Photograph courtesy of Carin Schroff

Gato eats lunch in the Los Gatos parking lot where he had become a fixture for the past five years.

Los Gatos bachelor seeks new pad; prefers female companionship

By Shari Kaplan

For anyone in town who's been wondering about his whereabouts, Gato the cat would like to relay a message: he's alive and well, and living in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Although he's still adjusting to moving to a foster home with other abandoned cats, Gato is hoping to move yet again--only this time, he's looking for a family, who can give him the one-on-one love and attention he needs to come out of his shell and shake off the years of homelessness.

His best friend, Carin Schroff of the New Almaden area of San Jose, told the cat's tale to the Los Gatos Weekly-Times recently, both to let Gato's "neighbors" know what happened to him, and to perhaps find him a new home.

Schroff says she first noticed the small, neutered black cat in December 2000, when she was walking through the town parking lot on W. Main Street, behind stores on the odd-numbered side of N. Santa Cruz Avenue.

"What I've been told by some local residents is that he's been living in the parking lot for about five years. He is no one's pet; no one feeds him, and he begs for food in the parking lot," Schroff says.

"I kept feeding Gato every day and gaining his trust. Although I could not pick him up, he would rub his head against me and purr. I believe from his behavior that he was once someone's pet."

Although Schroff knew that the lot, its cars and its surrounding vegetation had been Gato's makeshift home for many years, she says she felt he deserved a safer and healthier place to spend the rest of his days. On Feb. 18, she was able to safely trap him.

As the director of HumanityForAnimals.org, a nonprofit organization that does pet rescue work, as well as champions animals' welfare, Schroff looked into various local venues to bring Gato. She chose Docdoolittle's CatCage, a nonprofit enterprise run by Chris Puett, who lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Puett also has a virtual version available on the Internet at www.CatCage.com.

Despite its name, the CatCage actually refers to an elaborate, temperature-controlled indoor and outdoor shelter facility for cats; Puett has constructed a similar area for dogs and small animals. All of Puett's charges--mainly cats--were once stray, abandoned or unwanted. He tries to find them good homes, but some have physical disabilities, or health problems, that make them less desirable as pets.

The only thing undesirable about Gato is his own feelings toward living at the CatCage. Because most of the other cats are either littermates or longtime friends, and because Gato is used to solo living, he's had a hard time adjusting to the group dynamic. He also seems to prefer women--not a plus for Puett, and seems to desire outdoor living.

"He's not afraid of me, but he doesn't seem to like men right now. I'm going to be spending more one-on-one time with him," Puett says.

"I think the best situation for him would be on a farm or some place where he'd be away from traffic and antifreeze," says Puett, who explains that animals sometimes ingest the toxic chemical because it's sweet. "He shows no aggression or dominance toward other cats; he just wants to run around and roam," Puett adds.

To get in touch with Schroff, call 408.997.9332.

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