Familiars Foster Network & Rescue

💜 The importance of kitten besties! 🖤 These three kittens each came to Familiars from different places. Avocado (tuxedo) was a stray kitten that mom had rejected, Egg (black/white) was a transfer from Winnebago County Animal Services and Toast (orange tabby) was a transfer from Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin. All three kittens came to the same FFNR foster home and were kept separate for a quarantine period before being combined into one litter of misfit besties. As you can see, Avocado may have some words, but these three are sure to become fast friends! Socialization with other felines is so important to the growth and development of kittens. Did you know that solo kittens are less likely to grow up as well-adjusted as kittens who grow up with another feline companion? Cute and feisty behaviors typical of a solo kitten can quickly turn into destructive and unwanted behaviors like scratching furniture, rough play, biting, and avoiding the litter box as the cat gets older. This is known as Single Kitten Syndrome and is also the reason we prioritize kitten buddy adoptions or applicants that already have a resident cat over those just looking for one kitten. Avocado, Egg, and Toast, still have a few weeks before they will available for adoption. Keep an eye on our page for updates! P.S. Toast's leg is healing amazingly!

💜 Feeding time! 🖤

💜 Hissy/spitty kitten update! 🖤 We’d like to take a moment to showcase our amazing lifesaving foster, Renae, and her current case – Thor! The first video is an early video of Thor, and the second video is one from this morning. Thor (previously known as ‘Twix’) was transferred to FFNR from Winnebago County Animal Services on January 5. He was our first intake of 2024. Thor was not thriving in the shelter environment and WCAS hoped some time in a foster home would help him come out of his shell. Thor was 3 months old when Renae took him home. The prime socialization window for a kitten is between 2-8 weeks old, so we were already behind on our ideal schedule (but what in animal welfare is ideal, right?). We decided our plan would be the following: Let Thor decompress in a foster home, monitor his behavior, take it slow (no forced love), and communicate lots to determine if he was fit for an indoor home or if we’d work on finding him a barn home come Spring. Thor spent the first few days in Renae’s laundry room, hiding. At one point, he was so scared he hid in the washing machine and wouldn’t come out. Once he did, Renae was able to confine him to a zippered playpen. In the playpen he relaxed a bit, but was still very apprehensive and spent most of his time in his carrier. He was coaxed out once by Renae’s resident cat. He would eat from his bowl with Renae watching, but growl when he did so. After some time, his confidence began to grow and he became more aggressive, exhibiting lunging behaviors, paw swats, and spits. Renae couldn’t touch him and used a spaghetti server covered in Churu to interact with him and pick up toys. As the days go on, Thor has become more playful, he accepts the Churu off the spaghetti server, and even accepts back scratches from it. He now has free roam of the laundry room again. Renae says Thor “definitely puts up a tough front, but I get glimpses of an adorable kitten who just wants to play and interact.”

🖤 Happy Thanksgiving from FFNR! 💜 Vera knows that the holidays can make you feel like a fish out of water... But she hopes you have a great day whether you're celebrating with friends, family, yourself, or not at all!

💜Foster Todd shares some words about Lacey🖤 "So this little video seems like no big deal. "You're petting a cat". But oh if I could tell you the trail we have taken to get to this point. Miss Lacey has come a long way from the kitten that refused to allow me to pick her up without a blood sacrifice from her back claws. She is still an "observer", but she loves her treats hand-fed, and is always ready for a few pets at dinner time. And she may try to act like she doesn't care about me, but the fact that she runs to the foster room door whenever Jim or I come up the stairs and dances around my feet when I come in yells me otherwise. You too can have this lovin from Lacey and her sister Bloom. Check out Familiars Foster Network & Rescue! Tell 'em Lacey sent ya!" We are so grateful to our foster family for giving these kittens a safe environment and plenty of time to thrive. Lacey is available for adoption! Consider adopting her with her foster sister, Bloom. To learn more or fill out an application, please visit our website: https://www.familiarsrescue.org/adopt/cats-kittens

💜TGIF🖤 It's been a rough week (couple months) in rescue. Here's a video of Darcy and Charlie "having a ball" to bring a smile to your face. These cuties are available for adoption! For more information or to fill out an application, please visit our website: https://www.familiarsrescue.org/adopt/cats-kittens

🖤 Cider needs our help. 💜 This little guy has been feeling more than under the weather. He hasn't been gaining weight or wanting to eat. He is losing hair and not using his back legs normally. We have gone down the list of normal things and not so normal things and treated accordingly...however we are at a loss. Cider is hanging out at the emergency vet tonight with his foster, Alison. With the exam and blood work alone, we are looking to spend $500-600 with the possibility of hospitalization which will be much more. If you'd like to donate to Cider's care, you can do so via Venmo or PayPal (@familiarsrescue) or by check (message for details). If you can't donate, please share. That helps us immensely. Keep fighting, Cider!

See that handsome long-haired guy in the video? That's me, Dega. I am not available for adoption. Nope, I'm already living in my forever home, and I WANT IT BACK. Do you see what I have to put up with - day in and day out? These kittens were fine when they were small but now they're BIG and mom's in on it too!! Please, please, please put in your apps for Solstice, Lumi, Aurora, and Helios and GET. THEM. OUT. OF. MY. HOUSE! xoxo, Dega

Some cute hidden camera footage of our tiny friends from Richland Center. We love the rolly polly stage!

💜 Is your cat looking for a playmate? Piper could be your gal!🖤 Piper (tuxedo) and her foster sister Billie Jo love to play together. Piper would be the perfect addition to a home with another cat. 👉Don't have a cat already? No worries! Piper's siblings Tucker and Elmer are also available for adoption! To browse our adoptable cats and kittens, visit our website: https://www.familiarsrescue.org/adopt/cats-kittens

💜This could be you, but you haven't applied to be a foster yet...🖤 Visit our website to learn more: https://www.familiarsrescue.org/foster-network/become-a-foster

Tigger has a friend!

💜Tigger has a friend!🖤 If you've been following Tigger's story since the beginning, you'll know that he was transferred to us from WCAS after being returned from their foster program. He was not thriving with his litter and mom was pushing him away. Once he was in an FFNR foster home being hand fed like royalty...he completely changed into the Tigger we know and love today. His foster mom frequently describes him as "the ruler of the household." This is great and all, right? Not always. These "King of the House" type behaviors can quickly turn into not so cute behaviors, such as rough play, biting people as they walk away, avoiding the litter box, and destructive behavior like scratching furniture. This is because a solo kitten is less likely to grow up as well-adjusted as cats who grew up with other kittens. A human is not a substitute for a feline companion. This is known as Single Kitten Syndrome. Tigger's friend, Winnie, was surrendered to a veterinary clinic and in need of rescue placement. What a great opportunity for us to provide Tigger with some much needed socialization that only another kitten can provide. 👉 Did you know that we offer a $50 discount for adopting two kittens at a time? Learn more about our adoption process and fees here: https://www.familiarsrescue.org/adopt/adoption-process

💜 Did you know that Familiars Foster Network & Rescue does most vaccines, medications, and dewormers in-home? 🖤 Kittens are extra susceptible to potential disease transmission due to their compromised immune systems. As a foster-based rescue, we are able to provide most routine veterinary care (not including rabies vaccinations or spay/neuter surgeries) without stepping foot inside a clinic or shelter. Our fosters are trained themselves or are able to reach out to other experienced fosters to administer vaccines, different medications, dewormers, and more all within the comfort of their own home. This means less stress and less chance of sickness for their foster babies. 👉Interested in learning more about our foster network? Visit our website at familiarsrescue.org!

Tigger playing

The wonderful thing about Tiggers? Is that Tiggers are wonderful things! Tigger turns 5 weeks old tomorrow and he'd like to show off his bouncey, trouncey, ouncey, pouncey playing skills 💜🖤

Feeding Tigger

🖤Tigger update!💜 Tigger has come a long way from not thriving in his previous foster home. He is gaining weight at record speeds and thoroughly enjoying mealtime. Thank you to Dr. Victoria at Janesville Veterinary Clinic for checking him out yesterday!