BEFORE Attending Adoptions

The Medication Summary Sheet can be found at the bottom of every training. This section highlights several important requirements to keep in mind.

Before a cat or kitten can attend adoptions, certain medical requirements must be completed. The cat or kitten must be spayed or neutered, and their clinic paperwork must be brought with them to the adoption event.

They must also have received at least one FVRCP vaccine a minimum of 7 days before attending adoptions. This allows time for the immune system to begin developing protection from the vaccine.

Cats and kittens must also have started their routine parasite prevention and deworming protocol and must have received appropriate flea treatment.

Once a cat or kitten is eligible for monthly flea prevention, it must be given every month for the entire time the animal remains in foster care. This is required even if you do not see fleas. Likewise, routine deworming and parasite prevention should be followed as directed even when no worms are visible.

We prefer cats and kittens to have been on an appropriate deworming schedule for approximately six weeks before attending adoption events. This helps ensure the roundworm and hookworm life cycles have been addressed. However, the timing may vary depending on the cat’s background and risk level. For example, an indoor house cat may have a very different parasite exposure than a kitten coming from a TNVR colony.

Before attending an adoption event, all cats and kittens must be healthy and free of obvious signs of illness. Cats who are sneezing, have runny or irritated eyes, or show other signs of illness cannot attend adoptions.

Cats or kittens with loose stool must be appropriately treated for worms and other possible parasites before attending an adoption event. Diarrhea or ongoing loose stool should be resolved before they are brought to the adoption center.

All cats and kittens must also be free of fleas. We provide Capstar when appropriate, as well as monthly flea-prevention products including Kitten Revolution, Revolution Plus, and Advantage.

Foster caregivers are responsible for keeping track of when flea prevention and other routine medications are due and requesting needed medications from the Medical Team. Staying current on these treatments and monitoring the health of your foster cats is an important part of the foster caregiver role.