Some of Our Favorite Products

posted in: Education | 0

We thought putting together a list of some of our recommended products might be helpful for current cat owners as well as prospective adopters. We have a list of suggested items in a wishlist at Amazon, too.

Scratchers and Towers

The Wharf (downtown Ventura) carries an excellent selection of cat trees in various sizes. They are sturdy and very well-made. Highly recommend taking a look at their selection. As pieces sell they get new items in so you never know what you’ll find!

This scratcher from Target has been very popular with kittens and adult cats alike, including some of our bigger cats like Jacob.

Our tall scratching posts get a lot of use both as scratchers and perches! This gives even the biggest cats a stable place to fully stretch out while scratching.

This medium-height tower is popular for sitting in the front window and watching the world go by.

Toys

Almost all of our cats can be coaxed into playing with a wand toy, but certain toys seem to be more popular. Da Bird and Da Bee are huge hits, as is a very simple toy with a long ribbon of fleece.

When it comes to chasing toys, little pom poms, springs, and “cat crazies” are perennial favorites with the kittens.

Kickers! We love kickers in all shapes, sizes and textures when it comes to giving feisty kitties a healthy outlet for that need to bite, scratch, and bunny kick. We sell some in our lobby and in our online shop. The Yeowww catnip brand of bananas and rainbows are huge hits as well.

From the Field makes appealing catnip toys as well as selling dried catnip. We love their catnip oil spray and carry their products in our lobby shop.

Food

We prefer to feed the cats and kittens wet food without “meals” and “by products” when possible. We want the first ingredient to be whatever meat is supposed to be in the food. There are many excellent brands to choose from now, including Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Weruva, Fussy Cat, Merrick, Purina Beyond, Instinct, and many more. Read the labels and look for quality ingredients. Same goes for dry food, and we do offer kibble to the cats but feed them wet food twice a day.

For food dishes stay away from plastic as they can harbor bacteria.

Water Fountains

Moving water is often more appealing to cats and staying well-hydrated is important for their good health. Different cats have different preferences. We’ve had good luck with several styles at the lounge including this one and this one.

Litter

We stay away from scented litters at the lounge. There are many good litters out there including litters other than clay. This litter scoop is incredible at keeping the dust down.

Carriers

Carriers that can be loaded from the top and the front can be very helpful. Two we like include this one from Petmate at this one from Sherpa. A backpack-style carrier can be useful if you have to travel with your cat. And a large enclosure like this one can help on road trips.

Trimming Claws

We prefer little scissor-style clippers when we trim claws at the lounge (similar to these).

August Updates

posted in: Adoptions | 0

Congratulations to Montebella, Steve and Sam (together), Jerry and Elaine (together), Kramer and George (together), Paris, Cassie, Mango, Chloe and Katy (together), Jasmine, Ethel and Rey (together), and Athena and Zeus (together) who all found their safe, loving, permanent homes in June and July! We are so grateful when just the right adopter finds just the right cat and agrees with us philosophically on what it means to provide the best life for the cat(s) they adopt.

Our yard sale in June was a terrific success and we raised nearly $900. One of our volunteers started a Facebook fundraiser on our behalf in July to celebrate his birthday and raised over $1100. If you have a birthday coming up we’d be honored to be your chosen nonprofit if you decide to start your own fundraiser. For perspective, we had 13 cats and kittens go to the Humane Society in Ojai in July alone for spay/neuter surgeries, microchips, and FIV/FeLV testing. Each appointment costs us an average of $90. We did some calculations and figured that very conservatively we are spending about $230 per weaned, underage kitten we take in and house for 5 weeks. Every donation (food, litter, and money) helps us help them. This coming weekend we are hosting 12 jigsaw puzzlers in a tournament fundraiser. Stay tuned for updates on that! We think it’s going to be a lot of fun for everyone.

We are putting the word out for makers and crafters who might like to consign with us in November and December. We’re hoping to expand what we can offer in our lobby shop to holiday shoppers. If you are interested please contact us with your ideas.

We currently have 10 cats and kittens currently in the lounge looking for homes (and 1 pending adoption for Violet) as well as 6 foster kittens looking for homes. We really prefer that kittens go home in pairs or to homes with young, playful cats. If you’d like to adopt from us please start at our Available Cats page.

The Cost of a Kitten

“Kitten season” is the time of year when kittens are being born and in Ventura County it’s nearly a year-round. Mild winters with little rain mean unaltered males and females are roaming and finding one another. Along with every other rescue and shelter in the area, we have been bombarded with requests to help with kittens for the last 5 months. Requests come both within and outside of Ventura County, as the problem of overpopulation is widespread and challenging.

When we are able to say yes to taking in kittens we do. We’ve taken in 20 since March: Monte, the Seinfeld kittens, the Schitt’s Creek kittens, Mia’s 4, Luna’s 4, and the I Love Lucy kittens. This is happening in foster homes, on top of running the lounge and taking care of the young adults and adult cats there. Just running the lounge and looking after the health and well-being of the cats there costs a certain amount of money month to month. Kittens add on a whole new level of expense that adoption fees barely even begin to cover. Let’s break it down…

Spay/neuter and other medical: Each kitten in our care will be spayed/neutered, microchipped, and tested for FIV and FeLV. On average this costs us $90 per kitten. We can do vaccinations in-house and that typically runs about $14/kitten for two doses. Dewormers, antidiarrheals, probiotics, and other treatments add on to those totals.

Food: from about 5-6 weeks on, kittens are weaning. It’s fair to assume that we will be feeding a kitten wet food and some kibble for 5 weeks while in foster. This amounts to roughly $90 in wet food and $27 in dry food.

Litter: one 20-pound bag of non-clumping pellet litter runs about $10.

Adding that up, we come to approximately $231+ per kitten when they are weaned and we have them for about 5 weeks. Each additional week adds another $23 in food. Our adoption fees are $150 for one kitten, $225 for a pair.

In order for us to say yes to helping kittens, while still running the lounge and caring for our adult cats there, we simply must do more fundraising. Please know that when you shop in our lounge, donate to a Facebook fundraiser, pay the entrance fee to visit, or simply make a contribution you are helping us say yes. We have to say no way too often, and we appreciate being able to say yes when we can. You can donate here. Thank you!

Holiday Market Consignment Opportunity

posted in: Fundraising | 0

This winter we would like to offer handmade/locally made items for sale for humans and cats in our holiday market and invite local businesses and individuals to contribute some things to sell in it. This is a fundraiser for Cassie’s Cats and we hope to have a wide variety of items for our local shoppers to choose from! Please contact us to discuss your ideas and reserve some space. No idea is too small!

Terms…

This consignment is a 50-50 arrangement. Half of gross sales goes to Cassie’s Cats and half to the business/individual. Cassie’s Cats will absorb any credit card processing fees.

All items for sale must be brought to the lounge between November 1-7, 2022. 

All items must be available for sale through December 24, 2022.

All unsold items must be picked up by January 10, 2023. Anything not picked up will be considered a donation to Cassie’s Cats.

Payments for anything sold will be made on December 1, 2022 and January 1, 2023. Payments will be made by Venmo or PayPal. If the business/individual has neither, other arrangements may be made.

Items must be priced individually or an 8.5” x 11” price sheet must be provided to display.

We cannot accept fragile/breakable items.