Thank you for your application to foster for VOKRA. I will be going through it and sending
you a note or giving you a call as soon as possible. Meanwhile I am attaching some information
/links to this letter to give you an idea on how things work and what we supply.
Right now I have supplies at homes in North Vancouver, Burnaby and Kitsilano. When I speak
to you we will figure out which is easiest for you to get things from. We supply all food, litter, litter
pans, and kennels to transport the kitties in. Other things may be available or needed depending on
the situation. If you are unable to pick up we ask that you give lots of notice when running out and
we find a volunteer to deliver.
The Handbook is always important to go through with all caregivers in your home, as we learn
new things each year and like everyone to be on the same page. Please pay a lot of attention to areas
on food and litter. We are finding that too many people are not clear that the kittens/cats are to be on
canned or raw food…NO DRY! We supply it, you just have to pick it up. If an adult comes to you
that will only eat dry…it should be gradually changed over unless we give other instructions. We
will fill you in on that at the time. The reason we do not put kittens on dry is that there is a direct
connection to cats eating dry food and developing crystals and urinary problems. This causes them to
pee outside of the box, and this gets them dumped or returned to us. If your own cat eats dry it must
be kept out of reach of our kitties. We need pictures / bios sent in when cats are ready for adoption.
Please check that section out in handbook.
The other really important thing is containing kittens in a small area, in order to be sure
they are well litter box trained and not sneaking a pee under furniture or in a corner. The reason
people return cats is mainly due to inappropriate urination. This is very difficult to stop once a kitten
is past a certain age and has gotten in the habit of doing it. Please contact Karen if you are having any
problems litter training. Do not have young kittens running all over your home. They must be
confined to one small area with several low litter boxes and no spots they can sneak in a pee where
you don’t see it. Under beds or behind furniture, on piles of laundry or on bedding ( esp if you have a
feather quilt. ) Talk to Karen about best ways to house very young ones.
If you are handing over a foster cat/kittens to another foster home PLEASE give them whatever
litter/ food you have been using.. A change in food or litter can cause all kinds of problems in these
kitties. Please do not give treats. When kitties are adopted out from your home send one can of food
and small bag of litter to get the people started if they have not gone out and bought what the cat is
on already. Stress to them the importance of not changing anything for several weeks.
If you have a time coming up you won’t be able to have your fosters in your home…let us know
as early as possible. If you are going to be away briefly we often can arrange for one of us to come
in and feed etc rather than moving them.
We all appreciate emails rather than calls on the phone…but if you get no response within a day,
call. In emergency it is always fine to call one of us. Numbers will be sent out to you when you have
fosters. I am generally on my email throughout the day and always in evening.
We will soon be getting in lots of kittens/ cats. Something I am always looking for is people who
can take a mom and kittens or pregnant cats. The time we are busiest is late April / May and it
continues through summer and fall. We need you! If you want me to add or take off any of the
situations you have said you would be ok with in your application, just send a note. rescue@vokra.ca
***If you are interested in learning more about taming feral or semi feral kittens, please let us
know. The more people we have trained to work with them the faster they get tamed and adopted.
It’s a really rewarding thing to see a formerly terrified kitten get adopted! Thank you so much for
offering to foster for VOKRA. We will be in touch very soon. I suggest posting this letter on your
fridge for easy access.
Sincerely, Karen Duncan and the team at VOKRA!