Every day is this kitten’s best day

North of Atlanta, this morning and every morning, a little 6-month-old tortie kitten is nibbling her person's fingers to wake her up. With the help of heart medications and the efforts of people at an animal shelter, a rescue group, a foster home, and some grant money, Indie has a happy life, however long it may be. But her journey to those daily morning nibbles took time and many people working together to save her life.

Picture it: kitten season, spring 2024. A county animal shelter has almost a dozen nursing mama cats, each with their own brood to feed. Enter Planned PEThood, a Best Friends Network Partner.

"We pulled a few nursing moms and neonatal kittens who needed foster care,” says Lauren Frost, director of development at Planned PEThood. "Indie was one of four and a nursing mama who went into one of our foster homes.”

Indie and her littermates grew in their foster home and in time were big enough for their spay/neuter surgeries. But when it came to Indie’s presurgical exam, they discovered that she had a severe heart murmur, and her condition needed further evaluation. Following guidance from another veterinary clinic in the area, her heart was monitored, among other precautions taken during surgery. She came through the spay OK and recovered back in her foster home.

[Heart surgery saves a kitten’s life]

Earlier in the year, Planned PEThood applied for and was awarded a Rachael Ray Save Them All Grant from Best Friends Animal Society to assist with medically fragile animals. Our goal at Best Friends is for every shelter in the United States to reach no-kill in 2025, and supporting shelters with grants is one way we’re helping shelters and the pets and families they serve. Planned PETHood used the funds to help 35 pets, like Indie, who needed specialized care.

Next, Indie needed a safe, quiet place where she could be monitored while they waited to see how she recovered. Luckily, Planned PEThood has foster volunteers like Patti, who has a kitten room complete with an incubator for kittens who need it. Patti started off like any other volunteer but quickly became the group's go-to with cats who need special attention.

It turns out Indie loves other cats, Patti’s small dog, and even her foster family’s grandchildren. She can be found whiling away the hours napping in a window-level tower or watching hummingbirds come to feeders, so Patti decided she should stay there.

"I wanted her to officially have a home of her own," Patti said. "She deserves, as they all do, to belong, to have a family. My Indie girl now has all of those things."

[Mending a kitten's broken heart]

Indie takes three heart medications a day, amid her romps and playtime. The only hint of her heart condition is that she gets winded a bit faster. At 6 months old, she had another echocardiogram. Veterinarians determined she’d remain on the heart medications, and her comfort would be managed.

So every day is Indie's best day. Her favorite toys are the little ones she can swat and carry around in her mouth like she’s a big cat in the jungle, Patti says. After a while, Indie will crawl up onto the nearest person’s lap, get some cuddles, and fall asleep there, happy and safe.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill in 2025. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.