Foster Dog Mom talk with @caitiesfosterfam
“I get my heart broken so they don’t have to” - The honest Dog Foster Mom Talk with Caitie Evers.
Houston, we have a problem. A big one. Like many cities in the US, especially in the south, Houston is struck with an overpopulation of stray cats and dogs (often argued to be 1 million stray animals in Houston alone).
The shelters are full, and most rescues and foster homes are at their maximum capacity. The result is up to around 80,000 euthanized dogs and cats each year in Houston alone. In the entire US, that accumulates to up to 1.5 million dogs being killed in kill-shelters in the US each year (source: ASPCA.org).
Many of us want to help, we keep looking at adoptable pets online but know we can’t adopt them all. But how can we help them?
Apart from tackling the problem at the root and preventing dogs from uncontrolled breeding and dog poverty (check here for more info in my post about Animal Poverty and how to help), you can always foster.
We’ve all played with the idea to just “simply foster” but are hesitant. What does fostering really mean, how can we help through fostering?, I asked myself.
When I first discovered Caitie on Instagram through mutual rescue friends, I was stunned by this vibrant and motivating young woman who was an inspiration and light for me in the dark dog problem of Houston. I knew that I wanted to interview this woman for my blog (back then, still only a spark of an idea).
Since then, Caitie and her foster efforts have been highlighted even by the Dodo after one of her TikTok Videos with medical case Yukon went viral gaining over a million views in the first days.
Caitie and Lily Mae celebrating @caitiesfosterfam’s 20k follower in December.
Caitie was featured again with her latest doggy mom’s pregnancy photo shoot with golden retriever Lily May by Houstonian photographer Shauna Kiely @shaunakiely_photography, making so many people smile and raising awareness for even purebreds being found as strays on the streets and shelters.
-By the time I am posting this interview Caitie has gone viral again with Frenchie Pup Grogu who suffers from Hydrocephalus (read more about this condition here).
Grogu was a breeder surrender. Since he’s been in Caitie’s care he was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus - @caitiesfosterfam
The Situation in Houston
Houston is estimated to have about 1 million stray dogs within the city limits. An unimaginable number. One might even say the situation seems more like a third world country, and they are absolutely right. In Houston, there are neighborhoods and whole areas you can drive up and down for an hour and see 100 stray dogs, Caitie explained. What? Yes, it’s devastating
Join me on my socially distanced Zoom chat with Caitie from @caitiesfosterfam, the social media star rocking the internet with millions of views of her clips across TikTok and Instagram.
This is Yukon, who was the first to blow up the Fosterfam account with his viral videos about his journey to find a forever home.
The Good Things:
Let’s start right from the beginning:
Caitie, you are now at Foster dog #195 but how did you become a foster mom in the first place?
I guess that decision was actually made for me by others. I’m a yes-woman and that might be a problem, but that’s how I got into it. I helped out to foster one dog in my senior year in college and then my first year in Houston I saw a post in a neighborhood Facebook group looking for a foster for a dog. However, after my third foster, Haley, found by a friend who saw the dog at the fire station he worked at, who had mange and needed medical attention, I realized that if I wanted to continue fostering and also help medical fosters, I needed to team up with a rescue, as the costs for vet visits, medication etc. can accumulate very quickly.
I just moved to Houston and went to one of those in-person adoption events of Houston Pets Alive, got talking to one of the organizers, fostered a litter of puppies shortly after and have been in close contact with them ever since.
Caitie is a Puppy snuggler, for sure! @caitiesfosterfam.
What rescues do you work with and what are you looking for in them (so we can learn from you)?
I foster for and with several organizations in Houston, at the moment though only with Chip N Snip and RPM (Rescued Pets Movement), but I always make sure I don’t foster more than one dog at a time. I also have two dogs myself, Riven and Charlie and a cat, Jäger.
Only if I have a long-term foster do I consider taking in a short-term in between, but make sure I have the permission from the respective rescues to do so.
I’m in close communication with the rescues and check their intakes regularly. If they have a medical foster case, litters or a pregnant mom, they will approach me automatically.
Over the years I have also stepped back from rescues completely if it wasn’t a fit. It is important to feel comfortable with the organizations and I need to know they have my back in an emergency. Fostering is very demanding and knowing you have the unconditional support is very important to me. Not to say there are good or bad rescues. Everyone just needs to find their fit for fostering.
You mainly take medical fosters and mamas with litters or puppies. Meanwhile you’ve become an expert; how did that happen?
I would never consider myself an expert though. I have a hard time giving people tips and almost experience anxiety when I’m put on the spot for tips and recommendations sometimes. Everything I do is from experience, or YouTube… Every dog is different, and I can only give a general recommendation but always encourage seeing a professional vet or dog trainer when you need help.
Lily Mae went viral with this magnificent pregnancy shoot by Houstonian photographer and dog lover Shauna Kiely @shaunakiely_photography. @caitiesfosterfam
It all went slowly, in fostering you come across emergencies that just push you to do things you haven’t done before. It’s like an ER situation, I volunteered in an ER during college, it’s just like that.
After my first mange case, I felt I could take care of another and then another.
One foster needed fluids but wasn’t yet fully vetted so the vet suggested for me to give it myself. I face timed with a vet friend and figured it out somehow. I’m the kind of “I’ll figure it out” kind of person. Also, YouTube helps. However, with every new case I am challenged again and of course worry that I give every dog the best care.
“YouTube is great!”
Rogu is being loved and taken care of relentlessly by Caitie. @caitiesfosterfam
I always try to emphasize to my followers though that I am not a professional vet. Of course, you should always have medical support and a vet at your side, never randomly try anything by yourself. In my case it just became necessary to step up one day. Now I can even give shots if necessary.
Now, if there is a medical case or an expecting dog mom, I usually get contacted by the rescues as there aren’t many Fosters that take in litters due to their challenging nature.
However, I also go out on the street and will actively get the dog if I have a lead and someone informs me about a dog they saw that needs medical attention, like Yukon who made an amazing recovery (see Yukon’s story on The Dodo here and follow him with his new home here).
JoJo is one of the many glow up examples that turned into magnificent and absolutely gorgeous doggies under Caitie’s care. @caitiesfosterfam
Caitie’s Foster Ronan had these beautiful pups. Aren’t they precious? @caitiesfosterfam
You love having Mamas with litters. how did you come about that and why is fostering moms challenging?
Haha, my friends say I’m a doggie doula!
With litters and pregnant dogs, it just happened to fall into my lap one day. A mother and her 3 new puppies needed a temporary home and it just fit. After that I took in another one and another one, and then I was just comfortable with it that I just did it when necessary.
Pregnant dogs and litters are often more difficult to be placed in a foster home because some people are afraid of doing it, understandably. Handling litters also means handling death sometimes. Not every newborn puppy makes it, there can be complications, illnesses and I once even had a sick mom eat her puppies.
I try to show the reality of fostering litters but don’t always show the devastating parts, I should probably change that.
These cutie pies were all adopted through @milehighlabmission and brought to Colorado. Many rescue dogs find their forever homes out of state through the help of specialised rescue organizations. @caitiesfosterfam
If you are considering fostering:
Research rescues in your area, speak to friends and don’t be afraid to ask other people that already foster with that rescue, or DM them on Instagram.
Most rescues have you fill out a form online with all your details and your dog background, from there someone will get in touch with you and you can discuss everything further. Don’t be afraid to speak about concerns or worries.
If you prefer to foster small dogs, say so. If it’s not the right time for you, say so. Don’t think that you are expected to take in as many as Caitie!
The Not So Glamorous Moments
Sometimes you also have sad moments, death amongst your fosters, for example or newborn puppies as you mentioned, the moment you have to give a dog you’ve been taking care of for a long time to its new home…how do you cope with that?
Fostering can be sad, but I just think, not doing it would be even sadder.
With every dog I take in, I can save a life. Should I indeed lose a dog, I try to focus on the positive, look at photos of past fosters that are now happy and try to get a new foster as quickly as possible and of course cuddle with my own dogs, Riven and Charlie and cat Jäger.
When it’s time to hand over a dog to its new family I always say: “I get my heart broken so they don’t have to”. And while I am always sad to say goodbye, I know they will have a great life while I can go on to saving more dogs and help them on their journey to find a loving home for them too.
You are now at 20,000 Followers (Update, since the interview 4 weeks ago, Caitie is now at 46K followers on IG). With that kind of “fame”, I’m sure comes a lot of negative feedback. How do you deal with negative comments online?
When my account was smaller, most people that followed me were friends or friends of friends and had some kind of connection to me and/or my background. Since my followers grew so much, especially through TikTok and the The DoDo features, many strangers follow me that don’t know me, don’t know my process and only get a glimpse of what I’m doing. They sometimes comment on only excerpts of my foster life without knowing the full picture. I know it’s nothing against me personally, I rather try to use those comments to further educate and explain. If there is one comment, there might be others that think the same thing.
For example.
A couple of weeks ago we found a bulldog who seemed to just have had a C-Section (remark: Bulldogs typically have to give birth by C-section because they are bred to have such big skulls, they don’t fit through the birth canal) and may have been from a backyard breeder. The owner was found the next day and was happy to have his doggy back.
I got a couple of negative comments for giving back the dog. However, I had no legal right to keep the dog. The dog seemed healthy, fed and not abused. Just because we don’t approve with many practices, doesn’t mean we can do anything we want. I hope that moments like that will raise awareness for the actual problems. In this case backyard breeders and bulldog breeding practices in general.
These Pretty Mutts now live in sunny California… @caitiesfosterfam
I like to end interviews with my favorite questions from my Fun Dog Quiz:
Caitie, if your dogs Charlie, Riven or even kitty Jäger had a background song, what would it be:
Haha! I feel Riven is so basic, she would be listening to some pop like Taylor Swift. She’d probably have the new song “Willow” on repeat (I chuckle and smile, while realizing how basic I am, because I have my Spotify set on repeat on that song)
Charlie is more like a grumpy old man most of the time, so something like Frank Sinatra, Mile High would be playing.
Jäger is more mischievous and some creepy music would be on. (ME, ultimately envisioning the Jaws music…)
Thank You Caitie, you are an inspiration for so many people to be a foster and I hope you will continue to motivate people like me to become part of the dog solution.
What I learned:
Coming to Houston and realizing the devastating situation for stray dogs here, I looked into fostering more than once, but one big reason I didn’t pursue the endeavor sooner was that I was afraid of getting my heart broken and being sad when the foster was adopted (I am very sensitive).
Caitie repeatedly underlines one big thing though: She gets her heart broken, so the dogs don’t have to. This is so moving and the more I read this line, the more I feel it.
So, while preparing for our long-anticipated Zoom chat and through her inspiration I finally signed up to be a foster with Missy’s home rescue. Though we haven’t had a fit quite yet, I am now more confident to try this and be part of a doggies success story to find a forever home and unconditional love with his or her new family.
Caitie take the term “rescue dog mom” to a whole new level, I see her as a true inspiration. However, I could not and would not want to do what she does. Her job is super demanding, she does all this foster work next to her full-time job teaching at a high school. I admire her, but know I am not as capable.
I might take one or two foster dogs this year, maybe more. And that’s ok. Don’t think you have to do it as intensely as Caitie, yet be inspired and motivated and support people like her by following, sharing and donating for the great cause she is working for: the good of the dogs!
Follow Caitie and her foster family on TikTok and Instagram.
To donate, visit her Amazon Wishlist or visit any of the many websites of Houston Shelters and rescues or of course your local ones.
The Pretty Mutt’s favorites are Houston Cares (that’s Missy’s rescue), Chip n Snip and Houston Pets Alive.
-This Interview is the summary of a Zoom chat Caitie and I had on December 22nd 2020.
-The Interview is paraphrased if not indicated as a quote. This blog post has been read and approved by Caitie before publishing, all photos used from Caitie’s IG feed, are used with her permission.
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