Tiffany Swank

I’ve been an animal lover my entire life and at one point thought I might want to be a veterinarian. I didn’t pursue that path, but everything always works out like it should. I started fostering cats and kittens in 2017 and discovered a passion within myself I never knew existed. That passion quite literally changed the trajectory of my life.

In 2020, I was working from home due to the COVID pandemic and had the opportunity to foster a paralyzed tuxedo kitten named Cyrus. During the five months he was with us, he had many specialty vet visits and was even going to physical therapy in an attempt to regain mobility in his rear legs. It was a labor of love as he didn’t have control of his bowels or bladder, but we were determined to give the most special kitten we’d ever met a quality life for as long as we could. We tragically lost him to FIP, but my experience with him was the catalyst to leaving my 19-year insurance career and starting a new one in veterinary medicine. After spending so much time in veterinary hospitals with him and seeing the impact the employees had on pets and their people, I knew I’d never be fulfilled by continuing the career path I was on.

I’ve been working in a specialty & emergency hospital since 2021 and it’s been the best decision I ever made. That passion also lead me to get more involved in cat rescue and I eventually found myself on the Board of Directors for Meowy Matchmakers. I’m on the medical team and primarily foster bottle babies, wound cases, and any other special needs feline that can be found within a 50 mile radius of KC.

I’m lucky to have a family that is never surprised to find new fosters in the house, with the teenagers often asking, “When did we get this one and what’s wrong with it?” We do foster “normal” cats too, just not as frequently as the medical cases. And I couldn’t do any of it without my husband, Josh. He loves them as much as I do and supports me through the successes as well as the losses.

In my free time, I enjoy going to yoga, taking naps, obsessively listening to Taylor Swift, and spending time with Josh and our four teenagers. We share our home with a multitude of cats and two dogs.