Our Foster of the Month for January is someone who doesn’t bat an eyelash when we ask if she wants to hang out with kitties who need a little extra TLC. Hannah has been a foster superhero with SAFe Rescue since 2016 and has helped care for over 40 cats!
Missing having a kitty in her life (her father loved her cat so much he kept him after Hannah was done studying abroad) and seeing her friends have fun while helping animals sparked Hannah’s foster journey. She recalls, “I was motivated to start fostering after a friend of mine started fostering a bunny from a different shelter. I thought it was so cool that she was taking care of an animal that needed to find a home.”
Hannah eventually stumbled upon SAFe and decided to try fostering here. “I landed with SAFe Rescue due to how organized, helpful, and friendly everyone was and how happy the kitties were at this shelter!” And we couldn’t have honestly been more lucky to have Hannah take a chance at fostering with us!
Missing having a kitty in her life (her father loved her cat so much he kept him after Hannah was done studying abroad) and seeing her friends have fun while helping animals sparked Hannah’s foster journey. She recalls, “I was motivated to start fostering after a friend of mine started fostering a bunny from a different shelter. I thought it was so cool that she was taking care of an animal that needed to find a home.”
Hannah eventually stumbled upon SAFe and decided to try fostering here. “I landed with SAFe Rescue due to how organized, helpful, and friendly everyone was and how happy the kitties were at this shelter!” And we couldn’t have honestly been more lucky to have Hannah take a chance at fostering with us!
Time and time again, we have seen Hannah take in scared or shy cats, win their trust, and show them that humans are here to love and care for them. There are many rewarding experiences that come along with fostering, but Hannah’s second batch of bottle babies was her fave. “It was so cool to watch them grow up fully convinced that I was their true mom. I loved opening the door and hearing tiny thuds and purrs racing around the corner to greet me.”
Fostering is fun and the kitties always make difficult days worth it, but fostering also requires work. “Fosters need breaks too” was an important lesson that Hannah learned. “I absolutely love fostering, but it does take a lot of energy and time, especially for someone working full time and getting a doctorate. Reminding myself that if I’m not doing well, I can’t help kitties the way they need, has helped me put into perspective that it is OK to take foster breaks. There will (sadly) always be an abundance of floofy friends that need my help when I’m ready!”
Fostering cats always comes with its own set of challenges, but fostering during a pandemic presented new obstacles to overcome. Waiting her turn to actually get kitties into her home was one of the biggest obstacles for Hannah! She recalls, “It was interesting to see the large influx of foster parents that came in during that time and sometimes needed to wait to get a new placement.” Hannah used the extra time she had at home for the more time-consuming foster cases like bottle babies. “The kitties were definitely a bright light in my life during this time and I enjoyed having the feline energy to get me through the dark times,” she recalls.
When we asked our foster extraordinaire about any advice she has for new fosters, she said to make sure to set reasonable expectations about fostering. Her advice is to “Start small with an ‘easy’ foster situation and work your way up to something more difficult as you feel confident. Be open about what you can reasonably handle in your home and for how long.”
We truly love sending foster cats to Hannah and can’t put into words how much we appreciate her huge heart and all she does for the kitties. Hannah knows how to go above and beyond for her foster cats and we are so lucky to have her helping kitties in need!
