Batman at Cat Town. Photo by Teresa Wood.
“In all the years I've been at the shelter, I've never seen a cat as scary as Batman.” This is what one volunteer at Oakland Animal Services told us when they learned that Batman had been adopted. It just goes to show how hard our friends at OAS worked to give this cat his best chance at a safe and happy life in a home.
Batman was left at the shelter overnight, with no information aside from a collar with his name and a bag of cat food. At the shelter, he was incredibly fractious — lunging, growling, and hissing at everyone. You could hear him from down the hall. He was so agitated that he even bit someone. The shelter staff saw this, and instead of thinking, “This is a cat with no future,” they told us, “This is a cat who needs Cat Town.” They then set to work giving him every possible chance at coming into our program, while also taking care to keep their own team safe around him.
At OAS, Batman had a room all to himself, but was still unpredictable.
Rather than housing Batman in a typical cage, they gave him one of their visiting rooms, so that he’d have more space to stretch his legs. This helped, but not enough for him to feel safe in a building full of barking dogs. They placed obvious signs on his door to ensure no one visited him without proper training — “Staff Only,” “Under Bite Quarantine,” “Absolutely no one allowed to enter this room for any reason” — and made sure that Batman got plenty of careful attention while working with our team to find the right space for him. They also got him on medication for anxiety to help ease his stress while we readied the right spot for his unusual needs.
At many shelters, a cat like Batman would have been euthanized. At Oakland Animal Services, he had hope — because their staff trust us. We walk with their team every week to assess the cats in their care, working together to prioritize our intake. This kind of partnership makes our relationship strong, and allows us to help cats who truly have no other place to go.
Batman at Cat Town. Photo by David Yeung.
We got Batman into our largest Studio, and limited visits to staff only. At first, we worked in pairs to feed him, clean his litter box, and play with him, until we could predict his behavior more easily. Batman had a ton of energy, and seemed to take eye contact as a challenge. We added a note to his Studio asking guests and volunteers to avoid looking him in the eyes.
We noticed that Batman was sensitive to loud and new noises, and to multiple people moving and talking around him. Knowing that predictable, consistent interactions would help him drop his guard, our Program Director used these observations to develop a detailed behavior plan for him. Once we observed him begin to soften, we let our most experienced volunteers in to visit him.
It took nearly two full months of working with him, but eventually, he was safe enough to go for supervised walks outside his Studio room. Over time, we started to see who this little panther was when he felt safe: an active boy who makes air biscuits from atop his favorite scratching post, rubs affectionately on the legs of everyone he sees, plays with his whole heart, and loves to explore!
Batman explored every inch of our Studio spaces, walking atop hand rails and perching on any surface he discovered. Photo by Grace Fujii.
We knew Batman would do best in a quiet home, with someone who’d work with him to help him continue to feel safe and play with him regularly to help get his restless energy out in a positive way. With these factors in mind, he’d be safe to adopt to a caring home. After two months at the shelter and three months in our care, he was finally ready for the next chapter in his life.
Batman living the dream at home!
It didn’t take much time for his endearing demeanor to capture someone’s heart. After a couple of supervised visits, and a thorough explanation of Batman’s history, this energetic boy found a great family. His adopters are attentive and loving, and have sent us regular updates on Batman’s adjustment to life at home. Our little man — who had so much frustration and seemed to have gone through so much — is finally home.
We bet on shelter cats like Batman because we know that life can throw mean curveballs, and it’s not fair to judge someone when they’re feeling their worst. With Batman, and all our cats, we lead with love and patience — because we’ve seen time and time again that it works.
Thank you for trusting us to help the cats who need us, no matter how scary they may seem at first, and giving Batman the chance to live his best life.
Batman playing at Cat Town. Photo by Teresa Wood.
Cover photo by Teresa Wood.