Fostering Process
Are you willing to open your heart and home to a cat in need?
If so, please consider fostering for us.
Avid’s Angels is always looking for fosterers to offer temporary homes to the stray and abandoned cats we take in each week. Although the rescue has six full-sized cat enclosures, we continue to receive a lot of calls and messages each week concerning cats in need. We rescue as many as we can, but there is a limit to what we can accomplish with the space and limited resources we have. Quite simply, fostering can save the lives of cats and kittens that we would otherwise have no choice but to turn away.
Cats come into Avid’s Angels for a wide variety of reasons. Some of them come from vulnerable or difficult situations, such as those who have been abandoned, abused or have health issues. Others are surrendered due to a change in their owner’s circumstances (for example, a relationship breakdown, moving house, a family member’s allergy, death of owner, move into a care home, etc.) Some cats are simply unwanted or may be found wandering as strays. There are also those cats who have never lived with people and are feral or semi-feral.
These cats need your help!
Fostering is one of the most valuable and rewarding ways for you to assist the cats in our care.
Our fosterers play a vitally important role at the rescue, in fact we couldn’t do without them!
What does fostering involve?
- Providing a temporary, safe, comfortable home for the cat in your care until a permanent loving home is found.
- Providing for the cat’s basic, medical and behavioural needs.
- Access to transport to be able to attend vet appointments; although we do have transport volunteers if this is problematic.
- Patience and understanding.
- We ask that you preferably have experience of owning or fostering cats.
Benefits to you
- Knowing that you are helping a cat in need by providing the necessary care and attention needed in a loving, comfortable and safe environment while they wait for a permanent home.
- It can be a very rewarding experience.
- You get to enjoy the companionship and affection of a furry friend without the long-term commitment of ownership.
- You will be making a difference in your local community by helping to reduce the number of cats in rescue shelters.
- Your role will be crucial in the adoption process by providing valuable information about the cat’s personality, behaviour and needs, which helps potential adopters find the perfect match for their lifestyle and home environment.
What we provide
- All medical and veterinary costs.
- Regular support and contact with our team via a social media group.
- Special diet, if required.
- Flea & worming treatments.
- Please note that foster carers usually provide food (if not on a special diet) and litter. We do occasionally get donations of food and litter and these are shared out as fairly as possible between the foster carers.
Your time and commitment are precious resources, and in return we promise to provide you with the support and any advice you may require.
Our Fostering Procedure
Prior to applying to foster a cat, please ensure that you have read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ below:
Frequently Asked Questions
We tend to match foster cats with carers based on each cat’s individual needs and personality. We are interested in your preferences however, particularly in regards to whether you are open to fostering kittens, pairs of cats, long-term stay cats or cats on daily medication.
Yes. Our number one priority is the safety and wellbeing of the cats in our care. Therefore, just like with potential adopters, we do have some vetting procedures in place for foster carers.
We welcome fosterers with pets but please be aware that some of our foster cats require a pet-free home. It very much depends on the individual foster cat and its needs. Some of our cats will live quite happily with another cat and even a dog, however some foster cats will prefer to be the only animal in the home.
We ask that any children in the foster home are over the age of 5 years. Only foster cats who have been assessed to live safely with young children will be placed with you.
Adult foster cats can usually be left for a working day, unless their individual requirements dictate otherwise. We recommend that kittens are not left alone for more than 4 hours in any one day as they need to be fed frequently.
No, all cats in foster care must be kept indoors. This is to minimise the chances of the foster cat being involved in an accident or getting lost. Extreme care must also be taken to keep windows and doors closed to prevent escape.
The length of time varies, and depends on the individual cat. Generally, cats are placed in foster until they are rehomed and we don’t always know how long this could take. However, we do only ask you to foster a cat for as long as you are able to and, providing you give us appropriate notice, we can arrange for an alternative carer.
Having access to your own transport is very beneficial for trips to the vet or to collect supplies from our donation shed. Should you be unable to transport the foster cat to an arranged veterinary appointment, Avid’s Angels will endeavour to arrange a transport volunteer to collect the cat and drop back off to you.
Some fosterers do become very attached to their foster cat and, inevitably, become a ‘failed fosterer’. We ask that you communicate your desire to adopt the foster cat as early as possible to avoid causing disappointment to another prospective adopter. Standard adoption processes and procedures will apply.
The procedure for fostering a cat for Avid's Angels is outlined in the 8 steps below:
1. Application
Please complete our Foster Application Form and provide as much information as possible.
2. Assessment
A member of our friendly foster team will assess your application and contact you via email to let you know if we are happy for your application to proceed to the next stage; we endeavour to respond to every application and will provide reasons if we don’t feel your application is suitable.
If you are happy to proceed, we will arrange a home visit.
3. Home visit
A virtual home visit will be arranged at a mutually convenient time – this is to make sure your home is suitable for your potential new foster cat and to meet other members of your family. Your details and application will be passed onto one of our independent home checkers who will conduct a home visit, usually via video call. We will need you to show us around your house and outdoor environment to ensure that it is suitable for a cat. Please note that we sometimes carry out an in-person home visit in preference to a video call.
We will require you to provide proof of ID (e.g. Passport or Driving Licence) and proof of address in the form of a utility bill. We also ask that you kindly supply photographs of your downstairs living accommodation.
4. Approval to foster
The foster team will then liaise with the independent home checker. Following a successful home visit, you will approved for fostering and proceed to the next stage.
If we decide that you are not a suitable candidate for fostering, we will provide reasons why your application was not successful.
5. Foster paperwork
A Foster Agreement will be sent to you via email; this will need to be signed electronically using DocuSign.
6. Match with a foster cat
The next stage is to match you with a suitable foster cat. We prefer to match foster cats with carers based on each cat’s individual needs and personality, therefore you will not usually be able to choose which cat you would like to foster.
7. Collection/delivery
We will arrange a mutually convenient date and time for collection/delivery of your foster cat.
8. Ongoing support
We are always happy to provide advice and support to help you to address any issues that may arise. You will be provided with access to a social media ‘foster group’ where you can reach out for assistance. We do ask that you keep us updated about the cat’s progress throughout your fostering journey.
