Staying Together: Carlo, Theo, and Bimini's Story
In 2024, your support helped us bring 378 cats into happy and loving homes, and ensured we can continue focusing on supporting the cats who need us most.
While we’ve already shared many of our team’s favorite adoptions with you from the past year, we have one more to share. This is Belle’s story of Bimini, Carlo, and Theo:
Carlo and Theo were strays at OAS who joined Cat Town last winter through our Feral or Fearful program. For the first month, we assessed growly, swatty Carlo and the shy, strong Theo daily for signs that they would enjoy life in a home, rather than returning outside in a working cat placement. After graduating from Feral or Fearful, they moved into the Cat Zone to await their future adopters.
Carlo in his safe space learning to trust humans. Photo by David Yeung.
Theo in our Cat Zone after graduating from Feral or Fearful! Photo by Teresa Wood.
I watched them grow daily in confidence, becoming leaders of playtime, then sneaking off to the Quiet Zone to accept the occasional pet during nap time. It was there that Carlo and Theo met their future brother, Bimini — a shy, sweet colony cat from Full Circle Cats. These boys became a trio when their cat-savvy adopters came ready to provide the patience and safe space all three needed to thrive.
Bimini met Theo and Carlo in the Quiet Zone. Photo by Nicole Dial.
A few months post-adoption, their adopters’ housekeeper accidentally left a window open just a few inches. Theo — all 12 pounds of him — squeezed through the crack and was back on the streets of Oakland. When indoor-only cats get outside, their immediate instinct is to hide and then try to get back inside the way they came out. Theo couldn’t get back in, so he found a safe hiding spot amid the backyard bushes. Unlike lost dogs, most cats will not come running when their names are called, especially not fearful cats like Theo. Not even the trail of his favorite treats could tempt him back.
Within hours of Theo sneaking out, his adopter reached out to borrow a live trap, knowing this was the surest way to get Theo back to safety. For not the first time this year, Cat Town’s Lost Cat Team (me, Bill, and Andrew) set off with a trap, trail camera, and stinky, fishy wet food bait. Theo’s adopter had scouted the bushes where Theo was watching in wait, so we just set up the trap, pointed the camera, and waited for nightfall. After a couple nights, we got the text we were waiting for: Theo had taken the bait! For the second time in his life, Theo was trapped — before as a fearful, stray cat on his way to the shelter, and now as a beloved member of a family who were overjoyed to welcome him home.
Theo and Carlo came out of their shells at the Adoption Center!
At Cat Town, we are always available for post-adoption support. During every adoption appointment, I remind adopters, “Once a Cat Town cat, always a Cat Town cat.” From Gotcha Day photos to helping to find escaped cats, we’re committed to the Cat Town community for life. I’m so proud to have been part of Theo, Carlo, and Bimini’s story from intake to adoption to reunion. Hopefully their next chapter features a long and happy (indoor only) life!
Cover photo by Nicole Dial.