Want to foster a cat? Here’s how to prepare your home, according to L.A. rescues

Cats need your help in Los Angeles, and fostering may be one answer.

Local animal rescues are increasingly strained for space. As more cats arrive at overwhelmed shelters — from the streets or surrendered by owners in crisis — some shelters resort to euthanasia: a practice that’s on the rise.

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Fostering — temporarily caring for an animal, usually on their route to adoption — alleviates stress on shelters, providing care when they can’t. In doing so, it saves cats and sets them on a path to a loving home.

“It’s important for fosters to get involved so that we have somewhere to keep the cats until they get adopted,” said Mibbby Butler, the adoption coordinator at the no-kill shelter Kitten Rescue Los Angeles.

Fostering comes down to a simple premise: “Just being their temporary parent while they look for their forever parent,” said Amy Dresser, a part-time staff member and trap-neuter-return lead at the no-kill adoption center Santé D’Or Foundation.

Amy Dresser, a volunteer with the Santé D’Or Foundation cat shelter and a veteran cat foster, holds Ura.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Wondering where to start? Here are 10 tips, from Butler and Dresser, on how to best prepare your home for a foster cat: the nitty-gritty must-haves, affordability hacks, the best ways to build a relationship with your furry friend and more.

Amy Dresser weighs foster kitten T-Swizzle after bottle feeding.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Here’s what you need:

• Litter box
• Litter scoop
• Litter
• Food; Santé D’Or tends to use brands such as Wellness Complete Health, Dave’s Pet Food or Premium Fussie Cat (check for age specifications)
• Food and water bowls
• Toys
• Medicine, depending on the cat
• Maybe even a cat scratcher

Some shelters, like the Santé D’Or Foundation, provide necessities for you, but every rescue has its own approach.

Amy Dresser writes down the weight of a foster kitten after bottle feeding.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Cats’ needs vary depending on age and medical status. For example, kittens require bottle-feeding multiple times a day. Discuss any additional necessities and particular care requirements with the shelter.

New places are overwhelming. To help your cat adjust, start them in a small space with minimal exposure like a bathroom, Dresser and Butler suggested. You’ll want to keep those basic must-haves in here.

For those who live in studios, a collapsible playpen, crate or area made with baby gates work just as well, Dresser said.

Amy Dresser takes care of numerous cats at their home, including Baby Gary, pictured in the crate.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Isolating your foster, especially kittens, is also important for health reasons. For example, before vaccines kick in, sharing a litter box with another house cat risks transferring parasites.

It usually takes one to two weeks for vaccines to settle, Dresser said. They recommend waiting until cats are tested for diseases and confirmed to be healthy before introducing them to other pets. Communicate with your shelter about what medical responsibilities, if any, you’ll have during your foster period.

Some plants and flowers are toxic to cats, especially lilies. Be sure to keep them in a place they’re hard to reach, like hanging them from the middle of the ceiling.

Be warned. Cats can be determined. “I have my plants all wall-mounted. It’s not enough. They still try to launch for them,” Dresser said.

Other toxic hazards include Himalayan salt lamps and essential oils, Butler said.

Beware of your breakables too. Cats might hop onto counters and knock over dishes, so keep them out of the way, Dresser said. For cats exploring the kitchen, be mindful of your oven.

Some cats love to chomp on power cords. You can cat-proof them by wrapping them in no-chew, bitter-tasting bandages, which veterinary clinics use to prevent animals from biting them off. Chew toys also help steer cats away from cords.

In fact, substituting toys for all hazards and unwanted behaviors are excellent protective measures.

“Play is really important for their brains to not only grow, but stay happy and healthy,” Butler said. If cats get bored, they might redirect toward knocking things over, tearing up the carpet or biting.

So if you don’t want your cat climbing your furniture, Dresser suggested, consider investing in a cat tree. Give them something that’s OK to climb, rather than leaving them with something forbidden.

Taking care of an animal can get pricey, especially if you buy a product you aren’t sure the cat will use. Why not make the fun stuff yourself?

“Cardboard boxes are great. Like, cut a hole in a box. Throw a paper ball in it,” Dresser said.

Amy Dresser opens the Dutch door they made themselves to better care for cats at their home.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

And if you really want to get into it, you could be like Dresser: “I cut my door in half,” they said.

Dresser wanted a Dutch door — one where both the top and bottom halves swing open independently — attached to their office space, where they sometimes isolate fosters. That way, Dresser could check on the cats through the top half without having to fully open the door.

The only problem? Dutch doors cost thousands of dollars.

Instead, they made it themselves. It does the job.

When it comes to building a relationship with your foster, “food is the number one,” Dresser said. Their basic needs are eating and feeling safe, and they’ll connect the dots that you’re the one providing those things.

After having a bottle of milk, foster kitten, T-Swizzle settles into a playpen.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Playtime also builds trust, especially for kittens. Dresser said it’s a matter of “finding their kryptonite” — the sweet spot that guarantees they’ll have a good time. Perhaps it’s being pet in a certain way, combing their fur with a brush or letting them chase a feather.

Butler said the best cat toys are the ones that offer a reward, like wands with strings, balls and catnip kicker toys. They suggest avoiding laser toys, unless you provide a treat after they “catch” the light.

Cats coming off the street may have a hard time socializing. Kittens are more likely to improve, but adults are trickier.

In these cases, continue with small steps. Don’t give them a whole room, Dresser suggested, because then they can avoid you. Try keeping them in a smaller space, like a crate, to minimize overstimulation.

“Their world is very small, and you are a big part of it,” Dresser said.

A wall filled with cat pictures and decor at Amy Dresser’s home.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Butler finds just sitting with the cats, even at a distance, helps build the relationship.

“I’ll bring in my Switch. I’ll bring in my computer. I’ll play some games, do some work, scroll on my phone,” Butler said. “Just sit there and be in their presence.”

After a couple days, Butler will try touching them, starting with their finger rather than their whole hand. They might also pet them from a distance with a retractable cat scratcher.

Butler will make mouth sounds when they get a positive response from the cat, so they associate good progress with noise. They echoed Dresser’s recommendation: treats also help with positive reinforcement.

Olivia, a black cat, chills in a cat tunnel at Amy Dresser’s home.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

As you open up the cats to more rooms in your home, make sure you keep an eye on them and familiarize yourself with all the hiding spots. The more you foster, the less surprising it will be to find them.

“I’ll find them and they’re like, ‘How did you know?’” Dresser said. “I was like, ‘You’re not the first kitty to hide in the entertainment center, buddy.’”

Life is busy, and long-term fostering — which can last years — isn’t for everyone. But “short-term fostering is extremely helpful too, because we get emergency situations,” Dresser said.

With limited space, shelters can’t always accept new cats. Fostering even for a night or two alleviates that crunch for space, allowing shelters to host cats they might not otherwise be able to.

A small, weekend setup could serve as an “emergency crash pad” for a cat in need, Dresser said.

There’s an inevitable truth about fostering: it comes to an end. For a foster parent who has come to love a cat, that can be especially hard.

“Two of my current cats are what we call ‘foster fail,’” Butler said. “I was fostering them, and I’m like, ‘I can’t let them go,’ so I ended up formally adopting them.”

Amy Dresser holds a footprint cast of one of their late cats.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

But for cats who do go on to their forever homes, having a physical reminder of them helps ease the pain, Butler said. Dresser, for example, keeps a wall of sticky notes with many of their foster cats’ names.

For Butler, those reminders consist of a collection of broken toys and small tattoos on their forearm: an atom for Atom, the number eight for Octavio, a moon for Luna and a star for Promise, among others. Each represents a cat that changed their life in some way.

Despite how hard it is to say goodbye, one thing’s for certain. Fostering is “incredibly rewarding.”

“You get to see all your hard work pay off. You get to see this cat go to another great home,” Butler said. “You know they’re going to be in good hands.”