‘The Cat Mom’ Is Helping to Save Lives Across the Country — And Inspiring Others to Do the Same!

While getting her undergraduate degree at UCLA, Emma B. became known as “The Cat Mom.”

Her freshman year, she started out by fostering dogs, but after taking a break to study abroad, she decided to start fostering again, this time with cats.

“I grew up with cats, so I wanted to try fostering,” Emma told us. “I applied to like four foster organizations on the same day – the ASPCA got back to me first. I did all the online trainings within a day. They got back to me within a week after I finished my trainings and I got my first foster cat Miso.”

Since it was her first foster cat, our foster team in Los Angeles decided that Miso, a super social adult cat, would be the best fit for Emma.

“I was interested in fostering some more intensive cats, Miso was almost too easy!” Emma said. “So, I got matched with Saffron who was a spay recovery and needed two weeks to recover from her surgery.”

After fostering Saffron, Emma decided she could handle foster cats who needed even more intensive care.

Foster kitten, Fig, being weighed at home in a bowl.

“I was willing to try anything. I was a student, so I had a lot of time,” explained Emma. “I could take on kittens that needed a lot of feedings because I didn’t have a nine-to-five job. I could come home in the middle of the day and do feedings. I could also wake up in the middle of the night.”

Emma soon became a dedicated foster, for some of our LA team’s most vulnerable felines.

“I started to fall in love with the kittens, especially the really young kittens. I fostered a lot of kittens with upper respiratory infections (URI). I got really comfortable doing the medication and knew all the signs to look for. It was so rewarding seeing them get well and grow up being ready to be adopted.”

Where It All Started

Emma’s love for kittens with medical conditions began long before she started fostering. When she was in the first grade, Emma’s family adopted two cats, Ginger and Muffin.

Emma in first grade with Ginger, left, and Muffin, right.

“They were the sweetest most cuddly, happiest cats in the world,” Emma told us. “We had multiple friends that adopted cats that looked like our cats because they wanted their personalities, but they were so unique.”

Unfortunately, when Emma was in middle school, Ginger, who was roughly 10 at the time, started experiencing medical issues.

“She had very little mobility in her legs, zero mobility in her tail and no control of her bladder,” explained Emma.

Having no knowledge of how this could have happened, Emma’s family opted for an exploratory surgery. During surgery, the doctors found a herniated disc which they were able to repair.

Ginger recovering from surgery.

As Ginger recovered from surgery, she was able to regain full mobility in her legs, some in her tail but unfortunately no control over her bladder. Her family would have to help express Ginger a few times a day.

“I watched this whole process, and Ginger’s recovery was hard, but to me she was just a normal kitty,” said Emma. “I think that changed my perspective because before I didn’t know how to interact with an animal that was sick or hurt but Ginger was so normal and happy and loved and even though she had to go through all of this and had some lasting medical conditions, she was still the same cat that I grew up with.”

Pinto and Bean

In May of 2023, Emma received a message from our foster team asking if she had the capacity to care for two very sick 2-week-old kittens named Pinto and Bean. Both were suffering from URIs.

Pinto, left, and Bean, right.

“At this point I had become somewhat comfortable with fostering so I figured I’d take it a step further with these kittens because they would not only be bottle feeding but would need constant medical attention,” Emma recalled.

So, with that, Emma took in her fifth and sixth foster kittens.

Bean was significantly sicker and smaller than Pinto and tragically passed away after just a few days in foster care. While Pinto was still in poor condition due to the URI, he was a bit bigger than Bean and eventually able to recover.

Left, Pinto at 2 weeks old recovering from an upper respiratory infection. Right, Pinto feeling better.

“Immediately after he had a bad gastrointestinal parasite. And when he finally got better, he had a ringworm scare, though he ended up not having ringworm,” said Emma. “Then, when he was 8 weeks old, he was getting ready for his neuter surgery and when we went in, they told us he had a grade two heart murmur.”

Left, Emma feeding Pinto. Right, Emma and Pinto at a veterinary visit.

The veterinarians told Emma they’d like to keep an eye on Pinto’s heart murmur and asked them to come back in a few weeks to see how it would progress. Unfortunately, upon return, the heart murmur worsened. The veterinarians decided it would be best to do an echocardiogram (EKG), a test that records the electrical activity of the heart.

Pinto the night before his initially scheduled neuter surgery.

Thankfully, the EKG showed that while very loud, the heart murmur was benign and wouldn’t impact his life in any way.

Having been through so much together over the course of those three months, Emma knew she couldn’t let Pinto go and decided to adopt him.

Becoming “The Cat Mom”

From the minute Pinto recovered from his URI, he loved to play and cuddle. Even when he couldn’t move much (he needed time to learn how to use his little kitten legs), he would still try to move all around his playpen.

“When he was really small, he would sit on my shoulder and nuzzle between my shoulder and my neck,” Emma remembered. “Now he’s so much bigger but still tries to fit his head there.”

To this day, Pinto loves being around people and other cats, something Emma attributes to adopting him into a house full of college students and continuing to foster after adoption.

Emma and her college roommates hold both fostered and adopted cats (from left to right), Socrates, Ollie, Pinto and Galileo.

Since Bean had passed away when Pinto was so young, Emma decided she needed to continue fostering to help Pinto with his socialization — and because she loved it so much!

While Pinto was back and forth to the vet for his heart murmur, Emma started fostering Ollie who was later adopted by her roommate. Both Emma and her roommate continued to foster throughout the year, earning them the title of “The Cat Moms.”

“People would come up to me and be like, ‘You’re The Cat Mom!’” Emma told us. “They would come into our apartment and play with the kittens and would ask me questions. I would tell them how easy it is to sign up to foster and send them the link to foster for the ASPCA. I think it’s a great thing for college students to do because of our schedules. I’ve had quite a few friends foster or adopt!”

One year while fostering, Emma received an urgent message from our foster team asking if she would be able to care for three young kittens that needed to be bottle fed, aka bottle babies, and needed a temporary place to stay. It was the week before finals, so Emma was hesitant at first.

Three kittens whom Emma refers to as “the Pipsqueak triplets” and agreed to take in the week before college finals.

“I ended up convincing myself I could do it,” Emma laughed. “That’s something my parents talk about a lot like, ‘We need to decide what’s more important, the cats or the school.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re not going to like the answer.”

New York, New Fosters!

After graduating from UCLA, Emma knew she wanted to move to New York City, and her boyfriend Jere was there attending law school as well, so she decided to make the jump.

While the actual move was a bit difficult with Pinto, who according to his mom “doesn’t travel well,” he ended up adjusting to his new apartment and the city pretty quickly.

“He loves sitting on the windowsill and watching the birds on the fire escape,” said Emma.

Pinto, on the windowsill, and Nova, foster cat number 27, looking out the window.

After moving in, one of the first things Emma did was register to foster for the ASPCA in NYC. She was excited to learn that we have shelter facilities in the city, something we don’t have Los Angeles, and also registered as a volunteer.

“I started doing volunteer trainings and then I went to the first meeting and did some shelter support shifts. I then did the cat training so I can interact with the cats at the shelter,” Emma remembered. “It’s been just as amazing as it was in LA. The support system through the ASPCA is really special. I know a lot of organizations love their pets, but it’s really important to love your fosters too and I have felt that that’s the case in both LA and NYC — that I’m an important part of this work.”

Left, Pinto wanting to meet Emma’s first NYC foster kittens, Cinnamon, Saffron, Paprika. Center, Emma Pinto, Cinnamon, Saffron and Paprika taking a nap. Left, Pinto and Emma’s 26th foster cat, Acai.

After just two months of living in the city, Emma and Jere began fostering three kittens for the ASPCA Kitten Nursery. Since their move, Emma and Jere have fostered seven kittens, including their current foster kitty, Nova, bringing Emma’s total number of fostered kittens to date to 27. Pinto, as foster number six, has helped Emma foster 21 of those kittens, aiding their socialization and giving them a playmate.

“Some people have money, so they give money,” said Emma. “I have time, so I give my time.”

Jere, Emma and Pinto lay in bed together.

Goodbye Letters

People always ask Emma how she doesn’t get attached to the kittens she’s fostering. The answer? She does.

“I get attached every time. Every kitty I get attached to, without fail,” Emma explained. “But I think you can be attached to a kitty without it having to be in your house forever. You can think about them all the time and think about how they’re doing and look at pictures of them and love them.”

“They say the best way to get rid of the sadness of your foster leaving is to get another one,” she adds. “I think that’s true. Maybe that’s why I’ve done so many because I can’t end on one, I’d be too sad about them leaving!”

Another way Emma cures her sadness is by writing each adopter a letter and sending it with her foster kittens when they’re adopted.

“I started writing really long letters to the adopters when I was fostering Saffron,” Emma recalled. “I was having trouble saying goodbye, so I started writing a letter. I added all my information and pretty soon after Saffron left, I got an email from the adopter! We’ve been in touch since. He sent me a Christmas update email this year. I’ve sent every foster since with a letter.”

As a very experienced foster caregiver, we asked Emma what advice she would offer someone thinking about fostering.

“If you’re thinking about it, do it!” Emma said. “At the ASPCA you get every resource you need. You don’t need anything but a home, time and willingness. They’ll pair you with a kitty you’re comfortable with and they supply everything. They gave me a big playpen, different playpens as the kittens grow, food, treats, toys, litter, litter scoop, litterbox, everything! I’ve bought stuff for my foster because I want to get them the cute things I see online, but you can literally spend nothing, like you can spend zero dollars fostering. I don’t think people know that.”

“In terms of their medical care, everything is covered by the ASPCA,” she added. “I’ve never spent a dollar on medication or vet visits as a foster. They even supply Lyfts when I need to pick the kitty up from the shelter or go to and from vet visits.”

Taking a Page from Emma’s Book

This week is National Animal Foster Appreciation Week, and we want to take a moment to say thank you to Emma and all the foster caregivers out there like her! We couldn’t be more grateful.

In honor of this week, we’re asking our supporters to consider fostering for the ASPCA or your local shelter. When you foster one, you’ll help many! Fostering gives an animal a break from the shelter, a comfortable place to recover from illness or injury, lots of love and exposure to new people, which can increase their chances of adoption. Fostering also frees up space in the shelter for another animal to receive the care they need — that's The Rescue Effect.

Help us change more animal lives by signing up to become an ASPCA foster caregiver in New York City, Los Angeles, Asheville, North Carolina or Columbus, Ohio. If you live outside of these areas, you can still help by signing up to foster for your local shelter or with our friends at Animal Care Centers of NYC.