Two words that strike fear in many a shelter workers hearts -"kitten season". What is kitten season you ask?

Kitten season is the time of year when cats give birth, flooding animal shelters across the nation with homeless litters. Kitten season is really three seasons in one, starting in spring, peaking in late spring or early summer, and ending in fall. It may begin sooner and last a little longer here in Arizona because of our nice warm weather (lucky us!)

We are also in need of puppy fosters. Although dogs will mate all year long, (they don't care about the weather), puppy litters do go up slightly in the warmer months so we will also occasionally be looking for puppy fosters.

Puppies and kittens can only be adopted when they are eight weeks or older and they cannot be at the shelter when they are any younger than that because their immune systems are so fragile. This is where our amazing foster families come in so they have a place to stay until they are ready to come back to the shelter to be altered and put up for adoption.

In preparation for this crazy time of year, we are getting all of our fosters lined up and ready to go. If you are interested in fostering kittens or puppies that are too young to come into the shelter we would love to have you. Here are a few guidelines -

• You must be a current foster or a newly approved foster.

• New fosters must attend our Foster Orientation and be approved to foster.

• You must be able to take more than one puppy or kitten (unless they are singletons) along with the mom cat/dog (if the kittens/puppies are nursing). Of course, each situation will be a little different.

• Fostering is not for everyone; we understand that, but we also need dedicated fosters parents who will be able to keep the kittens or puppies for the duration of the foster period.

How do you get started? Just fill out our online foster application to get the ball rolling. Once we have a need for a foster, you will be contacted and if you are available, you will soon have kittens or puppies in your care.

Here's the link to the online foster application: http://lostourhome.rescuegroups.org/info/display?PageID=9793

If you have any questions or are interested in fostering for Lost Our Home please contact Tracey Varga at tracey@lostourhome.org. Let the kittens (and puppies) begin!

Our address is -

2323 South Hardy Drive

Tempe, Arizona 85282

(602) 445-7387 (PETS)