Pongo is a lab mix who is a bit shy in the shelter. Please rescue him so he can show you just how sweet he is.

Last week, I submitted my column about American Humane’s Adopt A Shelter Cat Month along with a list of 10 things to do to get ready to adopt a cat or kitten. Little did I know, that four days later, I would get a text asking me to foster a mama cat and her five babies.

When people learn I foster cats and kittens for the shelter, they invariably say they could never do it, as they wouldn’t be able to give them up once they’d fallen in love with them. I understand that sentiment, as I would have kept every one of my fosters if I had thought I could do so without my family having me committed. 

In fact, Dexter, the only dog I have ever fostered, was a foster failure. I met him at an adoption event, where I was introducing my foster kittens to potential adopters; I learned no one had shown any interest in this big, gentle guy. When the shelter was overly full and they feared for Dexter, I agreed to foster him. The next weekend, I took him to another adoption event, where he refused to get out of the car. 

He had decided I would adopt him, so there you go.

Kizzie is the mama cat living in my guestroom, and she’s gorgeous. She’s about a year old, she’s a long-haired tabby with white on her neck and chin, and she loves being loved. 

She has two mini-mes, both girls; and three black babies, one girl and two boys. All kittens are precious, and these five are no different. They are also full of energy, funny and very loving.

Kizzie will be spayed before she is adopted, and if the babies are old enough, they will be spayed or neutered as well. If they aren’t quite big enough for surgery before they are ready to be adopted, arrangements will be made to take care of that as soon as it is safe to do so.

And while my heart breaks just a little to let any of my fosters go, I continue to foster, because they bring me joy while they are with me. I know I am sending them to their forever homes, often healthier, happier and better socialized than when I got them. 

And, while I can’t save every animal, I will do my best to see that these six gifts from God never see the inside of a shelter again.

— Pets and the People Who Love Them is brought to you on behalf of your friends at the Athens- Limestone Animal Shelter. To adopt a dog or cat, visit www.limestone pets.org.