To all Rescuers/Foster people

[DJFyrewolf36]

I am doing a report on cat rescue and cat overpopulation and would like the imputs of some rescuers/foster people! If you could reply to the following questions I would be eccstatic! Thanks in advance guys!



What do you think is the biggest responsability of a cat rescuer/foster?

What is the biggest challenge you face as a rescuer?

What can people do to help your cause?

Any aditional insights, personal stories etc are apreciated too! Thank you again for your responses

[rosethecopycat]

Originally posted by DJFyrewolf36
I am doing a report on cat rescue and cat overpopulation and would like the imputs of some rescuers/foster people! If you could reply to the following questions I would be eccstatic! Thanks in advance guys!



What do you think is the biggest responsability of a cat rescuer/foster?

Health and well being of your foster. Including socialization skills.

What is the biggest challenge you face as a rescuer? Dealing with non rescue savvy vets. Dealing with medically complicated cats that need alot of your time.

What can people do to help your cause? GO TO: siameserescue.org
We need fosters, interviewers, drivers, supplies, donations, etc.

Any aditional insights, personal stories etc are apreciated too! Thank you again for your responses
Fostering is what I was meant to do. People think that: oh, I could never give them up. Up in giving one up, leads another one to safety.
I used to say the same thing, but it is easier than you think.
It is a joy.

[jenluckenbach]

What do you think is the biggest responsability of a cat rescuer/foster?

The health of the animals. That would incluse mental, physical and emotional health.

What is the biggest challenge you face as a rescuer?

Funding! You can't do anything without the donations

What can people do to help your cause?

Encourage spay/neuter as a mandatory procedure for all pets

Any aditional insights, personal stories etc are apreciated too!

I work on the foster end of rescue and I enjoy it tremendously. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. I may not be out on the streets preventing abuse or fighting feral cat population explosions, but I feel needed

[QueenScoopalot]

What do you think is the biggest responsability of a cat rescuer/foster?

As a trapper/fosterer/rescuer etc. one of the biggest responsibilities is assuring that a healthy cat/kitten goes of for adoption. As a trapper the biggest responsibility (especially during kitten season...which never ends) is making sure all kittens are accounted for, before calling it a wrap! And mama of course!

What is the biggest challenge you face as a rescuer?

The overwhelming knowledge that it will never end for all the homeless and dumped animals out on the streets. Finding enough foster homes is not easy, so many times I find myself housing far more than I care to, but then think of the alternatives, and say to self..it's only for a few days until someone else can take this litter etc!


What can people do to help your cause?

Donate wet food, kitten dry food, litter, litter, and more litter, and need I say money? And number one thing that people can do to help my cause is SPAY/NEUTER and be responsible for your pets so I don't have to!

Any aditional insights, personal stories etc are apreciated too! Thank you again for your responses

My brain's on meltdown due to sleep deprivation! Plenty of purrsonal stories that I've posted already! Many happy, some sad, but all rewarding in some way!
;)

[leslie]

I think what people can do to help the cause is more along the lines of what the big rescue orgs can do. Here in Mass. (and every state has at least one or 2 state- wide rescue leage and humane society) is #1 push for legislation to punish neglected animal including cats, #2) push for spay/neuter/combo test/vaccine low cost programs that go into poverty ridden communities more frequently than they do now (in Boston it's once or twice a year) So is it happening in all cities? I doubt it. #3) Address the problem of ferals- provide rescue groups with low cost spays and nueters vaccines, and manpower, food when possible. most importantly, not to have an attitude about the work rescuers do! (often there is this attitude as if they are handling rats, or on the flip side, that we are evil doers with trapping cats that should have been left in the streets when they are clearly suffering ie, "Are you sure this isn't someone's pet?" and then the attitude like the cat was kidnapped when it is suffering, starving and cold...) So my answer is, a change in attitude toward strays and rescued ferals from independent rescuers by large organizations.

[catnapper]

What do you think is the biggest responsability of a cat rescuer/foster?
I agree with Jen regarding the complete health of the cat.

What is the biggest challenge you face as a rescuer?
I fall in love with all my fosters! I see that there is a shortage of people willing to foster.

What can people do to help your cause?
Educate people about the responsibilities associated with a pet. Stress the money commitemnt, the health care commitment and the plain old fact that a cat's not something you get as a novelty for fun to be disposed when you are done playing. Educate people about cat behavior and how the owner's actions are reflected in their cats reactions.

Any aditional insights, personal stories etc are apreciated too!
I have only been doing this for a short time, but its had so much impact on my life - I do it as much for me as I do it for the cats! I walked into it for the cats and am walking away feeling great myself.

[catmandu]

I actually,have never fostered a Cat,They generally stay here,as I fall,in love with them,and as my house,is in a Bad neighborhood,they,wont bring Foster Cats,as noone comes here,that doesnt live here!

[DJFyrewolf36]

Thank you to everyone that responded, this is a huge help!

[leslie]

under biggest challenge for rescue and foster is: Finances and space.
If you do rescue work, you often times have to cover immediate vet care on your own- the stuff that needs to be done asap, like deworming, distemper, uri symptoms, and dealing with fleas and also the unknowns (I had to deal with lung worm once with kittens I'd trapped and of course paid for). This is costly. Then the challenge of finding a shelter that will take them to find them a home. ("Oh you found them in xyz town, no we only take strays from pdq towns sorry" or "this thin area on the ear might be ringworm, bring him back in 3 weeks", or "His eye looks a little watery, bring him back when it's been treated with vet paperwork saying he's not sick".
God forbid ringworm hit your house ($$$); not just to treat but it means you have them longer and therefore more litter and food and possibly another bout or two of uri or eye infections... you never know with these strays whose immune systems are so compromised to begin with.
Then, if you do get them into a foster home or shelter, they still may be put down.
With fostering from a shelter or a rescuer- again Finances. Ålso space. Same as above. But if you are fostering for a shelter, maybe they are paying vet bills up to a point? However, I have done fosters for a shelter and the fosters never went in the shelter because guess what? Always full! Did they care? NO. Guess whose cats they became? Mine. And another rescue group was kind enough to place all but one that I kept.

[catmandu]

Not,only to take them in,but to maintain thier health,even if you have to do without!When John Hancock,lost,all but tweo,of his teeth,at 1,1100 dollars,I didnt have the money,but seeing him,recovered,I am glad,that I was able,to make arrangements,with the Vet,as he is a Dear Cat!

[K & L]

What do you think is the biggest responsibility of a cat rescuer/foster?

Rescuer:

To make sure every cat you rescue is spayed or neutered.
Never giving up and continually monitoring the colonies for new unaltered cats.
Providing food and water on a daily basis.

What is the biggest challenge you face as a rescuer?
Funds of course!
Finding places for all the dumped “tame” cats.
Finding someone to fill-in on feeding when you’re away.

What can people do to help your cause?
Donate food;
Help feed;
Help trap;
Help transport;
Help educate about TNR.

Any additional insights, personal stories etc are appreciated too! Thank you again for your responses.

Personal story from a few years ago:

AzCATs have been helping us trap cats at the Park for over a year now. Thanks to several other trappers and ourselves, we have managed to TNR over 90 cats.

Just in the last 5 weeks we discovered 2 litters of kittens, one with 3 kittens, and one with 2 kittens. The 3 kittens were over in a woodpile with no mom in site (to this day we don’t know who the mom is). The 2 others were in a large fenced in area they call the chicken coop, with mom, a calico (this is one smart mom). We have been trying to capture her since AzCATs first started helping us. They even brought a drop trap one evening, but still no luck.

We decided to go for the 3 kittens in the woodpile first since they appeared to be older than the other 2. After several failures, Kevin decided to build a drop trap (after seeing AzCATs). One evening we set the drop trap up at the woodpile. In 5 minutes we had the 3 kittens, 2 females and 1 one male (Candy, Cobbles & Corky).

The following week we tried for the 2 other kittens (Cheeto & Einstein) and momma (Cricket) in the chicken coop area. This had to be the most miserable trapping experience we’ve ever had. First off it’s locked so we had to find the Park Rangers and ask them to unlock it for us. Then of all nights they decided to start irrigating. Since it’s a chicken coop, the ground was like slimy, mushy swamp mud that reeked in odor of chicken droppings. The irrigation brought mosquitoes and to top it off, the ants were all over the grounds because of all the chicken food. We again used the drop trap and in 5 minutes had the kittens….BUT…no Cricket. So we waited, and waited hoping to trap Cricket through her kittens. As time went on (which seemed like many hours), tempers getting very short, no Cricket in site, and conditions pretty much intolerable, we decided to give it up for the evening.

We went back several nights that week, only to have her lay there, look at the trap, then look at us like she was saying, “do I have stupid written on my forehead”? “HELLLOOOO do you think I’m falling for this”? So Sunday night we again brought the drop trap and went inside the chicken coop (much to our dread). Luckily they weren’t irrigating this week! Kevin got the trap set and we went outside and sat in the car. Just when we were about to give up, we saw movement in the grass…A CALICO! We waited until she went in the trap, pulled the string, and voila, trapped! We were ecstatic! We covered her and took her home. The next morning I went out to check on her, only with a look of shock and disappointment…wrong calico with ear tipped! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!

So here we sit another evening, waiting and waiting. Finally she comes strolling out of an area we have never seen her in before. As sweat is rolling off of us (remember we live in AZ) we wait and wait watching her circle the drop trap, only for her to walk away. Finally an hour has past and we see her approach the trap once more. She’s going closer and closer this time and finally goes in to check out the food. As we excitedly watch her we pull the string, trap drops, hits her, and she springs it up and escapes! We go home feeling quite defeated and very bummed out.

OK, here we sit again! She’s in the area but will not come near the trap. All kinds of goodies are there and all the others are having quite the feast. She circles and circles but won’t go in. Oh my, now we have Lucky playing with the string, she bites and pulls it and there goes the trap with a few of the already fixed ferals in there! Cricket bolts away! We’re laughing but feeling defeated again. We don’t give up, reset the trap, and go sit in the car and wait. She eventually comes back to the area, but not to the trap. I go shake the food container and run back to the car. She walks up to it, but still doesn’t go in. 2 hours later she’s still awaits her food and we wait for her to enter. Now up walks a HUGE orange cat (who we believe has been the father of the majority of the litters). He goes in the trap and starts eating, Cricket runs off. We decide to go for him since it appears we’re not going to get Cricket. We pull the string and got him! He’s a strong one, had to hold the trap down with my feet! Got him to the vet the next morning, neutered, ear tipped, and a wound stitched in his neck. They said he was 14 lbs. of pure muscle. So the Cricket saga continues. …..


3 months later….

It’s 01/25 and tomorrow is feral cat spay day. We still have approximately 6 cats that we’re aware of in the park to catch. We gather 4 traps and the drop trap and head for the park. It’s fairly early and we decide to set a couple traps out and setup the drop trap. Within 10 minutes we have 2 of the cats we needed to trap, so we’re 2 traps down now. Cricket appears, but as usual is standoffish toward the trap. The usual ones (already altered)go in and chow down on the tuna as Cricket watches from a distance. We still have 2 traps and figure we’ll stay there hoping for a couple of the others. To our surprise Cricket cautiously walks over closer to the drop trap. Our hearts start pounding faster in anticipation. She starts circling and watching the two cats eating from within the drop trap. The food has disappeared, but we don’t want to get out and put more in knowing we’ll chase her away, so we sit there and watch. Oh my gosh….she’s going in…she’s only half way in and we know there’s no food in there. AHHHH she goes all the way in sniffing, we pull the string….WE GOT HER!! We’re jumping with joy. It’s been 1 ½ years trying to get her. We can’t believe it!! We feel pretty satisfied with our catch and only have one trap, so we decide to wrap it up for the evening. I ran to gather the other trap and much to my surprise, we have another one in it and it’s one that hasn’t been altered!

SO, we have 4 to add to the total #. Not many, but a major success with Cricket! Now we have one more momma and 2 more males (we’re assuming). That is, until someone else drops off their cat at the Park!

Kevin & Lisa Doyle

[DJFyrewolf36]

Thanks again so much for the help! This presentation is turning out to be really informative. Not many people even KNOW there is a cat overpopulation problem, nor do they know of the real heros that do cat foster and rescue!

[K & L]

Originally posted by DJFyrewolf36
Thanks again so much for the help! This presentation is turning out to be really informative. Not many people even KNOW there is a cat overpopulation problem, nor do they know of the real heros that do cat foster and rescue!

That's why education is SO important!