April – June Check In

The next three months of the year have officially come and gone and summer is here! We wanted to share a few highlights from the second quarter of 2024.

Adoptions: 17 cats and kittens have found their forever homes so far this year, bringing our overall total since opening in June 2021 to 160 adoptions as of June 30th.

Current Residents: We have 12 cats living in the lounge right now: Cici, Dotty, Finn, Jake, Noah, Pepper, Princess, Raven, Sizzle, Sophie, Spencer, and Spice. Princess has been with us the longest (17 months) and is also our oldest kitty (around 14 years old). We have 2 kittens in foster who we brought in from friends of a rescue in Bakersfield: Chandler and Monica. They are roughly 12 weeks old and will be spayed/neutered on July 31st at HSVC in Ojai. They are not yet available for adoption.

Lounge Improvements: We purchased a new catio to give our shyest cats a safe space to call home. The catio’s footprint is roughly 56 square feet and is currently home to Pepper and Sizzle. Already we are seeing a huge improvement in their levels of calm and security. We hope this will help them finally get adopted since they are very nice cats who need a much quieter and more predictable home.

Medical Expenses: We had five kittens spayed/neutered, microchipped, and tested for FIV and FeLV. The humane society in Ojai is so helpful to us with these procedures.

Volunteers: We have roughly 18 dedicated volunteers, including many who volunteer multiple times each week! Thanks to Jackie, Al, Robin, Brian, Shannon, Donna, Kay, Dani, Barbara, Laura, Jennifer R., Jen F., Karla, Veaya, Marnae, Maddy, Beverly, and Claire.

Food and Litter Donations: We have had roughly $3994 worth of food and litter donated so far this year! These donations help immensely and allow us to use the money the lounge brings in to cover rent, utilities, Internet, insurance, security, and vet bills.

TNR Support: Through front desk jar donations we have raised $280 so far this year to help local volunteer trappers with the crucial work they are doing to help curb the overpopulation of cats and reduce suffering. We have also donated dry and wet food for them to use when trapping and share with the kind-hearted people who will continue to feed the feral cats on their property.

January – March Check-In

The first three months of the year have officially come and gone and spring is here! We wanted to share a few highlights from the first quarter of 2024.

Adoptions: 10 cats and kittens have found their forever homes so far this year, bringing our overall total since opening in June 2021 to 153 adoptions as of March 31st.

Current Residents: We have 12 cats living in the lounge right now: Charlotte, Dotty, Hanna, Noah, Pepper, Princess, Sassy (being adopted 4/11/24), Sizzle, Sophie, Spencer, Spice, and Star (being adopted 4/9/24). Princess has been with us the longest (14 months) and is also our oldest kitty (around 13+ years old). We have 5 kittens in foster who we pulled from the Apple Valley shelter: Catrina, Greycie, Harry Pawter, Ravenpaw, and Ron Whiskerley. They are roughly 9-10 weeks old and will be spayed/neutered once they hit 3 pounds. They are not yet available for adoption.

Lounge Improvements: We had safety film applied to the inside of all the front windows to increase their strength in the event of an earthquake or malicious intent on the part of a human. We also bought new cushions that were custom fit to the benches in the lounge. We replaced the original gray rugs with new blue rugs.

Medical Expenses: We helped Freya with two teeth extractions. During a vet exam for another reason it was found that she had two old fractures and we learned that those teeth needed to be removed. Freya healed well and is now living with her forever family! We also purchased more flea treatments, dewormers, and vaccines.

Volunteers: We have roughly 20 dedicated volunteers, including many who volunteer multiple times each week! Thanks to Jackie, Al, Robin, Brian, Shannon, Donna, Kay, Dani, Michele, Michael, Barbara, Bryant, Laura, Jennifer R., Jen F., Karla, Veaya, Marnae, Maddy, Beverly, and Melanie.

Food and Litter Donations: We have had roughly $2246 worth of food and litter donated so far this year! These donations help immensely and allow us to use the money the lounge brings in to cover rent, utilities, Internet, insurance, security, and vet bills.

TNR Support: Through front desk jar donations we have raised $164 so far this year to help local volunteer trappers with the crucial work they are doing to help curb the overpopulation of cats and reduce suffering. We have also donated dry and wet food for them to use when trapping and share with the kind-hearted people who will continue to feed the feral cats on their property.

Anniversary T-Shirts

UPDATE: No more orders being taken. Shirts were ordered 5/29/23.

Michael’s adopter, Karla, and I (mainly Karla!) have been working on some new designs to help celebrate the lounge’s 2nd anniversary coming up in June. If you’ve been around a while you will remember Michael, Missy, Rachel, Jasmine (now Rose), and Jacob and Sadie. 🙂

There are several options: a shirt featuring 6 of our better-known cats (that shirt comes in several colors) and then individual shirts featuring each cat/pair of cats (those shirts come in a single color).

If you order using the link below your shirt(s) will be delivered to the lounge for local pick up. Shipping is included in the prices you see. We will earn about $8-$10 per shirt so this is also a nice fundraiser for us!

We most likely will open up a shop that will include other items like hoodies, socks, mugs, etc.

Please look over the PDF for all the choices and then fill out the Google form to place your order.

Please note that payment must be made in advance. You can go to the Donate page of the website for options or pay in person when you’re at the lounge in the near future.

BIG thanks to Karla for making this happen! We have custom kicker toys and other goodies coming to the lounge as well, all featuring her adorable drawings.

Order form: https://forms.gle/9dsbYbcs41Jd1bJM9

Please order by Friday, May 26th.

Information for Prospective Adopters

posted in: Adoptions, Education | 0

We hope this collection of articles and their resources will help you as you prepare to bring home a new cat or kitten!

Home Safety Check – this article is very thorough and this article has a nice checklist. If you have house plants consult this article from the ASPCA to be sure your plants are safe. Find a toxic one? Make a plan to re-home that plant.

Introducing a New Cat to a Current Cat – We love Jackson Galaxy’s advice and this article will walk you through it step by step! Absolutely worth the time to read through it and watch his videos as you get ready to bring home your new cat or kitten.

The Ride Home – most of our adopters have short rides home, thankfully, but any trip in the car can be unsettling and downright scary for some cats and kittens. This article has suggestions for minimizing the stress.

A Room of Their Own (to start) – even the most secure and extroverted cats can be scared when they get to their new home. Everything is different! This article talks about the benefits of starting them off in one room and how to set that up.

Food and Litter – we will let you know what kind of food and litter your new cat or kitten has been eating and using so that you can have that on hand to make the transition home easier for your new family member.

Suggested Products – this post has a collection of items that cats at the lounge have liked and that various volunteers have experience with.