Helping Parsley

Parsley and Rosemary share a carrier on the way to their foster home.

We took 3-month-old kittens Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme into our foster program to help the city shelter with an outbreak of Panleukopenia — a highly-contagious viral infection, which puts every kitten housed in proximity at risk of euthanasia. These little ones had been at Oakland Animal Services in the same room as a kitten who developed symptoms and tested positive. The shelter was out of space, and without a safe place to isolate in, they’d be out of options.

“This doting foster immediately noticed Parsley wasn’t doing well when this spunky kitten’s energy crashed out of the blue.”

One of our trusted fosters stepped up to take these scared kittens in, and gently helped them build trust, while they waited out their 2-week quarantine. This doting foster immediately noticed Parsley wasn’t doing well when this spunky kitten's energy crashed out of the blue. Her breathing had become labored, and she had a fever. Close to midnight, they rushed her to an emergency vet, who gave her fluids, an antibiotic IV drip, and put her on oxygen overnight. Parsley was stable, but would need to be separated from her littermates while she recovered from a serious case of pneumonia.

Parsley eats a meat tube treat.

We offered to bring over supplies to help her foster with the new arrangement, but they had already proactively set up their home to keep all the kittens safely separate. We continued to monitor Parsley’s recovery with plenty of encouraging updates from her foster, who gave her all the medicine she needed — and we’re happy to report this little one is now back in good health!

When cats and kittens enter our care, we know that we have to do all we can to give them the best possible outcomes. Medical emergencies that put kittens like Parsley and Arroyo in grave danger can rack up thousands of dollars of vet bills in the blink of an eye — and we’re incredibly grateful that we can afford the cost, thanks to our generous supporters who believe that the chance at a long, healthy, and happy life is simply priceless.

Parsley and Thyme play with a cat dancer toy.

Arroyo's Story

Arroyo and his foster share a sweet moment.

When medical emergencies arise, we can step up, thanks to your support! We’ve recently had more urgent cases than usual — including Arroyo, a 6-month-old kitten who suddenly came down with a severe mystery affliction — and as always, our team was up for the challenge, because of the incredible donors who back our work.

When Arroyo’s foster texted us that he’d developed a bloody mouth full of ulcers overnight, we quickly got him to the vet. Shortly after, we received an urgent update: Arroyo needed emergency care that they could not provide. Something was wrong with his blood.

We dropped everything to transfer him to emergency care then and there. A few hours later, we learned that Arroyo’s blood had no platelets and couldn't clot.

Arroyo wears a bandage while recovering from his blood transfusion.

The vet advised us that Arroyo wouldn’t even be able to survive a tissue sample for diagnostics, so we had only two options: humane euthanasia or a hail-mary blood transfusion. We opted to give him the blood transfusion. We knew it might not work, but it was his only chance, and we had to take it.

Thankfully, Arroyo bounced back in less than 24 hours! We were overjoyed at his speedy stabilization, and delighted to be able to reunite him with his sister, Brooke, for careful monitoring in his foster home.

Arroyo snuggles with his sister, Brooke.

With his platelet count back up, we could perform lab work for his long-term care. The results?

Arroyo has a rare autoimmune condition, immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, which means his body attacks and destroys its own platelets. He’ll need steroids for the next 6 months to pull through, and his incredible foster has risen to the challenge for him.

Despite the medical turmoil, and many vet visits, Arroyo has remained active and happy. He’s a plucky little cat, after all, and we’re incredibly grateful to be able to help him, thanks to you!

Join Team Shailene

When a cat needs above-and-beyond help, we can step in because you support our work. Right now, Shailene could use a helping hand.

This darling young cat has the sweetest disposition, and loves to play with her sister and best friend, Reese — but Shailene has had chronic upper respiratory infections and nose bleeds since November, which haven’t improved with the usual medications. Her original diagnosis was calicivirus, a serious but highly treatable condition. With further investigation, we determined that she has a hole in her soft palate that connects to her nasal passages. She’ll need a rhinoscopy and CT scan to determine the best course of action for her treatment. The initial estimate for this care is $6,000, and once we get a prognosis, more medical work may be needed for her to make a recovery.

Shailene at Oakland Animal Services.

We want to get Shailene healthy, so that she and Reese can get adopted. We know these sweet girls can help bring joy, love, and comfort to some lucky family — all they need is a chance.

We’ve applied for grant funding for Shailene’s medical expenses, but the available funds won’t cover the full cost of her care. Will you join us on Team Shailene, and help get her to a specialist?

With your donation today, Shailene can have her best chance at a long, full life — and if we raise more funds than are needed for her care, we’ll be able to help even more cats get the medical care they need to thrive.

Thank you for all you do to help us give cats like Shailene and Reese a second chance!

With gratitude,

Your Cat Town team

Shailene and Reese in their foster home.

A Message from our Medical Manager

How is a cat who attacks people at random also a cat who means so much to me as Cat Town’s Medical Manager?

Caesar first came to Cat Town as a confident example for our shyer cats, but that story quickly changed when we found out why he was surrendered to the shelter. After a life-saving surgery, he woke up a different cat, and became aggressive towards his guardian. During his episodes, Caesar didn’t seem to know what he was doing, and with no way to predict his outbursts, his person didn’t feel safe with him anymore.

Most rescues wouldn't risk caring for and rehoming a cat with a history of biting people, but when a cat becomes a Cat Town cat, we promise to do all we can to give them their best life. I could see that he wanted to be someone’s good friend, like he had been before that surgery. I really wanted to help him be the sweet boy he used to be.

After a couple weeks with no obvious behavioral cause for his episodes, we tried to find a medical answer — running tests and going to a specialty Veterinary Behaviorist. It took some time, but we were able to find medication that helped him, and after 5 weeks with no attacks, he is now thriving in a foster home. With his new medication, he is able to be himself again.

Caesar is so sweet — he loves to say hello by booping our faces with his nose. He loves to play. He loves to cuddle. In a few more weeks he will be available for adoption; an amazing outcome that Cat Town was able to provide to an otherwise "unadoptable" cat with no options left.

It’s an understatement to say that Cat Town’s volunteers love supporting cats like Caesar, so they’ve done something incredible:

our volunteers have pooled together enough donations to raise $2,400 for a challenge match to you.

If we can raise that much in the next 24 hours, your donations will be doubled, up to $2,400! And that’s not all: our Board of Directors is going to match the first $800 we can raise, so those donations will be tripled!

Please make a donation today. With your support, our staff and volunteers can help even more cats like Caesar make life-changing recoveries!

Every Cat is Family

“I am grateful to Cat Town for giving us both that gift. The way they supported him, and me, told me everything I needed to know about them.”

— Jennifer E.

I know from experience that Cat Town does all they can to help the cats who need the most support. My story starts with a cat named Bruno, the first of three wonderful cats I adopted from Cat Town.

Bruno was an 8 year old black cat with a cauliflower ear. Before he came to Cat Town, he had been in a cage for 7 years at another rescue, waiting to be adopted. I immediately fell in love with him. He was a sweet cat with the loudest meow, and he instantly bonded with my resident kitty. However, Bruno quickly became ill.

Adopting suddenly meant hospice care, instead of the many years of human strength head butts I had envisioned. Cat Town stepped in and covered 100% of the expenses for Bruno's end-of-life care, answered all of my questions, and checked on us often. With Cat Town’s help, Bruno lived his last months in a home, knowing he was loved, and purring next to me every night before bed. 

I am grateful to Cat Town for giving us both that gift. The way they supported him, and me, told me everything I needed to know about them.

After a couple of months, I asked Cat Town if they had  other cats having trouble being adopted. They told me about Ollie, an FIV-positive cat who had been dumped at Oakland Animal Services, covered in fleas and scabies. His eyes were practically swollen shut. He was missing some teeth, and needed to have more teeth pulled. I wasn’t sure I was ready to adopt yet, so agreed to foster Ollie so Cat Town could give him the medical care he needed… but that lasted all of one day. I had to adopt him. 

Today, Ollie is healthy. He still squints a lot and is a little cross-eyed, his tongue falls out from time to time when he sleeps, and his feet and tail are too small for his body. In other words, he could not be more perfect! 

Ollie loves other cats, so when his cat buddies passed away last year, I could tell he was lonely. I reached out to Cat Town, and knowing me as they do, they said they had the perfect cat for me: Tony! Tony is a senior cat with FIV, and at the time, had a bad cold, and an ear infection. The Oakland city shelter had asked three other rescues if they would help him, but all declined. Cat Town got him into foster care, and put him in their senior medical program, “In It for Life,” so they’ll cover his medical care forever.

Once I met him, there was no going back. Tony is a sweet and loving cat. He’s always sneezing and drooling, but he makes up for always being damp with his goofy nature. He and Ollie have become buddies, which is exactly what I hoped for. 

Cat Town found the perfect cats for me because they spend time getting to know each cat in their care. They treat every cat like family — and because of that, my cats got a chance to get out of a cage and find their way to me, where they belong. 

I hope you’ll help more cats find the people waiting to love them with a gift today.

Thank you,

Jennifer, Adopter of Bruno, Ollie & Tony