http://delgatorescue.bigcartel.com/, https://www.petfinder.com/member/us/ca/los-angeles/del-gato-rescue-ca3019/, https:/

Del Gato Rescue, Los Angeles, CA (2024)

12/03/2024

2024: our 4th year spent dedicating our lives to rescuing cats (ngl feels more like a decade 😅).
I’m so proud of how we’ve streamlined the bulk of our processes in order to save as many lives as efficiently possible! We had a 24% ⬆️ in cats rescued from the streets this year (273) compared to last year (220).

Most of our intake came from supporting the indie trapper community in placing friendlies/dumped pets discovered during TNR efforts to prevent the burden of medical/fostering/adoption to fall on them so that they were freed up to continue the TNR mission. The rest were calls for help we received from the public.

We also coordinated & sponsored 50+ residents of LA with getting community cats fixed, vaxed, blood tests, X-rays, enucleations, amputations, and more.

We grew to having 80+ current foster families - I’m speechlessly grateful bc without our fosters our intake would be a small fraction of what it currently is. 🥹

We averaged 20 adoptions/month utilizing solely Petfinder & IG to spread awareness about adoptables. Shoutout to who took over Petfinder listing duties a few months ago and has done a killer job getting everyone listed & looking their best, which has allowed me more time to be able to guide fosters when they have questions, coordinate vet visits & bulk spay/neuter, input medical records, place supply orders, pay bills, and various other endless admin tasks.

Running a nonprofit rescue where none of us get paid is a labor of love and can be draining in almost every aspect. The organizational component is so important to me because that’s the only way we can maintain this volume sustainably. Because of this I’m confident we can continue at this rate for many years to come. 📈

We’re so grateful to those who wholeheartedly believe in & support our mission of preventing shelter impounds: our donors, foster parents, transporters, anyone who shares our posts & truly cares about all of these homeless cats the way that we do. We wouldn’t still be here without y’all. ❤️‍🔥

For Giving Tuesday we are again encouraging you to become a monthly donor 💸 even $5-10 helps!

TY for the beautiful flyer! 🙏🏽

11/29/2024

Dilute tortie sisters SoFi + April from the Inglewood litter born on my birthday are still available for adoption! Now 7 months old.

Back story on this litter’s mama:
“So we first began seeing them 2-3 years ago. She looked older and he looked like a kitten. Initially we heard they belonged to our next door neighbor so we didn’t really look into it until they both started looking rough.
We have ring so we would see them all day and night walking around sometimes in fights. The neighbor was putting food out but not caring for them fully.
Momma had her second litter and only 1 survived. After she got pregnant with our Inglewood litter we just took her and neighbors never came to ask us questions so we just took her in. After her spay we adopted her.”

Mia (tortie in last slide) + Archie were foster-fails and Dexter is in the midst of the adoption process! SoFi and April are both still looking for their forever families.

April is a little sassy drama queen. She will let you know when her siblings are playing too rough with her. She enjoys playing with her siblings and her toys. She likes to hide and sleep anywhere! She is adventurous, always looking for what to do next. She likes to be pet when she’s sleepy, but if she’s awake she rather be running around than cuddling. She would thrive with other cats around who are just as playful as her and willing to cuddle.
Sofi is a playful girl who prefers to wrestle her sisters and brothers than play with toys. However, if she had to pick a toy it would be a crinkle ball or a ball with a bell inside. As much as she loves to play she also likes to sleep. She can sleep anywhere, even a flowerpot! Sofi is protective of her siblings, when she hears someone crying she immediately runs to check on them. Like her sister Mia, she likes to be pet on her own terms. She will allow you to pet her when she is tired and likes to be cuddled. Sofi would thrive in a household with other cats who have the same playful energy. Like her siblings she has a schedule: get up early for breakfast, play for a few hours, sleep, and then play some more!

🔗 Adoption application linked in bio
🙏🏽 Please share!

11/11/2024

Meet Polly (mom) & Beatrice (daughter)!

This sweet momma + daughter community cat pair were living on the streets of Lincoln Heights. Sadly the feeder/colony caretaker found out the son got hit by a car and wanted a better life for them both.

Our friend/girl crush went out and caught them, got them fixed & began networking for rescue backing to help find them adopters. was already fostering for us & agreed to take these 2 on as well 🥺🙏🏽

They are currently decompressing & warming up to that VIP indoor life! We’re getting them on our cal for snap tests, dewormer, and microchips & they’ll soon be available for foster-to-adopt.

FUN FACT they are BOTH polydactyl! 🐾

Mama Polly can go to a home with/without another cat, but we’d like to find Beatrice a home with another cat friend for her. They can also be adopted as a pair! 👯‍♀️

Be sure to turn up your volume for the purr motor on mom in the last slide 😌 she’s so happy to be warm & cozy inside receiving attention & love 💗

🔗 Adoption application linked in bio

🔁 Please share!

11/11/2024

Back in July we received a call from our primary vet requesting our help for an owner relinquish who was a patient of the vet office. The owner was living in a retirement community & the management forced her to relinquish/remove one of her two cats, Mister, as he was having some medical issues caused by stress. I asked them to kennel him in back of the vet so I could come meet him & grab content, assess personality etc. I was met with the sweetest boy who immediately held my eye contact & offered me elevator butt and a loud purr motor. I didn’t even want to leave him there for a night but had to bc we had no foster.

Fast forward 5 months he’s now been bounced around to 3 different fosters & sadly still has no interested adopter 😔

Mister is a stunning boy with big blue eyes and an even bigger heart. His favorite thing is to be loved on by his special human(s). Mister’s favorite spots to be pet are his head, behind the ears, neck, back….basically just give him all the pets. This sweet boy will ask for pets but also wait patently if you are working by entertaining himself with birdwatching, suntanning, toys, and naps. Mister would be best as an only cat so he can be your number one fan and get all the attention he craves.
His favorite cat toy is a spiral noodle/tube.

He is 7 years old, fully vetted, and waiting for you to fill out an adoption application linked in our bio 🤓🩵

11/10/2024

🖤 Inky & Violet 🖤

Back in May we rescued a sweet black trio from Lakewood who had been born on the streets and fostered by their finder in the meantime until we found a foster.
Butter was adopted several months ago & Inky & Violet are now at their 4th foster home, still with no potential interested adopter 😔

From their current foster:

Inky is stoic and slow to warm up but once she does she’s just a puddle of love. She sort of slinks around in the background and when she’s ready to she’ll join you for affection.
Violet is very social, she loves to be pet and picked up, she runs to the door when you get home and demands a proper greeting. She loves to drink from the toilet and dip her belly in the dog’s water bowl (we nicknamed her fish for this reason). They both love to sit in an open window and sleep against a wall. They’re both great with other respectful animals.
They’re both adventurous and sweet.

Now approaching 8 months old, both female, fully vetted & ready for a forever family. They are truly bonded & will need to go to a home together.

🔗 Adoption application linked in bio

🔁 Please share!

11/04/2024

Mama Athena + Rango, Theodore + Penelope

Rango is very vocal and loves to be held non-stop, he will play with anything you put in front of him and he pioneered the first few bites of wet food at weaning time 🤗

Theodore loves to nap all the time, he is very shy like his momma and takes a bit of time to warm up but when he does he will just want to cuddle with you 🧡

Penelope is the most playful kitty and has the zoomies most of the time & she loves to be cuddled next to you for a nap. (if you adopt Penelope you are getting yourself the cutest little diva) 💜

Athena is our humble demure momma who is ready to enjoy her teen life ✨ if you want a bff for life to keep you company while you read and chill she is the perfect gal 🤎

Athena will be fixed in December & the kit

10/24/2024

Another lucky mom + litter of kittens brought to safety 🫶🏼

Thanks to our fosters who came and picked up cats the past few weeks (and always) to continue allowing us the space to help more! Can’t stress enough how impossible this would be without you. 🥹

This momma came from a colony in Koreatown that we have been helping TNR and rescue from for over a year now, it’s where we rescued Phoebe and her 5 kittens, Marble, Blu, Fluffy Grey, Potpourri, & Denny from.

We had a spay appointment ready for this mom as soon as the feeder spotted her and thought she looked pregnant, but unfortunately she was unable to locate her the night we were supposed to catch her for surgery, and she didn’t see her again for a few weeks when she brought her kittens back to the yard. Shortly after their appearance, 2 of the kittens went missing and feeder grew very worried so we bumped them to top of our waitlist & went over last night to pick them up. It turned out a neighbor took 2 of the kittens into their apartment (why do people do this? Only 2? Just take all 5 to safety and call for help to get mom fixed? Nothing shocks me anymore.)

Mom is extremely sweet & friendly like most of the cats from that colony have turned out to be. Looks like an Abyssinian mix & from my experience these cats have a ton of energy & play like kittens, even through much of adulthood. She’d probably do well in a household with another cat who is interested in playing with her, or solo in a household with someone who works from home & has lots of time to play with her. Either way whoever ends up adopting her will be blessed because I can already tell she will make such a sweet, smart, loving companion. I can’t wait til she’s spayed & can happily move forwards with her own life!

The white/black kitten & tabby w/o socks are boys, the tabby w/ socks is a girl. All 3 eating wet food on their own but still weaning. All have lots of playful energy.

Anyone want to foster? We have 4 litters found in SLA by our TNR queen & BFF we need to get to intaking 😅

It never ends & we shouldn’t be expecting it to. Please spay & neuter your pets & keep them indoors 🙏🏽

10/19/2024

The time has finally come! Our very first adoption event! 😸

We are grateful to for reaching out & wanting to partner up to help some kitties find their forever homes ✨🏠

We’d love to see some familiar faces & invite anyone around LA to swing by & shop for toys (their collection is amazing), meet, pet, play with the cats & maybe even apply to adopt?!

Please help us spread the word 🙏🏽😊

See yall there!

Sunday 11/3 1-4pm
Kouhigh Toys
7815 Melrose Ave
Right across from the Melrose Trading Post

10/15/2024

Update on the x4 older of the x7 El Monte warehouse kittens that we took in 3 weeks ago.

They have names now 😸

Meet Chicken (tux), Theresa (dilute torbie), Billy (Orange floof w/ white paws), and Texas (other orange floof).

All 4 of them are absolute sweethearts thriving in foster care with & 🙏🏽 special shouts to for helping coordinate logistics & assisting with bathtime, etc!

They are so playful & ofc need to go in pairs or as singles to a home with another playful cat or kitten in need of a buddy. 👯‍♀️

They’ll be fixed 11/15 & then ready for their forever homes, but you can apply to do foster-to-adopt in the meantime!

🔗 Adoption application linked in bio

Please share!

10/15/2024

Back in June we helped our hardworking SEAACA networking friend .the.cat.lady by rescue backing this SOS litter from SEAACA slated for euth at EOD. (Don’t get any ideas 😅 - we are still 100% streets focused)

Fast forward 4 months & the kids are all spayed/neutered, finished with the rest of their vetting & available for adoption. They are just about 5 months old, and they need to be adopted as a pair or into a household with another playful cat or kitten.

Kitten bios from their current foster Liz:

Meet Pepper (tux), the most dapper and moustachioed gentleman you’ll ever meet! With his striking Salvador Dalí-esque whiskers and whimsical charm, this little guy is equal parts affectionate companion and full of playful chaos. When he’s not snuggling up close, Pepper loves to be your curious shadow—following you around, walking through your legs, and keeping a watchful eye on your every move. Whether you’re cooking or getting ready, he loves to be involved watching nearby. He is a purr-machine and always wants to snuggle.

But don’t let his distinguished appearance fool you—Pepper has a playful spirit, and he thrives on creating fun-filled mischief! Always up for a game of chase or batting at his toys, he’s the perfect blend of cuddlebug and adventurer. If you’re looking for a best friend with endless love, a dash of crazy kitten energy, and a heart full of curiosity, Pepper’s your guy! This very sweet man loves playing with his litter mates and is super confident with new people.

Annie + Duffy’s bios continued in comments ⬇️

PLEASE SHARE 🖤🤍🧡

10/14/2024

Buttercup, Nyla, and Spirit were rescued back in June from a pallet yard off the 10 freeway south of the Arts District. They were roughly 5 weeks old.

They’ve spent the last 4 months in foster care. Spirit got adopted 2 weeks ago to a very happy home with a big brother kitty who grooms her 🥹

We are shooting to find a forever home for Nyla + Buttercup together as from playtime to cuddle time they are truly inseparable! And they’ve lived quite the good life through their kittenhood. We really would like to keep them together because they rely on each other and their personalities truly complete one another. Nyla is an extremely affectionate extrovert that loves attention. Buttercup is a little bit of an introvert but feeds off the energy of her sis. She’s super quirky and affectionate when you earn her trust. They’re not just sisters they’re besties! 👯‍♀️

Fully vetted & ready for their foster-to-adopt : adoption application linked in bio 🔗

10/09/2024

Last night an old friend (the year long feeder of the colony that used to exist at Chain Reaction down in Anaheim before we fixed and rescued them all 😅) was leaving his girlfriend’s house in Covina when he spotted a cat trying to reach into a McDonald’s fry container in the driveway across the street to get a fry out :( She was starving and super friendly. Eating out of his hand and rubbing all over him within minutes.
She was so lucky to come across the right humans’ path! They were able to hold her in a carrier overnight & this morning transported her to us after getting her scanned for a chip locally (no chip).

Meet McNugget 🐔

SHE NEEDS A FOSTER ASAP!

This morning she received her vaccine, flea treatment, dewormer, and we will do her microchip & snap test prior to handing her off to foster. Booking spay for November.

Please help 🙏🏽 we are drowning with 140 cats at the moment and adoptions have been on the slow side the past month, I’m still behind on admin from being hospitalized for almost a week, and the calls for help from the public do not ever stop 😩

Please share!

09/11/2024

Incoming mom & x2 kittens from Monterey Park.

This poor momma kitty gave birth in someone’s yard (doubtfully her first litter), and luckily the tenants were willing

07/04/2024

Greetings from the trenches of kitten season! 😩
This isn’t all of the cats we current need fosters for, it’s only some 😹

When you foster a kitty you’re giving that kitty a calm & safe environment to thrive in, while simultaneously allowing us to rescue a new kitty from our waitlist! It’s a win-win.

• Please no other cats in household for Masa, Mamba, Rosetta. All of them prefer to be the queen of the castle. 👑
(Though setting up their space in a different room than your other cats would likely be fine)
• Coffee Litter ☕️ (Lorelei’s kids) are 5 kittens with the orange one already lined up to leave for foster to adopt tomorrow. 4 of them still need fosters - Espresso, Americana, Keurig, & Cold Brew. They can go as a 4pack or 2x2.
• Primo & Cholulo would really love to stay together. They’ve been bounced around to 3 different fosters already. Looking for a 1 month foster commitment for them at minimum, to lessen the trauma of bouncing around as much on them.

🔗 Foster application linked in bio. All of these cats and kittens are vaccinated & tested for FIV/FeLv, flea treated & dewormed prior to departure to foster care. We have a 60 cat waitlist for spay/neuter but are moving as fast as we can physically handle with it. If you’re able to offer pickup transport (Burbank to Hollywood on Wed/Thu/Fri afternoons please DM me)

Please share…Thank you! 😊

05/18/2024

Nothing much to see here, just one of Lorelei’s daughters (her whole litter of 5 is female (!), contrary to my initial assessment when they were itty bitty/difficult to tell) in a Don’t F**k It Up mug. 🍵

Courtesy of and his family who spent 30+ minutes to get this photo 😆🙏🏽🖤

05/14/2024

Meet Bean (fka Kola)! 🫘

Sadly she spent most of her life outdoors, but luckily she had a very kind feeder/caregiver, and when it came time for him to move, he worked very hard to find a rescue for her so that she could have a beautiful indoor life for the remainder of her years. She instantly adapted to and loved indoor life!

If you’re looking for a fun cat that loves to follow you around, curl up on your lap, and purr the day away, Bean is the cat for you. Her 10 years of age show in her adorable gray hairs and chill demeanor, but she’s surprisingly spry when the ribbon toy comes out!

She loves humans, pets, and humans who give her pets. She also has no desire to go outside or run out the door at all. She’s deaf and toothless, so she’s not scared of the vacuum cleaner at all and there’s no dental care to worry about. She doesn’t scratch any furniture or eat any plants either.

She adjusts very quickly to a new house or environment but she would do best as the only cat in a home. Come spend a bit of time with this affectionate kitty and I promise you’ll fall in love!

We are happily waiving the adoption fee for this sweet senior as our goal is simply to find her a loving home/family 🏡

🔗 Foster & adoption application linked in bio

05/11/2024

“Meet Munchkin - the friendliest cat I have ever had the pleasure of fostering. Munchkin has never met a stranger, human or animal, and has turned even antisocial kitties into friends of hers.

Munchkin is the social chair of the foster room. This sweet girl anxiously awaits her foster mom in the morning, waiting by the door for pets and snuggles. Munchkin loves feather toys, balls and tunnels. She is truly the most outgoing, extroverted, animal loving cat I have ever encountered. Munchkin would thrive in a house with other kitties, dogs and children.”

Originally rescued back in July 2023 with eyes completely shut due to URI, covered in fleas and severely malnourished after being left in a box in Compton with her 6 siblings.

Almost a year later, and well into the next year’s kitten season, Munchkin is the last of her litter to find her forever home. Though she probably would be happy to spend the rest of her life in foster room, we’d love to finally find this special lady her forever family so she can be doted on and cherished as a truly permanent family member as she so deserves.

She is 11 months old, fully vetted, and the most happy-go-lucky, outgoing, grateful kitty we’ve ever met 🖤🤍