Cat Town’s community is some of the best around, so we’re wrapping up the year with more of our team’s favorite adoptions from 2022! Thank you for helping make these stories possible by supporting our work.
GRACE’S Pick: CHEETO
Cheeto sitting in Grace’s lap.
Cheeto came to us at the beginning of July, but I didn't meet him until a few weeks later, when he moved from foster care to our Adoption Center. The first time I went to say hello, Cheeto made it clear that he was quite the character, greeting me with a chorus of meows and plopping his fluffy orange rump right down in my lap.
While Cheeto had no problem making his presence known, he was anxious, and sensitive to loud or sudden noises. He would cry at doors if he heard someone behind them, and even hang off the door handle to peer through the window. He liked putting on a brave front, but secretly he had some fears, just like the rest of us.
Cheeto also had a history of hard-to-predict behavior, including nipping and swatting. At Cat Town, we see a lot of cats who show their "spicy" sides when they're scared, so the most important thing was to make sure Cheeto knew he was safe with us.
Big brother Cheeto with his little brother Pickles.
Soon, he began to settle into the space, and make friends with some of the other cats, especially his fellow ginger boys. Each week, I had a new tale to tell my partner of Cheeto’s goofy antics — complete with pictures, of course!
Cheeto's adopters say he chose them, because he pulled out all the stops and stole their hearts on their very first visit. His new family also includes another young, playful cat, and I hear Cheeto has now taken on a new role — big brother.
I'm so thankful that we were able to help Cheeto, and happy that he found people who appreciate him for all of his silly, sweet self!
Cheeto at our Adoption Center. Photo by Erica Danger.
KRISTIN’S PicK: HAMACHI & TAKO
Hamachi and Tako shortly after arriving at Cat Town. Photo by Cat Man of West Oakland.
Hamachi and Tako are very special girls. They were originally surrendered to Oakland Animal Services in March of 2021 when their guardian wasn’t able to care for them anymore. We took them into our program in May of that year because we noticed how shy and undersocialized they were at the shelter. Since I love sushi, I decided to name them after some yummy seafood — yellowtail (Hamachi) and octopus (Tako) — to give them a nice, fresh start for the next chapter of their lives.
We often say Love + Time = Magic, and that proved true for these sisters as well. They stayed with us at our Adoption Center for 8 months before finding their forever home! During that time, we helped them slowly let their guards down, and accept being around humans.
Hamachi playing with our paper towel dispenser.
Tako investigating the mop bucket. Photo by Erica Danger.
They started in a private Studio to get more one-on-one socialization, then moved to the multi-cat room to see if having confident role models could help them even more. I was honored to be the first person who could pet them. Hamachi was a little quicker to accept love from us than her sister Tako, who would hover nearby and watch her sister get pets and playtime from our gentle volunteers, but scamper away whenever anyone came too close.
Inch by inch, they both made more progress, so we put them up for adoption hoping that someone would come along who’d help them continue their baby steps. That day came in January of this year, when a thoughtful, patient person asked us which cats needed help the most. They met Hamachi and Tako a few times, decided that they were in love, and asked to adopt. I am so proud of these girls for finding their forever home!
Tako at our Adoption Center. Photo by Erica Danger.
DILARA’S PicK: HALO
Halo at the shelter.
When we got an urgent call from one of our partner shelters about a declawed cat who was at-risk due to not using her litter box, our alarm bells went off. Declawed cats are prone to litter box avoidance due to pain caused by the surgery, but there are ways to help them! We could hear the love in the shelter vet’s voice when she said her staff had been carrying Halo around the lobby — she was that sweet and easygoing. We had to meet her, and of course when we did, we fell in love.
Our commitment to Halo didn’t waver when we found out she was significantly older than we first thought, and that she may have even more medical issues. Instead, we brought her to our vet for further diagnostics, and then the Adoption Center while she awaited a foster to help stabilize her health.
Halo in her foster home. Photo by David Yeung.
The more people who met her, the more who fell in love — but most of all, a 7-year-old who had visited us many times before, but never once mentioned wanting to adopt. After she met Halo, she asked us, “Can we please adopt her?”
The family was out of town for the next few weeks, but they stayed in touch and wanted to know when she might be ready to take home. We moved Halo to a wonderful foster home, where she gained some strength. While she was recuperating, the family crafted her a little wooden cubby, just like the ones we have at the Adoption Center, so she’d have something familiar to look forward to.
Halo snuggled up with her family.
When I called to let the family know Halo was ready to adopt, I also shared more about her prognosis. She had been diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease, in addition to arthritis. She would need subcutaneous fluids, a special diet, and medication. Perhaps more importantly, she may not have a lot of years left, and that can be hard for children in particular. They said, “I think we still want to adopt — let me check in with the family, and I’ll get back to you in a couple of days.” Well, they got back to me within the hour! It turned out the family was more than prepared to take on all of Halo’s medical care, and wanted to baby her for however much time she had left.
It gives me hope for the world to know that there are such special 7-year-olds out there, and more crucially, parents and guardians who support their children on their compassion journey. And it gives me hope for cats like Halo, who joined their home with the additional role of showing a young child the immense ethical value in caring for a vulnerable animal — ready to give and receive so much love in the time she has.
Many of us at Cat Town experienced the gift of having a “feline advisor” at a young age, and perhaps you did too. Your support gives us the means to save cats like Halo, and to influence generations of cat lovers to come.
Halo at our Adoption Center. Photo by Erica Danger.