Fostering kittens requires a small space – a bathroom, guest room, or any other spare room – for the kittens to live. Your kitten foster room setup doesn’t have to elaborate or large. More than square footage, it’s important to remember that kittens are VERY messy so providing a space that is easy to clean is a top priority.
Choosing A Kitten Foster Room
After deciding I wanted to foster kittens (read all about deciding to foster kittens here), I knew that my kitten foster room setup would use the bonus room over our garage. This room served as my weekday office, my husband’s indoor “clean room” work desk for personal projects, and storage facility. Several minor renovations were needed to make the room kitten-friendly.
My husband used his desk for soldering and woodwork, messy stuff that was the opposite of kitten-friendly! It was no longer going to be possible for him to work from the same room as the kittens so his entire workstation was moved elsewhere in the house.
Yes, I actually kicked my husband out of his office in favor of “transient kittens!”
About now I should mention that, if you are interested in fostering, you should make sure your partner and other members of your household are on board with the decision. It will help tremendously to have help and support from the inside!
Minor Foster Room Renovations
Then it was time to tackle my biggest concern – the door. I always kept the door to my office open for air flow unless the kids were home during a meeting, but it would need to always be shut now to contain the kittens! I was concerned that the closed door would block air circulation and make what is already the hottest room in the house even more unbearable during summer months.
After tossing around several ideas, we eventually settled the solution of cutting out the door panels and installing wire mesh to make a very sturdy, kitten-proof screen door. This solution keeps the kittens in while allowing air to circulate through – perfect!
The work desk and door renovations were the only initial changes to the kitten foster room and these lasted us through several litters of kittens over several months. In the middle of winter, we took advantage of a few kitten-less weeks to complete a few more renovations before kitten season kicked into high gear again.
Easy-To-Clean Flooring
We tore out my husband’s old built-in desk that spanned an entire wall, added a fresh coat of paint to the entire room (though I definitely will choose a gloss or other easier-to-clean finish next time), and ripped up the carpeting in favor of new wood laminate flooring.
Remember what I said about making your kitten foster room easy to clean? Bingo! Laminate flooring is so much easier than wall-to-wall carpeting in a room inhabited by litter box-training kittens!
We completed this second round of kitten foster room renovations just in time as I got a call from the shelter the same day we finished the flooring. Three feral kittens were soon on their way to live in the renovated kitten room!
Foster Kitten Room Decor
The new green walls were lovely … but empty!
Saying “goodbye” to the kittens is a necessary part of fostering, but I want remember each one that spends time in our kitten room. I started filling the newly-empty green wall with 4×6 photos of each kitten printed with their names and attached to magnetic strips from The Container Store. It’s an efficient way to display a constantly growing collection of photos and makes me so happy to see all of those sweet faces, knowing I was part of their journey to finding their forever homes.
Your Turn
What does your kitten foster room look like? What changes and renovations did you make (if any!) to make the space kitten-friendly? If you haven’t started fostering yet and have any questions about the space you’ll need for foster kittens, please ask below: