A Look Inside an Exceptional Foster Home

by Rachel | February 3, 2012 03:07 AM | 7 comments

We’ve told you before about special projects designed to improve the lives of our foster pets, but this particular undertaking is among the most impressive. Brought to us by the same amazing volunteer couple who gave our office cats their lovely porch, LCHS is thrilled to present the “Joe & Tanya Patton Country Kitty Retreat”! This peaceful place was built onto their house by the compassionate couple as an alternative temporary living space for some of our more sensitive foster cats.

The entire structure took about a year to finish, and features a living room, complete with couch, cat trees and a cat walkway around the entire room. There is also a utility room with a counter, sink and fridge for medications and food, and a big screened porch for the kitties to take in the sun, watch the birds and lift their noses to the country air. Joe and Tanya built the Retreat completely out of their own pocket, a stunning act of kindness and generosity for our foster cats.

Main Cat Room

It’s filled with things designed to reduce the stress and anxiety experienced by our most vulnerable feline charges, helping them to recover their enthusiasm and trust in people and in life. From a water fountain filled with cool water to high catwalks, hidey holes and plenty of windows, this foster home is designed with the mental health of its residents in mind. In the future, we hope to be able to send our most at-risk felines to this refuge during their adjustment period. This includes senior cats who have lost everything before coming to LCHS and need time to grieve, to shy cats who have become withdrawn and must be coaxed out of their shell, so they in turn can charm potential adopters.

Utility Room

All told, the Country Retreat has space for about eight foster cats and has been a refuge for cats struggling with allergies, shyness or who need a special diet - all conditions which often require them to live in a cage lest they eat the wrong thing, or not eat at all - but not at the Retreat! Most of the current residents have been in a our program for years, including Holly, a gorgeous classic calico who has been with us since 2004. Holly has bounced between foster homes, the LCHS office and the vet often over the years, as she has a condition that causes her to be prone to Urinary Tract Infections, making her difficult to adopt despite her wonderfully sweet nature.

Porch

All of the kitties who end up at the retreat have a similar story to Holly's. They are difficult to find the right foster home for, and need a big dose of TLC. And there is no other set of foster parents more suited to such a task than the dynamic duo of Joe and Tanya. As Tanya said, “Every other cat that was confined to a cage, for whatever reason, stuck with me. Joe and I thought, ‘How can we help those kitties that have to be confined and give them QUALITY to their life?’ So the planning and saving process started for the annex.”

Rome Napping

And while the Pattons are exceptional, they are not alone! All of our foster parents play such an important role in their foster pets’ lives. By giving them a temporary home, they give them a chance to relax, trust, and show their true natures. Then they document those personalities with photos, descriptions and impassioned monologues on the wonderful qualities of their furry charges. But foster parents are only half of the adoption equation. We also need adopters who appreciate the quiet, loving nature of these oft-overlooked sweethearts.

So if you have been thinking about adding a furry friend to your family, please consider the residents of our Country Retreat. If they could talk, they would tell you that while it’s a very nice place, what they really want, with all of their hearts, is a permanent home and person of their very own. With each successful placement from the Retreat, a new space opens for a needy foster cat!

Cairo

Georgia

Lily

Holly

Kauri

Penny

Rome

Jerry

Tags: Cats, Fostering