27 Dec 2021

2021 Wrap-Up

by | posted in: Adoptions, Fundraising, General Updates, Spay and Neuter, Volunteers | 0

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.

30 Nov 2021

Late November Updates

by | posted in: Adoptions, Fundraising, General Updates | 0

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 Services, Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center, Los Angeles Animal Services, Apple Valley Animal Services, Foundling Kitten Society, Stray 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  

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

18 Nov 2021

Thanksgiving Hours and Specials

by | posted in: Fundraising, General Updates | 0

During the week of Thanksgiving, we will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday. We will be open that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 12-4 pm each day. Visits will be just $5/30 minutes and $10/60 minutes all weekend, and we have increased capacity to 6 visitors at a time to accommodate families. Make your reservation now! Everything in the lobby shop will also be 10% off for those 3 days. Hope to see you there!

2 Nov 2021

November Updates

by | posted in: Adoptions, Events, Fundraising, Volunteers | 0

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!