Fostering Animals: My time as a Fur Baby Foster Mom!

"Bun don't eat that! No! Why must you try to chew on the recliner when you have a huge pile of toys in front of you?" Steps on bunny poo, sighs, "Did we forget our litter box manners today bun bun?"

     This is often how a day starts in our home. I am a state of Kansas licensed foster for the Riley County Humane Society as well as one of the exotics coordinators. Rabbits are what most often come into our program, with guinea pigs being a close second and then birds and ferrets. My house is the starting point for the foster program; I check eyes, ears, teeth and toes on all incoming fosters and get them set up with supplies and a house(pen/cage). I often foster many animals long term myself, but many are just with me for a quarantine period and then they are off to their permanent foster for the duration of their stay with RCHS.

     Being a foster parent can be extremely rewarding as well as trying. Some days you feel very overwhelmed; like when you are trying to teach a bunny or ferret proper play manners or how to use a litter box and maybe they just are getting the hang of it. To be honest some days you want to pull all your hair out and scream; until that one day, the day where all that you have been teaching them, clicks. Then every ounce of time spent rehabbing is completely worth it! The little things like this then become a huge victory.

     Most of the animals that come into our program come in pretty rough shape and wont have been properly groomed or trained and many are terrified of humans in general. My job, as a foster, is to teach, love, and rehab this animal so I can help it find a "fur"ever home. RCHS pays for all the animals supplies and vet visits, as most all rescues with a foster program do, so all I have to do is provide my time and love. I have fostered many rabbits, guinea pigs, and ferrets as well as a chinchilla and out of all of my fosters, I have foster failed twice. A foster fail, is what we in the rescue world call it, when the foster falls in love with their foster baby and chooses to adopt them themselves. I have adopted a rabbit and a chinchilla.

     In 2013 we adopted Gus Gus, a chinchilla who was no longer wanted by his owner. His brother had recently died due to neglect and when his owner graduated vet school she decide she no longer wanted him. She decided it would be to difficult to find a place to move into, in the state she got a job, that would accept her having him as a pet. I had owned chinchillas previously, many years before and decided to take him on as a foster. I wasn't long after that, that I fell in love and puppy dog eyed my boyfriend. Jon finally agreed that we should adopt this little fellow and give him a home where we know he would be loved for last 12+ years of his little life. Gus came to us in a cage that was barely fit to house a parakeet and he was about 4yrs old and extremely leery of humans! It has taken us a long 2yrs and many cheerio's to rehabilitate him to the point where he now enjoys head pets and will great you several times a day to give eskimo kisses as well real kisses on occasion.

     In 2014 we adopted Jack, a bunny who came in with toenails so over grown they were curling under and he couldn't even clean his face properly because of it. He was highly neglected and had no clue there was life outside his cage. I don't even think he had ever done a proper bunny hop or tasted a fresh vegetable in his entire life! He had urine scald all over his hind legs and anogenital region and it took months to heal. He was in short, a miserable bunny! I can remember the first night I had him though, extremely clearly. We brushed his coat and trimmed his nails while he cowered in fear, but that all changed once he realized he could touch his own face and ears with his paws again. He patted his face and realized his toenails were no longer hooking his nose or mouth if he tried to groom himself and a look of sheer disbelief came over his face. He then went to town on grooming his little face and ears like it was some sort of magical event. It was so amazing to watch and you could just see the light that it brought to his little eyes. It was a site that I will never forget.

     Over the last 2 years I have had many animals that stressed me out and many that brought utter joy to my life but I loved them all and found each and every one of them "fur"ever homes. One of my favorite and most rewarding experiences though was probably with a guinea pig that I dubbed Ginny, after Ginny Weasly of course, because she has reddish orange fur. Ginny was dropped off our our local shelter and was extremely pregnant! She was only about half way through her pregnancy when we brought her into the program but, she was as large at that time as most guinea pigs are full term! She had much more growing to do. We happened to take her in over college winter break so I had lots of time to dedicate to caring for her properly.

     Ginny really didn't seem to interested in eating a whole lot at first; as she was extremely uncomfortable, but would perk up and start to nibble if I laid her on my stomach or bed and talked to her and pet her. So Ginny spent the next month of her life sitting on my lap or laying on a extra soft cushion my my bed, eating everything she pleased and watching tv with me. At night she slept in a very large comfy cage right next to my bed so I could talk to her throughout the night and hear her in case she went into labor. She was a very unusual piggy; she seemed to crave my affection more than any other guinea pig I have ever owned or met. I truly feel in love with this little amazing creature.

     Ginny was a very high risk pregnancy, as she was well past the time she should have been retired and her pelvic bones had very little give at her age. We also were unsure if she had ever had previous litters and if she hadn't that would make the risk, at her age, much higher. Guinea pigs usually have around 1 to 7 pups with around 3 to 4 being the usual, but of course Ginny had a heck of a surprise in store for us!

     Four days after Christmas Ginny blessed us with a wonderful gift; she had 8 beautiful babies but unfortunately only 5 made it. Due to her poor prenatal nutrition the month before we got her, one was only about half developed, one was a runt, and one was an absolute giant and all three had severe birth defects; but we were left with 5 beautiful healthy baby piglets and for that we were extremely grateful! She blessed us with 3 boys and 2 girls that I named Piglet, Flynn, Minnie, Cleo, and Meeko; after some of my favorite Disney characters.

     Guinea pigs are born very unique among rodents. They are born precocial, which means with a full coat of fur, their eyes and ears already open and functioning and with a full set of teeth. They can also start to eat solid food with in a day if they wish too, though most just nurse and don't begin to explore the hay and pellets in the cage until around 1 to 2 weeks old.

    In no time flat the piggies grew and were old enough to put up for adoption. We were able to adopt out both girls together and all 3 boys as a trio to loving "fur"ever homes at 8 weeks old. It was bitter sweet watching them go to new homes, but it was all worth it when I got to see the looks on the childrens faces who's familys were adopting them.

                                                 

Lastly it came time to adopt out my Ginny Pig. She was probably the hardest foster to let go that I ever had. We had spent two and half months bonding and I had taken to her because she was like no other guinea pig I had ever met, or I venture ever will meet again. She was like my tiny shadow when I was home and where ever I was she could be found. It was an extremely hard decision to adopt her out instead of letting her become a foster fail but it was what I was meant to do and what was best for her. I knew it was the right thing to do the day I got a phone call from a previous adopter asking if we had another other adult female guinea pigs yet that were needing a buddy. She had gotten hers, she adopted a few months earlier, adjusted into her home and was ready to find her a play mate. Sure enough we introduced the two girls and they bonded immediately! Ginny was happy, she finally had a play mate and was going to go to a wonderful home. I still get pictures and videos of her from her adopter to this day and she is doing amazing in her new "fur"ever home.

In the end Ginny and her babies were the fosters that reaffirmed all of my amazing feelings about fostering animals. I finally felt like I belonged and had a purpose in life. It is an wonderful feeling that can only be described by one simple word: LOVE!

My fosters over the last 2years

If you want to look into becoming a foster parent for animals please check with your local shelters and rescues to see if they have a fostering program available. Fostering is one of the most effective ways you can give animals a second chance at a happy life. Many people find fostering a very rewarding, hands-on approach to helping homeless pets and please remember adopt don't shop!

Within a few hours they can run and within a day they can eat solid food although they do need to nurse from their mother for a while. - See more at: http://www.guineapigtoday.com/2011/09/14/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-guinea-pigs/#sthash.DFoObUkt.dpuf