PetSafe taps Rachel Bilson to promote ASPCA cat fostering

PetSafe Brands has partnered with actress Rachel Bilson on a campaign centered on cat fostering through the ASPCA, with Bilson documenting her experience welcoming a foster cat into her home and preparing for the transition with PetSafe litter products sold at Walmart. Pet Age reported the campaign launched March 19, 2026, and includes PetSafe Crystal Litter and the ScoopFree Crystal Plus Self-Cleaning Cat Litter Box as part of the setup PetSafe is promoting to prospective foster caregivers. PetSafe marketing VP Alexa Kamm said the effort is meant to show how simple home preparation can be for people considering fostering. A secondary report syndicated through Yahoo, originally from Parade, identified Bilson’s foster cat as a calico named Gaty and said Bilson shared the process on Instagram. (petage.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the campaign is another example of a consumer pet brand tying retail distribution, celebrity storytelling, and shelter support into a foster-care message. That matters because foster capacity is a real operational pressure point for shelters and rescue partners. The ASPCA said its Los Angeles Kitten Foster Program supported 1,781 kittens in 2024 with help from more than 500 foster volunteers, while its New York City Adoption Center supported more than 2,000 animals through foster and adoption in 2024. The organization also said it has saved more than 23,000 vulnerable kittens over 10 years in New York City and Los Angeles through foster-based programming. Campaigns that lower the perceived barrier to fostering could help shelters move more cats, especially kittens and animals needing short-term home placement, though the message here is clearly also a product-marketing play for PetSafe at Walmart. (aspca.org)

What to watch: Watch for whether PetSafe or ASPCA expands the campaign beyond awareness into measurable foster recruitment, donations, or retail-linked shelter support, and whether it evolves into a broader, evidence-backed support model rather than a one-off awareness push. That broader model is showing up elsewhere in the animal-health space: Pet Partners and the Baxter Foundation recently launched a two-year pilot in Northern California, Upstate New York, and Greater Chicago aimed at bringing therapy animal visits to more healthcare settings, with goals that include volunteer recruitment, updated safety and infection-control training, and research on effects for healthcare workers. (petage.com)