Let’s Get Your Kittens Adopted!
Written By Jose Parra & Rena Henderson
Good day cat lovers! It’s a great time to be fostering kittens and cats due to our prolonged-time indoors. Some of you have already been fostering cats and have had a lot of success adopting out your foster kitties. As you know, the number of cats needing homes can sometimes seem endless! So, here are a few tips that might help even more kittens and cats find their forever homes. Let’s get to it!
First, let’s make sure that our foster cats are healthy and ready to be adopted. Are your foster cats feeling ill or under the weather? It is good to differentiate between a kitty cold and a more serious underlying condition that could require more care than previously thought. Make sure your foster babies are getting their
checkups every two to four weeks to be safe! On the topic of health, foster cats’ weight is key to their journey to adoption, especially for kittens! Remember the golden rule: a healthy kitten is potentially ready for adoption once it reaches two pounds at eight weeks of age. Once a kitten is the right age and size and has gotten a clean bill of health from the vet, it’s time to schedule the spay/neuter appointment yourself or with the assistance of your partnered shelter. After a successful spay/neuter, your foster cat is now ready to be showcased to the world!
Now that your foster cat is happy and healthy enough, it’s time to present them correctly and wisely in order to gain a large audience for your potential adoptee! To start promoting your cat online, the first thing you’ll need is a great attitude! The work that goes into wholeheartedly promoting your foster cats may be mentally exhausting, but due diligence always pays off! A good tip for the platform where you’ll be promoting your foster cat is to keep it simple! Try not to clutter the main page with too many of the cat’s behaviors and quirks. Instead, let the viewers focus on a photo or two so that they can take in the cat’s sweet face and beautiful coat. Use the secondary page to give potential adopters a sense of the cat’s comfort with humans, playfulness, and general “personality.” Is kitty a lap cat or a little aloof? Can kitty share a home with another cat? A dog? Children? Finally, make your contact information easily accessible. While it is common knowledge to keep our personal contact information hidden on social media sites, when promoting your foster cat online, it is important to make it simple for adopters to contact you.
Now, onto the cats themselves! If a cat has a quirky or cute pose, try to capture it in a photo. The background of the photo may highlight or detract from the cat, so it is always wise to have a clean and colorful environment to help the cat “pop” in its photo. Of course, it’s not advisable to go overboard with props (I’ve never met a cat that enjoys wearing a hat). Simple toys to initiate playtime with your foster cat can be enough to perk up your cat for a suitable photo session.
Good luck, fosters, in your pursuit to find the perfect home for your younglings or adults, and if you’re not a
cat foster (try it! you’ll love it!), I hope that these tips will help you make your cat’s social media stars!
Edited By Rena Henderson