Cat Town microchips each of our cats, so that if they ever turn up lost, we can be reached to help reunite them with their guardian — or, if need be, take them back into our care.
When we received an email that one of our cats had been recovered, we phoned the finder to learn what had happened. It turns out that Frito, who had been adopted from us as a kitten in 2013, had been surrendered to a city shelter in San Diego after being rehomed multiple times.
We soon learned that she was now 10 years old, had been avoiding her litter box for a year, wasn’t benefiting from anxiety medication, and had been brought to the shelter to be euthanized.
Carmen is ready to accompany Quinn to Oakland.
But Frito was lucky in four ways:
1. The San Diego shelter was able to hold her for a number of days while they tried to reach her previous guardians, in case they wanted her back.
2. One of our most dedicated volunteers had recently moved to the area.
3. One of our staff (me!) just so happened to be heading to Southern California right when Frito's holding period would end.
4. She was a Cat Town cat — and we always, always, take our cats back should they ever need us again.
After trying every way they could to reach Frito’s previous guardians with no luck, the shelter cleared us to bring her home. Deciding that she needed a clean slate for a new beginning, we renamed her Carmen Sandiego.
Carmen settled and relaxed into her new Cat Town home.
Our Cat Care Coordinator, Belle, arranged everything — communicating with the shelter’s team; shipping a carrier to our volunteer, Laurie; arranging a vet appointment to get Carmen immediate care; and ensuring that our Cat Care Attendants could set up a comfy Studio to be ready for her after her long car ride.
Laurie picked Carmen up from the shelter, cleaned her up when she soiled herself a few minutes down the road, comforted her as she cried in confusion and worry, and made the swap with me in San Juan Capistrano. I drove her the rest of the way home. By now, she’d made peace with the car ride, and was quiet the whole journey back to Oakland. The forecast had called for torrential rain, but somehow this little cat brought the sun with her, and the roads stayed safe and dry for us.
We arrived at Cat Town around 11pm, and I introduced her to her new space. She sniffed every inch of it, coming back to me again and again to rub up against my legs. She seemed to approve. I fed her, and spent some time with her to make sure she felt safe.
The San Diego shelter had done a great job assessing her health while she was in their care, and told us she’d need dental work for some rotten teeth. Carmen Sandiego soon let us know that she has a very particular preference for her meals, possibly due to her painful teeth, so we trialed a few brands and flavors to find her favorite (she’s a fool for BFF tuna, and likes to eat with people nearby). A few days later, she had 5 teeth extracted. With her dental issues resolved, she’s now feeling much better, and has started curling up in our laps to snuggle, reaching her paws up to touch our hearts, and blinking her big eyes in total gratitude. We haven’t seen her miss her litter box a single time.
We’re so glad that Carmen’s microchip led her back to us when she needed us most, and that her litter box issues were solvable — which is almost always the case! Since her adoption in 2013, we’ve developed new initiatives like our Case Manager program — to support our adopters should they ever find themselves struggling with unwanted behaviors like Carmen’s. This post-adoption support, and our policy to always take a cat back, helps us ensure that our cats stay safe their whole lives after walking through our doors.
We can do this work because we have an incredible community behind us: volunteers willing to go the distance (literally) to get a cat into our care, to the vet, or to simply spend time with them to help them feel at ease; staff who collaborate with our shelter friends to find outcomes that work for our animals; and supporters who ensure we have every flavor of food we need handy to keep our cats fed and fit.
We’re glad that we could find Carmen, no matter where in the world she was — and we can’t wait to find someone who’ll love her for the rest of her days.
Carmen’s bright and cuddly personality is endearing her to all Cat Town visitors, and we have no doubt this angel will be swooped up by a loving guardian in no time. Photo by Nicole Dial.
Written by Quinn White, Development & Deputy Director
Cover photo by Nicole Dial