March Updates

Since our last update we have had 6 more adoptions: Bandit, Willow, Phoebe, Simba, Bambi, and Missy! Yes, Missy, who joined us as one of our 4 original cats back in May 2021. She is settling into her furever home and has become quite the little snuggler (when she wants to, of course!). We are so happy for all of the kitties who found their homes.

In the first 3 months of the year we had about roughly 310 volunteer hours donated by nearly 20 volunteers. (That is in addition to the hours that Jennifer puts in.) We had approximately $1700 in food and litter donated, and we had nearly 400 visits! We have started doing First Friday evening events and have had a few visitors during each of those. The next one will be May 6th from 6-7pm, so mark your calendar.

At the lounge we currently have 11 cats and kittens: Michael, Rachel, Cindy, Coral, Kiki, Ivy, Oliver, Jasmine, Cassie, Sam, and Steve. We also have baby Monte in foster and you can see him on Facebook and Instagram under Melt Your Heart Meow’s accounts (Shannon Evans, longtime Greyfoot Cat Rescue volunteer and current Cassie’s Cats volunteer). We also have two young, friendly pregnant cats in foster together with another one of our volunteers (thank you, Gina!). All told we have taken in 59 cats and kittens over the past 10 months.

Looking ahead, we hope to do a community garage sale fundraiser this summer, a silent auction next fall, and a holiday market with contributions from local makers. We are also working on a fundraising event with Four Brix Winery on May 27th!

Kitten season is well underway so if you are interested in being a part of the solution please help out with efforts to spay and neuter community cats in our area.

January-February Updates

January seemed to fly by! Here we are in mid-February already. The new year is off to a good start for the lounge. We had 10 adoptions in January alone! Congratulations go out to Snickers and Twix, Blaze and Kindle, Tonks and Fleur, Dear Heart and Sweet Heart, Hedwig, and Hershal. Snickers and Twix had been with us since mid-June 2021 and we were particularly thrilled to see them go to a wonderful home! This month we have had three adoptions so far: Jacob and Sadie, and Brave Heart. To see Jacob and Sadie adopted was beyond gratifying. They, too, had been here since last June, and at their ages (11 and 13) we know it would be harder to find them a new home. We are glad they could stay with us while they waited for their people to find them. Congratulations to all of the kitties who found homes over the last 6 weeks!

We’re currently housing 11 other cats and kittens: Michael, Missy, Rachel, Coral, Cindy, Simba, Kiki, Bambi, Oliver, Ivy, and Jasmine. Of these 11, Michael and Missy have been with us the longest, arriving in May 2021. Rachel has been with us for nearly 6 months now. They each have their own quirks and because they’re also slightly older (4-6 years old) they’ve been harder to place. But we know their purrfect people are out there somewhere! In the meantime, they’re happy and safe in the lounge.

We have a couple of particularly shy cats right now: Coral and Ivy. Coral has accepted full-body pets from a few volunteers so we know she has it in her to warm up and be a sweet little companion. She likes to sidle up to Michael and he seems to let her, and she also likes the company of her sister Cindy. Ivy will let the volunteers pet her but she does not like to come out of her bed while lots of people are in the lounge. She is bonded with her brother, Oliver, who is very friendly and fairly confident. These are not going to be our easiest adoptions but we have faith that we will get them into their purrfect homes eventually.

Bambi is currently our youngest cat. He’s about 5 months old and high energy! We’ve nicknamed him Bam Bam. He had terrible eye infections before he was rescued and while that has led to some scarring and perhaps a slight loss of vision, he acts 100% like a normal kitten. We’ve had him on a medical hold while we sort out some soft stools but fingers crossed he appears to be finally rounding that bend!

Our newest cat is Jasmine who’s at least part Siamese. She’s about 2-3 years old and is very friendly and playful! She had a traumatic birthing experience (thankfully she was safely in rescue by that point) but now that she’s spayed and indoors she’ll never have to go through that again. She has a naturally short tail that was also broken at some point in her life so for the most part it hangs down but so far we haven’t noticed it affecting her in any way.

Kiki and Simba are a sibling pair (not bonded) of sleek black house panthers! They are friendly and playful and would basically create an instant feline family for anyone lucky enough to adopt them. This is an early video of them; they now roam freely around the lounge and love getting attention!

Our feline Valentine fundraiser was a big success! We sold 91 Valentines at $5 each, and it’s been a treat to see so many beloved kitties honored in our front window. We’re already looking forward to offering this opportunity next year.

Speaking of fundraising: We have a couple of ideas already brewing for later in the year. We’d like to try a silent auction, and we’d like to expand our holiday market. It’s too early to move forward on either of those ideas just yet but tuck them away for the future!

We have been tracking food and litter donations more closely this year as well as volunteer hours. In January we received nearly $600 in food and litter donations, and volunteers other than Jennifer contributed roughly 100 hours of socializing cats, helping with cleaning, and assisting guests. We held an orientation for new volunteers in January and will have another coming up in the next few weeks.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you! We truly appreciate all of the support we get from our followers and couldn’t do what we do without your moral, financial, and in-kind support. If you’d like to see our current wish lists we have Amazon and Chewy wishlists. We’ve also started a foster kitten wishlist in anticipation of helping out once kitten season gets going.

2021 Wrap-Up

2021 has been a very good year for Cassie’s Cats! We have brought in cats from unhappy and/or unsafe situations. We have had adoptions. We have recruited a team of volunteers. And we have had many, many visitors. Here are some numbers to help illustrate our year:

Adoptions: 26! We’re so happy for the 26 cats and kittens we’ve helped find their furever homes. You can see them on our Success Stories page. We have 17 more cats and kittens currently in our care.

Volunteers: We have had 20 people volunteer at the lounge, helping to socialize kitties, talk with guests, feed and clean, transport cats, and more. We have a great team of caring people helping our cats and kittens stay safe, happy, and healthy.

Partners: We have worked with 6 shelters and rescues: Ventura County Animal Services, Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center, Los Angeles Animal Services, Apple Valley Animal Services, Foundling Kitten Society, and Stray Paws Animal Haven. In addition, we have worked with private parties and other rescuers, including Shannon’s Fosters and Moore Veterinary Care. Six of the kittens we’ve brought in came straight off the streets.

Spay/Neuter: We took in 7 kittens who were not spayed/altered and made sure that they had surgery to prevent future litters.

Pairs: We have adopted out 3 pairs of kittens: Oreo and Smudge, Willow and Angel, and Andy and Alex.

Visits: From September 1 to December 22, we had 314 visits to the lounge. During those 3 months, the most popular time was 2 pm (61 visits) and the most popular day was Saturday (126 visits).

The Cats: Our oldest resident is Sadie (13 years, 8 months). Our longest-time residents are Michael and Missy (220 days as of 12/27/21).

Donations: We have had countless donations of food, litter, treats, toys, and other in-kind donations. Because of that generosity, along with the financial donations we have received, we are proud to be ending the year in the black, financially. Our goal has always been to have a cushion in the bank to help us weather lean times, and continued generosity means we can take on cats and kittens who might need more medical attention.

We are looking forward to 2022! If you would like to donate to us or get involved, please check out our Donate page and our Volunteer Application.

Late November Updates

December 2nd will mark our 6-month anniversary. We will be celebrating 22 adoptions: Mittens, Bettie, Archie, Denzel, Duke, Oreo and Smudge (together), Petey, Phoebe, Charlotte, Kaylee, Topaz, Willow and Angel (together), Bagel, Dallas, Alex and Andy (together), Chewy, Vader, Buffy, and Yoda! We are so happy that all of these kitties will have long and happy lives in their new homes.

We will also be celebrating the 12 cats in the lounge: Michael, Missy, Sadie, Jacob, Snickers, Twix, Rachel, Cheyenne, Hershal, Cindy, Coral, and Adam. Michael and Missy continue to be our long-time residents, having come to the lounge on May 21st. Sadie and Jacob are our oldest cats at 13 and 11 years old, respectively. We would LOVE to see some more adoptions before the end of the year, especially for some of our adult cats. Our two bonded pairs even have support on their adoption fees from one of our donors for the right homes.

People ask where the cats come from. So far we have partnered with Ventura County Animal ServicesSanta Paula Animal Rescue CenterLos Angeles Animal ServicesApple Valley Animal ServicesFoundling Kitten SocietyStray Paws Animal Haven, and Shannon’s Fosters

Our lobby shop continues to be a helpful source of fundraising for us, and we have enjoyed adding items especially for the holidays. Come take a look at what we have to offer when you’re in the area. You might find a great gift for a teacher, your hairstylist, or even yourself! We also have a few things listed in our online shop.

In-kind donations of food, litter, supplements and other lounge necessities come in regularly and we appreciate it! We have wishlists at Amazon and Chewy for supporters to shop from. And of course, we always appreciate financial donations. The support from the community is incredibly valuable in helping us help these kitties!

Visiting the Lounge

When visiting we encourage reservations so that you are sure you can visit when you want to. We are limiting lounge visitors to 4 at a time. Walk-ins are welcome, however. We are open Wednesday-Sunday and our website is kept up to date with any special holiday hours or closures.

Fundraising Update

We are, and will always be fundraising! Donations to Cassie’s Cats are tax-deductible. We need our mission to be shared with others in Ventura and the surrounding communities as well as further out, to anyone who shares our values and wants to see cats and kittens finding their fur-ever homes!

*Use the blue DONATE button at the bottom of any page on our website or visit our DONATE page
*Mail a check to 1744 E Main St, Ventura CA 93001
*Send us a donation through Venmo (@cassies-cats)
*Shop our wishlists at Chewy and Amazon to send us in-kind donations

Thank you for your continued support! www.cassiescatsandkittens.org  

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November Updates

Current Cats and Kittens in the Lounge
We have 14 cats and kittens living at the lounge, ranging in age from about 5-6 months old to 13 years old. Our three newest residents (Cindy, Coral, and Hershal) come to us from Stray Paws Animal Haven in El Monte, CA. They are still adjusting to their new surroundings and are not out and about with all of the other cats yet. Our next three newest are Cheyenne, Dallas, and Bagel. Cheyenne was trapped outside of Golf n Stuff in Ventura and she’s a very friendly young mom whose kitten days are behind her forever now that she’s been spayed. Thanks go out to Foundling Kitten Society for working to get her trapped, vaccinated, spayed, and transported to us. Dallas and Bagel came to us from SPARC and we’re hoping different exposure here will help them find their perfect home(s). They are not brothers but they get along great! Buffy, our little black kitten, also loves playing with her new friends. Our longtime residents are still with us: Michael, Missy, Snickers, Twix, Jacob, and Sadie (plus Rachel, though she hasn’t been here quite so long). They’re happy with us and well cared for, but we sure would like to see them land in real homes. Adopting out cats who are older is harder than adopting out the younger ones. But we know there are kind-hearted people out there who want to help a cat and meet that cat where it is rather than hope to mold its behavior and nature in some way.

Volunteers
We’re up to about 20 volunteers at the lounge now and always looking for more help! Some people are able to volunteer on a regular basis just about every week while others can only come in sporadically. We are grateful for all of the help we receive and definitely still need more. If you would like to volunteer with us please fill out our volunteer application. During business hours shifts are two hours long. We also have shifts to help open the lounge (one hour) and close the lounge (45 minutes). Shifts during business hours do require some customer service potentially, while opening and closing shifts are just the volunteers and cats. All shifts include time to just hang out with the cats!

Kitten Adoptions
Chewy, Vader, and Yoda are now available for pre-adoption. We anticipate sending them home around November 29th, after they’ve had their spay/neuter surgeries and the second round of kitten vaccinations. If you are interested in applying for any of them please contact us.

Events
We are having another “Cats at Night” event on November 4th. Visitors can come to the lounge for tea and dessert for 75 minutes and see what the cats are like at night. (The last few times we’ve been there at night they’ve been wide awake!) During Thanksgiving week we will have modified hours, rates, and capacity, and we’ll be offering 10% off all purchases.

Fundraising
We have added a few new items to the lobby shop and encourage you to take a look. It’s a great way to find some small gifts and help support the cats. We have some new pillowcases in various prints (cat, holiday, and other), a few aprons, scented jar candles, new earrings, and more, plus new toys and stockings for the cats in your life. If you’d like to help out by sending needed items for the cats and the lounge you can shop our Amazon and Chewy wishlists, or our Target wishlist that’s all just-for-fun stuff for the cats to help us celebrate our 6-month anniversary of being open on December 2nd!


Thank you, as always, for your support!