Young people today are adopting more cats than previous generations. Ozarks at Large's Jack Travis reached out to Best Friends Pet Resource Center to learn more. He got in contact with the no-kill shelter's executive director Michelle Logan. She says research from the national Best Friends organization led to this insight into cat adoption statistics.
Logan: It's great news. According to Best Friends Animal Society data, a record high of 83% of cats that entered shelters were saved in 2025. And honestly, you know, for Gen Z, you know, one of the attributes we find, you know, to contribute to this progress is increased adoption demand from Gen Z and, you know, fewer housing restrictions, lower cost of care for cats are two likely contributing factors leading to them Gen Z adopting more cats. But as you mentioned, too, growing up with all the fun cat memes and videos and stuff may also be contributing.
Travis: So tell me about what y'all do at Best Friends regarding cat adoption, cat fostering and how you see that playing into this trend.
Logan: So Best Friends Animal Society is dedicated to helping the entire country achieve no kill, which really means saving every healthy and treatable pet. And cats, like I mentioned, you know, record high last year for the number of cats entering shelters being saved. And one of the great ways that the community is really a part of that saving of the cats is through fostering.
And fostering really just means providing a temporary home to adoptable pets. It could be for a few days, a few weeks or longer, whatever works best for you and your family, and Best Friends Animal Society and many shelters and rescues will cover everything you need to foster the food, the supplies, the vet care, ongoing support. Really what you're doing is providing that loving home.
And new data from Best Friends shows that shelters that have a foster program adopt out about 30% more dogs and cats in shelters that don't. So it's really instrumental to increasing your save rate is having a foster program.
Travis: Do you see the cat playroom? I know that at your resource center in Bentonville, there's a space where you can go and hang out with cats and socialize cats. Do you see that playing into it at all? Like maybe the cats coming from Best Friends are a little friendlier?
Logan: I don't know, I mean, I have to say the two free-roaming cat rooms we have are a great space for community members to interact with cats in a more homelike environment per se, than a traditional kennel or cage, so to speak.
But really, I think the reason, you know, for that, you know, shelters, having foster programs adopting out 30% more dogs and cats is those animals have had a safe place, you know, to spend some of the formative time. You know, during the first few weeks of life or a kitten. Right. I mean, they are the most susceptible to transmitting diseases because their immune systems are so weak. They haven't had time to develop.
You know, if they're in a foster family, right, they're getting the opportunity for a lot of one-on-one attention, with also different members of the family. So they're getting really good socialization.
New data from Best Friends shows that, you know, we've kind of identified eight weeks as the magic moment in a kitten's journey. Kittens who reach eight weeks are suddenly healthier and more resilient, which makes them highly adaptable. And at that time they have a stronger immune system. They can regulate their own body temperatures, they've weaned onto solid food.
So for families that are willing to open up their home and their hearts for just a couple of weeks. You know, for that critical time frame up to that eight weeks of age, it really is a difference of life for these kittens. Kittens younger than six weeks old account for 48% of cat deaths in shelters. So that really further demonstrates that foster care during those first few weeks is really critical to life.
Travis: Well, say I'm someone who is interested in fostering a kitten. How would I go about doing that with Best Friends?
Logan: Yeah, absolutely. We have a really easy process online. You can just go to bestfriends.org/nwa and click on the link to find out more about fostering. There's a quick info gathering, you know, kind of online form there. There's a simple waiver that you have to sign and then our foster team will connect with you and really understand what your lifestyle is like, what you would like to commit to.
You know, for some of our fosters, we also foster out dogs. You know, some of our dogs, just our fosters will take them for a doggy day out and just give them a break from being at the center and exposure to potential adopters. So we really do our best to customize the experience based on what each individual or family is ready for.
I mean, obviously, you know, we encourage everybody to adopt rather than purchase. According to Best Friends data, if just 6% of individuals that were planning on adding a pet to their family this year would adopt rather than purchase, the entire country could be no kill. But as I mentioned, really, we're talking about a lot about fostering. And if you're not ready to adopt, fostering is a great way to, you know, play a critical role in saving a pet's life and also have the opportunity to have a pet temporarily.
Bentonville's Best Friends Pet Resource Center Executive Director Michelle Logan speaking with Ozarks at Large's Jack Travis. You can visit bestfriends.org for more on fostering, visiting the shelter or adopting a pet of your own.
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