Del Gato Rescue

Rafter + Clarence’s mother probably didn’t think it would be the last time she’d ever see her kittens when she stashed them in some rafters in a crawl space under an apt complex in East Hollywood last month, the place she had called home for months, and ran back outside likely to fetch some food for herself.

Sadly she was poisoned that evening 😡 and she was found deceased by her loyal colony feeder, who knew her as an incredible mother to her kittens 💔

Some of the kittens were smart enough to cry for help, but no one knew the grand total of how many she had/should be looked for, and the location was incredibly difficult to access or see anything under the building. In hindsight there ended up being 6 of them. The first 2 caught went to another foster or rescue prior to us getting involved, the next day 2 came to us (Clarence & Esme), the next morning another kitten was heard crying & that’s when Rafter was rescued, and a few days after that one more female was found but she was already skeletal, cold, and anemic- she pushed hard to survive for a couple nights before succumbing and passing.
After that, Esme could not clear her GI issues and was unable to thrive and succumbed as well. The remaining 2 are in desperate need of a foster home 🙏🏽

They’ve been bounced around from crate to crate here as we play musical chairs to make space for everybody. They had some terrible GI issues for weeks and are finally through the woods & healthy, thriving. The longer they stay here crated, the more illness we usually see. Please help us move them out to a foster! We desperately need all of our crate space — the requests for help are endless as we are in peak kitten season. As I opened instagram to make this post I was distracted by FOUR separate help requests DM’s for various litters of kittens, sick singletons, and moms & kittens. All came in within the last hour.

Clarence + Rafter are in the midst of vaccine rounds and they need a clean, cozy indoor space where they can run around and play & continue to grow until we can find them a forever home 🩵🩶

Brothers, 2 months old. In line for their neuters.

🔗 foster + adoption applications at www.delgatorescue.org

Totoro came to us as a suspect pregnant female from the streets of Baldwin Park who kept showing up at this person’s home begging to come inside. Word on the actual street was the owners abandoned the cat about a month before. The spouse was allergic so our finder could not allow the cat in whenever the spouse was home.
I immediately contacted our friends who generously made space for a spay-abort for her the following day. The finder delivered the kitty late evening to who transported to the clinic in the morning 🙏🏽

A few hours later I received a call from the clinic that this was contrarily an intact male with a belly filled with fluid (suspect FIP vs liver disease vs heart disease). He also came with a reducible hernia (meaning it was able to be pushed in and out and could potentially be pressing on intestines and restricting blood flow), was emaciated, and a minimum of 10 years old 😭 somehow, he was still bright, alert, responsive, and overly friendly. Of course sedation/neuter was out of the question but they were able to run a snap test for us which was negative.

Of course he got his first dose of FIP medication within 30 seconds of arriving home. Today is currently day 4 of treatment, he is eating his pills so easily with his insatiable appetite. 👼 His soupy p**p finally started to form this morning too 🎉

I took him to our primary vet today for baseline FIP bloodwork which came back screaming FIP as suspected. His WBCs are extremely elevated and his RBC’s dangerously low. With a hemocratit of 17% Dr G said he would have been dead on the streets in a matter of days if left untreated. Globulins so high they didn’t even register with the blood machine. He also got his tail shaved (it was caked in diarrhea which I presume he’s been dealing with for weeks).

We’ll never know what came first, the chicken or the egg. Did the stress of being abandoned by his family trigger the FIP? Or was the FIP the reason they left him behind if they didn’t have the means to get him to the vet? Sadly this is a common case nowadays.

All we know is this old man is onto his next chapter and will never not know love again. ❤️‍🔥

On April 10 we received a call from our partners about a cat who had been abandoned by owners in transitional housing on skid row; a common occurrence when the owners are evicted or go to jail etc. The cat and 2 dogs (WUFAW were rescuing the dogs so they were just calling us for help for the kitty) had been alone there for at least a couple of weeks in totally foul conditions, floors covered in their own excrement and with minimal nutrition provided (no cat food just some dog kibble I believe).

So put the cat in an uber to us. I was currently at our high volume foster home doing some vetting on our other kitties so she ubered her to us there. We did her intake vetting on the spot and loved her immediately and wanted to be her safe landing space temporarily 🥰

Now a month later she is estimated at 7 months old and absolutely thriving at her new foster home who is loving on her and says:

Mayfair has a personality as cute as her tiny little face! She is so gentle, goofy, playful, and patient. She gets along with cats, dogs, and people.

Mayfair loves to bat a spring around and get a case of the zoomies. She will play as long as her little body will let her, until she has to immediately fall asleep with the tiniest snores. Despite being so tiny (5.5 lbs), she loooooves her dry food. She would thrive in a household where her curiosity could be fed, but she still loves to curl up for a nap. She might take a just a second to warm up to her humans, but soon enough she’ll be your little shadow and you’ll find her sleeping next to your head! Mayfair would do well in a multi pet household but would probably be better for older children rather than smaller ones.

🔗 Adoption application at www.delgatorescue.org or linked in bio.

Back in March we received a help request from the city of Gardena where someone had been feeding a friendly intact male cat for several years and was desperate to get him off the streets and into a forever home.

He arrived super dirty but so sweet. He was neutered early April & tested positive for FIV, which does not mean he cannot live a long healthy indoor life! He also has a grade 3-4 heart murmur (extremely common especially for large male cats) which means it’s important to keep him out of stressful environments & provide a stable routine while monitoring for any breathing abnormalities (it could be years before symptoms present, if they ever do).

He has been blossoming in his foster home with who has this to say about him:

Meet Popcorn! The sweetest and most handsome boy. Not only is he stunning with his big blue eyes and striking white fur, he’s also a total lovebug. This sweet boy is so affectionate. He loves people, and greets all of his foster mom’s guests by rubbing up against their legs. Popcorn loves pets, and will almost immediately start purring when getting love. He’s not afraid of people at all - he’s totally trusting and happy to be around anyone and everyone.

Popcorn is also a very chill cat - he’ll play with some string toys here and there but mostly just likes to cozy up on the couch and follow his foster mom around. Popcorn doesn’t always demand your attention, but he loves to just be near people. When his foster mom is working from home, he’ll likely be loafing on a rug or chair nearby. He would be a great companion for someone who works from home, but he’s also happy being left alone for the day to nap in the sun. He’s really the best of both worlds. If you’re looking for a sweet, loving and friendly cat - Popcorn is your guy!

🔗 Adoption application linked in bio