Starter guide
Give a shelter animal a spare room until its real home turns up.
A spare bathroom and a couple of free weeks are enough to start. Fostering means looking after a shelter or rescue animal in your home for a set stretch (often two to eight weeks) while the organization stays its legal owner, pays the vet bills and usually sends you home with the food, litter and crate. Your job is the part a kennel cannot do: quiet, routine, a lap, and honest notes on what the animal is like to live with. Those notes are what get it adopted, and every animal in a foster home frees a kennel for the next one coming in.
Short visits, two to four times a day
Most of it is ordinary pet care in short bursts: feeding, scooping or a walk, a few minutes of play, and a wipe-down of the foster room, each well under half an hour and repeated two to four times a day. On top of that you are the shelter's eyes. You send a weekly update, take clear photos for the adoption listing, give any medication the vet prescribed, and bring the animal in for scheduled checkups or adoption events. When an adopter is approved, you hand the animal over and tell them everything you learned.
Open one to see where to start. The two volunteering routes can add their shift gear to the kit.
Start here
Send a foster application to one shelter or rescue this week and say which animals you can take (adult cat, adult dog, a litter). Adults in good health are the gentlest first placement.
Start here
Sign up for a volunteer orientation at your nearest shelter and commit to one regular weekly shift. Add the shelter shift gear to your kit before the first one.
Start here
Look up the licensed wildlife centers near you and ask about their volunteer intake, which often opens before the spring baby season. Add the wildlife center gear once you have a start date.
Tick each line off as you go
The first three days are quiet.
A new foster often hides, skips meals or has loose stool from stress. Give it the room and a routine before you judge its personality.
Saying goodbye hurts.
Nearly every foster cries at the first adoption. It gets easier once you see the next animal come through the door.
Mess is part of the deal.
Expect accidents, shredded bedding and a lot of laundry, especially with litters.
Skipping quarantine.
Shelter animals can carry respiratory bugs, ringworm or parasites that show up a week later. Keep them separate even when they look healthy.
Treating without asking.
The shelter owns the animal and pays for its care. Call the foster coordinator before giving any medicine or visiting your own vet, or the bill may be yours.
Taking on too much first.
Bottle-fed newborns and animals recovering from surgery need round-the-clock care. Start with a healthy adult.
Free roam on day one.
A whole house overwhelms a stressed animal and makes accidents hard to find. Open up one room at a time.
License required
Wildlife needs a license.
In the US it is illegal to keep or treat wild animals without state permits, and most wild birds also need a federal permit. If you find an injured or orphaned wild animal, call a licensed rehabilitator instead of caring for it yourself.
Wash your hands after every visit to the foster room.
Change clothes before handling your own pets during quarantine.
Report every bite or scratch that breaks the skin to the shelter the same day.
They have a protocol, and hiding it helps nobody.
Check your own pets are vaccinated and up to date before a foster arrives.
Most shelters require it.
Ask your doctor first if you are pregnant or immunocompromised.
Have someone else handle the litter boxes.
Supervise children.
They are never left alone with a foster until you know the animal well.
Found a wild animal, or want to volunteer with wildlife
A healthy adult cat needs about an hour a day in total, split into short visits. An adult dog needs closer to two with walks. Weaned kittens or puppies add cleaning and a daily weigh-in. Placements usually last two to eight weeks, and you can take a break between them for as long as you like. Shelter and wildlife center shifts are typically two to four hours once a week, and wildlife centers often ask for a full season.
Your foster coordinator is the first call for anything about your animal. For background, the free courses and guides below cover feeding, body language and the common illnesses fosters see.
Free courses and care guides
The shelter covers the expensive parts: vet care, food, litter, and usually a crate or carrier. Ask what they hand out before you buy anything. What is left is the gear that protects your home and makes cleanup fast, and all of it works for cats and dogs alike, so it carries over from one foster to the next. The scale and heat pad are for later, if you move on to young litters. Shelter and wildlife volunteers need only the shift gear in their add-on.
The first line is not something you buy online: it is the application that gets you an animal. For the rest, compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the cart. Clicking a card selects it there, and clicking the selected card again takes that line out. The volunteering add-ons and the two optional lines start out of the kit.
You can only foster through a shelter or rescue. They match you with an animal, stay its legal owner and pay for its vet care.
Not sold on Amazon
Not sold on Amazon. Free. Apply with your county shelter or a registered nonprofit rescue, and expect a short application, a home check or photos of your space, and an orientation. Ask for the foster agreement in writing.
Stressed fosters have accidents. An enzyme cleaner breaks down the smell so the next animal does not mark the same spot.
Bissell Pet Pro Stain and Odor Eliminator with Enzyme Action, 2 pack, 77X7F
4.6(3.1K)
$15.98
Eco Strong Pet Stain and Odor Remover - Cat Urine Enzyme Cleaner Destroyer, Urine Destroyer for Dogs, Pet Urine Enzyme Cleaner - 32 OZ
4.6(2.7K)
$17.97
Sunny & Honey Carpet Cleaner Spray, Enzyme Pet Stain Remover, 32oz Mint
4.4(11.1K)
$23.99
Soak the spot and let it air dry. Ask the shelter which disinfectant they want used if your foster is sick.
They line the floor of the foster room or pen, catch spills and accidents, and go straight in the washer.
Pawtect® Pads Washable Dog Pee Pads (2pack) of 18x24 Premium Pee Pads for Dogs, Waterproof Training Pads for Dogs & Reusable Dog Pee Pads! Whelping & Modern Puppy Pads!
4.6(15.3K)
$15.99
Washable Dog, Puppy and Cat Pee Pads, Leak-Proof (Large, 30x36, 2pk)
4.6(2.4K)
$25.95
Washable Pee Pads for Dogs, 2 Pack Non-Slip and Leak-Proof,36"x72"
4.3(3.7K)
$39.99
A pack of two lets one be in the wash while the other is down.
Fosters need their own food and water bowls, kept apart from your pets' dishes. Steel can be sanitized between animals, which plastic cannot.
PEGGY11 Nonslip Stainless Steel Dog Bowls, 3.8 US Cup Each, 2 Pack
4.7(5.7K)
$9.99
Heavyweight Non-Skid Rubber Bottom Stainless Steel Dog Bowl - We Donate a Bowl to a Dog Rescue For Every Bowl Sold (Large - 80oz - 9.5" Diameter)
4.6(2.4K)
$16.99
Dog Bowl, 34 oz Stainless Steel Food and Water Bowl, ID Tag, 1 Pack
4.7(1.6K)
$27.99
Some options are a single bowl, so order two: one for food, one for water. Run them through the dishwasher between fosters.
A pen gives a new foster a small, safe space inside the room and keeps it contained while you clean or open the door.
Foldable Metal Indoor/Outdoor Dog Playpen, Octagonal Exercise Pen, Single Door, 8 Panels, 48 Inch Tall, X-Large, 60 x 60 x 48 Inches, Easy to Assemble, Black
4.5(55.3K)
$76.27
Pick a panel height your foster cannot jump or climb. Taller panels suit climbers and big dogs.
A gate across the foster room doorway stops a dash for the hall when you walk in, and lets your own pets see the newcomer without touching.
Carlson 36" Extra Tall Walk-Thru Dog Gate with Small Pet Door, White
4.4(51.2K)
$49.99
COMOMY 36" Extra Tall Baby Gate for Stairs, Fits 29.5" to 48.8" Openings
4.6(4.4K)
$75.99
Lumizone Extra Tall Cat Gate 61.02" High 29.92"-34.24" Wide Pet Gate Black
4.3(908)
$119.99
Measure the doorway first. Pressure-mounted gates need no drilling, which matters if you rent. Keep any small pet door in the gate latched for kittens and small dogs.
Shelter dog walkers reward calm behavior constantly, and a pouch keeps treats at your hip and both hands on the leash.
Ask the shelter which treats are allowed before you fill it.
Kennel cleaning means hoses, disinfectant and wet dogs. An apron keeps your clothes dry and wipes clean between kennels.
VWELL Waterproof Rubber Vinyl Apron W/ 2 Pockets - Lab Apron for DishWashing,Grooming
4.6(2.3K)
$14.95
TonLing Thick Rubber Apron, 47.2 x 33.5 Inch Waterproof, Long Chemical Resistant, Adjustable for Dishwashing, Cleaning Fish, Gardening, Lab Work, Butcher and Dog Grooming, Grey
4.5(1.7K)
$25.93
610 Unisex Dog Breeds Waterproof Apron, Hair Bleach Resistant, Adjustable Back Tie, Pet Groomers Vet Clinics
4.8(195)
$43.99
Wear it with closed-toe shoes and long pants, which nearly every shelter requires.
Wildlife volunteers change gloves between enclosures so disease does not travel from one patient to the next.
MedPride Powder-Free Nitrile Exam Gloves, Large, Large (Pack of 100)
4.7(105K)
$9.99
Venom Steel Industrial Nitrile Gloves, Chemical Resistant Disposable Black Gloves, Latex-Free, Powder-Free, Textured Grip, Heavy Duty Two-Layer Protection, 6 mil, Large, 100 Count
4.7(12K)
$22.75
Check the size chart before ordering. Many centers supply gloves, so ask before your first shift.
Cleaning bird and mammal enclosures stirs up dried droppings and feather dust that you should not breathe in.
BNX N95 Mask NIOSH Certified MADE IN USA Particulate Respirator Protective Face Mask (10-Pack, Approval Number TC-84A-9315 / Model H95W) White
4.4(26.2K)
$14.99
Aura Particulate Respirator 9205+, N95 Disposable Respirator, Use For Sanding, Sawing, Yard Work, Dusting, Mowing, Raking, Curved, Low-profile, 3-panel Design for Easy Facial Movements, 10pk
4.5(9K)
$21.97
Kimberly-Clark Professional N95 Pouch Respirator (53358), NIOSH-Approved, Made in U.S.A., Regular Size, 50 Respirators/Bag, White
4.0(14.8K)
$59.99
Look for NIOSH approval on the listing. Pack sizes vary from 10 to 50. Follow the center's own rules on when masks are required.
For later, when you foster kittens or puppies. A daily weigh-in in grams is the earliest sign that a young animal is not eating enough.
Food Scale, 33lb Kitchen Scale with 1g Precision, USB-C Rechargeable
4.7(597)
$26.98
Heavy Duty Digital Kitchen/Food Scale – 33lb Capacity, 1g Accuracy, Perfect for Baking, Cooking & Meal Prep! Easy-to-Read with Large Containers. Bonus: Built in Baking Conversions! Restaurant Grade!
4.5(1.5K)
$42.99
Weigh at the same time each day and write it down. A scale with a bowl or a high-sided tray keeps a wriggler in place.
For later, with very young litters. Kittens and puppies under four weeks cannot hold their own body heat away from their mother.
Pet Heating Pad, Electric Heating Pad for Dogs and Cats Indoor Warming Mat with Auto Power Off (M:18" x 18")
4.4(10.4K)
$26.99
K&H Heating Pad, Lectro-Soft Outdoor Pet Bed, Safety Listed, 24x19in, 40W
4.6(9.8K)
$86.95
Cover it with a blanket and leave part of the pen unheated so the animals can move off it. Human heating pads run too hot.
