'Fun, heartbreaking and an extraordinary amount of work': The complex reality of fostering kittens
At least once a year, I call my boss Cindy Easterbrook at Hills Cat Rescue and quit my role as a kitten foster carer.
Sometimes it's just too hard and heartbreaking.
It's also so much fun. They poop a lot when they are healthy, which means a lot of cleaning and some intense litter training.
It's also so much fun, as well as hard work.
Then there are the snuggles and the cuddles and how they run up to me in the morning like I am in a Disney movie.
But there have also been some losses, and then there's the heartbreak when I hand each of them over to their forever families, telling them I will love them forever and that I hope they have will wonderful lives.
I've done that over 50 times in three years during my time with Hills Cat Rescue, and it never gets any easier.
And not every kitten or cat that comes into our care is a success story.
I've helped home 50 kittens in three years during my time with Hills Cat Rescue.
But as Cindy always says, we do all we can and even when we lose them, at least they die surrounded by love and not in the middle of the street.
Also, I should mention I am a very small cog in the wheel that is Hills Cat Rescue in Sydney, which is run by an extraordinary group of volunteer leaders and carers. They are some of the best people I have ever met.
Why I started fostering kittens
It was initially a way to help my son find purpose, and because my dad had just died and I was feeling sad. And also because photos of cute little kittens at Hills Cat Rescue kept popping up on my Facebook page.
Caring for cute little kittens seemed like a great idea for all three of my children, and my son definitely stepped up. He took charge of their schedules and made sure they were fed regularly, received their medication, had their baths and were warm and comfortable.
Our OG cat Timmy (left) and our 'foster fail' Jack.
My son usually achieved this by reminding me it was time for me to do it, but he'd take care of the schedule whenever I was at work, with the help of his brother and sister.
We've now cared for over 50 kittens and have one 'foster fail' – a kitten or cat you haven't been able to bring yourself to part with – in our family. Pretty much everyone at Hills Cat Rescue has at least one.
We already had Timmy when we started fostering kittens, and then we kept Jack, mostly because he was older when he came into our care and hid in terror anytime someone came to meet him.
So Jack has stayed, and we couldn't imagine life without him.
But we also had to pledge as a family that we'd only continue fostering kittens if we agreed there would be no more foster fails. There's only so many cats you can have in one home, and two is enough for us.
What it's like
Looking after foster kittens is an extraordinary amount of work.
Cindy started me off easily with two older kittens called Peaches and Fern. They just needed to be fed and loved and they were homed together.
Some of our next foster kittens were harder. They were younger, some were sickly, and we lost two of them, which was utterly devastating. Their names were Phoebe and Gizmo.
They both died in our arms while we cried and cried and now rest in peace in my mum's backyard. Mixed breed gingers, which is what both Phoebe and Gizmo were, are fragile kittens and it is often touch and go.
Looking after foster kittens is an extraordinary amount of work.
I've learned a lot of skills since then, not that I could have saved them. But I have saved many since, including a little mixed ginger called Hannah and more recently a teeny tiny three-week-old kitten called Cosmo, who I had to cuddle for days to keep him warm and force-feed him little bits of sugar water and formula multiple times a day to keep him alive until he turned a corner.
You can tell when they turn a corner – they stop shivering so much, they get hungry, they start pooping like champs and soon enough, they start to want cuddles and have a play.
What foster kittens initially need
Younger kittens under six weeks can't clean themselves, keep themselves warm or eat food, so they need to be bathed, placed on hot water bottles or heated blankets and you have to bottle feed them which is so much fun. You pretty much have to do all the things a mama cat would do if she was still with them.
Younger kittens under six weeks can't clean themselves, keep themselves warm or eat food.
But they can't pee or poop themselves. You have to use a wet wipe or wet cloth to 'massage' down there to prompt them to go until they start to do it themselves.
By six to eight weeks, they are eating soft food and warming up and playing a little, and pooping a lot. They also start to clean themselves and each other.
Then we just focus on loving them, playing with them and fattening them up. Once they weigh 1.2 kilos they are desexed, microchipped, have all their other vet work done and they are ready to find their forever homes.
How we come across the kittens
Kittens are found all over the place for many reasons. Sometimes heavy rain has removed the smell trail so a mama cat can't find her litter again. Sometimes she has met with misfortune.
Someone usually hears their little cries for help and either calls us to collect them or scoops them up and brings them to us.
Younger kittens need to be bottle fed.
Sometimes their mama is still around, but we still take them because we want to desex them and find them forever homes instead of leaving them to grow up wild and possibly meet with misfortune themselves.
But we also trap and desex and release any of the mamas and papas and other adult cats we can find in the area.
At the moment, we and many other kitten and cat rescue organisation are at capacity. It is kitten season, and despite our best desexing efforts, there seem to be more and more each and every year.
The 'crazy eight'
At the moment I am caring for eight kittens, two of whom were touch and go but who are now healthy and happy and waiting for desexing.
Jo with one of the eight kittens she is caring for at the moment.
Their names are Cosmo, Alex, Coco, Gibby, Mogly, Dani, Smokey and Biscuit. My daughter came up with those names because at first we didn't know if they were boys or girls.
They are starting to meet with potential forever families and we get to choose who they go with, and if they go. Cindy leaves it up to us to decide if we feel like it is a good fit and I love that she honours our bond with the kittens so much.
It makes it much easier to part with them, knowing they are going to an incredible home.
What you can do to help the cause
We are all about desexing at Hills Cat Rescue, and most vets will do this at a discount as part of local council programs.
Knowing they are going to an incredible home makes parting with the kittens easier.
This is Biscuit. She loves a play.
You can also foster kittens and cats in your area through local reputable organisations.
Sometimes you will have them for two weeks, sometimes you will have them for four months, it just depends.
But it is an incredible experience I highly recommend, particularly if you have children and don't have capacity to have your own pets or want more pets, but don't have the room.
And there's nothing cuter than waking up to kittens who want cuddles and snuggles, who jump on your lap when you watch TV and play with your feet while you work from home.
You can also foster kittens and cats in your area through local reputable organisations.
It is an incredible experience and I highly recommend it.
As I write this, Cosmo is on my foot, again. Soon he'll be too big to fit there. But for now he does, and I love that he loves me as much as I love him.
He'll be the one I struggle to let go of the most out of this litter. Although I love them all so much, Cosmo and I have a special bond because I saved him and he let me.
Whichever family gets to keep him is very lucky indeed.
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