Be a hero and foster a homeless pet!
- Adelaide Pets Alive!
- Jul 11
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 22
At Adelaide Pets Alive! we believe that foster care is the gold standard of lifesaving.
Foster carers are our VIP's and without their love and kindness, we cannot continue to save the lives of homeless pets.
When an animal is surrendered or when a community kitten is admitted, we know that this change in circumstances can be very stressful for the animal.
Stress can decrease their immune system, and this can make the animal susceptible to disease. So, fostering a homeless pet in a home environment is their best chance for a successful transition to adoption.
Fostering offers the animal the opportunity of positive social interactions, increased physical freedom, it reduces stress, it supports natural behaviours, their health and wellbeing. Fostering supports the domestication of community kittens and promotes the human animal bond.
Fostering in a home environment reduces the chances of the animal contracting an infectious disease and is a quiet place if an animal is recovering from surgery.
Fostering allows for better behaviour assessment, and this gives us information about what home would suit the animal.
The foster home environment is an ideal place to take photos and videos, highlighting their friendliness, manners, skills and even sleeping on the couch!
Sometimes people are hesitant about fostering. Maddie’s Fund identified in their study Foster Caregiver Research Report (2017), the prospects of fostering versus after they had fostered an animal. The results are below.
A story of love and lifesaving
Georgie is a feline fostering superstar! She fostered an older cat called Nellie who was timid, sad and not social. Nellie perched herself on the cat tree and looked out the window. Regardless of her lack of socialisation, Georgie adopted Nellie.
Months later Georgie decided to foster a kitten called Smokie. Smokie had hair loss due to fleas, she was underweight and had no vet work completed. The cats were kept separate until Smokies fleas were resolved. Over time, Smokie put on weight, her coat was amazing, and she had her vet work complete.
Georgie loved watching Smokie interact with Nellie. Smokie brought Nellie out of her shell, and she made Nellie happy, playful and she seemed to love life again. Nellie was even trying new things like jumping on the bed, something she refused to do before.
So you can guess what happened - Georgie adopted Smokie!
Fostering is very rewarding and sometimes we see foster fails and the foster carer adopts the animal!
But most of our animals are adopted into other homes. Fostering is supporting a homeless pet through a tough time and providing your home and love to enable them to reach their goal – a new loving family.
If you would like to be a foster carer, we would love to hear from you! Please fill in this form and one of our team members will contact you.
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