Is fostering kittens expensive? It depends.
June 7th, 2019 | by Shelby Thorpe | Posted in Uncategorized
You’re scrolling through your Instagram feed and see a post attempting to recruit foster parents that says, “fostering is free,” then scroll some more and see several other accounts saying they need financial help to pay for vet visits, food, and litter. These two conflicting messages are understandably confusing. So what’s the deal? Trying to explain this is tricky business, as I am in no way trying to discourage anyone from fostering but I feel it is important to explain the discrepancies regarding cost in the Cats of Instagram foster community and why they exist.
The largest factor in how expensive or inexpensive fostering is has to do with where a person is fostering through. Whether they foster through a shelter/rescue or independently can be the difference between it being considerably cheap or wildly expensive which is why you’ll see some accounts hardly ever soliciting donations while others seem to post vet bills and pleas of help daily. Some shelters/rescues supply their foster parents with all the food and litter they could possibly need which can be a huge help in keeping the cost down. They also cover vet expenses which means you won’t have to worry about paying for dewormer, vaccines, spay/neuter, flea treatment, etc. You won’t have to worry about paying for kitten milk replacer or bottles for bottle babies and you may even be given additional supplies such as a snuggle safe heat disk and snuggle puppy or kitty to help keep your foster kittens warm and comforted. Even in these situations some of the costs you may incur could be for toys, blankets, cleaning supplies, gas, and the cost of running your washing machine. Shelters that provide all of the essentials are the ones inspiring accounts to claim fostering doesn’t cost much but it is important to remember that not all rescues and shelters are able to provide everything that’s needed. At minimum some provide vet care and the rest is up to you.
If shelters exist that provide everything needed to foster why would anyone choose to foster for a different organization or on their own? One reason could be location – there may not be a shelter that offers all the essentials within a reasonable distance. However, over the years I’ve chatted with many foster parents across the country and while this isn’t an issue I face with the shelter I foster for, one of the biggest complaints I hear has to do with the limited amount of vet care some shelters are willing or able to provide. They cover the basics but if a kitten has a condition that requires a specialist or more extensive diagnostics they may not be able to swing it. With overwhelming numbers of animals being surrendered on a daily basis these shelters need to budget the money they have in order to provide adequate care for as many as possible. Unfortunately this means that they can’t always pour money into a kitten with an unknown prognosis that needs to see a specialist when that money could be used to save more of the never ending flow of kittens entering their doors. To a foster parent this can potentially turn out to be devastating, but the shelter retains the power to choose the lengths one can go to try and save a cat or kitten’s life and this is part of the agreement you may be making when you sign up to foster through them.
The cost of fostering varies greatly depending on where/how you decide to pursue it. It is up to you to find out what the policies are in order to find the best fit for you. I foster for an incredible shelter that goes above and beyond for the cats and kittens in their care so usually when I have ill fosters you won’t see me asking for donations since all their medical care is covered by the shelter at no expense to me. I am aware that I am one of the lucky ones and that currently not all shelters or rescues provide the amount of moral or financial support I’ve been fortunate to have. Because of this I 100% back all those who have decided to branch off and take on the responsibility of coming up with the money to continue saving lives without the hassle they may have dealt with attempting to foster through a rescue or shelter they didn’t feel was meeting their needs or the needs of their foster kittens. I hope this explains why you may see some foster accounts asking for donations regularly while others claim it hardly costs a thing. It boils down to the different approaches we take depending on what we feel is best for us and allows us to make the biggest impact without feeling taken advantage of or like we’re letting our foster kittens down.