Fostering kittens was no doubt the most rewarding volunteer work I have ever done in my life! When you foster kittens, you keep them in your home until they are old enough to be adopted out! This can be achieved through mediums like FaceBook or PetFinder. Amid a busy life my mother and I still managed to care for 11 kittens so far, but right now I'm going to give you 10 reasons why your college volunteer work should include fostering a kitten or two or twelve!
1. They Need You.
Shelters, especially smaller ones, are limited in space and volunteers. Any shelter comes with several faithful volunteers that donate a significant amount of spare time into the grunt work and then, of course, playing with the animals! Kittens need lots of room to run and jump around and that can be better achieved in most rooms in your home or apartment as opposed to a cage.
2. You Can Take the Cutest Selfies
Nothing is cuter than a three-week-old kitten! Their eyes are blue, their tiny claws get stuck on everything, and their purrs are louder than a Ferrari’s engine! Not only do you benefit from having the CUTEST pictures on Instagram, but you can also advertise your kitten(s) to those who follow you on social media and maybe find their forever home!
3. Fostering Helps Shelters Maximize Space
Kittens are usually kept in a cage with their litter or paired with other healthy kittens. So think about it, if three volunteers foster three pairs of kittens, you could potentially open up two or three other cages for the shelter to use for adult kitties!
4. They Have LOTS of Energy
If kittens are anything, they’re lively and alert. You can sneeze and they get spooked into a sprint across the room! Your Snapchat story will be filled with videos of your kitten(s) crawling all over you, jumping over each other, and wandering around their new environment. Your room or home becomes their world to explore! And when they run out of energy, they will snuggle up close to you for a well-needed nap.
5. Help Save Fragile Lives
Animal control officers that run your local animal shelter are swamped with work: they manage every animal’s paperwork and Facebook post, reach out as far as they can for those looking to adopt, create Pet Finder profiles, and leave to pick up strays to protect in the shelter. Fostering a kitten in your home assures they will receive plenty of attention and become more comfortable around people; increasing their likelihood of adoption. It’s also a way to give the animal control officers more opportunities to help the strays still on the streets.
6. They’re Great for Hosting Parties and Group Hang Outs
For my sixteenth birthday I invited around thirty people to my house and when I brought out our fosters, Casper and Jasper, everyone’s hearts melted! Two of my friends even attempted to convince their parents to adopt them. After being held and played with they crashed HARD on a cat tree and my friends were given ANOTHER opportunity to take pictures and post on social media about them; increasing their likelihood of adoption.
7. Helping Them Fight Their Problems Can Help You Fight Your Problems
Nothing helps fight a bad mood like helping animals in need. Whenever I found myself stressed out by a paper or project, I could drop everything to go play with the kittens! Their meows are precious and can make you cry instantly. They’ll chase practically anything, even dragging your finger across the floor! And when you and the kittens grow tired you have the motivation to finish that paper that counts for half your grade!
8. They Help You Grow as a person, caregiver, and Leader
When kittens are young enough to still be nursing they need to be bottle fed every four or five hours. It’s no easy task but you’re the one that keeps your little fosters safe protected. You can also log fostering for official volunteer hours on a resume.
9. After your tender love and care, they find a forever home!
When you foster a kitten you keep them until they are adopted. After caring for your little ones, you know what kind of owner they would work best with. It is rewarding to see them through the adoption process and find a nice new family to live out their lives with!
10. Or, If You Fall in Love, You Can Adopt Them!
My mother and I fostered a pregnant cat from the Denton Shelter. We fell in love with one in particular and decided that this little squirt was a kitten we just had to keep for ourselves. This little rascal had the time of his life learning to crawl, open his eyes, and eventually bite (ouch!) his way around our house. My family quickly decided we would keep our first successful foster and now he lives happily in my apartment with me!
