This, we learned, is a major plus in finding forever homes for little kitties. The kittens, in turn, accepted Teddy as the alpha, the boss, and appeared more at ease with him around. He let them snuggle and even climb on him. Teddy, all 80 pounds of him, kept a big-brother eye on the kittens’ rambunctiousness, nudging them with his muzzle if they wandered where they weren’t supposed to go. The biggest revelation for us, though, was that Teddy not only wanted to be involved, he was good at it. No less helpful, there’s almost always a bright one in the bunch who figures stuff out faster than the others - how to eat solid food, where to do its business. They play together and keep one another amused. It may sound counterintuitive, but fostering multiple kittens is easier than just one. Our first foster kittens were about 3 weeks old when they arrived - still bottle feeding but old enough to be out of the danger zone. We picked up three kittens at NKLA, a nonprofit shelter operated by Best Friends that aims to eliminate euthanization. Our son needed to rack up some community service hours for school. Our introduction to this world was admittedly self-serving. It’s also obviously a long-term commitment (or should be, though it doesn’t always work out that way).įostering is different. Teddy quickly grasped who held the deciding vote in our little government, and in his first interaction with Ikuko, he met her eyes and leaned against her in a gesture of trust.Īs anyone with a pet knows, there’s something magic about an emotional connection being made between different species. He wasn’t sure how to act around people.īut he was sweet - and intuitive. It was obvious right away that he’d had some hard knocks. A shelter staffer led Teddy from his cage into a pen where we could get acquainted. On a whim, we asked if we could interact with him. I’m sharing this because Teddy would prove instrumental in our future foster activities. A DNA test would identify him as a mix of golden retriever and Saint Bernard. He was sitting at the back of his cage, head down, fur lifeless, his brown eyes saying, “I don’t understand why this is happening.” Ikuko and I were wandering among the canine cages when we spotted a mustard-colored dog who looked utterly forlorn. That changed during a 2014 visit to a shelter, which we did from time to time prior to the pandemic just to see if any cats or dogs needed some TLC. I’d always wanted a pooch as well, but Ikuko was wary of bringing a dog into our cat-happy home. Ikuko and I never fancied ourselves as fosters, although we’ve had cats since the earliest days of our relationship. That’s how desperate these facilities are for helping hands. Heck, you can boost your karma by simply volunteering to take a shelter dog for a walk around the block. Animal Care and Control, which operates seven county-run shelters. “Even if you foster for just a couple of days, it makes a difference,” said Allison Cardona, deputy director of L.A. It’s also why there’s constant need for the rest of us to step up, if possible, and help homeless critters find their place in the world. “This is something that’s very difficult for us,” Brown told me. If a newborn kitten can’t be placed in a foster home right away, it almost certainly will be euthanized. The need for affection and attention, the round-the-clock bottle feedings - “we just don’t have the staff for that,” Brown acknowledged. Animal Services, which operates six city-run facilities (including the shelter where Ikuko volunteers and which asked us to take in Lupin). “Newborn kittens are the most vulnerable part of our shelter population,” said Dana Brown, general manager of L.A. Shelter space is so limited, many dogs and cats have to be put down for medical or behavioral reasons, or simply because they require more care than the shelter can provide. What many people might not realize is that public and private shelters rely on the community to help handle the thousands of orphaned or abandoned animals looking for a home. “And I think the animals are pretty adaptable. “Even if you only foster for a week, that’s a week the dog or cat wasn’t in the shelter,” she said. Sathe replied that any time spent outside a cage is positive. Isn’t it heartbreaking for a dog or cat to bond with a human and then be rejected? I asked Sathe if these turnabouts with fostering are rough on critters. Sadly, there also have been stories about some shelters filling up again as people return their pandemic pals and prepare to resume normal life. People felt lonely and maybe a little frightened, and bringing home a furry friend brought emotional relief to millions. We’ve all seen stories about how pet adoptions picked up during the pandemic.
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