Fostering the Special Victims Unit

Elliott is one of the Special Victims Unit foster kitties. From living the rough life of a stray cat to being taken in and fostered, he is now ready to find his forever indoor life with his own family!

By Christian Green - Cats' Cradle new foster

I was contacted on a Thursday in March about a group of four cats that had been brought into Cat’s Cradle adoption center in an old dog crate in the back of a pickup truck. The cats were scared, hot, and likely anticipating the worst, as life had proven unfair to them thus far.

Cats’ Cradle reached out to me as I had thrown around the idea of fostering and mentioned it to Cats’ Cradle but was nowhere near ready. My circumstances were not ideal, but they beat a dog crate in the back of a pick-up truck. These four cats made a 45-minute ride in a cage in the heat off to their new adventure. I set up what I had for them which was a bedroom with necessities.

When they first arrived, I gave them some time to decompress before attempting to meet them. I brought food and water in and observed their little bodies curled or scrunched up as small as they could make themselves. Over the next few days, I sat with them while they ate and observed their new environment. Over the course of a few days, they began to lower their fearful ears and become curious about this person feeding them. They cautiously sniffed and retreated to their safe places around their room. I spent my extra time with them watching TV, working on my laptop, and more and they began to grow more curious.

Little sniffs began to turn to gentle head bumps and brushing of themselves on my arm. Little by little, they grew more comfortable and began to want to be closer to me. Over the course of several weeks, I no longer saw scared little cats. They have huge personalities and they finally have permission to be who they are with no worry about survival. They enjoy toys, snuggling on the couch, tunnels, and being around kind humans. These once scared cats that made themselves as small as they could, now run to me when I arrive. The shy sniffs are now love and affection. It was my privilege to teach these little cats that the hand they were dealt was not their last one. 

I once said I would never foster because “I love animals too much.” I knew how much I would struggle when the time came for them to be adopted and so I decided I would protect myself. Through fostering these guys, I have realized I can no longer look away because “I love animals too much.”  The fate of these four cats depended on how inconvenienced and uncomfortable I was willing to be. These terrified cats with pinned ears and sad eyes are no longer the same. They play with toys, they run to people, they want to be held, they make biscuits, they wish to be picked up, they have got to experience the good in this world.

I love my group enough to adopt all of them, but I am slowly learning if I kept them, I would have to turn away the next four scared little cats in a dog crate in the back of a pickup truck.

I will miss my little friends when they are gone, but fostering changed their story. Their fate was interrupted and came to a halt because I prioritized their future over my comfort. I will continue to foster because of the cats they became and because I love them too much to look away again. Ask about barriers you have, the most important thing cats need is a human to prove they can be safe and kind. Fostering saves lives and, in the end of this journey, it often becomes unclear who rescued who. 

Thank you, Munch, Elliott, Liv, and Amanda -- you left me better than you found me!