Fostering Pets as a Uni Student

By Laura and Valentina

Published in

YouAlberta

5 min readMar 3, 2021

Fostering pets as students has been an incredibly rewarding experience. We want to share our experiences with other students so you can decide if fostering a pet might be right for you!

Why did you decide to start fostering?

Laura: Honestly, the pandemic was really getting to me and I was having a really tough year. I have always wanted a pet, but I think that I will be moving at some point in the near future for a PhD and so adopting a pet was too anxiety-inducing for me. My boyfriend and I decided to try out fostering as we thought it might help keep us happy in our tiny apartment during the seemingly never-ending pandemic.

Valentina: I remember reading an article about how people started fostering pets during the pandemic and I was really interested in it! When my roommate and I moved to a pet-friendly apartment we felt like fostering was a good way to keep us excited about being stuck in our apartment.

What kind of pet do you foster?

Laura: I foster rabbits! I currently have a little lionhead cross named Aero! He is my first foster and I just adore him. I have a lot of space so I can technically foster two rabbits at the same time, but since Aero was my first rabbit, I decided to only foster one to start.

Valentina: Kittens!! We’ve been lucky enough to meet Calvin, Hobbes, Brie and Cheddar! We fostered Calvin and Hobbes together first, and when they found their forever home we got Brie and Cheddar.

What are some of the best things about fostering?

Laura: Watching each foster slowly come out of their zone and learn that you are loving, and taking care of them! Watching little Aero grow and learn that I’m here to help him has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.

Valentina: Having to take care of someone else is a really rewarding feeling. I feel like my foster pets have helped me more than I would have thought. The pandemic has made my anxiety levels go up, and being able to cuddle with the kitties after a stressful day or taking Zoom clases with them napping on top of you is the best feeling ever!!

Laura: I totally agree with Valentina!

What are some of the hardest things about fostering?

Laura: The fact that I have to give them up to their forever families! I have put so much love and effort into taking care of my little bun. He was really sick when we first got him, so the idea of giving him up to a forever family is both exciting (for him) and extremely scary and sad to me!

Valentina: Giving them up for adoption. We found a perfect family for Calvin and Hobbes right before Christmas and it was a bittersweet goodbye. We knew that they were going to a great place, but it was hard knowing that they wouldn’t be hanging around our house anymore.

Would you recommend that other students try fostering?

Laura: Absolutely. Fostering as a student has been amazing because the rescue society covers all food and vet costs, so I just have to provide the love! As a student, fostering works better for my budget than adopting since I don’t have a ton of money to spend on vet bills, but I have a ton of love to give! Also, fostering a rabbit has been perfect for my schedule. Rabbits are most active first thing in the morning and at night, so my little bun just sits and sleeps all day while I do school work. It’s perfect!

Valentina: 100% percent! Fostering gives you the best of both worlds. You get to hangout and take care of a pet all day without having to worry about the financial or long-term aspects of pet ownership. (Although you’ll probably end up buying a thing or two for fun… like the sombreros we got the kittens for Halloween.) We foster through Zoe’s Animal Rescue and they offer great support for foster parents. For example: they have volunteers available to take the cats to vet appointments in case you don’t have access to a car or you are busy on that day.

How did you become a foster parent?

Laura: I stumbled on Infinite Woofs when I was looking to adopt a dog and they were looking for foster parents! My plans changed from dog to rabbit (student budgets and everything….) and here I am! There are tons of other animal rescue organizations here in Edmonton that are looking for people willing to foster though!

Valentina: My roommate found out about Zoe’s through a Google search because we were certain we wanted to foster cats. They have a great fostering application system, and before we knew it we were in!