Fostering: what to observe in the first few weeks and how to update the rescue

Fostering a dog or cat on behalf of a rescue means being the volunteers’ eyes and ears, especially during the first few weeks. Keep a consistent eye on a few areas, write down facts in context rather than using labels, send a brief update as often as agreed, and call right away about the signs listed below.

Six areas to observe

• Meals and water. What the animal eats, whether they eat right away or only when you leave, and whether they drink. Example: “They finished dinner, but only after I left the kitchen.”
• Urination, stools, litter box, or walks. Where and when, and whether anything changes from previous days. Example: “They use the litter box right after meals.”
• Sleep and resting places. Where they sleep, and whether they seek company or keep to themselves. Example: “They sleep in the hallway at night; during the day they slip behind the sofa.”
• People and handling. How they react to new people, a brush, or a harness; touch their paws and ears only if they tolerate it. Example: “They accept the harness if I show it to them first; if I touch their ears, they tense up, so I stop.”
• Other animals and children. Only if the rescue has arranged contact: distance, body language, and how they recover. Example: “They watch the resident cat through the baby gate, then turn away and go to their bed.”
• Noise, being alone, and travel. How they react to noise, being left alone, the carrier, and the car. Example: “When I leave, they whine at the door, then lie down; in the car, they stay still in the carrier.”

Don’t force tests: don’t leave the animal alone on purpose or make noises or arrange encounters to see how they react. Write down what actually happens.

Facts, not labels

“They’re fine” or “they’re a little odd” aren’t enough: you need facts in context. For each incident, write down when and where it happened, what happened beforehand, what the animal did, how it ended, and what helped.

• Instead of “they’re aggressive with dogs,” write: “Yesterday evening, when they saw a leashed dog across the street, they tensed up, barked, and pulled. We turned back, and after a while they calmed down.”
• Instead of “they’re calm,” write: “They wake up early, eat, spend the morning on the sofa, and look for cuddles in the evening.”
• Instead of “they’re fearful,” write: “They hide under the table when the doorbell rings. If I sit nearby and speak softly, they come out after a while.”

A short video can help when a behavior is hard to describe: don’t provoke the situation to film it, and stop if the animal is distressed. A few photos with a line of context are better than dozens without an explanation.

An update the rescue can use

Five points, with a completed example here:

1. How they’re doing overall: eating regularly, sleeping in the hallway at night.
2. What has changed: they’ve been following us into the kitchen for a few days; before, they kept to themselves.
3. What has worked: showing them the harness before putting it on; a treat at the end of a walk.
4. Questions and concerns: they tense up if I touch their ears: should I keep avoiding them?
5. Photos or video: a short video of how they greet someone who comes in.

Choose one channel and agree with your contact person how often to send updates, keeping routine updates separate from urgent reports. These notes will also help describe the animal to prospective adopters: concrete habits and what helps them are worth more than “they’re so sweet.”

When not to wait for an update

Notify your contact person or the veterinarian designated by the rescue right away, following its emergency procedure, in these cases:

• refusing food or water;
• repeated vomiting or diarrhea;
• a cat going to the litter box frequently without producing anything, or struggling to urinate;
• sudden limping;
• injuries;
• severe lethargy or signs of pain;
• running away or attempts to escape;
• biting or scratching a person;
• conflicts with resident animals.

Describe what you see without trying to diagnose it, and don’t give medication or try home remedies: the veterinarian decides. In an emergency, contacting the veterinarian comes first: photos, messages, and recordings in the app come afterward.

If the rescue gave you access to the PawsPet profile

The animal appears in the PawsPet app under the “Animals” tab, with the “Shared with me” filter. What you can do depends on the permissions chosen by the person who invited you: if you don’t see the “+” or “New” buttons, you probably only have viewing access and can ask for “Edit” permission.

With “Edit” access to Health, you can:

• record the animal’s weight in the “Measurements” tab (tap “+”), with a note; there is one measurement per calendar day, so reopening the same day updates the one already saved;
• add a dated note to an existing entry, such as a treatment: in the “Updates” section, tap “New.”

With “Edit” access to Activities, you can record an activity of the “Behavioral monitoring” or “Symptom monitoring” type and write what you observed in the “Notes” field. Recording a symptom does not mean diagnosing it: it simply keeps a record.

Things to know about the limitations:

• the animal’s documents (passport and certificates) are not currently visible to collaborators;
• the app’s artificial intelligence features apply only to animals you own;
• with “Edit” access to Health, you can also change or delete existing entries: agree with the rescue on what to record;
• no record replaces a phone call about urgent signs.

To keep weight and observations in the same profile the rescue can see, you can record them in PawsPet: less information gets lost between messages.

To do this week

1. Agree with your contact person on how often to send updates and which channel to use.
2. Choose two or three areas to observe more closely.
3. Keep the contact details of the veterinarian designated by the rescue handy: if you don’t have them, ask for them today.

FAQ