Save A Gato

This is what the shelter usually looks like.  With cats lounging around and being curious about everything we still clean litter boxes and cages, administer medicine, follow feeding schedules and try our best to keep the place clean.

'Gato' is slang for street cat and the shelter is in the Old City of San Juan, PR.  A three-room concrete building provides shelter for about fifty cats.  Brought in from all over San Juan and the surrounding metro area are kittens, adult felines, all injured, sick and wild.

In the front room of the shelter are the cats up for adoption, kittens and those that need to be fixed.  The mothers and their litters of kittens are placed in the second room of the shelter, known as the hospital.  Twice a week volunteers take several cats to the vet for examinations and surgeries. 

The third room is the playroom. With cat toys, boxes and balls, those that are normally in cages are let out to play. Currently, the room is occupied by Mama cat and her five kittens, one of which has already been named Corona.

In place of air conditioning we use portable fans all around the shelter to provide cool air and venilation. Recently, the shelter was upgraded with efficient indoor plumbing and a good paint job.

Every now and then we will witness a cat fight but they all tolerate each other fairly well.  At the front of the shelter are two cat doors where the wild cats may come for food and water and go as they please.   www.saveagato.org