“Every time I help Forgotten Kittens I am scared it won’t work — but every time the cats teach me more. ”
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.
By removing the cage from the equation, and giving kittens older role models to learn from, Cat Town has achieved a 100% success rate helping older kittens learn to trust. Instead of being forgotten, they get adopted.
I’m passionate about helping these older kittens overcome their fear, and I foster them as often as I can. My most recent set of fosters, Dr. Wendy and Holden, came to me at 20 weeks old. They started off so frightened that they’d run and hide when I would enter the room and cower when I touched them. Over time they learned to enjoy and seek out pets, and even slept in bed with me all night. Every time I help Forgotten kittens I am scared it won’t work — but every time the cats teach me more. At Cat Town, we’ve learned to look past their fear of us. We give them time and show them nothing but love, over and over again.
That’s when the magic happens.
One day, they push past their fear, too, and take a chance on giving us their trust. They make a leap of faith, hoping we’ll do what we always do, and treat them gently. And we do. In an instant, they realize it’s all we will ever do. They finally feel safe. They become snuggly kittens.
Today, after 8 weeks of love and positive reinforcement, Dr. Wendy and Holden are at Cat Town’s Adoption Center, rubbing against visitor’s legs to ask for pets. They’ve transformed from completely terrified to ready to be adopted!
As of now, we are still the only organization who will take undersocialized kittens older than 12 weeks from Oakland Animals Services. Because you believe in us, and donate, we can help hissy kittens learn to be brave, and we see this magic daily at Cat Town.
Thank you for making it possible to help more scared kittens grow up brave!
