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Fostering with Sweet Whiskers
What's our mission:
We have two missions here with Sweet Whiskers. We focus on helping owners work on behavioral situations in hopes to retain cat ownership themselves. When this isn't possible we offer rehoming services to help give the cat (no matter the age) a chance of being rehomed into a new home.
How that makes our foster program different?
When your goal is sustainable cat ownership, you approach things very differently. Here we work on knowing each cat as an individual, no matter their breed, and identifying exactly what a new owner might need to know prior to choosing a new cat for their home. Sometimes that means longer fostering, switching foster homes to test different potential adopting scenarios, or working with a behaviorist/trainer to offer long term support before being available for adoption. All cats are required to go through a minimum of one month in our foster program before being released.
How it works:
Each cat we rehome has to go through a thorough behavioral assessment prior to being adopted out. Our behaviorist will asses their current strengths and areas that are needing additional supports in place.
The cats original owners are then given supports and a strategy plan to first work towards the goal of sustainable ownership. If solutions can not be found we work towards honoring all parties needs and opt to rehome the cat into an appropriate care situation to match the dynamics needed.
Many times we opt to have the cat remain in their original owners home and do assessments from there, but sometimes life is not on that timeline and the need to remove the cat quickly, happens. In that case.... This is where our fantastic fosters come into play!
Types of foster homes:
We have two types of foster homes in our practice. The first is an 'assessment foster home' and the second is a 'foster to adopt' home.
If you know you're not ready to commit to a cat, but also love cats and want to work with them. Awesome! If your wanting to give back in a measurable way, you've found exactly that! Those who align with our mission and are cat savvy folks apply for this type of home. Here' you'll be expected to offer detailed feedback and asses all behaviors thoroughly. We rely heavily on accurate, detailed, and informed foster homes as a critical part of our mission. While it's not intended for cats to stay, and more so they are intended to move on to a new home....we understand you'll get the occasional heart breaker that you can't part with. That is ok, and fostering to adopt is still a treasured process.
The second kind of foster home is our awesome ''foster to adopt'' program. Where cats are placed into their new homes on a temporary basis. We encourage potential adopters that are unsure or want to cycle through several cats to find the best fit, to apply as this type of foster. This is where we encourage you to take ownership of your new kitty (as if you had adopted it already). You'll be responsible for food, water, shelter, and any health needs that might pop up. And after a cat has had 3 months in your home you get to make the decision to adopt or to place up for adoption.
Where this is important is that we need accurate, detailed assessments of how cats do, in a home setting. Giving them the opportunity to live outside of a shelter gives us the unique perspective to their unique personalities and quirks. This allows us in turn to make sure our new potential owners know exactly what they are signing up for. Which in turn creates lasting sustainable adoptions.
Why is this model important?
Check out these other local cats that need homes!
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What education and or certifications does this groomer have? or are pursing currently?
Some important things to check out/ask your groomer:
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