Fosterer proudly gives their kitten to a "good family" only for them to nearly immediately return the cat, the fosterer can't bear the thought of leaving her again and adopts her in just 5 days: 'The adoption hold was placed on day 3'

Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor

Jun 19, 2026 12:45 PM EDT

We do everything that we can, as fosters, to make sure our foster cats get to the best homes, but we can never be 100% sure…

Fostering a cat is hard enough as it is. Not the fostering itself. We do it because we want to help shelters, because we want to help as many cats as pawssible to find their homes. The hard part is not bonding with the cat, it's not taking care of the cat and taking it to the vet.

The hard part is letting them go. Because we really do bond with them. We try to make them happy when they are with us, and if they really are happy, then taking them away from that happiness hurts. But we look for homes for them anyway, because we want to help other cats too. We just try our best to make sure the home they end up in is a good one.

Of course, there is no way to be 100% sure that the home you've found is a good one. We do our best, but sometimes, we're wrong. And when a cat gets returned to the shelter, especially if it was a cat that we fostered, out heart breaks. And the heart of user @laurennwedge on twitter broke too when that happened. So they took things into their own hands, and the solution was simple… just adopt the cat.

01

via @laurennwedge
Advertisement
02

via @laurennwedge
03

via @laurennwedge
04

via @laurennwedge
Advertisement
We hate it when people do things like this. If you are not ready to adopt a cat, then you should not be adopting a cat. And returning a cat so quickly after adopting them, without even letting enough time pass for them to grow and mature, that is the biggest evidence for these people not being ready. Bouncing a cat around foster homes is the surest way to make them scared of humans. If not for this kind fosterer adopting her, if she had to stay in the shelter for longer and longer, then who knows where she would have ended up or how long it would have taken her to find a home.
05

via @sadiepantscat
06

via @laurennwedge
Advertisement
07

via @laurennwedge
Honestly, five days is longer than we would have lasted. The second that we would have heard that she was abandoned by her new owners, we would be filling out the paperwork. She does not deserve to be tossed around shelters and homes. She needs stability and love, and clearly, she will have all that she needs right here.
08

$roady @pterafractalx honestly longer than I would have lasted, good on you 8:00 AM ⚫ Jun 9, 2026$

via @pterafractalx
Advertisement
09

via @laurennwedge
10

via @okbmy47
11

via @laurennwedge
Advertisement
12

via @laurennwedge
13

via @laurennwedge
14

via @laurennwedge
Advertisement
15

via @laurennwedge
16

via @laurennwedge
17

via @cosmicgallant
Advertisement
18

via @maggieserota
19

via @FelixTheCat131
20

via @sallowku
Advertisement
21

via @AlliCinema