April 2026
Meet Angie and Asha
People often ask, “How do I foster without wanting to adopt the animal I’m fostering?” But for Angie and Asha, being one step in a larger Rescue journey is part of the appeal.
“We love preparing animals for their families,” Angie tells SAFe. “It’s really important!”
An avid traveler and board game fanatic, Angie stumbled into the world of fostering over 15 years ago. Her daughter Asha had just turned seven, and the two of them went to adopt a kitten together.
“One thing we noticed about the shelter we got her from,” Angie says, “Was they had way more animals in the shelter than they had listed on Petfinder. So we figured out we could help with that.”
Angie and Asha began regularly visiting the shelter to photograph, name, and write bios of the kitties to share on Petfinder. During that process, they became more familiar with what went on behind the scenes and were introduced to the concept of fostering.
“We started spending more time there and realized, oh, we could foster. This is something we can do,” remembers Angie.
Not only was it something they could do…turns out, they’re great at it! One hundred fostered kitties later (and counting), Angie reflects on her experience with us.
Above: Asha and foster kittens, then and now.
Their Fostering Experience
This mother-daughter pair specializes in fostering, well, mothers and children!
“I love babies,” Angie gushes. “I just love watching them grow. Then when they’re weaned, they’re so much fun. They’re just so excited and interested in everything.”
Angie and Asha fostered for various rescues before joining the SAFe community in 2013. (The 13-year anniversary of their first SAFe litter is later this month!*)
Over the years, they’ve learned a lot about cat development, behavior, and how and when to ask for help when things get tricky. Even their fostering set-up has evolved over time.
“The very, very first kitten we fostered was in our bathroom,” Angie tells us. “Then we moved to a dog crate in Asha’s room, and then we moved to playpens in the living room.”
“But what we ended up getting to work the absolute best was: We bought a big roll of linoleum and trimmed it to fit Asha’s bedroom. When it was time to foster, we would move some of the furniture out and put the linoleum down.”
Once the linoleum is placed, Angie and Asha put up a tent for the little ones to play in, allowing their mama to have free range of the rest of the room. When the babies are big enough, the tent flap opens for them to explore their surroundings. This arrangement has proven convenient, comfortable, and nearly foolproof. (“Nearly” because there was one time Angie and Asha’s chihuahua spotted some kittens through the door and wanted to be their mother. Luckily, they were able to intervene.)
Two kittens, two different approaches to handmade toys! Angie and Asha like to make toys for their foster cats.
Rewards + Challenges
The daily process of fostering isn’t one size fits all. One mama cat might take easily to mothering, while another struggles with the role. Fortunately, Asha showed a knack for cat care from a young age.
“We were fostering through a different organization when we had one mama whose kittens were about ready to wean,” says Angie. “Asha was like, ‘There’s something wrong.’”
“She was seven years old and diagnosed this cat with mastitis,” Angie explains.
In that moment, Asha’s keen observation helped the mama get the care she needed. As Asha and Angie gained experience, there would be even more life-saving moments like these.
Sadly, with one hundred foster cases behind them, there has also been loss. (Content warning ahead: pet death)
“Last August, we got a mama that we named Bindi,” Angie says. “She had seven babies. There was something off about her the whole time. Then all of it all of a sudden, over a few days, she got really sick. She had to be euthanized.”
“It was really hard,” adds Angie. “Michelle [SAFe’s Foster Program Manager] and everybody else helped me carry that sadness.”
Even as she grieves Bindi, Angie continues to be moved by the mother cat’s strength.
“She was such a sweetheart. She was so sick, and she still kept seven babies alive. She stayed alive until they were ready to wean.”
Advice to Future Fosters
For those considering fostering, Angie has two pieces of advice and a book recommendation.
Advice #1: “Don’t hesitate to ask questions and lean on your village,” Angie says. (Besides Asha and the team at SAFe Rescue, Angie gets fostering assistance from her neighbors, including a physical therapist who has learned to spot when a cat is walking abnormally!)
Advice #2: “Give yourself an easy-to-clean setup!” Angie suggests. “You don’t need to have it be perfect, just focus on making things easy to sanitize. Accept that sometimes you have to throw things away, and that’s okay!”
Book rec: For a fictionalized (and child-friendly) look at the fostering experience, Angie recommends “The Puppy Place” book series by Ellen Miles.
“Every single book is about a new fostered puppy that they have, and the book ends when they find the perfect family for that puppy,” Angie says. “So the whole series is about them preparing this puppy for the perfect family. It’s really sweet and it was good for getting Asha and me into the mindset of, ‘I love [the animals I foster], and I’m helping them by giving them the opportunity to have the best family.’”
Thank you, Angie and Asha, for doing such a terrific job preparing so many Rescue cats for their future families. Plus, we’re excited to welcome seasoned foster Asha as SAFe’s newest Cat Care Lead!
*Angie and Asha took a few years off when Asha developed cat allergies, but after some time and allergy shots for Asha, they were back in the saddle!
