Whether you are a cat person or not, you can’t deny the cuteness of a kitten. In honor of National Cat Day on Oct. 29, Blue Yonder associate Andrew Laird shares more about his family’s experience fostering kittens. Last year, Andrew wrote a DIVE In blog about their love of fostering and how a kitten named Buddy inspired them to write a book to support local nonprofits. They have now written a second book about Buddy and their continuing foster adventures!

“Oh, I could never foster because I could never give the kittens up!”

As we were promoting our first book, “A Home for Buddy: A Foster Story,” we heard that statement everywhere we went. This gave us the inspiration for our second book. Our goal became to write a book to show people the joy of fostering and that yes, even though it is hard, you can give the kittens up to another loving home.

Our cat Buddy loves “helping” with foster kittens and always gets very attached to them, so we wrote the book from his point of view. In “Buddy Learns to Foster: A Letting Go Story,” Buddy teaches the kittens how to eat, groom themselves, and even gives them litter box lessons. But as the kittens grow and prepare to find their own forever homes, Buddy must face the bittersweet truth of letting go.

The truth is, the reason why it is easier than you think to let them go, is also why fostering is such a special opportunity. The kitten phase is shockingly short as it only lasts about a year and cats have an average lifespan of 13-14 years. Furthermore, the first two months comprise the most dramatic changes. The kittens you first get for fostering will likely be very different from the kittens you must let go. But then you can get more very young kittens! This is part of the lesson Buddy learns first-hand in the book.

If you have ever had a kitten in your house, you would know how much fun it is. Now think about having two to six kittens in your house! Getting to watch them play together, snuggle them – their love, energy and antics can make you smile every day.

In our seven years of fostering almost 200 kittens, we have witnessed the joy of kitten fun, created family memories, and learned a lot about kitten personalities. There is something very special about holding a tiny kitten who weighs less than a pound in your hand knowing that you are giving that kitten a chance at life. You can only get the experience of watching a kitten’s ears wiggle while bottle feeding them if you foster!

As Buddy learns in the book, fostering can be messy, like when kittens are learning to use a litter box or eat wet food.

But there are great rewards also. You get to shape the personality the kitten will have. The more you hold them, the more they will like it as an adult. The more you teach them to play appropriately (not biting), the better behaved they will be.

All this being said, we understand why people say it is hard to give the kittens up (Amy especially!).

But as we say in the book, the truth is that we never truly give them up. We still hold them close in our heart. Fostering is a cycle: they start as small and needy babies, turn into rambunctious, funny “teenagers,” and then leave to find their forever homes. Fostering is loving each group that passes through, giving them everything they need, then letting them go so you can get a new group to help.

In addition to fostering, supporting cat/kittens rescues is important to us, so 10% of every book sale (purchased in-person or on our website) is donated to rescues and to our business partner, Mission Meow, who supports small feline nonprofits with impactful grants.

To see how Buddy learns to foster and let go of kittens, you can purchase the book on our The Meow Mob website. We will also be visiting book fairs and events October through December across New Jersey, Ohio, Georgia, and Florida. I encourage you to come out and meet us! For a full schedule visit: www.themeowmob.com/events.

If you have questions about fostering or how to get started, please reach out to us at: themeowmob@gmail.com.

I would like to thank Blue Yonder for supporting volunteerism so I have time to help Amy foster the kittens. I would encourage you all to find something you are passionate in doing to help your community – whether it is fostering kittens to help make people’s homes a little warmer, if not sometimes also a little messier, or something that speaks to you.

* Blue Yonder offers two Volunteer Days annually, and associates are encouraged to utilize these days to support meaningful causes of their choice.