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If you can't adopt an animal because of lifestyle constraints, you might find you're able to foster instead, giving a cat or dog a chance to acacclimatize to living in a domestic environment, rather than a shelter, and drastically improving their chances of finding a forever home.
One woman doing just that recently found her foster kitten wedged between her two adult cats, taking a nap, and posted footage of the scene on the TikTok page @queen_amber_k.
"Okay she's a foster remember we can't keep her," says the OP. "But you are very good foster parents but she's going back, aww."
Roughly 6.3 million companion animals are surrendered or put in U.S shelters nationwide every year. Of those, 3.2 million are cats, 530,00 of whom will be euthanized, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
Fostering is "a critical part of helping shelter animals," says the ASPCA. It provides a safe environment for an animal to heal any previous trauma and get used to living in a home, and also frees up essential space in over-subscribed shelters.
Fostering can be essential for neonate (zero to four weeks) and Pee-Wee (four to eight week) kittens, as they are extremely vulnerable and cannot survive without round-the-clock care.
"Having a foster caregiver with the supplies and training they need to care for these tiny kittens can literally save their lives and help them become healthy, strong and ready for adoption!," says the ASPCA.
Fostering a kitten or cat also hugely widens the pool of prospective adopters for an animal.
"Fostered cats and kittens benefit greatly from exposure to their caregiver's friends and family, and their caregiver can offer trusted assessments of the cat's personality and needs," says the ASPCA. "Not only is the foster caregiver the cats' parent, but their publicist, too!"
Looking after a cat temporarily can also be a great way of finding out if you can cope with one full-time. It's a risk-free way to try having a pet, with support from a shelter, and can help you figure out if it's something you could do full-time.
"Who wouldn't want adorable cats and kittens around?," asks the ASPCA. "Think of all the benefits: the companionship, the chance for a new routine and best of all, the potential for the cutest snuggles ever! Fostering is easy to weave into your everyday life and the shelter will provide you with everything you need."
"Sorry, she has entered the snuggle circle and now she must stay forever," wrote one TikToker of the video posted by @queen_amber_k, which has had more than 2.2 million views.
"They just said you can say whatever you want but she is staying!" wrote another user.
"They said but this OUR baby," added a third.
Newsweek has reached out to @queen_amber_k via TikTok for comment.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
About the writer
Leonie Helm is a Newsweek Life Reporter and is based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on all things ... Read more