I have been fostering kittens and cats for over two years now. Fostering sounds like fun and games. Who doesn’t want to play with kittens all day? However, there is a more serious side to animal rescue. One of my rescue cats, Frankie, serves as a constant reminder as to why I continue to foster kittens and cats.

Frankie had been neglected by his owners and ended up living on the streets. He was severely underweight, had matted hair, a mouth infection due to a virus, a heart murmur and kidney disease. I cared for Frankie, and paid for all his medical bills with the help of some local supporters. His health had begun to improve and his hair was growing back. He was settling into my house and he was starting to look and feel like a loved family member. Only six months into saving him, Frankie developed fluid on the lungs. We didn’t have him for very long after that but he rests in my garden now, with a flourishing poinsettia to mark his life. Although he wasn’t with us for long, I would do it all over again if I had to.

My passion for fostering comes from a desire to right wrongs; to find loving homes for kittens to ensure they are safe lifelong, and to re-home cats who have been abandoned or mistreated. If you can re-home a kitten when they are young, you can start them off on the right foot. I always think back to Frankie – if he had found a loving home when he was young, he never would have needed me to rescue him. I also see adopting from a rescue as being just as important as fostering.

Fostering is only short-term, but adopting is for life.

I am currently fostering a litter of kittens who came from a house where they were only a month away from potentially becoming pregnant themselves. Animal Care Collection Illawarra is providing me with an assisted adoption so all kittens are vaccinated, flea'ed, wormed, fed premium food and, most importantly, desexed before they go to new their new homes. To ensure their safety, all kittens will need to remain indoors. Adoption fees apply.

If you are interested in adopting one of these kittens or would like more information or photos, please get in touch with Animal Care Collection Illawarra. You can find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/accillawarra