10 Reasons Why You Should Not Foster
Fostering is the most rewarding experience you will have with an animal, apart from adopting. It can not only positively change the lives of the animals who you care for short-term; it will make more time, space and resources available to other animals still in the care of your local shelter or rescue. However, there are some major pitfalls that should be considered before your home signs up to be a foster family. Below are our top 10 reasons why you should not foster:
Your reputation for being a crazy animal lover will be amplified.
It’s one thing to love animals. It’s another thing to open your home and devote your time to nurturing baby animals. Doing so will intensify your love for animals … and that high-pitched voice you use when talking to them. Beware!
You’ll learn so much your brain will hurt.
Esbilac formula. PetAg. Ex-pen. Words that would have previously sounded bizarre will now become your vernacular. Your friends won’t understand. You’ll get strange looks.
Finding an excuse to quit will be impossible.
San Diego Humane Society provides all the training, food, supplies and support you’ll need to foster. This leaves very little room for excuses. Need an endless stream of baby wipes for mess management? No problem, they’ll provide that for you. Going on vacation? They’ll find a temporary foster while you’re out of town. Only have a short time frame you can commit to fostering? Perfect. Foster assignments are available for any duration.
You’ll have so many “Is this real life?” moments, you’ll start to question your sanity.
Everything your foster babies do will be precious and picture-worthy (Take heed and see reason #10 below).
You’ll lose sleep.
In the early stages of development, baby animals require around-the-clock feedings. This means you’ll have to wake up in the middle of the night and wrap them in a blanket to keep them warm as they eagerly nurse on a tiny bottle. Once their bellies are full they’ll usually drift off to sleep in your arms. Who knew sleep deprivation could be so unnervingly … adorable?
It will ruin future endeavors for you.
You helped save a life — there’s really nothing more amazing and rewarding than that. Going forward, it will be hard to top the awesomeness of your foster experience. Consider yourself warned.
People will flock.
Neighbors, family members, friends, co-workers, strangers on the street — they’ll all want to meet your foster babies. Be prepared for an onslaught of baby talk!
You will become a mess-cleaning master.
Without fail, every time you clean your foster babies’ ex-pen, they will undo your hard work smugly and promptly. At first, this will frustrate you but eventually you’ll become desensitized to their messes. Pee, poo, shredded potty training pads, scattered kibble and blobs of unidentified substances — you will see and conquer it all. Nothing will scare you anymore.
You’ll learn that too much smiling and laughing can actually be a bad thing.
As a foster parent, you essentially get to watch a life unfold. You’ll witness your foster babies learning to stand, walk, vocalize and play for the first time. You’ll see their personalities develop. All of it will bring smiles. All of it will bring laughter. Your cheek and abdominal muscles will resent you.
Say goodbye to valuable phone storage.
The camera roll on your phone will quickly fill up with pictures of your foster babies. For clarification, please refer to reason #4 above.
Learn more about fostering animals in San Diego!
Published: December 31, 2019
