Inside the World of Animal Fostering

Many animal shelters rely on the work and dedication of foster families to care for pets too young to be in the shelter or animals that need special care and socialization. Recently, About Town was able to talk to fosters at in Norwalk about the experience.

"I didn’t initially jump at the idea, I knew that emotionally, you get attached, but I decided to give it a go," Sian Nimkoff, a volunteer at PAWS, told Patch. "It requires both compassion and practicality."

Nimkoff has been fostering for three years now. Kittens come into her home and stay until they are eight-weeks-old and are ready for their first vaccinations and to go back to the shelter. 

"You have to be strong enough to know that when they leave you, it’s not a bad thing," Ilona Zimmer, a board member at PAWS said.

Zimmer has been fostering animals for six year s— ever since moving into a house that would allow her the space to do it. She has taken in both kittens and puppies, along with adult cats and dogs.

Laura McHugh, a vet tech, has been working in different positions at PAWS for three-and-a-half years. With a parade of cats, and one dog who thinks he’s a cat, McHugh has a full house, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

"Working there makes it hard not to [become a foster], it’s difficult not to want to take them all home," McHugh said. 

McHugh takes in many senior cats, many of whom have health problems and would not be easily adoptable in the shelter. McHugh gives her senior pets the care they deserve, often bringing them back to health.

"[Senior pets] are so grateful," she said. "You see them in such terrible shape, and then you see them able to run and play. When they feel safe, it’s like they’re kittens again."

McHugh often adopts her senior cats after they come into her home, while Zimmer often adopts animals with special needs that would make it difficult for them to find families. She tries to avoid adopting kittens because she knows that they will quickly find homes through PAWS.

Zimmer has had cats give birth in her home, watching them closely for problems and allowing them to do their job once the kittens are safely born.

"Mama cats take care of everything," Zimmer said. "They’re amazing."

All fosters develop a process for handling the new additions to their household and their own tricks for getting the animals acclimated. For Zimmer, this means a finished basement set up as a designated foster area. Both McHugh and Nimkoff also have rooms dedicated to their new animals where they can be sure that the newcomer is healthy and feels safe in their new environment.

"The kittens need to be fed a soupy mix at first. They’re so messy, they put their paws in it, try to do the breast-stroke in it and you have to be ready with the paper towels," Nimkoff said.

Nimkoff makes time to sit in the same room with the new kittens and allow them to approach her. Some new animals are affectionate from the start, while others are standoffish or hiss at first.

"You just follow your gut, you can read your own animals," McHugh said.

Having supportive families has helped all three women to continue opening up their homes to new pets. Husbands support the process and play with the kittens. Children learn to accept the rotation of pets as a normal part of life.

"My daughter has been a huge help, she would take thousands of pictures," Nimkoff said.

"My son is two-and-a-half now, pretty easygoing, but I know the day will come when he will start to get attached. I hope he grows up with a lot of empathy and understands why mom did this," Zimmer said.

Returning animals to the shelter can be an emotional process and is particularly hard the first time around. When the day arrives, Nimkoff takes the time to say goodbye.

"I talk to them — I tell them that it’s not anything they did, but they have to go back now," Nimkoff said. "It sounds crazy, but it helps."

The first time Nimkoff fostered kittens, her husband took them back to the shelter while she spent some quiet time in a different part of the house. She told her children a couple days ahead of time and let them know that the kittens wouldn’t be there when they got home from school.

"I don't get upset anymore," Zimmer said. "I know that they need to go back so they can find forever homes and so I have space for new animals. They're safe at PAWS."

"I go in and see their names on the adoption board," Nimkoff said. "It’s also great when you get an update from a family, I’m so happy to see how they’ve grown."

"I’m blessed to be able to care for them, the love that they have is so unconditional and I’m very lucky," McHugh said. "They’re my world."

For Zimmer, fostering animals led to an even bigger decision, she and her husband decided to become a foster home for a child. 

"There are a lot of children who need homes just like there are a lot of animals who need homes," she said. "The idea is that eventually these kids go back to their families or to another family, there’s coming and going. You’re a part of the process."