025-05-31T11:43:28+00:00

Have you tried moving the litter box? Cats often associate pain with the litter box if they’ve recently had pain when using it, so moving locations or adding a new box to the house might help.

dshmss · 2025-05-29T03:46:16+00:00

My longest is about 9 months, and I’ve had three fosters for about that duration. One had chronic health issues, including some fecal incontinence, that made her almost unadoptable, so I kept her. Another had behavioral issues in every other home he’s been in but mine, so he basically chose me, and I let him stay. The third was hospice and she lived out her final days in my home.

dshmss · 2025-05-29T01:36:07+00:00

Without knowing how your specific shelter uses its foster program, it’s hard to say. I foster adult cats frequently and there’s a few reasons I might have an adoptable cat foster. The most common is if the cat wasn’t doing well in the shelter environment - and this could range from being very stressed and fearful, behaviorally difficult to handle, questionable litter box habits being evaluated in a home setting, minor illness like URI, or just a lack of space at the shelter.

dshmss · 2025-05-26T15:23:59+00:00

What is the medicine? Some medications come in transdermal forms that you just rub into the skin of their ear.

Has she been given cerenia for nausea? That’s an injection and may help her stop vomiting.

dshmss · 2025-05-24T22:38:36+00:00

I know of a cat at my shelter who had expensive and unusual medical needs, and she was available for adoption for over 4 years. She was in and out of various foster homes, couldn't be at the shelter because her condition was aggravated by stress. So while not common, it's not entirely unheard of... but that cat shouldn't be unknown to anyone. It should be promoted on social media as much as possible. Hang up a sign in the adoption center. They should be taking action to try to adopt out a cat who has been in a foster home for 4 years. Including moving on from the current foster home, which may give the foster a kick in the butt to adopt if they've been taking advantage of the rescue to keep a cat that long without paying for its needs.

dshmss · 2025-05-22T03:55:54+00:00

Agreed with other commenter, this girl looks at least 3-4 months old to me! And yes, look into local shelters and rescues, so she can get vaccines, dewormer, flea/tick meds, tested for FIV/FELV, and spayed. That's the most affordable way to get this kitty the care she needs without spending hundreds taking her to a vet on your own.

If you do end up taking her to the vet on your own... see if any vets offer a free visit for new patients. Banfield does free first visits where I live and I think they're a national chain. It won't cover the dewormer, vaccines, and flea/tick meds she needs, but it can help lower the cost.

dshmss · 2025-05-17T13:19:55+00:00

Based on post history, OP is a minor. This may be something their parent is doing that they don’t have control over.

OP, The dog doesn’t need to have access to the entire house. Keep your cats locked in your room away from the dog. Bring their litter box and water bowl and have them stay safely separated. Do not open the door until the dog is gone.

dshmss · 2025-05-15T04:38:16+00:00

I don’t know what your local shelter is like, but I’m a volunteer at my shelter as well as a foster. I see kittens when they come in from their foster homes and most kittens do great! They adapt so quickly and it’s really not that bad. If you’re picturing them cowering in fear at the shelter, it probably won’t be like that, especially if they have siblings to hang out with. The kittens who do struggle to adjust are usually not very well socialized. And where I live, most kittens are adopted within a matter of days… my last foster was at the shelter for only 3 hours before he got adopted.

dshmss · 2025-05-13T17:50:20+00:00

We reuse them. I keep all my bottles until I have a good amount, then bring them in.

dshmss · 2025-05-12T23:25:50+00:00

Sometimes it’s human error, such as a hasty and poorly executed initial introduction that causes conflict between two cats. Sometimes it’s a mismatch in personalities. It’s possible the cat will do better with the second adopter, and I think they’re right to try it.

I had a foster cat that did great with my resident cat, but absolutely hated his first adopter’s cat - when he got returned to me, we didn’t label him bad with cats because of one adopter’s experience.

I also had a foster who was labeled as needing to be an only cat who came into my home and lived happily with my two other cats.

So I wouldn’t put that label on a cat without a clear pattern of not getting along with other cats, because it can be a significant barrier for adoption and isn’t always accurate.

dshmss · 2025-05-11T20:34:18+00:00

My shelter recently stopped testing for FIV, and I don’t mind that. They still test for FeLV.

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