Featured Foster: Cathey Beard

After Cathey’s cat ran away two years ago, she stopped by YWAC constantly in the hopes of finding her.  What she found in her search was a greater mission. She says, “When I saw the overwhelming number of kittens needing a foster home I knew I just had to help!” Cathey (who has three cats of her own) has been fostering at YWAC for a year now and loves every minute of it. She explains that with every cat and kitten that she cares for comes an incomparable feeling of accomplishment when they are adoption-ready. Cathey recalls that she has fostered more than forty kittens for YWAC, only three of which needed extra attention for medical problems. With those three kittens, what Cathey found most rewarding was being able to watch them thrive with the medical care that was provided by YWAC and the love and attention that she gave them. She feels a deep connection to every cat she fosters. When the cats are adoption-ready, she even makes them brightly colored signs that express each cat’s unique personality. Cathey finds that the biggest challenge she faces in fostering is not being able to keep every cat that she takes in. But for her, the positive impact that fostering has on her life outweighs this challenge. She emphasizes that fostering is fun and that having the ability to nurture her foster animals has even given her a consistent outlet through changing points in her life. If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, like Cathey, please call 865-215-6692 or email [email protected] for more information.