So the plan was to get a few things done around the house between Pikelet leaving for her furever home and bringing home a new foster. Getting noisy work done can be difficult with a couple of nervous cats and having them split into two pairs adds to the challenge. There was going to be a lead time of a few weeks before the work could be done so I thought it would be a good opportunity to invest some more time into the nervous residents.

So Monday morning I was getting stuck into some work and a got a message from RSPCA Queensland - they’re drowning in cats and wondering if I can take a shorter-term foster until the work will be done. Of course I think, why should they get to have all the fun of drowning in cats!?!?! A couple of hours later and handsome Frederick had moved into the foster room.

Frederick has been a great reminder of why I love to foster. The poor boy had been in the shelter for about seven weeks and has spent vast majority of that time being quite scared by his surroundings, very shy of people but he clearly loves getting his cheeks, chin and neck stroked. But unfortunately he didn’t seem to be making much progress towards being a confident, sociable, adoptable kitty.

I brought him home Monday lunch time, set him up in a crate in our foster room. There wasn’t really any sign of progress in the first 48 hours just laying in the cubby box in his crate, but on Wednesday evening he really started to show very positive signs. First, he started to show interest in one of the cat toys - a dragonfly on a wire - watching it very intently. Then I tried some Dine Creamy Treats paste - he had some, the first time he had eaten any from a hand. I was pretty excited and started to send messages and then all of a sudden he got up and walked over to the crate door looking for more Dine paste. I obliged with more DIne paste, more plays with toys and pats. In a little over two days in a quiet home environment, little Frederick had made more progress than in seven weeks in the shelter environment. We’re not magic cat whisperers - the poor guy just needed to get into a nice quiet home and away from the stress of the shelter.

In some moments I wonder what happens to Frederick if there hadn’t been someone who could give him a chance in a quiet home. If it wasn’t us, then maybe it’s another foster carer, but as I mentioned at the start of the post - they are absolutely drowning in cats! All this makes me think, fostering is literally saving lives of animals. If you are reading this and have ever thought about fostering, please give it a go - it is incredibly rewarding!

That is what I most wanted to cover in my introduction to Frederick but I will quickly recap some of his progress since then:

By Thursday night, Frederick seemed quite keen to get out of his crate and explore his foster room a bit more. He spent a bit of time out with us, mostly sitting under a chair (still not super confident) but he was still keen to chase his favourite dragonfly toy so not too bad.
Friday morning, Frederick had spent the night exploring the foster room but on Friday morning I found him hiding in the corner between two bookshelves in the one spot that is quite hidden. I was hesitant to leave him there so tried to coax him back to his crate. Unfortunately it was a little stressful but we were able to get him in there without too much trauma.
Saturday and Sunday he seemed a bit more reserved - tending to stay laying in the box in his crate and less interested in plays. He still seemed to enjoy the food and pats so not all bad.
Sunday evening let him back out to explore the foster room a bit more. He’s still pretty nervous in his surroundings but at worst he’s retreating to the bottom shelf of the scratching post. Not great but he’s been happy to chase the dragonfly from there and still very happy to get pats or food.
Monday evening (as I write this), Frederick has been very brave coming out from the scratching post and coming right over to me asking for pats - happy to oblige. He’s also been using the scratching posts, rubbing up against them and flopping over on his side and lying on the floor to watch me type.

I’ve got a really good feeling about Frederick. He’s still a little skittish about movement or noises but he’s made incredible progress from where he started. I think he’s going to turn into the most adorable and affectionate little guy once he’s settled.