A foster parent has lived with the cat for 3 to 8 weeks and holds records no shelter intake form captures: grams eaten per meal, urine clumps per night, and which sounds send the cat under the bed. Ask for those records before you sign, not after the first vet visit. Fifteen minutes of specific questions prevents most of the guesswork that fills the first month.
Ask for the log, not a summary
Request the last 14 days of written notes, one line per day. A useful line contains 4 things: grams of food eaten, urinations and defecations in 24 hours, stool score on the 1–7 scale (the scoring table at /glossary/ covers it), and any vomiting with a time stamp. 'Eating well' is not data. A cat that clears 45 g of dry food twice a day at the foster home and leaves 20 g at yours is in transition, not sick. Without the log you cannot tell the two apart, and you will pay for a blood panel to answer a question a notebook already answered.
Food: grams, times, and the exact bag
Write down the brand, the formula name, and the bag size, then photograph the label at handover. Formulas change and 'chicken kibble' will not buy the same food next week. Ask how many meals the cat gets per day: kittens under 6 months usually eat 4 meals, cats from 6 to 12 months eat 3, adults eat 2. Ask whether food is left down or timed, because a grazer moved straight to 2 timed meals will skip the second one for 3 or 4 days and scare you into a vet bill. If the foster free-feeds, plan a 7-day move to meals offered in 15-minute windows. Take home 3 days of the current food in a sealed bag so the switch starts on day 8, at 75/25, 50/50, then 25/75.
The litter box log beats a blood panel
Two numbers matter most: urine clumps per 24 hours and stool form. A healthy adult on wet food leaves 2 to 4 clumps a day. A cat leaving 6 or more small clumps, or none for 12 hours, needs a vet before the paperwork rather than after. Ask about litter type, box size, and box count, because a cat raised on a 60 cm open box with fine clumping litter may refuse a covered box with crystals for 48 hours and then hold urine. Buy the same litter for the first 2 weeks and change one variable at a time after that. Boxes should be cleaned twice a day and replaced when the scoop starts scraping plastic.
Medication, parasites, and dates you can verify
Get the drug name, the dose in mg per kg, and the date of the last dose. A cat finishing a 3-day course 1 day before pickup needs no handover dose; one on a 14-day course needs a written schedule, a refill plan, and the name of the prescribing clinic. Ask for deworming dates, because foster kittens are commonly treated at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of age. Ask when the last FVRCP was given. A final dose before 16 weeks may leave a booster due, and the same applies to rabies timing in most jurisdictions. Our pre-adoption checklist at /adopt/what-to-check-when-adopting/ covers documents and contracts; the questions here are the ones that checklist cannot answer.
Children, dogs, and other cats
Ask for 2 specific incidents, not a rating. 'Good with kids' means nothing; 'a 6-year-old picked her up wrong, she hissed and walked off, no scratch' is usable. Ask how many times the cat has met a dog, for how long, and whether it hid afterward. If the foster home has no children, ask about the reaction to a 3-minute visit from a loud visitor. Recovery time tells you more than the first reaction: a cat that hides for 10 minutes and returns for food is a different animal from one that stays under the bed for 2 days. For a household with another cat, ask whether the foster tested a slow introduction through a cracked door or just put them in one room together.
The first 14 days at home
Plan 1 room with the door closed for the first 3 to 7 days, no visitors, litter box, water, and a hiding spot within 2 metres of the food. Keep the foster's food for 7 days, then switch over 7 more days. Do not bathe the cat in the first 14 days: the stress and the loss of its own scent cost more than the dirt. Skip the harness, the nail trim, and the tour of the whole house until week 3. With resident cats, swap bedding through a closed door for 3 days, then feed on either side of the door at 3 metres, and expect a 2-week introduction before free contact. Feeding windows, hiding places, and the slow blink are covered in the 90-day plan for a shy cat at /adopt/shy-cat-first-90-days/.
| Ask | A good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Food and grams per meal | Brand and formula, 40 g at 7 am and 7 pm | Whatever is on sale this week |
| Urinations per 24 hours | 3 clumps, same corner every day | Lots, or misses the box when stressed |
| Last deworming | Date plus product name | The shelter handled it |
| Reaction to children | One incident, 10 minutes to recover | Fine with everyone, honestly |
| Medication still running | Drug, dose, end date, clinic | A pill, I think, maybe twice a day |
| Reason for surrender | Owner moved, 2 cats became 5 | No idea, she came from another foster |
When to call the vet in week one
Book a visit within 72 hours of arrival, even with a clean record. Go sooner for these: no food for 24 hours, a male cat straining with no urine for 12 hours, 3 or more vomits in 24 hours, diarrhea lasting 48 hours, or hiding with no interest in food for a full day. Bring the log, the food label photo, and the vaccine card, and ask for a fecal test plus a weight baseline. Weigh monthly at home on a baby scale: a 4 kg cat that drops 200 g has lost 5% of body weight, which is the point where appetite and dental pain get checked.
Five things to do at handover
- Photograph the food label, the vaccine card, and the last 14 days of notes.
- Ask for 3 days of the current food in a sealed bag.
- Get a phone number and permission for 2 follow-up texts in week 1.
- Put the litter brand, box size, and feeding times on one sheet for the whole household.
- Book the 72-hour vet visit before you leave the foster home.
Frequently asked
What if the foster home kept no written records?
Ask for a verbal history with numbers and test it. Requesting grams per meal, urine clumps per day, and the exact food label usually gets real answers even when nothing was written down. Then photograph the label and the vaccine card yourself, and book a vet visit in the first 72 hours with a fecal test and a weight baseline, so you start with measured data instead of memory.
Should I take the cat to a vet before or after signing the adoption contract?
Before, when the rescue allows it. A 30-minute exam costs far less than treating ringworm, giardia, or an ear mite infestation that a 3-day-old record missed, and it gives you a baseline weight to compare against at 30 days. Many foster-based rescues will hold the cat for 48 hours after a pre-adoption exam, so ask about that option directly.
How long should the new cat stay in one room?
Three to seven days for a confident cat, up to 14 days for one that hides when you enter. Open the door when the cat eats normally, uses the box in view, and approaches you within 1 metre without freezing. If there is a resident cat, add a 2-week staged introduction with scent swapping and feeding on opposite sides of a closed door before any face-to-face contact.