Becoming a Foster Home

Foster Home is the term we use for people who foster cats or kittens that we have rescued. You may also foster cats that you rescue, but we will ask you to foster ADDITIONAL cats and/or kittens based on the limits you set.

Please read the following information carefully if you are interested in becoming a foster home. We have tried to develop a process that is easy for our foster homes to follow and that does not place an undue burden on our volunteers. It is important that you understand the fostering process completely before you commit to fostering.

Step 1.  You register with our organization. To do this, you must complete a Foster Care Application and a Foster Care Agreement. 
You must have adobe acrobat reader installed on your computer to open the Foster Care Agreement. You will need to print a hardcopy of the form in order to complete it. Please be sure to sign and date the form and to provide all requested information. Then fax the completed form to 407-812-6468. If you do not have access to a fax machine, you can scan the form and email the file to itsaboutcats@rescuegroups.org or mail it to the address at the top of the form.

As part of this agreement, the foster home must agree to the following items: 

- To provide proper food, water, shelter and socialization.
Food must be good quality and suitable to the cat/kittens age and condition
Shelter refers to an enclosed location with protection from the elements; a screened porch or garage is acceptable as long as there is protection from the rain, a heat source in winter and a fan or air conditioning in summer. 
Socialization refers to a minimum of 30 minutes per day direct human contact; all cats must be social with people in order to be considered available for adoption.

- To reimburse IAATCI for all medical costs if you decide to withdraw or keep the cat/kitten (s) from the fostering program.

- To cooperate with IAATCI in the placement of the cat/kitten(s); this includes meeting with potential adopters at a location to be determined on a case-by-case basis; working with the adoption venue coordinator to schedule the cat/kitten(s) for participation at adoption events; all cat/kittens(s) are expected to participate in at least one event per month.

- To follow the guidelines set forth by IAATCI, and to abide by all applicable city, county or state laws pertaining to animals under your care.

In addition, IAATCI reserves the right to cancelthe foster care agreement at any time should there be a breach of any condition listed therein. You must agree to reimburse IAATCI for any medical costs incurred should your agreement be cancelled.

Additional Fostering Resources
We encourage all our foster homes to Register/Login on our website (www.itsaboutcats.rescuegroups.org).
If you do not have a username and password, you will be prompted to create an account. Once you have completed this step, send us an email to itsaboutcats@rescuegroups.org and we will give you permission to view our "volunteers only" pages. These pages provide a wealth of information for the foster homes, including directions for taking a cat/kitten for surgery and adoption event schedules.

Step 2.  You provide some basic information about the cat/kitten(s) for our database. 
We need the following information for each cat or kitten that you will foster:

§  Name (must be a unique name that isn’t already in our system)
§  Sex
§  Approximate date of birth
§  Color and length of fur
§  Summary of all known medical treatments (vaccines, wormer, flea treatments), including whether the cat/kitten is spayed or neutered
§  Description of the cat/kitten’s personality
§  Photograph (digital format only please-if you do not have a digital camera we can photograph the kitten for you)

We will use this information to create an individual webpage for each cat/kitten. We will also use the information to determine a plan for any medical treatments that may be required (see Step 3). We prefer that you provide this information via e-mail to itsaboutcats@rescuegroups.org. If you do not have internet access, please mail the information to It’s All About the Cats, Inc., PO Box 592984, Orlando, FL 32859-2984.


Step  3. Schedule an intake session-   You work with our volunteers to obtain any necessary medical treatments for the cat - if you use our vet there is no charge to you.
To be considered available for adoption, all cat/kittens must have a current distemper vaccine, a current rabies vaccine, a negative FIV/FeLV test, current flea prevention treatment, and be dewormed, plus they must be spayed or neutered.
         If the cat/kitten(s) are over 8 weeks of age, our volunteer will administer a distemper vaccine, apply the flea prevention medication and administer the first dose of wormer.    If the kitten(s) are under 8 weeks of age, the volunteer will evaluate the kitten(s) to determine which if any treatments to begin. At a minimum, the kitten(s) will be weighed and treated for fleas.
The volunteer will prepare a Medical Records Form for each cat/kitten that they will provide to you and which you will need to keep with the cat at all times — all subsequent medical treatments must be recorded on this form.  The volunteer will also discuss a schedule for the remaining treatments at that time.
Please note that a pet carrier must be used at all times when transporting Cats/kittens to meetings, the veterinarian, and/or the adoption events. If you do not have a pet carrier, we will loan one to you. Please let us know this at the time you schedule the initial meeting with our volunteer.
 

Step 4.  You work with our volunteers to schedule the cat/kitten(s) for an adoption event.

We hold weekly adoption events every Saturday from 1:30 pm to 6 pm at the Petco store in the Loop shopping center (click here for more information including directions to the store). There is limited space at these events, so we have a coordinator who schedules the space. This scheduler sends an email invitation out each week to all foster homes with cats that are considered available for adoption. You must respond to this email in order to reserve a space for your cat/kittens. Space is allocated on a first come first serve basis. 

If you do not have internet access, you will need to call 407-401-8630 and leave a message in mailbox number 6.. Please be sure to give your name, phone number and the name of the cat/kitten(s) that you want to schedule — as well as the date of the adoption event you want to attend. This call should be made as early as possible during the week of the event you want to attend. 


Step 5.  You bring the cat to the adoption center when it is scheduled.

The Medical Records Form must be brought to the adoption center with the cat/kitten(s) since it will be given to the adopter for their records.   


Step 6.  You pick the cat up at the end of the adoption event if it is not adopted.

Please be sure to take the Medical Records Form back with you so that this paperwork will stay with the cat/kitten(s) at all times. 

Step 7.  You repeat steps 4 - 6 until a home is found. 

Sometimes someone sees a cat on our website and requests a meeting at a time other than our normal adoption events. They may contact you directly to arrange a meeting via an e-mail link on the cat/kitten’s individual webpage. Please call 407-401-8630 and leave a message in mailbox number 2 for assistance with the adoption if this situation comes up.