WHAT WE DO
“Thank you, Cat Town, for all you do. Of course you change the lives of so many cats, but you’re also changing the lives for a lot of humans. Just when I think it’s impossible to love Roo any more, I somehow fall more in love! She’s amazing, and I just can’t imagine my life without her.”
Helping the Cats Who Need Us Most
Cat Town helps shy, scared, and stressed cats by removing the cage from the equation. Many cats respond to shelter cages with fear or aggression. These behaviors make it challenging to see their real personalities. Cat Town places cats who appear challenging at the shelter into our cage-free Adoption Center or one of our loving foster homes, where they can relax and be themselves. We give them as much time as necessary to find their family.
With the support of our donors, we provide specialized support for cats with more complex needs.
Senior Cats
Photo by Nicole Dial
Older cats often have health issues ranging from severe dental disease to hyperthyroidism, and more — making it a challenge for many organizations to help them. With Cat Town’s Emergency Medical Fund, we take care of these expenses to get seniors out of under-resourced shelters, so they can feel their best. Through our In It For Life Program, we also cover the lifelong medical bills for hospice cats, so that the cost of their medical care is never a barrier for adoption.
Scared Older Kittens
If stray kittens don’t receive positive human contact by two to three months old, it can take months of patience and consistency to earn their trust — so they are deemed unadoptable, and therefore too difficult to save by most rescues and shelters. Cat Town socializes kittens four months and older, giving them all the time they need in our Forgotten Kitten Project to help them build trust at their own pace, and get adopted. These youngsters also receive support from our volunteer-led Case Manager program, which pairs adopters with a cat expert to guide them through the first weeks (or months) of life with their new cat companion.
Emergency Medical Care
Oakland’s underfunded shelter often cannot help cats with contagious diseases or in critical condition, but treatable illness and injury should not be a barrier to adoption. Cat Town’s Emergency Medical Fund covers veterinary services, medications, surgeries, and supplies to treat medical conditions that exist on intake from the shelter, such as upper respiratory infections, ringworm, dental disease, or broken bones. We stabilize these cats and kittens, and help them find adopters who can handle their needs.
Transforming Cat Rescue — Nationwide
“Thank you so much for having us. I feel very rejuvenated after my apprenticeship at Cat Town. Yesterday we adopted TWO FeLV-positive cats with our new pilot ‘In It For Life’ program!”
Cat Town engages the public and other rescue organizations across the country to break down the stigma for cats who appear unadoptable in a cage. We reach tens of thousands of people each year through our public outreach, dispelling common misunderstandings around cat behavior and health.
Cat Town’s curriculum for the Hard-to-Place Cats Adoption Program, part of the Maddie’s Fund Apprenticeship program, shows rescue organizations from coast to coast how we save the cats we were told couldn’t be helped. We’ve shared our approach to rescue with 89 organizations across 32 states through this program.
Cat Town is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible. Our tax ID is 27-3838132.