In our last episode, er, blog post, Adam Myatt, The Cat Man of West Oakland, had just saved the day for Oakland, CA, cats by helping to create Cat Town, the first cat cafe/adoption center in the United States. Adam is a member of For All Animals’ “Photographers for Animals” registry of professional and aspiring photographers. He shares his passion, and the power of images, in the service of animals in need.
Today we’re going to meet some of the Cat Man’s favorite sidekicks, including cats featured in his Hoodcats calendar series.
Hoodcats 2016 Calendar cover kitten, Campbell, and siblings, out on the streets… Photo by Adam Myatt
…and Campbell after a year in his new home. Photo by Adam Myatt.
Sassy Fran. Photo by Adam Myatt.
“This is Sassy Fran. I was supposed to be taking a day off from doing cat stuff with my girlfriend, when we found Sassy Fran… Thanks to Oakland Animal Services and Cat Town she got fixed and adopted to an amazing couple in San Francisco. She was also Ms. January 2017 in this year’s calendar.”
Sassy Fran is Hoodcats’ Ms. January 2017. Photo by Adam Myatt.
Stubbs, pre-fame and fixing. Photo by Adam Myatt.
“Another fan favorite is Stubbs. I’ve known Stubbs for about 4 years or so. I got him trapped and fixed just before I went [on my trip] to Japan, and Cat Town lined up a foster home for him to see if he’d like being inside (HE DID NOT!). So he came back to live with me in my yard. I’ve wanted to pet this cat SO BADLY for so long. He has FINALLY started to get comfortable enough with me to let me pet his cheeks, and even the occasional head to tail pet, as long as he’s eating wet food or snacking on one of those weird cat-gogurt things…”
Stubbs, living the good community cat life with Adam. Photo by Adam Myatt.
Special Friends of Cat Man
“Oakland, CA : Got to meet and do a photo shoot with @iamlilbub and her dad Mike when they came to Oakland for the Internet Cat Video festival.” Photo by Adam Myatt.
“Sister Girl is a beautiful tortie who is a part of a colony that my friend Kim (a fellow Oakland Animal Services volunteer) cares for in Oakland.” Photo by Adam Myatt.
“I helped an Instagram follower bring this guy into the shelter after his caretakers moved away. He was ridiculously sweet, and adopted after a only few weeks in the shelter.” Photo by Adam Myatt.
“Brooklyn, NY: When I went to New York City to talk at Cat Camp NYC back in March, I connected with @Brooklynfatcats and got to meet a few colonies that their volunteers care for.” Photo by Adam Myatt.
“This is Chunk. He’s a part of the colony my friends Elena and Blue take care of… @trashcatfriends
Photo by Adam Myatt.
“This little orange guy is basically what I imagine Stubbs looked like as a kitten, and is being fostered by a Cat Man and follower on Instagram who wanted to do more to help!” Photo by Adam Myatt.
Photo by Adam Myatt.
“2018 will make year six of the Hoodcats calendar. I’m trying to figure out if I want to continue to do it in this DIY fashion, or if there’s a publisher out there who’d be interested in collaborating on the calendar, and possibly some sort of ‘Hoodcats Across America’ book that would help highlight the benefits taking care of your own local Hoodcats and showcase the different kinds of people who do TNR and care for community cats. I think one of the next big steps that need to be taken in the rescue world is to help bring TNR to a more mainstream audience, and I think highlighting different colonies, and all the different kinds of people who care for them, could really help inspire people to get out and do more for their community too!”
Our unmasked Cat Man, wearing a Photographers for Animals shirt, at Oakland Animal Services, with his friend Copper. Self-portrait by Adam Myatt.
Our thanks to Cat Man Adam Myatt for sharing his terrific photos and stories with us. We’ll be spotlighting another PFA photographer’s work soon, so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest For All Animals and Photographers for Animals program news. And if you’re a photographer or shelter/rescue organization who would like to be part of the Photographers for Animals program, please visit our webpage to learn more!