Why I Rescue Stray Cats and Kittens in Oakland
(If I can do it, you can do it too!)
A few weeks ago I drove 45 minutes to rescue 5 kittens. It didn’t all happen in 1 day — it took multiple trips back and forth over weeks to catch all 5.
The first 3 were sitting in the cold, on a pile of trash in Castro Valley. When I put food in front of them they were so hungry that they began biting each-other’s feet, and one of them had intestines coming out of his backside. (Don’t worry they are all safe and healthy now, minus the last one who had to be euthanized).
I’m not telling you this to make you sad, I’m telling you this because it’s reality and I hope that my story will inspire you to take action.
I used to be one of those people who said they “hate cats.” I was a bonafide dog person, and the only cat I ever interacted with was with my aunt’s cat named ‘Bunny’ who had a weight problem and a bad attitude.
That all changed when I moved from San Francisco to Oakland in 2016.
Upon moving to the lively Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, I began to not just notice the immense abundance of sunny weather and friendly people, but also the immense abundance of…cats.
One day, as I was walking home from the bank I noticed a particularly cute creature — a small grey cat grooming herself on the side of the road.
Intrigued, I approached her and sat down. I was surprised that she didn’t run away, and instead, jumped into my lap and began “making muffins”* (*cat terminology) — it was in that moment that I converted from being a dog person into a cat person FOREVER.
After confirming with the neighbors that she was in fact a stray, I named her Joon (the Iranian word for soul/spirit/life), got her spayed, and brought her home as my first real pet.
It didn’t stop there, more cats would show up everyday — on my front porch, on my back porch, in my yard, down the street, at my job (just kidding) — but seriously they were everywhere.
I didn’t know what to do, so I reached out to a cat-pro and creator of the popular BayAreaBabyCats Instagram page — Laura C. and cat rescuer extraordinaire Adam Myatt a.k.a. the CatManOfWestOakland.
Laura and Adam taught me how to trap cats with a TruCatch feral cat trap, and take them to Fix Our Ferals to be spayed or neutered for a generously subsidized price of $45.00. And this was just the beginning…
One summer, I plucked 22 kittens right out of my backyard. Yes, you heard that right — 22 KITTENS!
And in spring, a neighbor brought a cardboard box full of 4 kittens who had been painted by someone [unknown] and were cold, scared, and abused. It took me 4 hours to get the paint off of them with coconut oil, soap, and lots of blow-drying (kittens can’t regulate their body temperature well so if you bathe them you MUST dry them thoroughly.) Here’s the video on that.
I’ve spent countless weekends and countless amounts of money on Trap Neuter Return (TNR ), cat food for the strays, and kitten food for the kittens.
I’d do it all again tomorrow. Because if I don’t, who will?
I always think about my former self who would wished more people would “save animals in need.” Then I realized that I am that person.
You are, too.
Joel Arthur Barker once said: “Vision without action is merely a dream.”
You can visualize animals getting rescued all you want, but if you don’t take action are you really helping? Or is it just a dream?
Talk is cheap. Let’s save some cats and kittens, together.
For more information on saving animals feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, check out the Kitten Lady’s YouTube videos (she literally has a video on how to do anything & everything kitten rescue related), donate to/volunteer with Fix Our Ferals, foster animals for Oakland Animal Services, adopt from Adam’s cat cafe Cat Town Oak, or just start doing TNR in your neighborhood or an under-served neighborhood.
