4 Effective Strategies to Adopt Out Foster Kittens

We all know kittens thrive in foster homes, but how do you find adopters when the time is right? Eight-week-old kittens are highly adoptable, so that’s a critical time to get them into a loving home quickly. And by getting kittens into homes right when they’re adoption-ready, you create space for foster parents to take in new litters.

Here are four proven strategies that your shelter or rescue can leverage to adopt fostered kittens into loving homes:

1. Create an Adoption Ambassadors program

Consider implementing an Adoption Ambassadors program in which your foster parents work to find homes for their foster kittens by tapping into their own networks. Foster parents have successfully placed their kittens through easy-to-implement tactics like social media and word-of-mouth. Fosters can network their kittens before they’re adoption-ready so they can go to their new home as soon as they have their spay or neuter surgery. The Adoption Ambassadors resource page even includes a guide for feline foster parents.

2. Throw a mega-adoption event

Once kitten season is ramped up and you have a lot of adoption-ready kittens, consider hosting a large-scale adoption event in your community. Create a Facebook event where people can RSVP and market your event through various channels like traditional media, social media, email and advertising.

For more than 10 years, Oregon’s Cat Adoption Team has been finding homes for 100 or more kittens during their popular one-day “Kitten Palooza” adoption event.

3. Adopt kittens through your local pet supply store

Many pet supply stores have cat habitats where the cats can temporarily stay while they are waiting to find the perfect home. Your volunteers can visit the store twice a day to feed and interact with the kittens as well as clean the litterboxes. Make sure to put a sign on the kennel to let potential adopters know who to reach out to if they are interested in adoption.

After three weeks, if a kitten hasn’t been adopted, consider giving him a break in a foster home before placing him in a different pet store location to get exposure to a new pool of potential adopters.

4. Connect with other shelters

Depending on the geographic location, certain shelters may have kitten shortages and may be actively looking for opportunities to take in more kittens. Put some feelers out to shelters in your state to see if any of them might be interested in exploring kitten relocation opportunities with you. For the ASPCA Los Angeles Foster Program, nearly 60% of foster kittens go on northern transports to shelters where they are made available for adoption.

You can also leverage the Kitten Foster Resources For Shelter and Rescues Facebook group to connect with over a thousand other shelters around the country to see if anyone is interested in relocation opportunities, either on the giving or receiving end. If you find a partner, make sure to create a mutually beneficial transfer agreement so everyone knows what to expect.