Should I foster a cat or dog? Have plenty experience with both but my issue is that I live somewhere else for 5-6 months. I'm here until October, would it be worth it? Am I still helping even if no one actually adopts it by the time I have to leave? I could possibly take it with me but it would still be temporary and I'd be in another state, so I'm not sure if a rescue would be OK with that. I'd just feel bad if I had to just return it if I can't
Tl;dr convince me to foster or not.
I'd be interested in a senior animal if that helps.
>>2119487
What's wrong with it? It looks disgusting.
Dogs and some cats will bond so close and have separation anxieties. Cats will feel stressed going to new places often. I think neither is good idea unless you keep the dog and take it wherever you go, period.
Domesticated catsnakes will do great, they have no fear, they love you and want to eat your toes. But you better not abandon/sell them when you move, they are perfect ok with moving and new environments.
>>2119487
blue board anon
>>2119493
I wouldn't mind if I could secure a new home for it awhile I'm fostering but I am primarily concerned with having to give it back - which is not what I want to do at all. Its very likely yes, I can take it with me when I move again but I am still worried about the stress of moving. Here I have my own old cat(who will ignore other animals 100% and is very calm) but my winter home also has a dog so it doesn't sound very fair to switch environments so much.
And I had ferrets as a teenager. Someone literally left them at my door step. They were fun but I will never, ever allow them in my place ever again due to the smell alone. No amount of multiple litter changes a day solved it in the slightest. Great pets but their particular smell drives me up the fucking wall. When I had them I went through vick's vapor rub like crazy to put under my nose because even at their cleanest/right after a bath(which yes, was very rare because i know its not good for them) it'd make me gag. It's a shame my body hates it because they were so fun and entertaining. Two unfortunately had to be put down because of cancer and I rehomed the last one because I didn't plan on getting any new ones and I wanted her to have furry noodle friends.
I would vote for foster kittens, because they will be adopted very quickly. Foster time should never take more than 3 months for a healthy cat, but look into what the shelter/rescue does for the animals, and what they require from you. You may have to take a class or two. If the shelter doesn't spay/neuter their animals, I wouldn't even bother fostering for them in that time period because it is very difficult to re-home a shelter animal that isn't fixed. And obviously this goes with no medical work what-so-ever. Also, would the place you are fostering from require YOU to take up medical bills? Will you have to buy food and litter? Or will all that be provided? And when you say you want to re-home the animal, do you mean find a home yourself? That is extremely difficult to do, the shelter/rescue would have a bigger influence and rapport than you would, and they would better advertise. Kittens tend to get adopted quick because people fall in love. But the problem with that is the people have to see the kitten to fall in love, which would more than likely happen at the facility. Fostering still makes a huge difference even if the animal isn't adopted (that's empty space that could be used for other animals to come in and get adopted out), and some fosters wouldn't survive in a shelter environment, like bottle feed kittens. MOST fosters don't need foster for more than a few months. A healthy kitten, for instance, shouldn't be more than 2 months if you got it as a newborn. so that's 3 litters of kittens you could potentially foster and adopt out! Dogs however, are harder to place and may have behavioral problems.
TL;DR I think you should look into fostering some bottle baby beaners (kittens)
>>2119503
Dude my roommate said the same about ferrets, he can't stand the smell (and also thought they were mean)
Even when I had 8 ferrets at once in his house he always said the smell was fine. And he is brutally kind of honest.
Sorry you had the bad experience. Ferrets though are easy to keep the smell down, and I'm a lazy but passionate jerk. Get good cat litter, clean daily. Feed very high protein, high fat cat food (this greatly helps with poop and musky smell).
If your weasels weren't fixed though, there's no hiding that smell bro, they NEED to be fixed
I wish everyone here could meet my weasels.
>>2119487
3D is PD
>>2119511
I am unsure about a kitten. I love them and all, but my older cat doesn't 'play' with other cats and here I have a dog visit occasionally. I feel like if I were to foster a kitten, I'd want to do it in my other place where it will be able to be properly socialized with another playful cat and dog. I'm a hermit here too so I am trying to think about what may be best. A kitten has much more of a chance than being adopted and has time to be socialized into a new environment but my current one would be pretty OK for an older cat that need somewhere calm and quiet. I can also afford neutering/spaying + typical vet bills on my own if need to be.
Despite that I'm experienced with bottle feeding and raising kittens as young as a week old, if I did get a kitten, I'd really want it to be rehomed soon just so it could grow up with potentially another cat + dogs without being a skittish mess. I figured I could help free up some space and give time to a senior cat because of this. I have a soft spot for old animals and ones that have a lower chance of being adopted.
>>2119517
>>2119517
I got very lightly nipped here and there but by no means did I have a bad experience with their personalities. Sure they loved to wrestle and romp around but they never hurt me or the dog/cat they would roll around with. They didn't even steal from me too much.
I don't even think its just their shit/piss that bothers me, just their overall smell. Which is weird because rats, mice, rabbits, etc all smell 'fine' to me. I've even been sprayed by a skunk and 'at worst' my eyes burned. The smell smelled more like chemicals from under the sink rather than rotten roadkill ass like I expected. The ferrets were also all fixed. This was like, 10 years ago but I distinctly remember at least two of them being marshall ferrets because they had two dots tattooed on their ears. I do not think I did anything wrong with taking care of them. I really did scrub their cage constantly, changed their litterbox 2-5 times a day, fed them quality food, changed out their bedding daily, etc but something about the smell made it so difficult. Its a fucking shame really, I do love ferrets and weasels in general. If I had a friend with them I'd love to play with them, just not want to keep anymore myself. But those ferrets got dumped on me and I made damn sure they were taken care of..
>>2119582
I believe you. Some people just can't take the smell. I seriously love getting them right up to my nose and smelling the ferrety ness. It gives me warm feelings, like how people romanticize the smell of fresh cookies and coffee
