Most rescues would say a hissy, 10- to 12-week old kitten is too old to help. The reason is the cage. Cages make scared kittens more frightened, which is why most rescues say kittens like Dr. Wendy and Holden can’t be helped, and why they get overlooked at the shelter…

I worked with Amaryllis for five months to get her ready for adoption. She grew up in a dark corner cage in a crowded shelter, her fear of humans worsening as each day passed. Only one volunteer could touch her during her shelter stay, so she was a feisty, hissy 8-month-old kitten by the time she came to Cat Town. She had to wait at the shelter until we had space, because other rescues won’t typically take under-socialized kittens.

In 2009, shortly after my husband, Steven, and I started volunteering at the Oakland shelter, we realized that a mom with kittens had taken up residence in our backyard. Knowing very little about the world of cat rescue then, we brought the kittens to the shelter when they were about 10 weeks old. We assumed they would quickly get socialized and adopted, but a couple of weeks later, a fellow volunteer let me know that one of the kittens couldn’t be touched and was going to be euthanized.