Mother-Daughter Superstar Fosters Approach 100th Foster Animal

Meet Tiffany and Jeanne, the mother-daughter duo, who have fostered dozens of bottle babies! These two superstar fosters have fostered 89 animals in total. That’s incredible!

Of those 89 animals, they’ve had 2 mama cats, 8 older kittens, and 3 puppies, with the remaining 76 all being bottle babies. In addition to fostering these 89 animals, they constantly help out when other fosters are out of town. That’s a lot of fostering!

Tiffany and Jeanne learned about Planned PEThood of Georgia years ago, when Jeanne, the mom, was driving by and saw an opening sign outside our building. She stopped by to ask if we took volunteers. That’s when it all began.

One February during an extremely prolific kitten season, when Tiffany was volunteering at the front desk, someone dropped off a solo bottle baby at the front door and drove away. Elizabeth, our Executive Director, started calling all of our bottle baby fosters, desperately searching for someone to care for this bottle baby. While Elizabeth was making these calls, another staff member was showing Tiffany how to feed the bottle baby. Her mom walked in and asked, “What’s that?”. Tiffany explained the situation and her mom said, “She’ll take her.”. And so, they brought home their first bottle baby. That’s when their fostering all began. Another litter showed up the next day and their first bottle baby suddenly turned into three.

A few years later, Tiffany and Jeanne switched over to fostering bottle babies full-time. Bottle babies are a tremendous amount of work, but over the years, they have created the perfect system. Jeanne takes the day shifts and Tiffany covers the nights. This way no one loses sleep. They even have their own incubator at their home for the bottle babies.

Natsu, one of their foster fails

Not only have Tiffany and Jeanne helped dozens of animals find their forever home, but they have also adopted several animals of their own. That first kitten they ever fostered was their first foster fail and became a permanent part of their family. These two do more than fostering. Jeanne constantly helps out with our Wednesday shelter days as a part of our Go Fix Georgia program and Tiffany does bottle-feeding demonstrations at various events for Planned PEThood.We asked Tiffany a few questions about her experience fostering with Planned PEThood of Georgia. Below are her answers.

Why do you continue to foster with Planned PEThood? Planned PEThood keeps calling us with kittens!

What is your favorite part about fostering? The reward of seeing a little 80g bean grown into a lively kitten and go to a forever home.

What advice do you have for someone interested in fostering? Think of being a foster like being a Kindergarten teacher. You provide the education and nutrition until they graduate to their new homes. Yes, it is hard to let them go, but there’s a new class waiting for the same opportunity to grow! Every cat that ‘graduates’ means another you can save after that!

What do you get out of fostering with Planned PEThood? I get a lot of purpose out of fostering. I’m disabled so that limits a lot of options in employment. Working with animals gave me something meaningful to do with my time. I got inspired by some of our medical challenges with the little ones to go to Vet Tech school, so I could do better and save more kittens. Turns out that my disability is a barrier there too, but I might be able to be a Vet Assistant. Fostering has also inspired me to look into building my own neonatal nursery. I hope to continue to work through Planned PEThood if that ever comes to fruition. 

Volunteers and foster parents are vital to our success. The animals depend on our efforts to place them on solid ground. If you have even a tiny bit of time to spare, a unique talent or trade to offer, or a spare bathroom/basement to occupy, consider contacting Planned PEThood today. 

Apply to become a volunteer.

Apply to become a foster home.

If you have any questions about fostering, email foster@PEThoodGA.org

If you have any questions about volunteering, email volunteer@PEThoodGA.org

Fostering and volunteering are rewarding experiences. Your life will be filled with more hair, but your heart will be happy!

Read more

Help for 227 Gwinnett County Pets and Their Parents

Planned PEThood’s outreach team, Go Fix Georgia, teamed up with Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and Enforcement to provide free vet care and supplies to pet owners in need on Saturday, April 15th. In just four hours, 165 dogs and 62 cats received much-needed assistance including 200 FREE rabies vaccines, 214 FREE distemper vaccines thanks to Petco Love, and 152 FREE microchips!

The need for outreach events like this continues to increase unfortunately as the cost of pet food and veterinary care soars. The need was obvious as dozens of people lined up early in the morning hours before the event started. Our team ran ahead of schedule the entire time and was able to help every owner who showed up. 54% of pets had not been spayed or neutered, with most of that percentage never having been to a vet before in their life! We plan to continue working with Gwinnett County and other counties to host outreach events like this in the future. 

There were so many amazing organizations and volunteers that came together to help make this event such a success. Without their support, this would have never been possible. THANK YOU! Our Go Fix Georgia team could not have done it without our event sponsor, Fix Georgia Pets, or without the assistance of Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and Enforcement.

Event Sponsor:

Fix Georgia Pets

Other Assistance Provided By:

Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and Enforcement

Petco Love

Atlanta Humane Society

The Original Poop Bags

Department of Agriculture Spay/Neuter Tag

Make sure to check our newsletters and emails for upcoming dates! We are always looking for partner companies or individuals to sponsor outreach events. Please email tweaver@PEThoodGA.org if you or your company might be interested in giving back.

Read more

How to Prevent Kitten-Napping!

Kitten Season is here, and it is in full swing! Spring marks the beginning of Kitten Season, where outdoor female cats continually go through a heat cycle, giving birth to dozens of kittens. It’s not unusual to find kittens or a single kitten seemingly abandoned by the mother. While it can be tempting to scoop them up and bring them indoors, it’s important to know that this is almost never in the kitten’s best interest. 

So, what should you do if you find a litter of tiny kittens?

Leave them be, but keep an eye on them!

Even if you see the kittens alone, it is more than likely their mother is nearby. Do not assume that the kittens are abandoned just because you do not see their mother. She may be off searching for food, in the process of moving her babies from one location to another, or hiding nearby until you leave. A mother cat is the kittens’ best possible caregiver and the best chance for survival, so please LEAVE THEM BE! Mama cats are resourceful. There is a reason they survive cold temperatures and continue to breed. They find warm spaces to keep their babies, and they know when their babies are in danger. Taking kittens who are not weaned away from their mother puts the kittens at greater risk.

While it can be hard, walking away is often the best thing to do. As long as the kittens are safe for the moment and you can come back to check on them within a few hours, leave the kittens alone. 

If there is a mama cat, it’s best to leave the kittens with the mom until they’re weaned. If you want to help mama cat and her kittens, you can help make them more comfortable as mama cat cares for her kittens. provide regular food and water, an outdoor shelter to create a safe space, and peace and quiet to avoid causing stress. Just make sure to pick up the food at night so it doesn’t attract predators. 

Unless the kittens are in danger from other animals, traffic, weather, etc., it’s best to leave the kittens outside with the mama cat. 

When the kittens are older, you can help them find homes, but not until they are able to eat on their own. Cats can get pregnant as young as four months of age, so it’s ideal to get the mama cat and her kittens spayed/neutered as soon as possible. Our Keep the Mama, Not the Drama Program, thanks to Orphan Kitten Club, offers free spay surgeries and vetting for mama cats while the kittens are placed in foster or adoptive homes. 

If the kittens are indeed orphans, it’s best to act quickly because young kittens are fragile. If you or someone you know is able to provide foster care, a local rescue, like Planned PEThood, can give you tips, tricks, and even supplies to help to care for the kittens. Keep in mind that kittens can be a significant commitment for you, especially if they are unweaned. Local rescues, like us, might have lifesaving programs and foster programs that can help provide care for the kittens. Many shelters cannot take in young kittens since they do not have the resources to provide bottle-feeding or other 24-hour care. It’s best to contact the rescue or shelter before arriving at their location. 

Remember, most kittens are not abandoned by their mother. Before you move the kittens, leave them be and wait to see if the mama cat returns. You can drastically help kittens by being educated, knowing when to take action, and getting involved when help is needed! 

Use this helpful guide to determine how old the kittens are.

Here are some tips on how to care for mama cats and kittens.

Read these tips on how to care for neonatal kittens.

Read more

Criminals Tried to Steal $59,000 From Our Animals

Did you see Planned PEThood on WSBTV? We love making the news, but not for this reason!

Watch the news report.

Sadly, we were the recent target of a check fraud scheme. Our checking information was stolen, and the criminals stole more than $59,000 from our bank account. In total, there were 10 fraudulent checks ranging from $4,000 to $13,000. 

Fortunately, our bank has reimbursed us for the stolen funds. We now have the costly administrative headache of closing the affected bank account, switching over automated debits to a new account, canceling automatic payments, contacting our vendors, and other tasks necessary to clear away this mess. We will incur an additional monthly cost to add protection to our new bank account.

We are working with the police and our bank’s fraud department to figure out where the initial check was stolen and who is behind this check fraud scheme. Hopefully, the criminals can be caught so they can’t do this to anyone else. 

If you can help us fight against these criminals and recoup the cost of this attack, make a donation now.

Read more