Getting to Know Delta

Happy Feline Friday!

Today's featured cat has a very particular set of skills — she's a great mouser, a beautifier of outdoor spaces, and an explorer.

The trade-off is that she's no lap cat! (On the bright side, you won't get cat hair on your clothes and your allergy-suffering friends can still visit.)

Delta's ideal home isn't your house. This two-year-old calico would prefer a barn, a roomy yard or garden, or some cat-friendly outdoor acres. Why not give this lovely lady a chance to be a free-roaming community cat near you?

Berkeley Humane's Cat Program Manager Carly Skonnord discovered Delta and shared her astounding story:

Delta was trapped in Antioch along with her two kittens and left outside Antioch Animal Services in a box. Because she was abandoned, we don't know where her original colony is and therefore can not just re-release her to that location.
 
I first met her last March, the day after she arrived, when I was there for another mom and two kittens. She was being housed in a small room that was predominantly filled with noisy dogs, and she was terrified and huddled in the back of the cage away from her babies. Her eye was red and almost squinted shut, and she looked mildly emaciated but her kittens were robust and healthy, so I knew she must also be healthy. Although Berkeley Humane doesn't typically deal with feral cats, I couldn't leave her and her babies (Epsilon and Zeta) behind knowing that we could give them quiet, comfortable housing and medical care.

I brought them back to Berkeley Humane where we vaccinated her and started her on antibiotics for her eye, which seemed to be fine but very exacerbated by stress. I set them up in a condo in the X-Ray room, which for the next two months gave her a place to hide and allowed us to socialize her babies. The kittens were able to grow up to be extremely friendly, playful, and very fond of humans. They are now in foster care waiting to be neutered, and she is weaned, spayed, and more distressed by the day (hence the urgency for finding her placement). Hopefully, she will be relocated to a place where she can slowly become acclimated, and then released to continue her life as a free-roaming cat.

Delta has raised wonderful kittens and dealt bravely with what must be an anxious time for her. It's time for her to be rewarded with a safe new home where she can be her independent self. 
 
Check out Delta's adoption profile to learn more. Please share her story with friends who might have a suitable space available.

If Delta is just the cat to spruce up the outdoors near you, please contact cats@berkeleyhumane.org or stop by during adoption hours (11-5 Friday through Sunday).
Berkeley Humane can provide more information about introducing Delta to your space and integrating her into her new life.