What to expect from fostering an animal

Welcoming a furry fostered friend into your home is so flippin’ fun! Their sleepy, burpy, silly selves are going to make you smile every single day and teach you so much about being a better pet parent. 

Fostering is a great way to bond with a sweet kitten, cat, dog, puppy or pocket pet without making a long-term commitment.

If you’re ready to take on the responsibility of being a foster carer, here’s what you can expect.

There’s an application process and induction

Before you become a foster carer, you need to apply by filling out this quick form on our website. After you do, you’ll be invited to attend a quick induction with our expert staff, who’ll give you the lowdown on everything you need to know about fostering. Prior experience not needed!

Fostering will teach you so much about animals

Taking in foster animals will make you realise just how much there is to know about animal care. You’ll find yourself referring to your handy Foster Care Manual more times than you can count!

You can totally foster if you already have a pet

Don’t worry, having an animal doesn’t prevent you from fostering!

It just means you’ll need to have a confined space for your foster where they can be kept separate from your pet – this is important while they’re sleeping, eating or whenever you’re out of the house.

Talk to your foster care coordinator about how you can introduce your foster into your home slowly and effectively, making as little disruption to your existing pet as possible. At the end of the day, it’s great for your foster to make friends with all different kinds of creatures! In fact, it’ll make them all the more impressive on their adoption profile.

Fostering is a commitment, but a very fun one

Along with the fun parts like playing and cuddling, you’ll also need to carve out time for regular feeding and taking your fosters to the veterinary hospital or clinic for vaccinations or other treatments.

And while this sounds like a massive commitment, it’s not as time intensive as you may think. Many of our foster carers have full-time jobs and happily manage to take care of their animals outside work hours. It all just depends on the animal you’re looking after and what requirements they have.

Besides, spending time with these sweet animals is hardly a chore — you’ll love every minute you get to share with them!

The smallest improvements will give you so much pride

This is especially true of fostering dogs and puppies but it also relates to cats, kittens, bunnies and guinea pigs.

Teaching your foster animal positive behaviour and seeing them take it on board is so wonderful! Not only does it give you personal satisfaction, it will give you yet another thing to write on their adoption profile. You have our permission to give yourself a paw on the back.

You’re going to become attached

Welcoming an animal into your home who’s a little down on their luck is a wonderfully generous thing to do. And as much as they get out of it, you will too.

It’s completely natural to become upset when you say goodbye to your foster animal. They really do become a part of your family. Let yourself be a little wistful and sad for a while but remember, you did a great thing! And they’re going on to live a happy and fulfilled life thanks to your kindness.

Of course, there’s always the option to pull a ‘foster fail’… but that’s a blog post for another time!

Find out more about our Foster Care Program here.