We took in a sweet mama-to-be named Pandora yesterday. She was living outside in Santa Paula with no microchip or identification, and she’s probably at least 6 weeks pregnant. She’s safe inside now! We’re guessing she’s due in 2-3 weeks with at least 3 kittens. For now she can relax, eat plenty of healthy food, be doted on, and get ready to be a good mom. She’ll be spayed and available for adoption once her kittens are weaned. She is a total sweetheart so we’re all hoping she gets to go home to a loving family as soon as she’s ready. 
Introducing a New Cat
Slowly.
That’s how you introduce a new cat or kitten to your other pets.
Everyone needs time to adjust. You cannot bring a new cat or kitten home and expect everyone to be friends right away. There are many articles written on the subject. We advise keeping the new kitty in one room at first. Let everyone smell each other through the door. You can even feed on either side of the door. Then trade spaces for a bit so the current pets can go sniff around while the new kitty checks out more of your residence. Be sure to give everyone lots of love and attention!
With a slow introduction you have a much higher chance of everyone getting along more quickly than just tossing someone new into the mix.
https://resources.bestfriends.org/article/introducing-new-cat
https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blog/the-dos-and-donts-of-introducing-cats/
March Updates
On March 16, 2020, Cassie’s Cats received its official determination letter stating nonprofit approval. We’re nearly a year out from there and feel proud of what we’ve accomplished and the groundwork we’ve laid in the midst of a global pandemic. We are ready to secure a lease and start moving things ever closer to the dream of opening a lounge and adoption center for rescued cats in Ventura! I (Jennifer) will be running the lounge and have had my first covid vaccination. Things are moving in the right direction, finally.
To date, Cassie’s Cats has raised over $12,700 in financial donations and has had over $1000 in in-kind donations. We have another $6500 promised to us as well. To have this kind of support before we even open our doors shows us that our community supports what we are trying to do and wants to see this dream come to life so more cats can have better lives.
We are up to about 512 followers on Facebook and nearly 500 on Instagram. We encourage our supporters to share our social media posts and accounts so that more people who love cats can find us and follow us.
We (Jennifer) recently had a chance to visit Purrmaid Cafe and Adoption Center in Camarillo and talk with the owner there. If you haven’t had a chance to visit, please do! They are also a nonprofit with the same core mission: to help rescued cats find safe, loving, permanent homes. Their generosity of both spirit and time is so appreciated!
Our fundraising through our online shop continues in earnest. In 2021 we’ve already sold 176 masks! We’ve also begun selling small and medium zipper pouches and we’re adding new prints as we can. We even have cute new oval logo stickers that you can add to any order for just $2.
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We’re currently without fosters at Jennifer’s house, and things seem much quieter. We’ll see how long that lasts. =^..^=
Musing…
We are so ready to sign a lease and get this show moving. As of today, about 4% of Ventura County has had both doses of the covid vaccine. The 7-day case rate is 26.2 per 100,000; to move from the purple tier to the red tier it needs to drop to 7 or lower. Hospitalizations have been dropping significantly which is great to see.
We’ve found one potential place to lease and are waiting to hear back on a couple of questions. It looks like a good location with a good lease rate, so fingers and paws crossed that this might be the one! It’ll need some work – new flooring (or at least see what’s under that carpet), fresh paint, creating a front desk area, creating a private space for cats and volunteers, and so on – but we figure any place is going to need most of that.
We have a gift registry ready to go so people can donate toys, food, litter, and other goodies to the future cats – can’t wait to share that with everyone, too! =^..^=
Looking forward to this being a reality!
February Updates
Things seem to be off to a good start for 2021. Storm and Cloud have been adopted, and we’re working to get Hurricane and Rain into their forever homes. Maybe even together, if we can! We’ve toured four retail spaces with feelers out for a couple more. One in particular would be great as long as the money is there month in and month out to pay the bills. It’s spacious and light and purrfect for a cat lounge. Wish we had a crystal ball to tell us what our future holds! We have faith that we’ll get the right place at the right time, that visitors and adopters will come, and that the support we need will be there! Once we’ve been open we should be able to pursue grants, too.
We set a goal to raise $1000/month through in-kind and financial donations and so far things are going well there. We’ve had fabric donated which has been terrific. A fat quarter usually makes 4 masks. Depending on the print, we can get upwards of 16 masks from a full yard of fabric. We’re looking at new fabrics to line the masks with and the possibility of adding a filter pocket.
We’ve sold a few pouches already and have a pattern we like now for a smaller pouch. Just need to get some sewn up! If the weather continues to be sunny, and if COVID-19 cases continue to drop, we may hold another pop-up shop in the next month or so.
In the near future we will be adding some education pages to the website, things like what to expect when you bring a new cat home, how to introduce animals, what’s normal for kitten behavior, etc. if you have suggestions for other topics we’d love to hear them!
As always, thank you for your support. Without supporters we wouldn’t be able to pursue this dream of helping more cats find safe, loving, permanent homes. 💗