It always frustrates me when people tell me "Oh, I wish I could be a foster home, but I'd fall in love with the cat and want to keep him!" Sure you do! Everybody does. We all cry when our foster cat leaves to a new home.
The only people who can be foster parents are the ones that get hurt. Who else can do it? People who don't like cats? No. People who aren't "into animals"? No. It's us - people who agonize when a prospective adopter comes forward for "their cat".
I remember my favourite foster cat, "Ducky". Man, I loved that cat. He was with me for 6 months before he was adopted into a wonderful home. I cried and cried when he left. Sometimes I feel like such a lousy foster Mom. But because he was adopted, it meant I could rescue somebody else that needed me. The adopters still send me pictures of "The Duck". He looks happy and healthy. I still think about him.
Our foster homes *rock*. How could 65 families from different homes, different educational levels and social-economic levels, come together as one? These people open their homes to cats they've never met and to potential adopters they've never met. They love the cats like their own, and kiss them goodbye when it's time for them to go to their "forever homes". Some of these people I've never met, yet they continue to open their hearts month after month to these little felines.
The only people who can be foster parents are the ones that get hurt. Who else can do it? People who don't like cats? No. People who aren't "into animals"? No. It's us - people who agonize when a prospective adopter comes forward for "their cat".
I remember my favourite foster cat, "Ducky". Man, I loved that cat. He was with me for 6 months before he was adopted into a wonderful home. I cried and cried when he left. Sometimes I feel like such a lousy foster Mom. But because he was adopted, it meant I could rescue somebody else that needed me. The adopters still send me pictures of "The Duck". He looks happy and healthy. I still think about him.
Our foster homes *rock*. How could 65 families from different homes, different educational levels and social-economic levels, come together as one? These people open their homes to cats they've never met and to potential adopters they've never met. They love the cats like their own, and kiss them goodbye when it's time for them to go to their "forever homes". Some of these people I've never met, yet they continue to open their hearts month after month to these little felines.
These people aren't just flapping their gums about how much they love animals. They're doing the work. They're scooping litterboxes, giving medication, mourning dying kittens, and learning who their foster cat really is and what kind of forever home he or she needs to be in. They're bracing themselves for the inevitable "goodbye".
I'm in awe of all of you. Really and truly.
I'm in awe of all of you. Really and truly.
1 comment:
I think of 'Gus' (foster cat) everyday, at breakfast I still save a little piece of bacon and cheese for him. I still buy his favorite flavour of Temptation Treats, I still tidy and wash his blanket even though he's not sleeping in it. Still, I can feel his nails digging into my back covered bed sheets and his purring, yes, I still hear that...
He is very much loved in his forever home today, I believe this because I met her. I feel so lucky to have shared this memory, history together of us, it will remain with me forever...chubby cheeks.
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