This summer, shelter intake has risen dramatically. ​​In the first half of the year, the number of cats arriving at Oakland’s municipal shelter has increased more than 20% compared to the same period last year. If this trend continues, 2022 may be the worst year for homeless cats in Oakland since shelter statistics have been available. That’s why we’re trying something different to help us meet the skyrocketing need.

When kittens don’t get positive human contact by about 8-10 weeks old, it can take months of patience and consistency to earn their trust — so most rescues and shelters won't work with them. Cat Town’s well-established Forgotten Kitten Project already demonstrates that 4-10 month-old kittens can be socialized and happily adopted, if given the time and dedicated support to build trust.

Our Summer School program focuses on helping even more of these youngsters by intervening sooner. The kittens in Summer School are still scared, hissy babies — but they’re also young enough that we can teach them to be brave in weeks, not months. 

Our goal is to quickly empty as many shelter cages as we can, while still maintaining our focus on overlooked shelter cats. To do that, we need lots of incentives for these little ones — treats, toys, and other tools of the trade.

We already have our first enrollees — and our first graduates, Lemon and Lime! We hope you’ll make a gift today to help us purchase the supplies we’ll need to win these kittens over quickly, get them adopted, and move onto the next batch of kittens in need.

Your donations can help these little ones graduate with flying colors, so we can save more lives this summer. Thank you for supporting our work to help the cats (and kittens) who need it most — and for helping us take chances to try new approaches!