Adventures in Fostering (Part One) - Written by Husband Sol

In April 2016, Kumamoto, Japan, where we were living at the time, was struck with two earthquakes which left 50 dead, and over 3000 injured. The second and main earthquake struck a little after 1 in the morning on April 16th. All we could do was to hold onto each other tightly and wait it out. The damage was minimal, we lost a croc pot and some Siricha bottles spilled out onto the floor but that was about it. As Japan sits on a tectonic plate, modern buildings are designed to withstand earthquakes. We were without water for a couple of days but otherwise largely unaffected.

Older buildings fared worse and the outer walls of the castle, the focal point of the city, were badly damaged and won’t be fully restored for years. Aid and volunteers from across the country flooded into Kumamoto to help out. People forced out of their homes had to drop off their pets to local shelters, not knowing when they could come back for them. The cat shelter we got Hokke from was overwhelmed. A place that normally had about 15 or so cats wandering around freely became home to over a hundred caged and frightened cats. Understandably, a lot of the cats struggled with the new environment.

That’s where Levy and I realized we could help.

We began fostering the cats who couldn’t handle the shelter. The first was Hibari, skylark, a sickly blind cat who didn’t have much time left. We knew him from the cat yoga classes Levy taught at the shelter to help raise funds. Sadly Hibari passed a couple of days later. We took some solace from the fact we made his final moments comfortable and he didn’t die alone and ultimately resolved to keep fostering.

The second cat was an older gentleman (14 years old) called Umekichi which I think very loosely translates to ‘little plum’. He was tubby black cat with a round face who Hokke spent every waking moment trying (unsuccessfully) to befriend. He loved being around people but was less keen on other cats. He managed to sneak out once and we had to keep a close eye on him thereafter. Our time together was short as his owner was able to come for him after about a week. After the heartbreak of Hibari, the happy conclusion to Umekichi’s tale lifted our spirits.

Foster cat no. 3 was called Nii. Nii’s owners tragically died in the earthquake so he wasn’t very receptive to any attention, be it feline or human. We gave him the spare room to himself and let him have his space. Sometimes a cat just won’t warm to you and, after what he went through, could you really blame him? If nothing else, we like to think the time away from the shelter gave him some room to grieve in peace.

The next cat was very dear to us and she’ll be the subject of the next post.

If you’ve ever thought about getting a cat, but aren’t sure, consider fostering. It’s one of the most rewarding things we’ve ever done and can’t recommend it enough.