Thank you for your interest in becoming a foster guardian with Kitty Devore Rescue!
The Kitty Devore Rescue Network is a team of dedicated members, foster guardians and rescue partners who head other 501(c)(3) rescue groups with the focused mission of working daily to save the cats admitted to Devore Animal Shelter in San Bernardino, California. Our membership is not limited to San Bernardino county residents. The KD team is comprised of members who reside all over Southern California, specific areas of Central and Northern California. If you reside in any of these locations, you are eligible to apply as a KD foster guardian. At this time, we are unable to accept foster applicants who reside outside these locations.
Upon receipt of your completed application, it will be reviewed and one of KD’s Foster Officers will contact you with further questions and/or information. Please keep in mind we are all volunteers and many of us do work full time jobs. Please allow up to a week for a response from one of our officers. If you have not heard from one of our officers within 5 days, please check your suspect, junk or spam mail files.
Kitty Devore Rescue developed and evolved out of a general group forum on Facebook in 2011 that was focused on gaining exposure for the cats admitted to Devore shelter and, for that reason, our entire rescue day to day interaction is based on Facebook. It is mandatory for all KD foster parents and members to have Facebook accounts. We will not consider any applicant who does not.
If approved, you will be instructed to send a Facebook friend request to KD’s administrator and you will receive a welcome message via private message (PM) from her as well as KD’s VP and the foster liaison who will be guiding you through the fostering process.
In this PM, you will be provided with some basic information as well as two PDF documents:
• Kitty Devore Rescue’s New Foster Kitty Checklist
• Kitty Devore Rescue’s Adoption Procedures
We highly encourage both documents be downloaded and read thoroughly. Most questions about our program can be answered in these PDF documents. As a KD foster parent, you will be responsible for being aware of and following the policies and procedures in both documents. Both are updated annually and updates are posted to the Kitty Devore Rescue Network group list on Facebook.
Both the KD administrators as well as your foster liaison will be able to answer any additional questions you may have throughout the fostering process.
You will be invited onto the Kitty Devore Network closed Facebook group and introduced to the KD team. This closed group forum is where we conduct our rescue effort coordination and daily KD business. The group is a constant network of support. Doesn’t matter the issue – all members of the team are there to offer tips, troubleshoot issues and provide fostering encouragement.
Every day, new cats are admitted to Devore shelter. Every day, a daily rescue post is posted to the network group forum so that the team is aware of who needs out and why and who will need out in the week ahead. As a new foster parent, you have the freedom to choose the cat or cats you’d like to foster – but we ask that, if you do choose to foster, you do so with a commitment to seeing that cat or cats through to adoption. If you are unable to make a long term commitment, please do not offer to foster long term. Temporary fostering is also an option and temp fosters are often needed before a long term foster parent can take a cat into their care.
As a KD foster parent, you must have a space in your home where you can isolate new cats coming directly from the shelter for a minimum of 10 to 14 days. Cats coming directly from the shelter must undergo a strict ISO period to ensure they are free and clear of illness and contagion and before they should be allowed to interact with other cats in the home.
Every KD foster guardian receives a Foster Kitty Care Package when they take in a new foster cat. This package is mailed to the foster guardian’s home the day after their foster cat is rescued from the shelter and contains basic necessities to have on hand in the event they are needed. These basics include antibiotics and a syringe for administration, eye ointment, ear mite treatment, topical flea treatment, dewormer tablets and administration instructions, probiotic packets, calming agents to address post-rescue anxiety, kitty toys, catnip and treats.
As a foster parent, it will be your responsibility to get your kitty ready for adoption. This will involve having your foster kitty spayed or neutered if needed, snap tested for FeLV and FIV, vaccinated with 1 to 3 FVRCP vaccines if they were not vaccinated at the shelter or depending on their age, a rabies vaccine if they will be attending adoption events (not mandatory if they will not be attending events), microchipping, deworming and flea treatment.
Many cats coming out of the shelter develop upper respiratory infections (URI’s) within a week of their rescue. As their foster parent, you will need to discuss symptoms with KD administrators and seek veterinary treatment in some cases. Occasionally some cats have issues that are more severe and will require veterinary attention. As their foster parent, it will be your job to get them in for that medical treatment. Because our foster members are located all over Sourthern California, we do have many different veterinarians we work with in nearly every county in the So Cal area to choose from.
We do cover ALL pre-approved medical expenses and the expenses of our basic vetting requirements. We do this primarily through the reimbursement system. We reimburse via PayPal within 1 to 3 days of receipt of a reimbursement request or by check made out to the foster guardian within 1 to 7 days of the receipt of their reimbursement form and accompanying invoices. However, in some situations where a foster parent cannot pay up front and wait to be reimbursed or if the medical expense exceeds $200, administrators will coordinate with the foster parent to arrange payment directly to the veterinarian at the time services are rendered via third party payment.
When fostering with KD, all visits to the veterinarian for your foster kitty must have approval from a KD administrator first. We will not reimburse for expenses incurred if the vet visit was not pre-approved.
When a kitty has been fully vetted by our standards and is cleared for adoption, we have several ways to help them get adopted. We feature them on our website and list them on our Petfinder account, Adopt-a-Pet accounts, as well as our public Facebook page.
KD is a Petsmart and Petco Partner rescue group. We do hold regular adoption events nearly every Saturday at the Santa Ana Petsmart. We also have an in-store adoption venue where our cats can stay in-store at the Petco in Santee. All KD foster guardians are welcome and encouraged to bring their foster kitties for adoption exposure. Additionally, KD attends many major pet expo events that happen year-round in various counties of Southern California. Adoption events are open to all KD foster guardians interested in attending if their foster cat is ready for adoption. Event attendance is not required but is a wonderful way to get exposure for foster kitties seeking forever homes.
If you would like to become a foster guardian we welcome you with open arms. To get the ball rolling, please complete our foster application.
Please read each item in the foster agreement carefully before initialing. If approved as a KD foster guardian, you will be expected to honor and adhere to each item of the agreement.