I’ve worked in animal welfare for nearly three decades now, and one of the reasons I love working for Cat Town is that we take chances. Often, this means a cat who wouldn’t have been saved otherwise can get the support they need. That was certainly the case for Pita!
Pita was living in a feral colony in July before arriving at the Oakland Animal Services city shelter. She hid in a tiny “feral box” inside her shelter cage, and was unresponsive to petting. Pita wanted to disappear instead.
At one year old, Pita was much older than the typical 10-week-old age limit for helping under-socialized kittens feel brave. We weren’t sure we could help her, but when we saw glimpses of sweetness surface, we decided to try, and got her into one of our foster homes. There, this kitten-at-heart quickly gained confidence thanks to lots of wand toy playtime. However, weeks passed, and she completely stalled out on letting herself be touched. Her foster, who wanted Pita to thrive and find a loving home, reached out for guidance.
My mission was to help Pita’s foster — who had invested so much time and love into our little project-kitty — as much as it was to help little Pita herself.
Typically, I’d do a home visit to see what we might change to continue Pita’s progress, but in the middle of a pandemic, that simply wasn’t an option. Instead, we tested out virtual video-chat consultation to help Pita cross that final barrier. Just a week after some online coaching on treat delivery and approach, Pita decided that petting was A-OK! Now this little girl even approaches her foster for affection and purrs when touched — a breakthrough that warms my heart no matter how often I see it, and makes me thankful that Cat Town looks out for cats like Pita.
Progress like this comes from taking chances. For us staff, we leaned into virtual support to give our fosters encouragement and advice when they needed help. For kittens like Pita, it’s taking a leap of faith even when they’re still not so sure about people.
Now Pita is ready to find herself a home — because this year, we found new ways to set our fosters up for success. With your support, we can continue to take chances, and make more progress, to help as many scared kittens as possible.
