I’ve always loved all animals, but especially cats. I have felt a close draw to them ever since I was a little girl. And I’ve always had pet cats, all rescues or strays. I was very inspired to begin fostering by a very dear friend of mine named Nancy. I can’t even count the number of cats she has helped over the 20+ years we’ve been friends. So it was just a matter of time before her good deeds rubbed off on me! I learned much from her. When my career as an RN came to an early end (due to an injury), I began feeling rather useless. Eleven orthopedic surgeries in a 3 1/2 year period has left me needing a crutch to walk. I can no longer go out in the middle of the night and help trap in feral colonies, BUT I CAN help a few at a time. It has truly helped give me back a sense of self-worth.
I’ve heard from so many people, “I could never foster, it would be too hard to give them up,” which used to be how I felt too. The first time I returned to the Humane Society my once-feral-now-adorable sibling girl kittens, I sobbed and sobbed all the way home. So much so that my wonderful husband offered to go back and get them! I said then that I didn’t think could ever do this again.
But, for all those tears shed when handing over my foster cats and kittens for their adoptions, as sad as that is in THAT moment, I’ve been rewarded countless times over knowing I helped save a life. The GOOD feelings far outweigh the sadness. The sadness only lasts awhile; the GOOD in one’s heart lasts a lifetime. It’s worth it!
This little guy was already named “Pookie Bootz” by the time he came to me. His elderly female human reportedly had a stroke and ended up in the hospital, unable to speak. She cried and cried for days, with no family or friends able to figure out why. Thankfully, a nurse or other caregiver figured out that she was crying about her cat who was now all alone in her apartment with no food or water for five or six days!
A determined volunteer (Angel!) was able to gain access to the woman’s apartment thinking she may very well find a deceased cat. Pookie was rescued! He was very hungry and quite terrified, and he came to me about ten days later. Slowly he learned that he was safe, and he could come out of his shell. Within a week he was in my lap purring loudly. At not even one year old, Pookie had probably used up a few of his nine lives!
Pookie was with me for about a month, and since he did not go through official Humane Society channels, I had to rely on social media to find his PURRRfect home. His name is now “Oreo” and he lives with three humans. It was hard to say goodbye, but I get photos via text from time to time of him in his new home, sleeping on the bed with his 16-year-old buddy. Another happy ending. Oh, and I was able to send a card to the woman who’d had the stroke. She’s in a care facility as she can no longer care for herself. I included printed photos of her Pookie Bootz so she would know he’s safe.
These are not the first kittens I fostered, but they’re the earliest ones I still have pictures of! I live on Fox Island and was contacted by an acquaintance who knew I was experienced in helping trap ferals. A couple had come home from being gone a month to find five to six tiny TINY black kittens hiding under their deck. She called me to say she’s admittedly a “dog person” but was concerned about these little ones, but she thought they were “safe” on her covered porch, in a cardboard box she’d left for them. At the time, my beloved cat, the cat love-of-my-life (ED-GRRRrrrr!) was losing his 18-month battle with intestinal lymphoma. My heart was breaking, knowing my precious boy was in his final weeks, but I also knew I HAD to help these kittens, especially after she sent me photos and I saw how small they were. They would not survive with no sign of a mama cat anywhere. I also know my beloved ED-GRRRrrr kitty would “understand.” He had been abandoned 18 years earlier and adopted ME when he found me in my yard one day.
I took a carrier to the house and showed the nice “dog lady” how to catch them in the carrier if/when they went in for food. Then I headed out to borrow a humane trap. By the time I got back to her house, four kittens were now safely in the carrier. Sadly, tragically, one had been killed either by a raccoon or possibly their dog. Three of us looked everywhere for any other kittens that may be hiding, all of them black! I left her with the humane trap just in case.
Ferals require so much time and attention, ideally in a large kennel setting while you work to gain their trust and start socializing them. I did not as yet have that set up, so I did the best I could. Because of their VERY young age, they did come around rather quickly (I was lucky!), and fairly soon I could pick them up and hear that INCREDIBLY rewarding purring sound. Within about a week, I felt I could turn them over to another foster person. I needed to be with my ED-GRRRrrrr who was by then down to his last days.
I like to think some of ED-GRRRrrrs AMAZING personality traits maybe transferred to these little ones while they were under the same roof. There were actually four of the black kittens (I didn’t name them) but at first they were too scared to get all in one photo, and soon they were too ACTIVE! Bouncing, jumping, playing, running, FLYING the way month old kittens should be!
In July of 2023 I got a FRANTIC call from an elderly friend of mine. At the time she was 86! Her 88-year-old husband was evidently valiantly trying to save a mama cat and her six kittens. He’d found them in their back alley and started leaving food for them, only to find them under attack by neighborhood raccoons! The mama kitty was very bravely standing up to the attack, while my friend Bill swatted them away with a broom!!!! I headed right over with a humane trap.
On one of the HOTTEST days in July, we worked for hours to trap first two kittens, then the mama, and then one more kitten. But the other three were NOT going to come out no matter what we tried. So reluctantly, we let mama go; her three remaining kittens would not survive without her.
I took these three to Kitsap Humane Society to get them checked out, then brought them to my home to officially foster them.
On the left was my first picture of these scared little babies, too terrified to even make a sound and no doubt missing their mama. Ears flattened back. But now safe inside the kennel (right), with each other for comfort. Still pretty scared. Huddled in the corner, scared of every movement from me. But responding to my voice…and FOOD!!! Now I can begin to get them used to me and hopefully socialized quickly and adopted into wonderful homes.
Now more comfortable with me in the room; ears now standing UP!! A very good sign. I’ve found just chatting with them, talking about nothing in particular, singing, anything to get them used to a human voice is good. I started running out of songs, then thought of cartoon theme songs from my childhood!!! FYI, the song from “The Flintstones” has proven very effective, over and over!! Must be the upbeat, lilting melody!
Within a week they were already becoming interested in PLAYING! A VERY rewarding feeling to see such normal kitten behavior from once terrified babes! The best sign of all so far, now actively wanting to be let OUT of the kennel! This guy (middle photo below), the smallest, quickly became the bravest and most friendly! Brave Orange Boy (aka “Obie”) was stealing my heart! Toooooo stinkin cute for words!!
The happy ending is……. My 89-year-old friend did NOT give up on saving the mama and the other three remaining kittens! He worked diligently, with really little help from me, and trapped all four! Ultimately all SEVEN lives were saved, all were healthy (and adorable), mama barely a year old herself.
All were spayed/neutered/vaccinated through the Kitsap Humane Society, and ALL were adopted! SEVEN precious little lives saved by one phone call from my friend. I still get text messages from the young lady who adopted Orange Boy/Obie (now Bowie). Those texts always bring me so much joy!
I’ll forever remember that hot July day because I thought Bill and I were both going to suffer heat stroke! Above is a photo of Bill, the best Cat Rescuer, 89 years young at the time. He had never worked a cat trap, but quickly became an expert. He saved them, seven of them. I just carried on …… I’m told by his wife he wears this shirt proudly!
This is one cat I’ll never forget as long as I live. Not just because he’s so amazing, and his story could easily have never been told; his life could have ended quite sadly. But also because of the time he came into my life.
My beloved husband Quinn had passed away quite suddenly and unexpectedly in December of ‘21. My world came crashing down around me, the grief utterly overwhelming and CRIPPLING. For many months, I don’t even know how I functioned; many days I could not. Our wedding anniversary is May 2nd. In May of ‘22, the LAST thing on my mind was to take in another foster cat. But…
Social media posts asking if anyone knew “…who this cat belongs to” (left) and Mister Foster after he first came home with Linda.
A Facebook post on Fox Island news grabbed my attention. This poor cat had been seen trying to survive in a nearby neighborhood but apparently had an injury to one or both hind legs and couldn’t walk very well. He was a fighter! Several times he was seen in all-out fight-or die battles with other cats in the neighborhood. He was pathetic. Could anyone please help?
I guess that means me. Word of mouth got around. That happens in the world of those of us who rescue these poor cats and kittens. I’m now in contact with a wonderful woman who, after spending THOUSANDS of dollars on him in vet bills (he was un-altered and in rough shape), she says she knows she can trust me with this poor abandoned boy.
So what would have been our anniversary is 2 days away. What else could I say? My beloved husband Quinn was a TOTAL “Cat Guy,” one of the (many) things I loved about him. It almost felt as if this kitty was sent to give me something to focus on other than my grief and the endless, unpleasant tasks that have to be handled when someone passes unexpectedly.
I had rarely seen a kitty (in person) in such sad shape. His fur so badly matted he had to be shaved. He had a horrible wound on that left front paw, a terrible, sensitive abscess on his tail, and multiple open, nasty wounds all over him. His paw pads were as hard as stone. He gladly allowed me to massage Bag Balm on them and put Aloe Vera on the big gash on his nose. With his mostly shaved fur and all of those gashes and scars, he looked pretty rough. But I could see he had the potential to become a GORGEOUS big boy! In spite of all he’d been through, I sensed a quiet dignity about him. I gave him the rather regal title of “Mister Foster.” It really suited him.
His level of trust for me was almost immediate. I did sing “The Flintstones” theme song just in case! He looked rather bemused; perhaps no one had ever sung to him before?! And it’s VERY obvious that this guy is SMART! Not just street savvy to survive, but intellectually SMART, able to read me very quickly! Quick to learn anything I needed him to. I’m in trouble. I’m falling for him but can tell this will be an issue with my ten-year-old rescue kitty.
The weeks go by. Mister Foster is sweet, LOVING, soooo affectionate and playful, yet understanding when I need to leave the room (the guest room he’s now occupying almost full time). Such a handsome, sweet guy! Hopefully I’ll find him the purrrrfect home SOOON…..
But six, seven, eight weeks go by. He’s listed on the Mason County Humane Society adoption page. Not a single inquiry because it’s now almost summer, and KITTEN SEASON! Everyone wants to adopt adorable kittens, and they’re everywhere!!!
Mister Foster waits. He is VERY open to making new friends. He LOVES to lay on top of me and look out the window. He’s a LOVERBOY that I’m falling in love WITH! Especially after ten weeks!!!! However, attempts to introduce him to my adult, very chill male have unfortunately resulted in Mister Foster ATTACKING my kitty, and not just once. So the search goes on…
Well, I tried literally everything I could think of because I really DID want to keep Mister Foster, whose bigger than life personality is utterly charming…except when he’s trying to kill my cat!
I tried a leash, which he actually took to quite well. As I said…SMART cat! He was on the adoption page for many weeks. We wait……. He’s very content living in our guest room with daily time on the deck (CATIO!!), but he is obsessed with trying to see where my cat Tubby is (safely inside, by now quite scared of Foster!).
FINALLY ……. Word of mouth, asking everyone I know to help me find him a home, with NO other cats (or dogs either; we don’t want this to end badly). Finally, Mister Foster has a home! A WONDERFUL home with an older woman who’d lost her dear kitty a few months before. She didn’t think she was ready for another kitty yet, but a friend of her friend put us in touch. A PURRRfect love connection!!!
Mister Foster’s new name is “Tommy” and here he is on top of the mantel checking out everything. He’s VERY agile and careful to NOT knock things off of shelves! Very. Smart. Cat!!! And apparently Tommy loves board games! Seen here in the middle (of course) of a dominoes session! I’m told he also loves puzzles!
The BEST part of the Mister Foster chapter of my life is, not only did HE help ME through a very rough first wedding anniversary without my beloved husband, but I’ve also gained a new friend! The woman who adopted “Tommy” has now become a new friend. She texts me photos of him being wonderful, and she and I meet for lunch every other month or so! Talk about a happy ending. I can’t help but feel my dear husband Quinn, the ultimate Cat Guy, had something to do with Mister Foster coming into my life when he did.
Animals can help us heal in ways we would never have imagined.
Linda has taken cats in off the streets, partnering with the Humane Society of Mason County and Kitsap Humane Society, both in Washington. Please contact the organizations directly if you’re interested in fostering with them.
All images in this story are provided by the foster.
This story is part of a larger project The Highs & Lows of Fostering Animals where fosters share their stories in their own words.
