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Are you thinking about signing up to foster with us? We could list plenty of reasons why we think you should . . . but instead, we’ll let one of our experts make the case for us! Tricia Morris has fostered with SICSA for over a decade. Here’s what she has to say about her experience as a foster caregiver:
“We call it the ‘Tao of Kittens.’ Regardless of what is going on in the world, at work, any other aspect of life – you cannot have a bad day when you have kittens. Frustrating day at work? Sit on the floor with tiny balls of fluff who stare straight into your soul, want to snuggle and then practice with their “murder mittens,” and puuuurrrrrr. Day is instantly better.
I would be lying if I said that there were not hard days. We have lost kittens to known and unknown medical reasons. But we’ve also fought through to some pretty big victories – our first litter of panleukopenia kittens, we lost one but the other four made it through.
Every kitten who comes through our door gets the best of us – we can’t save them all, but we can save THIS ONE, and THAT ONE, and THIS LITTER, and THAT young mamma cat and her babies. We give them the best start possible, and then they find their fur-ever homes.
The “Tao of Kittens” is truly better than meditation. My husband and I will catch up on each other’s day while we sit on the floor of the kitten room with the furbabies. Lowers our blood pressure, makes us smile.
For our daughter (now 23), volunteering at SICSA (primarily fostering) is one of the ways we have modeled giving back to the community and supporting SICSA’s mission and vision.
And the staff at SICSA make everything so very easy – scheduling, communication, etc.”
Another benefit to fostering? You just might find a new permanent family member in the process. We call these “foster finds”–pets that start off as temporary fosters and end up finding themselves exactly where they’re meant to be! “I have two foster finds – formerly Netflix and Hulu, renamed as Dexter and Callie,” Tricia explains. “My 18-year-old cat passed away in December 2016. As I continued to foster, I knew that someday one (or more!) of the furbabies would steal my heart. In October 2017, I brought Callie and Dex home, and from the very first evening I knew that I could not let them go.”
The Morris family has fostered over 125 cats and kittens for SICSA over the course of 12+ years. That’s over 125 lives changed by just one family. Without the help of incredible, compassionate people like them, SICSA would not be able to accomplish a fraction of the work we do each and every day. With your help, we can do even more! Sign up to foster here, and start saving lives with SICSA today!