Oakland TNR Coalition

Oakland TNR Coalition Visit our website for more information!

Oakland TNR Coalition is a volunteer-run, foster-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit cat rescue founded in 2019 with a focus on TNVR in Oakland, Pittsburgh and surrounding city neighborhoods.

We have been asking for help nonstop lately, and we just aren’t getting the response we normally do. We are really feeli...
09/04/2026

We have been asking for help nonstop lately, and we just aren’t getting the response we normally do. We are really feeling it and of course, when it rains it pours.

Yesterday we had to make an emergency trip to Blue Pearl with Nyla, and she was at Fix’n Wag’n today for follow-up. She was spayed Monday, and by Tuesday we noticed increased thirst and urination. Wednesday she had an accident in the house and by Thursday, she was peeing large amounts of blood, lethargic, and had stopped eating. BP found that she had a fever, gave her fluids, and started antibiotics to see her regular vet the next day.

Today’s follow up showed continued blood in her urine, bacteria, and concerning changes that likely indicate an acute kidney injury. She received more fluids and additional medications, and we’re monitoring her closely. She is eating a bit more, so we’re hoping she turns a corner soon.

And Nyla isn’t the only bill this week.

Yesterday, Kitty the turtle successfully had the fishing hook removed from the back of her throat (swipe to just how big it was!).

Between Myrtle’s visit and diagnostics, Kitty’s appointment and surgery, a trap cat neuter, Nyla’s emergency visit and follow-up, and a new intake needing rabies vax & SNAP and f***l testing for Alex (which came back positive for coccidia… yay, thanks Philly🙃), we have racked up just under $2,000 in vet bills in 5 days.

We are really, really asking for your help right now.

The requests never stop. Cats are being dumped, colonies need TNR, sick animals need care, and we’re constantly being asked to help animals we simply don’t have the financial or physical capacity to take on.

We want to say YES more often, we want to keep expanding our ability to help, but we can’t do it without you.

Please donate if you can. Even $5, $10, or $20 helps us keep saying yes to the next cat, the next emergency, the next animal who has nowhere else to go. Please help make sure money isn’t the reason we have to turn away a cat, an at-risk dog, or even a dumped pet turtle in need.

Donate:
Givebutter —> bit.ly/otnrc_donate
PayPal —> paypal.me/oaklandtnrcoalition
Venmo —> venmo.com/u/OaklandTNR

Turtle update! We have officially named her Kitty the Turtle.Kitty saw the vet yesterday, and despite looking pretty goo...
09/03/2026

Turtle update! We have officially named her Kitty the Turtle.

Kitty saw the vet yesterday, and despite looking pretty good externally, they found a fishing hook lodged in the back of her throat, with fishing line still coming from her mouth. Thankfully, there are no other obvious wounds or signs of illness, but she’s understandably very stressed and spends most of her time tucked into her shell.

She’s also most likely a girl! While she’s under anesthesia to remove the hook, they’ll be able to get a better look at her and take x-rays to make sure there’s nothing else going on.

For now, she’s on meloxicam and clavacillin, and she’s scheduled for surgery tomorrow. We’re hoping this little girl has a smooth procedure and a much less eventful life from here on out.

Kitty is just one thing on our ever-growing list right now. We’re currently dealing with possible kidney cancer for Myrtle, a CT for Diesel’s regrown polyp, ongoing GI problems for Orchid and her kittens, a new asthma diagnosis for Irish Spring, megacolon for Skunk, complications from Sis’s enucleation, GI issues for Sterling, and probably at least three other things I’m forgetting because there is simply too much happening at once.

Admittedly, it’s a lot, financially, emotionally, and physically. Our fosters and volunteers are stretched incredibly thin caring for all of these animals. Our posts haven’t been reaching nearly as many people as they normally do, and donations have slowed down at the exact time our vet bills are climbing.

We need your help! If you can donate toward Kitty’s surgery or any of the animals in our care, it truly makes a difference. Even $5 helps us keep saying yes when another cat (or appears turtle) needs us.

Donate:
Givebutter —> bit.ly/otnrc_donate
PayPal —> paypal.me/oaklandtnrcoalition
Venmo —> venmo.com/u/OaklandTNR

Donations needed for Turtle!No… not our foster kitten Turtle, a turtle-turtle, like an actual, real life turtle.Since We...
09/01/2026

Donations needed for Turtle!

No… not our foster kitten Turtle, a turtle-turtle, like an actual, real life turtle.

Since Wednesday, Cedar has been keeping an eye on a Red Eared Slider in Duck Hollow who apparently forgot how to be a turtle because he couldn’t dive. Naturally, because we give a s**t, this became their and now our problem.

Knowing he’s an invasive species here and most likely someone’s former pet who was released into the wild (which is both illegal AND wildly unethical), Cedar geared up, grabbed a net, and went on a turtle rescue mission today.

He is now safely out of the water and living in what can only generously be described as a janky emergency turtle apartment (aka utility sink).

Tomorrow he’s off to see Dr. Adam at Fix’n Wag’n, and we’re working on getting him a proper setup while he hopefully heals. Apparently turtles require basically ONE MILLION DOLLARS worth of equipment, so if you have turtle supplies, tanks, filters, heat lamps, basking platforms, hides, etc. that you’d be willing to donate, PLEASE reach out!

Reptile rescues are incredibly hard to come by around here, and sadly several have closed due to lack of funding and support. We definitely did not wake up this morning thinking “today feels like a great day to rescue a turtle,” but we’re hoping we can help this little guy and take some pressure off the rescues still hanging in there.

Donations toward his care are also VERY appreciated as we figure out what this unexpected side quest is going to cost us.

And now, obviously the most important question, what the hell do we name him (or her, we’re just guessing here)?

We’re torn between Bacardi, for the bottle he was rescued by (seen in the photo of Cedar in the nasty Mon) or Kitty, in honor of our Turtle the foster kitty.

Please help, we already have enough cats and cannot also be bad at naming turtles.🫩

Donate:
Givebutter —> bit.ly/otnrc_donate
PayPal —> paypal.me/oaklandtnrcoalition
Venmo —> venmo.com/u/OaklandTNR

Donations needed for little Alien, who crash landed into our care last night! We’ve been helping with a colony in the No...
08/27/2026

Donations needed for little Alien, who crash landed into our care last night!

We’ve been helping with a colony in the North Side/Mexican War Streets, and one of the cats we TNR’d just a couple weeks ago showed up this week with kittens. She wasn’t noted as lactating when she was spayed, so suffice to say that was a surprise.

Last night, Erika went out to trap the kittens and two remaining unfixed adults and managed to hand snag this tiny creature. Alien is incredibly underweight, dumpy, and appears to be blind. Her pupils stay fully dilated, don’t constrict with light, and she doesn’t track or react to anything near her eyes.

She got flea meds, dewormer and her first FVRCP, and thankfully ate for us. Today she’s at Fix’n Wag’n getting checked out, while we work on catching her sibling.

We’re having a ROUGH go medically right now. Tomorrow, FIP boy Walnut has a recheck for a swollen lymph node and heavy breathing, and Skunk is getting repeat thyroid levels.

Sterling was seen after a vomiting spell and x-rays brought some shocking findings with significant constipation and a severe abnormality in his left hip, including absence of his femoral head and changes to the surrounding bone. And his liver value was alarming high. He’s now on pain medication, laxatives and liver support, with an othro referral sent out.

And poor Diesel’s ear polyp has already grown back. Given how quickly it returned, a specialist and CT may be our best option. A CT alone is estimated around $1,250.

Right now, we have $4,534.80 in outstanding bills between Fix’n Wag’n and Animal Friends, with at least another $300+ expected between today and tomorrow.

We need your help now more than ever.

Your donations allow us to get cats like Alien immediate veterinary care when something is clearly wrong. We don’t sit and wait until we have the money to help them. We get them seen and then figure out the rest. But we can only do that because of you.

If you can donate $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can spare, please help us keeping saving lives like Alien’s!

Donate:
Givebutter —> bit.ly/otnrc_donate
PayPal —> paypal.me/oaklandtnrcoalition
Venmo —> venmo.com/u/OaklandTNR

“My hope for the environment, for all things living and all things good, just nature in general, [is] that we should pay...
08/26/2026

“My hope for the environment, for all things living and all things good, just nature in general, [is] that we should pay more attention to how we’re treating our mountains, how we’re treating our world, how we’re just treating everything.” - Dolly Parton

This q***r little cat rescue is devastated, to say the least.

Dolly spent her life reminding us to care for the world around us and all the little beings in it. So maybe the best way to honor her is to live a little more like Dolly every day. Be kind, give generously, love animals, and leave this world a little better than we found it.

Rest in power, Dolly.

$5 FRIDAY!! Help us recoup $1,789.90 in veterinary expenses spent in just 3 DAYS!!Here’s where your donations are going:...
08/21/2026

$5 FRIDAY!! Help us recoup $1,789.90 in veterinary expenses spent in just 3 DAYS!!

Here’s where your donations are going:

Sis, the tiny Philly kitty we pulled from the euthanasia list, had her eye enucleation and spay at Animal Friends. She is recovering beautifully and will be available for adoption once she’s healed up. She’s petite, ridiculously sweet, and already stealing hearts. Her bill was $410.90.

Senior Skunk was back at the vet for ongoing GI issues, constipation/megacolon, anemia, and hyperthyroidism. His anemia is improving, but his ALT has more than doubled since his last visit, and there’s still a lot we’re trying to figure out. He’s back on his medication and has a whole pharmacy of supportive care to keep him comfortable. His bill was $493.

Our three FIP kitties, Tuna, Walnut, and Angel, got medication refills for $290.

Lasagna, a pregnant kitty from Arlington who would have had FIVE kittens if we hadn’t intervened, got her spay and vetting for $165.

Lady Beast, our Polish Hill badass, got her vetting and pregnant spay for $162.50.

Kitten Ursula had a post spay recheck and is now living that donut life. Her recheck was $125.

And Zephyrus, a new kitty from the South Side Slopes colony, got fully vetted for $65.40.

That’s $1,789.90 in THREE DAYS. We know $5 doesn’t sound like much but if enough people throw in $5, $10, $20, or literally whatever they can spare, it adds up FAST!!

We are taking in cats, getting them the care they need, and trying to keep up with an absolutely relentless wave of veterinary expenses. We need your help now more than ever.

If you can chip in for $5 Friday, please do. And if you can’t donate, sharing this post is genuinely helpful too.

Every dollar helps us say yes to whatever gets thrown our way next!

Donate:
Givebutter —> bit.ly/otnrc_donate
PayPal —> paypal.me/oaklandtnrcoalition
Venmo —> venmo.com/u/OaklandTNR

Foster Wishlists:
Amazon —> amzn.to/4c7DMG1
Chewy —> bit.ly/otnrc_chewylist

There may be a lot of punks in town this weekend for Skullfest, but the realest punk in Pittsburgh is undoubtedly this t...
08/20/2026

There may be a lot of punks in town this weekend for Skullfest, but the realest punk in Pittsburgh is undoubtedly this tiny beast.

Meet Lady Beast, straight out of Polish Hill.

About a month and a half ago, some concerned neighbors told us about a mom cat living in an abandoned house that had caught fire earlier this year. She had five kittens with her, and apparently she was ALL over the neighborhood with them. One neighbor told us they’d see her at 2am, strutting down the street with her tiny gang of cats.

We managed to trap four kittens, but mom was too smart. She kept moving, eventually settling in another abandoned house before disappearing again with the last kitten. We still kept trying to absolutely no avail.

Then she reappeared recently, sadly without the kitten, but very obviously pregnant.

We worked with a neighbor and finally caught her Monday. Tuesday, Lady Beast had a pregnant spay, preventing seven unwanted births.

There’s also a wild twist. The same week we first heard about her, some new neighbors(as we’ll call them) from California reported she attacked and bit them while they were walking their dog. They called animal control, insisting she “must have rabies” because cats don’t just do that…

Meanwhile, we spent the entire week in her territory trapping kittens and setting traps and got very close to her. She never once attacked us. And now that we finally have her, it turns out she is friendly!

We strongly suspect she was abandoned and has been in survival mode for a long time. Maybe now she’s finally realizing she can trust people again.

Her kittens are Princess, Lylyth, Razorblade, and Illiterates, and their feral dad, also trapped during all of this, was neutered and returned to his territory as Vicious Blade. All their names nods to local bands, which feels fitting for this all black Polish Hill punk family.

The four kittens will be ready for adoption very soon, likely later this week (pics are from their intake!). And Lady Beast should be ready in about two weeks.

So get ready, your chance to bring home a tiny agent of chaos is coming!

Your month, your silly little adoptable cat🫶🏻Well except for the first slide which is currently unavailable foster Pip a...
08/20/2026

Your month, your silly little adoptable cat🫶🏻

Well except for the first slide which is currently unavailable foster Pip and OTNRC alum Stuart because apparently we have beef with the concept of consistency.😐

Anyway, every other cat is adorable and available for adoption so go forth and find your emotional support idiot!

Adoption app —> bit.ly/otnrcadoption

BOTH REQUESTS COVERED THANK YOU!!!! TRANSPORT HELP NEEDED We have two transport needs coming up and could use a voluntee...
08/18/2026

BOTH REQUESTS COVERED THANK YOU!!!!

TRANSPORT HELP NEEDED

We have two transport needs coming up and could use a volunteer with a car!

*COVERED* TODAY (8/18): Pick up a trap kitty from Fix’n Wag’n in Glenshaw and bring them back to Beck in Swissvale. Pickup is typically by 5 PM.

*COVERED* TOMORROW (8/19): Senior boy needs a ride from his foster in Regent Square to Fix’n Wag’n in Glenshaw for a 10:20 AM appointment, and then a ride back to Regent Square afterward.

If you can help with either transport, please message us!

Well it’s happened again… another car, another kitten. 😭Last night we got a late night request for help with a kitten wh...
08/17/2026

Well it’s happened again… another car, another kitten. 😭

Last night we got a late night request for help with a kitten who had popped out from under a car at Negley and Wilkins, a HORRIBLE intersection for a kitten to be.

The finder had been trying since 9pm to catch her with the neighbor whose car she was up under. After no luck, they contacted us. We had them grab a kitten trap from another volunteer while we headed over.

Of course, this kitten couldn’t make it easy. She darted out from under the car, back and forth across the street between cars, into a bush, and eventually onto some porch steps, crying the entire time. After about 30 minutes of trying, volunteer Lyd finally cornered and snagged her by hand a little after midnight.

The finder doesn’t know of any cats in the area, and the car she was hiding in had been all over the city that day. We’ll have them keep an eye out just in case, but we have a feeling she hitched a ride much like so many of our other car kittens.

She got a much needed flea bath, flea meds, dewormer, and her first vaccine. She’s already chowing down and getting cozy with a comfy bed, heating disk, and a little stuffed Pirate Parrot for company. She’s pretty underweight, but thankfully doesn’t seem to have any major issues, so we’re hopeful she’ll be okay now that she’s safe.

We named her Kia, after the car she came out from under just like all our other car kittens. also, WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO US!!!

We’d love to find this little girl a foster. Kia is joining the now over 130 cats and kittens currently in our care, so every new intake means another foster, vet bill, and mouth to feed.

If you can foster Kia or another cat, please reach out. If you can’t foster, donations help immensely. Every foster home, dollar, can or bag of food, like, share, and comment helps us continue jumping in without hesitation in emergencies to save kittens like Kia!

Foster App —> bit.ly/otnrc_foster

Donate:
Givebutter —> bit.ly/otnrc_donate
PayPal —> paypal.me/oaklandtnrcoalition
Venmo —> venmo.com/u/OaklandTNR

Foster Wishlists:
Amazon —> amzn.to/4c7DMG1
Chewy —> bit.ly/otnrc_chewylist

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Pittsburgh, PA

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+14122297103

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