A new bundle of furry joy will be arriving at your household, but there are some things you need to do beforehand.

Are you wondering how to prepare your home for foster kittens? Are you concerned whether or not you even HAVE room for foster kittens? Let’s take a look at what you need to do before you take on a litter of tiny felines.

1) Have A Dedicated Space For Kittens

When you prepare your home for foster kittens, it’s important to have an area that’s just for them. Preferably, they would have a room all to themselves, but this isn’t always possible. Here are some options for kitten spaces.

A Private Room

As stated, this isn’t always possible, but if you do have a separate room, this is the best option. It’s especially helpful if you have other pets. Keeping your pets separate from your foster kittens is necessary for two reasons:

• You don’t always know how your other pets will react to foster kittens
• Kittens must be ‘quarantined’ until you are certain they don’t have any transmittable diseases or illness that could be passed on to your pets

A separate room with a door also ensures your pets can’t get in, and your foster kittens can’t get out.

Playpen

There are a couple of different types of playpens for foster kittens. You can get a covered playpen from Amazon (also recommended by Kitten Lady), or you can get a simple enclosure like the one we have.

Playpens provide mobility in situations where you have to move the kittens around. They’re a great option for those without an extra room. Playpens are also easy to clean and sanitize (see the next section for tips on sanitizing your kittens’ space).

Kennel

Animal shelter foster programs sometimes have kennels available for foster parents. These are typically multi-level ‘cages’ where kittens can sleep, play, eat, and use the litter box.

Kennels are a better option for kittens five weeks and older; younger kittens can slip through the bars, and they have a hard time climbing the different levels when they’re so tiny. Cleaning a kennel is relatively simple, and it doesn’t take up much space in your home or apartment.

Uncovered Plastic Tub

You know those clear storage tubs you see at places like Home Depot and Menards? These are perfect for neonatal kittens! Just make sure you leave it UNCOVERED so that air gets in.

Kitten Lady has mentioned using these many times for the tiniest of felines. They are unable to climb the sides, and the tub is more than big enough for a litter. Kittens younger than four weeks are still learning how to move around, so they don’t require much space. Check out this instructional video from Kitten Lady for more information.

2) Clean And Sanitize The Kittens’ Space

Having a clean, sanitized area is essential. Kittens, especially neonatal kittens, are very vulnerable in the early stages of their lives. Illness or disease can wreak havoc on a small kitten’s body, so you need to be able to clean and sanitize the area they will be staying in.

For this reason, you should keep them somewhere that’s easy to clean daily.

How To Clean A Kitten Room

Walls, floors, and furniture ALL need to be sanitized between litters.

For non-porous surfaces, such as walls and hardwood floors, you can use Rescue cleaner (a favorite of animal shelters) or a 1:32 ratio of bleach to water in a spray bottle.

For porous surfaces, like carpet, we suggest Biokleen Bac-Out Stain Remover for clothes and carpet. Although it’s a carpet shampoo, Biokleen also has a spray bottle formula (the spray bottle does NOT list it as safe to use around pets, though).

Bedding can be washed with bleach and hot water. As for cat toys, pre-washing new toys is always a good idea; you never know who or what has come into contact with them in the store. Used toys can be hand-washed with mild, unscented soap and warm water.

How To Kitten-Proof Your Home

When thinking about how to prepare your home for foster kittens, it’s important to put safety first. Kittens love to explore, and once they get big enough, they’re going to start exploring with their teeth.

Chewing on electrical cords can result in electrocution, and small objects can be swallowed by curious kitties. You should also keep human food away from cats, as some (like chocolate) can be toxic. Make sure you do these things in order to kitten-proof your kittens’ space:

• Tie or tape up all electrical cords where kittens can’t reach them
• Remove any small objects a kitten could swallow or choke on
• Remove any household plants (some are toxic to cats!)
• Block spaces where kittens can crawl in or under and get stuck, as well as high spaces that they can climb up and fall from
• Keep breakable objects out of reach
• Use childproof locks on cupboards you don’t want kittens to get into
• Keep poisonous substances such as toxic cleaners, pest traps, and anti-freeze away from your kittens

Check out The Spruce’s list of kitten-proofing techniques for more helpful tips on keeping your foster kittens space safe.

3) Gather Your Supplies

Your kitten space is now safe and sanitized, but now you need supplies for your foster kitten. What items do you need? Check out our list of Basic Supplies For A Foster Kitten for a complete checklist.

Do I Have To Buy My Own Supplies?

It depends. Most animal shelter foster programs pay for food and litter supplies. They may also have various cat toys, blankets, a Snuggle Safe, and other accessories that they can give you. If you’re worried about cost, just make sure everything is covered before you commit to fostering.

The Meow Place buys most of its own food and litter supplies for our foster kittens. Unfortunately, unless there are many generous donors, animal shelters don’t often have the means to buy healthier foods. We prefer to buy our own kitten food because 1) we want to alleviate some of the financial pressure on our local animal shelter, and 2) we believe kittens deserve the best head start, and that starts with proper nutrition.

We take a more natural approach with litter as well. Clay litters are dangerous for young kittens; they can swallow some of it, which can result in blockages and other serious health problems. Always use a non-clumping litter for kittens, preferably also non-clay, such as Pretty Litter.

4) Get Your Camera Ready!

It’s no secret that the online world LOVES seeing cute kitten pictures. If you have the time and the inclination, start an Instagram account for your furry fosters. You should always get permission first from the animal shelter your fostering for to make sure they’re okay with the publicity. Some shelters will have you wait until closer to the time of adoption to start posting pictures.

Kitten Photography Tips

Kittens older than four weeks are typically very energetic, so good luck getting a good picture. Unless you have an image stabilizer in your smart phone, most of your action pics will be blurry. I’ve only ever been able to get sleeping kitten pictures myself.

Andrew Martilla (photographer and Kitten Lady’s fiance) has some great tips for photographing kittens using cell phones. If you have a good camera hanging around, feel free to use that too! Just be patient. You’ll probably have a lot of bad, blurry pictures before you get a clear one — but it’s so worth it.

Having an active social media account where you can post pictures of the kittens greatly increases their chances of adoption. People will get to see those kittens thrive and grow, play and sleep. They feel a special connection with them, and it’s so much fun to see the comments people leave.

And that’s it! Did we miss anything? What tips do you have for first time foster parents of kittens? Please share them in the comments!

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