Save A Gato — Local services in San Juan

Save A Gato is an excellent organization with caring and dedicated volunteers/staff. They went truly above and beyond to help us adopt our new kitten. Story time...

My wife and I visited Puerto Rico for vacation and came across Save A Gato on our first day walking through Old San Juan. We went inside and met an incredibly cute kitten who needed a home. We inquired about a possible adoption. The staff at Save A Gato are truly incredible. They were incredibly helpful and responsive throughout the process. Irma facilitated a trip to the vet for testing, shots, and spay. Everything checked out and we were so excited to bring our new kitten home with us... until we learned that we would not be able to fly home with her, as our flight was completely booked for pets. We were so incredibly disappointed. We flew home sad for the missed opportunity to welcome the new kitty into our home...

This is where things get really exciting. Irma wasn't about to let this disrupt a perfectly good adoption. She got to work. She posted on facebook to see if anyone was flying from Puerto Rico to Houston, TX and would be willing to bring our new kitten along with them. The post was spread throughout the community and, thank the lord, someone responded! Within 48 hours, our adorable kitten was boarding a flight to Houston. It is a happy ending after all!

This organization does incredible work, and is run by incredible people. The extent of their care for these cats is remarkable. They want only the best for these cats, and (as demonstrated here) are willing to go to great lengths to do right for them. What more can you ask for? We will be regular donors to the organization to support them and their incredible work.

UPDATE 09/13/23: our cat, Juanita, is loving life in Houston and is an essential part of our family. Her hobbies include eating, watching birds out of the window, and...

During our last day and final hours in Puerto Rico, my wife surprised me with a visit to this lovely place. As an avid cat lover and over all animal lover it was just the touch of sweetness to warm my heart until I could get home and see my cats.

Some people might not understand the mission of Save a Gato, it's not to take care or take in ALL cats in Puerto Rico or even San Juan, but only in Old San Juan.

Speaking with the volunteer there, they explained that right now the cat population is pretty crazy in Old San Juan, and even everywhere else in the north part of Puerto Rico.

They work on trapping them, spay or neutering, and letting them go if they are brought in from the area. They also keep them to get them current on shots and have medical attention from a veterinarian.

All the cats that were running around free did seem to somewhat know humans, some were timid, some were absolutely just craving attention, others took a while to warm up and after that they just would sleep right on your lap.

There were a few that were skittish, but for the most part all the the adoptable or ready to adopt cats in cages inside the facility were all super friendly and wanted so many pets inside the cage.

My heart goes out to them and their cause, and I wish for each cat or 5 a happy home.

Cats are like smiles, and nobody says there's such a thing as...

I adopted my cat, Chef Mac (previously known as Brooklyn) from Save a Gato in 2024. I cannot recommend them enough. I reached out to them a few months in advance expecting transport to be a lengthy process, but they informed me the process would hardly take longer than a week (flight angels permitting).

I found the adopter interview to be thorough, but not unreasonable. They do expect you to know your stuff and be ready to welcome a cat. But the expectations are completely reasonable, as is the adoption price. They are likely highly competitive with your local shelter in this regard.

Additionally, I had the opportunity to visit the physical rescue. The staff are so attentive to all the cats both inside and outside of the building. They are really passionate about the work they are doing, and I personally witnessed these folks go above and beyond to help these cats go to good homes anywhere in the US. Even the cats that aren't suitable for homes, they provided significant medical care for to ensure they were safe and ready to return to the Paseo.

Keep up the good work, and here are some cat pics of Mac now that he's all grown up and settled...