Adoption Updates and My Goodness… It’s September Already!
I’m normally not a fan of the year flying by, but given I wanted to return 2020 to sender all the way back in March, I’m happy to help shuffle it out the door as quickly as possible.
If you haven’t visited us lately, I have great news – as of last week we’ve been able to return to indoor food service and consumption!
Our capacities are still a bit limited, but at least you can now enjoy Cat & Craft as it was intended to be enjoyed – kitty snuggles with a side of yummy food and beverage!
Who knows what lies ahead so if you’ve been thinking about visiting, come on in soon!
Now time for my favorite subject – ADOPTION UPDATES!
Janelle
She’s the best cat ever!! I changed her name to Sophie, and she loves her new house.
Janelle’s Family
Curious George
He’s doing great. Both him and Panda are getting along fine. They’re thick as thieves. Yes. They love tag teaming me for treats lol
Curious George’s Family
Parsley & Mooney
They are doing awesome! We’re so happy we were able to adopt them They are best friends and growing so fast!
Parsley & Mooney’s Family
Violin and Cezanne
We Love them, Thank you so much!
Violin and Cezanne’s Family
Frida
She is doing well. Here you can see she has taken over the dog’s bed!
Thank you! We love her very much! We changed her name to Luna and she is definitely the queen around here
Frida’s Family
Wichita
We absolutely adore her and after getting to know her personality we renamed her Luna Lovegood . She is constantly playing with our other little girl kitty, Harley Quinn, they wrestle and chase each other around, too cute. She’ll stop everything she’s doing to play with the laser light. She’s such a sweet little buddy and a little lover girl who loves people. We are so grateful for her and super thankful to Cat Cafe and LYFF!
Wichita’s Family
Kittle
Kittle is doing great she’s grown quite a bit and we renamed her Tink (as in Tinker toy).
She also likes to climb the screen door
Kittle’s Family
Mykonos
Hi! Mykonos is now named Kai and he’s doing very well! He and our older cat Lilo have quickly become best buddies and it’s been fun watching him grow and learn. He’s been an absolutely joy and we’re so thankful to you guys for giving him a chance and giving us the newest member of our family!
Mykonos’ Family
Caleb
Oh, he’s the king of the castle!
Caleb’s Family
Hashbrown
We just love Hashbrown! She is a really awesome, sweet cat who adapted instantly to our home and small children. She loves being held and her wet food. She’s a great playmate for our other cat Cookie.
Hashbrown’s Family
Sapphire
She’s amazing!!!!! We changed her name to Smudge and it fits her perfectly!
She and her puppy brother Nico are the best of friends! They love each other so much it’s adorable!
Sapphire’s Family
Charlotte
She’s doing awesome, adjusted well. She just had her round of vaccinations and rabies shots couple of weeks ago. She’s so loving playful, curious. Here’s a photo of Ms. Charlotte
Charlotte’s Family
Thomas O’Malley
Thomas is doing great. We have a 2 year old cat and Thomas is getting along great with her! (It took a little time lol) He’s growing everyday so much. We’re so happy Thomas is part of our family here’s some pics of him! His sister Mellow is featuring in one.
Thomas O’Malley’s Family
Mimi
We love her dearly! She is sweet and spunky and wild and cuddly and loves following us around and we couldn’t be happier.
Thank YOU guys for everything… she came to us so healthy and well adjusted!
Mimi’s Family
Tazel
Tazel has wiggled her way into our hearts. She is a very cool cat. Taz likes to snuggle in my hair, and she plays morning and evening. She has no bad habits.
If you’ve been keeping track along with us, you already know we’ve had over 300 adoptions since mid-February of this year!
Our partner LYFF Rescue does a great job of checking in on the kiddos after they’ve settled into their forever homes. There are A LOT of follow-ups so we like to keep sharing the updates with you as we receive them!
Max
It was impossible to choose just a couple of photos, he’s so cute! His name is Ozzy now and he loves his home! He has lots of toys and LOVES sitting in window sills to look at the world passing by. He’s very talkative and playful and has warmed up to cuddles. He loves food, sleeping, and playing! Thank you for all that you do, we are so lucky we get to be his family.
Max’s Family
Patches
Thank you for checking in! Patches (now Riley Patches) is pretty much settled in! It’s a slow process, but we notice his comfort level changes for the better every week! He still loves his headbutts and we love giving them to him he loves snuggling in bed and watching the lizards outside and hanging out with mom while she works
Patches’ Family
Toulouse
Hi! We’ve renamed him Potato and he’s doing great! He’s amazing with our kids and loves to cuddle and explore. We’re so happy to have him in our lives!
Toulouse’s Family
Jasper James
Hi! He’s been doing great! We’ve named him Charles, and he loves napping, playing with his toys and drinking out of the faucet, LOL. He really loves his long afternoon naps, haha.
Thank you guys! We love him so much! I’ll send along some pics!
Jasper James’ Family
Cloudberry
She is doing well. A sweet little thing, she is. We are enjoying our new addition.
She likes being close to us & has made quick friends with our other cats.
Cloudberry’s Family
Napoleon
Hi ! We love Shadow (what we renamed him) so very much! We have two older cats both seven and eight that are finally coming around to him. He naps with my oldest multiple times a day. He’s happy and healthy. Here are a few pictures.
Thank you so much for trusting him to us!
Napoleon’s Family
Elederberry
Cleo ” helping” me read
Miss no longer Elderberry, now Cleo, is doing fantastic! A bundle of energy, amazing side splitting zoomies (to watch), loves to cuddle and annoy big brother, Bob.
Elderberry’s Family
Mr Gray & Renoir
Hi! We love our Remy! My girls changed his name. He is such a sweet boy that we decided to adopt again through you and our new girl, Pepper (formerly Renoir,) is his new bestie! It was dicey for a while and I was worried they weren’t going to get along but now they are best buds. It was a week or 2 of madness with lots of “are they playing?/are they trying to kill each other?” But after that wore off they are truly best friends.
My girls adore both kitties and Remy and Pepper are both incredibly spoiled.
It’s been a joy! I was definitely not a pet person because with 3 kids I feel like I have enough noses to wipe. but Covid got me thinking- and my kids begging— and we took the leap! So glad we did. My kids find so much joy in them and I truly see the therapeutic aspect of being a pet owner. I have already seen how pets can help with mental health- especially in the midst of a pandemic that can be really scary and isolating for kids.
Thanks! I’ve been so impressed with LYFF! Tell their foster moms I’m grateful they loved them so well for the time they had them!
Mr Gray & Renoir’s Family
Olive Oil
He’s been the best. We renamed him Herbie. Both my boys are obsessed with him. He’s always looking to cuddle, loves licking people and playing with our dogs tail. He’s so good with the kids, patient and sweet. Herbs has got a crazy side too! He makes us all very happy.
Olive Oil’s Family
Tux & Felix
Hi! Thanks for reaching out. They are doing great and has been such a blessing to us. We renamed Felix, his name is now Bo, Tux is still Tux. They are super cute and a ton of fun.
Tux & Felix’s Family
P. Sherman
Sherman is the best! Thank you for asking…he’s made the last few months better!!!
P. Sherman’s Family
Bonnie
Bonnie is doing good. She’s a lot of fun. Besides when she sleeps, she’s always with us…as you can see her near our computers.
Bonnie’s Family
Ketchup
We love our little fur ball!! We ended up changing his name to OREO! He is so sweet and so loveable. He loves waking us up every morning and leaving his toys all over the house! He has the personality of a toddler. Loves to play, but also loves to nap! We are thinking he needs a friend soon!
Ketchup’s Family
Squeaker
He is such a love bug!!!!!!!! He finally started cleaning himself so we know that he’s getting bigger. He wakes me up every morning by seeking love, and for a second when he can’t find us, he just starts crying. And he loves playing and is always play-fight with our other cat. We loveeeee him so much!!!
Need some good news? I know I do… so let’s spend some time reviewing some of the MANY adoption success stories we’ve been a part of since COVID-19 turned the world upside down.
Without regular customer support (like yours!) none of this would have been possible… and if you watched our live camera feed from during the shut down then you’ll recognize some of these kiddos!
Sky
Hi! Thank you for the text! Sky is doing so well:) she fits in perfectly! She’s so mellow and the perfect cat for the family.
Here she is with her favorite scratcher box and helping out with a puzzle! Lol
Sky’s Family
Kansas
Hi! Thanks for checking in. We love our kitty, and he is doing great! He loves to get into things, but other than that he is awesome and so sweet. His new name is Kai! Here are some photos!
Kansas’ Family
Garrison
Hey! Everything’s going great with Garrison. Well, my daughter named him Midnight. We love him he’s the best!
Garrison’s Family
Kauai & Gooseberry
Hi, thank you for checking in. We adopted 2 from you, 2 weeks apart and they are amazing and have become the bestest of friends. I will send some photos of Kauai and Maui (Gooseberry).
They have been wonderful with our 5 and 8 year old kids. They sure are perfect and fit perfectly into our family. Thank you!
Kauai and Gooseberry’s Family
Tango
Hi! He is doing awesome! He has definitely fully adjusted and even has a best friend here! We’re starting to think he’s more of a dog than a cat because he copies everything our golden does it’s very cute
Tango’s Family
Whiskey
Hi! His name is Theo now! He is doing so amazing! He completes our little family and him and his brother adjusted to each other so fast and our best friends now. He brings so much joy to us and is so spoiled.
He’s growing so fast, I wish he’d stay small. But thank you for checking in! I’m so glad we adopted him.
Whiskey’s Family
Butchy
We love him so much. He’s so gentle and lovey. He has adjusted well to his new home!
Butchy’s Family
Jimmy (+ Frisko!)
Hi! We love Jimmy!
He and his “big brother” Simon (aka Frisko, adopted from LYFF in 12/19) have given us lots of entertainment playing hide and seek with us and each other!
We also found that Jimmy prefers to wear his collar with a bow tie, he’s quite dapper that way. We love these boys and can’t imagine not having them as part of our family.
Jimmy & Frisko’s Family
Mrs. Jazmine
Hi, thank you for your text. Jazmine, now, Lily, is doing great and has made herself right at home. She is such a sweet girl and a joyful addition to our family. She has grown and filled out looking more grown up.
We have toys scattered everywhere, it looks like we have a toddler living here . She especially loves the Mylar crinkle balls and will play with one for hours. One of her favorite activities is to help find all of the Mylar balls under the furniture when I use a yardstick and flashlight. Lily is getting along well with my 11 year old cat and he is even starting to play a little with her. I do have lots of pictures and will text a couple to you. Thank you for helping bring her into our lives!
Mrs.Jazmine’s Family
Yogi
Hi! Yogi is amazing! I love him so much! We both got so lucky!
He sure is beautiful! He has his wild moments, but he has mellowed down quite a bit! We have really bonded a lot during the quarantine!
Yogi’s Family
Leonard & Bianca
Hi! We are very happy with them.
We did have a serious health issue come up with Bianca. She became very sick about a month ago. After a couple ER visits and cardiology appointment with echo they diagnosed her with heart failure due to a ventricular septal defect. She was born with it so not much we can do and not operable at her size unfortunately. We have her on 4 meds a day but she’s thriving and gaining weight. Her life expectancy is unclear but we will do whatever we can for her. Her brother is doing great and healthy. We love them!
Leonard & Bianca’s Family
Stoffel
We are in love , this was Stoffel’s first day home.
Stoffel on his 6ft tree (this window faces north, he also has windows facing East and south)
On his 1st Birthday
Thank you! My husband and I love him so much
Stoffel’s Family
Tilly
It’s been so great having Tilly around and she was such a good fit for us! I think she is loving her new home
Tilly’s Family
Orlando & Miami
I’m so in love with my cats, renamed Amico and Amara! They are such love bugs, and get into these cuddly moods where they just want to rub up against me and get scritch-scratches, but they also love to play, especially with their feather wand toys. The pandemic has given us a lot of time to bond, and they hang out with me all day. We are a very happy bunch!
Orlando & Miami’s Family
Anastasia
Anastasia is doing really well! We mostly call her kitty or meowser in our house but she doesn’t seem to mind. I can tell she likes having us here all the time – she likes joining my conference calls from my lap. Here are some photos!!!
Anastasia’s Family
Bo
He is doing awesome. Getting along really well with our two year old cat and dog!
We love having him! He is super playful and is always hungry haha. He gets along really well with our 16m old too. They are best buds!
Bo’s Family
Emporia
Astrid (Emporia) is doing great! She loves to play with our german shepherd, and he warmed up to her quite quickly. She likes to sleep in bed with us, and sometimes my daughters bed. All the kids love her, she just has the sweetest personality and fits in perfectly. She is obsessed with pencils pens markers, (anything stick shaped) and I usually find about 2-3 pencils in my bed every morning. She is an amazing cat!
We should really be thanking you, she has been so loving and so sweet. Cant believe she has been with us for 2 months already!
Emporia’s Family
Ranchia
Ranchia (Luna) is doing great! She seems to be right at home now and is very vocal when there is food around lol She is super playful and loves to cuddle she is a really special addition to our family and has been keeping us super entertained and laughing
We are so happy we adopted her! Love what you guys do! Thank you
Ranchia’s Family
Gypsy
We are doing great and have settled in so perfectly. I’ve actually renamed her Tarot! She has the sweetest, best personality and I’m so glad I got to adopt her! She absolutely has made my new apartment feel more like a home. I’m glad I ended up waiting so long to adopt again cuz it lead to Tarot.
Gypsy’s Family
Dixie
We love Dixie!! We truly feel like we won the lottery when we joined our family. She is so patient with our two exuberant daughters (ages 5 & 4). My husband and I will often joke that this kitty deserves sainthood.
Since I work from home right now, she often makes cameos on my Zoom calls, and my coworkers are astonished by how affectionate she is, as she lovingly climbs all over me. We celebrated her first birthday on May 5 and the girls thought that was so special. She has her feisty moments too.
Her favorite toys are these pipe cleaners in the shape of worms… she goes nuts around the house with them, taking them to the top of our wood stairway and pawing them down. She has her favorite sunshine spots and is definitely lets us know when it’s meal time. We adore her.
She surprised us a week ago when we caught her using the actual toilet (yes, the toilet) when the door to her where her litter box is kept was accidentally shut.
She keeps life fun and interesting. Her name is said in our house almost as much as “mom” which is hard to imagine.
We knew we were ready for a kitty; we just never imagined how perfectly she’d fit in our family.
I’ll share some photos (I probably have too many, lol).
Dixie’s Family
Dinah
It’s taken some time for all of us to get used to each other, but things are going great. We renamed her Alex and she is amazing!!! She is adjusting well, we have even taken her on a road trip to Palm Desert and she did great in a vacation home!! She is the most chill, sweet kitty we have ever met and we are so grateful for her .
We had understood she was reserved at the cafe – we were pleasantly surprised at how active she is! She loves to play – I think she really came out of her shell after leaving the cafe. She’s pretty amazing .
Anyway, we are so thankful for LYFF and the cafe to care for her until we adopted her. I will say again – she is amazing . We love her so much
Dinah’s Family
Ruby
Hi! She is doing amazingly! She was renamed Izzy and is one spoiled kitty here are some pictures to share. Take care!
Ruby’s Family
Foxtrot
We ended up renaming her Lizzie (like from pride and prejudice) and she is the perfect cat!! I was told she would always be super shy, but she has completely come out of her shell, she comes when I call her and sleeps on top of me and tries to play with alllll the other animals!! I’ll send a few pictures
She’s basically made our entire quarantine better!
Foxtrot’s Family
Tulip
We are madly in love with our sweet fur baby. We renamed her Mocha. And she became a member of our family immediately.
We call her the cat/dog because she LOVES to play fetch! Loves to play peekaboo! Loves to chase and be chased! My husband has taught her to sit and shake. She has added so much joy and laughter to our household.
Thank you so much for all your organization does to help unite families with their forever fur kids. We are so grateful!!!
Additional Follow up: I had a tuxedo kitty named Kona for 14 years until a tumor in her stomach took her from me and my family. It took me over two years to even consider adopting another cat. She was my best pal. I never thought I’d be able to love another kitty again. But Mocha has been such a sweet, feisty, fun little character. I feel like my heart has finally been able to heal because of her. We might have adopted her but she saved me. Thanks so much!
Tulip’s Family
Solomon
He’s so greatttttt his new name is Odin and he loves his sister Freya! Couldn’t of gone any better honestly. He’s such a love too!!!!
He’s truly amazing. He plays fetch probably learned watching Freya! Thank you!!
Solomon’s Family
Truffle
Hi, Truffle is doing great actually. She’s healthy, eats plenty, and loves to play with toys. We are still integrating her with the other cats. Definitely a slow going process but worth it. She loves pets and belly rubs, being picked up and held, and sleeping on top of my head. Here are a few pictures I just took.
Truffle’s Family
Sheba
She’s doing well! She’s wonderful. It was perfect timing adopting her. Thank you have a great and safe week.
Sheba’s Family
Tinkerbell
Note: (Best selfie with cat pic ever!)
Hi! She is doing great! She is the total queen of the home and we are definitely her loyal subjects haha she is very happy and healthy and we love her!
She has a huge personality and definitely keeps us entertained especially right now. Thank you for checking up on her and for all that you do!
Tinkerbell’s Family
Nevada
Hi! Nevada is doing great! She has been such a joy to have during this crazy time. I’m a nurse and coming home to her makes me so happy. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures.
Thank you for all you do to ensure these sweet kitties find their forever homes
Nevada’s Family
Celtic
We are doing great. Celtic is awesome. He and our cat Sweet Pea and buddies. He has such a great personality. We are obsessed with him.
He’s a black cat as you know so it’s hard to get good pics of him. But I’ll share the ones we have.
He has made our family complete
Celtic’s Family
Panther
Things are going great. It took a few weeks for our other cat to get used to Panther (aka Momo). Momo is such a kitten at heart and is so fun to watch! He makes us laugh and smile all the time!! He is so much fun! Thanks!
We’re still open – all of the same operational modifications mentioned in my last blog post remain in tact.
Cat lounge reservations are required if you want to see the cats. The DEH will not allow customers to watch through the window viewing wall at this time.
We will be packaging all food and beverage orders in to-go containers, for you to take with you after your cat lounge visit. Additionally to-go orders can be placed via phone and Purrvisions are available for online ordering.
[ IMPORANT ] If you feel ill, have health concerns or are caring for someone with health concerns please stay home.
Background
On March 16th we shut down Cat & Craft due to Governor Newsom ordering all non-essential businesses to close.
At the time there was no state guidance regarding sanitation or masks, and lots of scary news about people getting sick and dying.
So I believed the right thing to do was close like everyone else and tough it out. We told our staff we would pay them their regular paycheck through March 31st, and then we’d see what our options were.
By April 1st we had no choice but to lay off 90% of those employees, keeping only two cat lounge hosts on board because cats still need care and attention 7 days per week regardless of whether or not we have customers.
My husband Andrew spent every waking hour coming up with a plan for how to survive the closure – he bought and wired a live feed camera for the cat lounge, and we pivoted with almost every product we make or use on the cafe side so that we could have something to sell.
And at night, we’d lay awake worrying about our aging parents on the east coast… how we couldn’t visit them even if they fell ill. April was a dark and lonely time.
In mid-May we finally received a Paycheck Protection Program loan. It was small, but small is better than nothing.
So with this glimmer of hope we started to bring back employees for short shifts, a few hours a week, to try and maintain our team that’s been with us since the day we opened. And adoptions were continuing by private appointment – one family or individual at a time, so that too served to inspire us to just keep swimming.
In early June the re-openings began across California and San Diego. We waited. We watched other businesses spring back to life overnight and we still waited… because what if we re-opened our doors, rehired all our employees, reinvested in all the food and beverage supplies necessary to operate a coffee shop, just to get shut down again?
By the 2nd week of June things looked good… our staff wanted to come back to work so we ordered floor graphics to aid social distancing, removed furniture, added hand sanitizer stations and cashless payment options, increased sanitation practices throughout the cafe and the cat lounge, and re-opened our doors June 18th. That was 20 days ago.
I should also mention that during these 20 days the Department of Environmental Health stopped by to inspect our COVID-19 safety practices (along with the usual cafe safety requirements) and they gave us a perfect score of 100.
Over the past 20 days our revenue has bounced between 35% and 41% of what it was this time last year. But at least we’ve been able to enjoy happy smiling customers, and see an amazing number of adoptions.
So you tell yourself you’ll be able to get back to even in time, because good work is being done and that’s what really matters.
This week San Diego County moved to restrict the number of businesses that can conduct indoor operations.
We’re licensed as a coffee shop with an “ancillary use” (that’s the cat lounge) by the City of Vista. Today the San Diego Department of Environmental Health confirmed we can continue our cat lounge reservations as along as all food and beverage orders are taken “to-go” and not consumed in the cafe.
Given the current state of affairs and opinions about COVID-19, since reopening June 18 we’ve only had 3 days where we actually reached our modified 8 person capacity in the cat lounge.
So… all of this is to help explain why we are still open and still working to get cats adopted. Our PPP loan is almost gone, and you can’t pay employees and rent with money you don’t have. That means we are extremely dependent on those who believe in us and our mission to help support us during this time.
It’s finally time to announce our re-opening, and we are so looking forward to seeing each of your smiling faces again!
Much change is occurring in our culture at this moment in time and change is often uncomfortable – it can bring with it many challenging emotions and opinions.
In light of these times we believe our purpose & mission is needed now more than ever – to help us all come together and connect over the commonalities that we share – a love for animals, and a desire for the people of this World to experience more peace, more joy and more happiness.
We’ve taken our time preparing for this re-opening in order to be certain we can meet all state and county guidelines as required.
Therefore, we ask that you please read carefully before making any plans to visit – even if it’s just for a cup of coffee.
MODIFIED OPERATIONS
In order to meet remaining state and county guidelines, we’ve had to implement a few changes to our operations, and have chosen to take a phased approach to re-opening.
Shortened Days & Hours of Operation WED – SUN 9:00am – 3:00pm
Capacity Has Been Reduced • 8 people in the Cat Lounge • Group size no larger than 4 people
Special Activities Postponed This includes Kiddie Cat hour, Craft Night, Paint Night and Cat Yoga
Face Coverings + Cleaning All of our employees will be wearing face coverings throughout their shifts, along with obsessively disinfecting surfaces and washing hands.
Purrvisions Offerings We will continue certain items in our Purrvisions Shop, and we will reinstate our to-go beverages, pastries and toast plates.
PLANNING YOUR VISIT
If you feel sick or have any symptoms of illness please stay home.
Social distancing rules apply. All individuals and/or groups must remain six feet apart from other individuals and/or groups.
Guest group size is currently limited to four (4) people.
Max capacity for the Cat Lounge is temporarily reduced to eight (8) guests per hour.
All guests must be in a seat while onsite, the state is not allowing guests to stand. If you are not in a seat, you must have your face covering on. That goes for ordering, waiting, and bathroom breaks.
If you want to visit with the catsPLEASE reserve your spot online in advance. With a reduced headcount in the Cat Lounge, this ensures you won’t be disappointed if you arrive and there are no available spots.
As always, no reservations needed if just enjoying the coffee shop.
CHILDREN
• Our age requirement is 7 years or older for all Cat Lounge sessions.
• We will reinstate Kiddie Cat hours for children 6 & younger once the social distancing requirements are lifted.
• If you choose to bring your children to the coffee shop to watch the cats through the window, you must be responsible for maintaining their 6 foot distance from other guests.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Special events such as craft nights, cat yoga, and movie nights will be reinstated once social distancing guidelines are lifted.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We hope you have remained safe and healthy during this time apart, and even though we can’t give out hugs just yet know that many air hugs will be waiting for you when you visit.
For all of you who stood by us and supported us during our temporary closure with a Cat Pass membership, Purrvisions order, Cat & Craft Co merchandise order, or Virtual Cat Lounge Experience subscription, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Your support allowed for over 100 cats and kittens to be adopted …our minds are still blown.
P.S. If you have any cold brew / chai bottles from a Purrvisions order, bring’em in and we’ll take a buck off anything you order (refills, food, etc.) for each bottle you exchange.
More wonderful updates from C&C adopters, So many happy tails and many more to come!
Pichu
Hi! Pichu is doing great! She has alot of energy and loves running around our apartment and playing with our other cat. She was never shy since we’ve adopted her and she likes to lie on us whenever she demands attention. As soon as we took her home she began to exploring right away. We are very surprised by how affectionate she is. We knew she was a loving cat when we got her, but she is even more affectionate than we expected. She loves to to cuddle and be near us. We couldnt be more happy.
Pichu’s Family
Armani
Hello! Armani is doing excellent. Since adopting him over two months ago, he has really opened up a lot more, especially to our children. Initially he was very hesitant to explore our home. After some time, he now runs up and down all three floors of our place and loves to see what we are doing. He follows me everywhere. He is such a well behaved cat and very loving. Having been only two months, we can’t wait to see how much more he loves us and how much more we love him. Extremely grateful to you all. He is the perfect temperament for our family and honestly we are very lucky to have him.
Funny thing is he doesn’t like cat treats!?!? Currently experimenting with different types to find some kind of way to reward him. We often wonder his history because he is such a well behaved panther. Thanks again!!
Armani’s Family
Furrari
We renamed him Hank and adore him!!! Such great personality!
I literally have hundreds of pictures! 😂❤️😻 We love him. Thank you!
Furrari’s Family
Rossi
He’s the best! He’s doing so well. Honestly the best cat we’ve ever had 😻
We love him so much. Thank you so much for making that happen ❤️
Rossi’s Family
Ebo
Hi there! He is doing so well. He’s now named Noodle. He enjoys chasing his sister, Taffy around. He is a very curious boy and a total lap cat. He will find a warm spot and sleep forever. My husband got deployed due to the virus and I have not been working so he’s been keeping me busy and makes quarantine easier.
He is soooo handsome. We love him very much. We are so grateful he is with us 💕 Thank you for letting us adopt him!
Ebo’s Family
Vegas
Hi! Omg we love Vegas so much and seriously could not have picked a better cat! He has fit in with our family perfectly. He has been so patient with my girls (who are 4 & 6) and may love on him a little too much at times. Lol. He loves snuggles and we learned he likes to play fetch! It is definitely nice to have his company during this time. I thank you for all that you do and the Cat Cafe for providing such a fun environment to adopt these amazing cats 😻
More Pre- COVID-19 adoption updates – these post are going to start getting HUGE when we finally start catching up! Hope everyone is staying safe and staying positive!
Harper
She is doing awesome! She loves her new hiding spot.
-Harper’s Family
Abu
Hey just giving an update on Abu now Mamba! He is the most loving cat ever and was comfortable right away! The other cat is taking some time to get used to him but other than that it’s going great. I wake up in the middle of the night with him laying on my face purring away. Thank you so much for helping me find Mamba I love him so much!
-Abu’s Family
Sherlock
He’s doing great! We love him so much. His new name is now Gus and he is absolutely obsessed with pompoms 😂 get ready for some pics…
Omg all he wants to do – chase and hunt pompoms. He pulled out the pack of pompoms in the picture and meowed until we opened it lol
We are super lucky to have found such a great cat! We can tell he was so well socialized by LYFF and we are very grateful ❤️
-Sherlock’s Family
Carson
Hi, Thank you for checking in with us! We are absolutely in love with him. We renamed him “Tug.” He has two older brothers (Luna and Radagast), who have both embraced him now. Tug and Luna even sleep together – Luna’s bum is Tug’s favorite pillow! Tug is EXTREMELY affectionate. He sleeps in bed with us, often under the covers or on our chests, every night. I’ll send you some pics 😃 Thank you for helping us complete our family 💕
-Carson’s Family
Sasa
Hi! We are in so love with Shanti (formerly Sasa)! She is the perfect combination of curious, affectionate, playful, and cuddly. She loves to play with water and comes running every time she hears us turn on the faucet. She especially like to catch water droplets on her paw and then lick them off. It’s really quite funny. She is truly the most wonderful addition to our family and we are so blessed to have her.
-Sasa’s Family
Chandler & Comet
Chandler & Comet have adjusted very well & we absolutely ADORE them!!! It has been such a pleasure getting to know their personalities & they are very, very entertaining!! Comet is a feisty little firecracker who loves to snuggle & be held. Chandler is intelligent, enchanting, cuddly & an awesome big kitty brother. Thank you so, so much for everything your organization does for these sweet cats!! We are furever grateful!!
It’s been a while since we gathered updates for you on our previous fosters.
But we’re catching up now so read on to see what kiddos you may have met prior to the COVID-19 shutdown have been up to since!
MONKEY
Oh my what a wonderful cat she is. She’s the absolute sweetest. She’s very talkative and meows back when I say hi to her. Still loves sparkly balls so I bought her a big package of them so she’s never without one to play with, and her other favorite thing is to chase a hairtie around as well. Adopting her was the best decision, I think half of my phone is now just photos of her. She’s adjusted so well and seems to be very comfortable!
~ Monkey’s Family
OWEN
He’s doing great! He loves wet cat food, he adores looking at the birds outside, he likes playing with his cat brother Bubs, and loves nap time. He is definitely living his best life.
He’s also a bit of an undercover troublemaker 😂
~ Owen’s Family
TIPS
Awww…..we love him so much!….Mr. Tips brings my boyfriend (of 10 years) and I so much joy and laughter…..he is the perfect boy for us and he is living his best life….I brought him home 2 weeks before the quarantine and he truly has done so much for my mental health while I (a bartender) home and unable to work…..I have a ton of pics…..he is blessed to be safe in a loving home but he has already given us so much more in return…..
~ Mr. Tips’ Family
AXEL
He’s doing really well! We renamed him Forest and he gets along so well with his big sister! We just celebrated his first birthday yesterday! He’s such a big snuggly boy and we love him so much! We’ve been working on leash training him so he can join us on the balcony while I garden since he likes to sit and watch the birds!
He has an Instagram @forest.the.house.panther if you’d like to see more pictures!
~ Forest’s family
ASH & BADGER
The kittens are doing SO great and are the best addition to our family. Especially during this crazy time when we’re all stuck at home. We re-named Ash, Wilbur, and Badger, Jupiter. 😹 They are truly the sweetest cats. They’re so playful and fun. We can’t get over how much they purr! 😻 They have been so good with our two daughters and even our dog! We’re really glad we adopted the two of them together. They are such good friends, always snuggling or wrestling. 😻😼 I would love to send some pics! Thank you again for reaching out. We feel so very fortunate to have these special furry friends. 💕
They have given us so much happiness during these weird times. No need to thank us! We are so very thankful for these friends. Cat & Craft does such an amazing job connecting people to these sweet cats. And their staff is so helpful and knowledgeable throughout the whole process.
Thank you all ❤️! We’re making such special memories. 😻
~ Wilbur’s & Jupiter’s family
JOEL
We all love him so much!!
He was swatting us from behind the couch cushions and then just knocked out 🤣 ridiculous.
We regret to inform you that like so many other small businesses, we will be temporarily closing effective Thursday March 18.
Many of you have shown us support these past few days and we are so very appreciative.
Here’s what you need to know about our plan for going forward:
1. All cats in our foster care will remain in the lounge and our staff will be onsite feeding, cleaning and playing with them 2x per day, 7 days per week.
2. Our mission is unchanged – we are here to help cats find loving forever homes and that is what we will continue to do.
~ ~ ~ Anyone interested in adopting a cat can complete LYFF Rescue’s pre-approval questionnaire online at
LYFF will be working with us to set up appointments for approved adopters to come interact with the cats. ~ ~ ~
3. As always, each cat adopted from Cat & Craft enables LYFF to move another rescue cat into our environment, thus enabling them to save another cat or kitten from area shelters.
4. Just as the corona virus has affected businesses, schools and families, it has negatively affected area shelters too. Animals need our help now possibly more than ever. We will continue to provide updates on the cats in our care as well as our plans for the future via our social media and newsletter.
5. We continue to offer online e-gift cards and merchandise, the proceeds of which help mitigate the costs we will continue to carry in order to save cats.
Until we see you again, know that we love you and appreciate you very much. 🙏
Health and safety has always been a priority at Cat & Craft.
In light of the current events we are facing as a nation and global community, I want to detail some of our standard operating procedures – those that have been in place since the day we opened, as well as those we have now voluntarily implemented as we all continue to monitor developments around the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Such topics are usually not very interesting to the general public so I’ve refrained from delving into too much detail unless asked, but peace of mind is important during times like this and I speak for everyone at C & C when I say we are more than happy to be transparent with our operations – especially on the subject of maintaining the clean and safe environment we pride ourselves on.
As a food service establishment we are monitored and licensed by the San Diego Department of Environmental Health; Food and Housing Division. We strictly follow all their health and safety regulations – which is how we’ve maintained our A rating with them – and our baristas conduct cleaning and sanitation duties throughout the day.
If you’d like to learn more about the rules and regulations for food service establishments you can read about them here: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/deh/fhd/
To further support the health and safety of our employees and customers, we’ve chosen to implement additional measures in the cafe to help protect against the spread of any virus or pathogen.
Given the cat lounge is a separate environment from the food prep area, it does not fall under SD/DEH guidelines.
However, thanks to the help of our partner, LYFF Rescue, we have a very stringent cleaning practice in place – which I want to detail for you here:
Use of hand sanitizer required before entering the cat lounge
Protective shoe covers provided for guests to cover shoes when entering the cat lounge
Before the first group of guests arrive each morning, a mixture of water and Top Performance 256 Disinfectant (which kills over 50 known viruses and pathogens, used throughout veterinary hospitals and animal boarding facilities around the country) is sprayed on all cat shelves, counter tops, cabinets and furniture surfaces. This is repeated multiple times throughout each day.
All cat litter mats are washed and sanitized each morning.
All cat litter boxes are washed and sanitized each week.
Wand toy handles and door handles are disinfected hourly each day.
All bedding, towels, and floor coverings are regularly laundered in hot water with bleach.
All glass windows in the cat lounge are cleaned twice per day with a vinegar and water solution (avoids airborne chemicals causing problems with cat respiratory health).
We run two air purifiers with HEPA filters and a UV-C Sanitizer daily.
Upon closing each evening, the floor is cleared and mopped with Top Performance 256 Disinfectant.
Each Monday, we are closed so that we can conduct a “deep clean” of the cat lounge. This is typically a full 8 hour day spent cleaning the space.
Effective this week, adoptable cat takeaway cards will be provided on request.
Also effective this week, no more than two individuals will be briefed in the cat lounge entry vestibule at a time, and anyone asking to be briefed individually will be accommodated.
While we have not received any formal notice regarding procedural changes from the DEH, CDC, WHO or local government we are closely following and will abide appropriately to protect the health and safety of our customers and staff.
The good news is… this too shall pass.
Thus far the CDC reports pets are not at risk https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html#animals. And all of us who have had experience with cats know that a cat’s purr is a highly comforting experience when times are tough.
We continue to be a space you can come to for comfort when the world around us gets a little scary and we appreciate your continued support as we get through these times together.
They are best friends and growing so fast!
. She is constantly playing with our other little girl kitty, Harley Quinn, they wrestle and chase each other around, too cute. She’ll stop everything she’s doing to play with the laser light. She’s such a sweet little buddy and a little lover girl who loves people. We are so grateful for her and super thankful to Cat Cafe and LYFF!
she’s grown quite a bit and we renamed her Tink (as in Tinker toy).
here’s some pics of him! His sister Mellow is featuring in one.
he loves snuggling in bed and watching the lizards outside and hanging out with mom while she works 
We are enjoying our new addition.
but Covid got me thinking- and my kids begging— and we took the leap! So glad we did. My kids find so much joy in them and I truly see the therapeutic aspect of being a pet owner. I have already seen how pets can help with mental health- especially in the midst of a pandemic that can be really scary and isolating for kids.
. She especially loves the Mylar crinkle balls and will play with one for hours. One of her favorite activities is to help find all of the Mylar balls under the furniture when I use a yardstick and flashlight. Lily is getting along well with my 11 year old cat and he is even starting to play a little with her. I do have lots of pictures and will text a couple to you. Thank you for helping bring her into our lives!
, this was Stoffel’s first day home.
is doing great! She seems to be right at home now and is very vocal when there is food around lol She is super playful and loves to cuddle 
she is a really special addition to our family and has been keeping us super entertained and laughing 
She absolutely has made my new apartment feel more like a home. I’m glad I ended up waiting so long to adopt again cuz it lead to Tarot. 
here are some pictures to share. Take care!
and he loves his sister Freya! Couldn’t of gone any better honestly. He’s such a love too!!!!
probably learned watching Freya! Thank you!!
