WHAT IS FOSTERING?
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Fostering is the process of taking a shelter animal into your home temporarily until they're ready for adoption. Foster homes save lives by freeing up space in the shelter, socializing animals, caring for sick or orphaned animals, and by helping to prevent disease spreading in the shelter environment.
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WHY FOSTER?
1. Fostering saves lives.
2. Whether you volunteer to raise orphaned kittens, or to give an adult dog a break from the kennel - you are making a difference in the life of an animal in need.
3. Young puppies and kittens need more care and safety than can be provided in a shelter environment.
4. Science has proven that dogs thrive with a break from the kennel, and actually tend to get adopted more quickly after a foster vacation.
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We provide the supplies and support, you provide the love.
NEONATAL, ORPHANED & WEANED KITTENS
Every year, the SPCA of Northeastern North Carolina takes in more than 1,000 kittens in need of foster or adoptive homes. Many of these kittens are orphaned kittens, under 8 weeks of age, and need a temporary foster person to raise them until they're ready for adoption.
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Unweaned kittens require foster parents to bottle feed every few hours in the early weeks until they transition to solid foods. Bottle babies require about 8 weeks of foster care. Many of the kittens we intake are already weaned and eating solid food, and they require only a 2-4 week stay in a foster home until they're old enough for vaccines and adoption.
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MEDICAL & BEHAVIOR ANIMALS
We regularly need temporary foster homes where animals can recover from injury, illness, abuse or neglect in the comfort of a home environment. Our staff will work with you closely to ensure you're confident with the at-home care that your foster animal requires. We provide all of the supplies, medicine and training that you'll need for the animal, we just ask you to provide the love.
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Recovery time varies, depending on the needs of the individual animal.
NURSING MOTHERS WITH PUPPIES/KITTENS
Among the 2,000+ animals the SPCA of Northeastern North Carolina takes in each year are occasionally nursing mothers and their young. These families require a quiet foster home where the mother can raise her babies in peace and safety, outside the shelter environment.
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We are often in need of foster homes for nursing cats and their kittens, and less frequently we also need foster homes for nursing dogs and their puppies until they're ready for adoption.
