I poked my head out of a gaggle of cats this week to realize it is:
a) Back to school time for most of North America and…
b) Labor Day weekend according to the influx of online retail “labor day sale!” alerts bombarding my email inbox.
The cats in my world don’t go to school, nor do they get to celebrate a day of not working (since they never work AT ALL), so we are going to get into a sometimes smelly subject that follows cat ownership and of course, cat foster-ship.
“Heyyy…I do stuff. Notice how this bed hasn’t flown away? You’re welcome.”
Cat Litter
Fun fact…ready?
I did some math and from January 6, 2019 (the day our first group of foster cats moved in) through August 25 2019, we went through3,578 pounds of cat litter.
You read that right, I’ve done the math four times.
For perspective, 3500 lb is about the same as:
A small White Rhinoceros
A medium sized Giraffe
An empty cargo container
A Chevrolet Equinox
“Heyyy…I just big boned.”
“How on earth?” you might ask.
Well, if you’ve visited us you might have noticed the Cat Lounge and cat privacy room are pretty darn clean. This is not by accident, in fact it is very intentional.
Part of our mission of connection is helping to enroll “non-cat people” into the fantastical furry world of cats by breaking down common barriers such as fear of litter box or cat smell.
Our team works really hard at keeping our space as clean as possible because the alternative is no fun for anyone (including the cats). And if we can keep a room full of 20 cats and not smell litter, then 1 or 2 cats shouldn’t be an issue for those non-cat people! 😹👍
Part of the sanitation requirements we follow for our rescue partner is emptying and sanitizing each litter pan on a regular basis.
Even with hard clumping litter, this inevitably results in usable cat litter going straight into the trash.
If you have cats then you know that good cat litter isn’t cheap; hence it being one of many costs offset by the $12 purr hour Cat Lounge admission.
Litter & Boxes
People ask me all the time what we do about cat litter and litter pans so I’m happy to go into detail on that for you guys here.
To date we’ve been using Fresh Step Simply Unscented, mainly because it’s low dust and doesn’t have any added scent. We don’t have any relationship with the brand so this is just me sharing what we’ve been choosing to use so far.
BUT – last week World’s Best Cat Litter contacted us about joining their cat cafe program which is SUPER exciting. I’ve not tried their products before so if any of you guys have tested it out I’d love you to drop me a note with your thoughts.
When it comes to litter boxes… my oh my there are all kinds. And they can get pretty pricey.
When Cat & Craft was in the planning stages I spent some time chatting to Haydn of Java Cats Atlanta, and she shared the genius idea of simply buying a bunch of 18 gallon storage tubs like these on Amazon.
We just cut a U-shaped hole in the front of each one for cat access, and the high sides keep litter inside the tub and the non-porous material is easy to sanitize. Plus when it’s time to replace the cost per item is much lower than many of the litter boxes available in various pet stores.
“Heyyy…we’re not full of shhhh – quiet someone’s coming”
Of course when you are talking about cat litter you eventually get around to the subject of cat poops and pees… but I’ll leave that topic for another day!
We continue our adoption success stories with some real superstars of the Cat & Craft Cat Lounge.
Every time we hear from an adopter about how wonderfully their new family member is adjusting, we become even more and more grateful for the support of our community here in North County.
PARROT
“Hi! We are so happy to have Parrot!!!❤ He is an amazing kitty. He and Olivia are a perfect match. He loves to be held and cuddled and she loves to hold and cuddle him.
He follows her everywhere and he meows at the door when she goes outside to play with her friends. He misses her. He even likes to lay like a baby in her doll strollers. They are so darn cute.❤❤❤ Olivia says she’s lucky that he chose her… 💗💕💗
~Parrot’s family
CAPPY & STELLA (STAPPY)
“Hello! I love them so much, they are the biggest sweethearts, and I’m so happy with how they’ve been settling in here!”
~ Cappy & Stella’s family
CANDY
“Hi! Candy (now Lillian, Lily for short) is doing great. She is getting along great with her new big brother, Luther (also a black cat).
They spend their days lounging in the sun next to the window and playing with each other. She’s half his size but bosses him around (and I think he likes it that way). She’s a gem and we are so lucky to have her.”
~Lily’s family
EMPEROR
“He’s the best clinic cat ever and so loved!!”
~ Emperor’s family
COSMO
These pictures say it all…
Cosmo’s awesome momma got him the same bed he loved to sleep in at the cafe, and in the 200+ days we cared for him we never saw him cuddle with anyone. That has clearly changed!
The campaign began in 2015 with the support of national broadcast stations NBC and Telemundo.
Now in its fifth year, the annual adoption drive has helped 256,688 pets find forever homes. Last year alone more than 100,000 pets were adopted from over 1,200 shelters across the county, and this year we all hope for even bigger and better results!
Both shelters and rescue organizations choose to participate each year by reducing adoption fees for one day to encourage those considering adoption to make the commitment to save a life.
It’s a big push that helps move homeless animals from shelter cages and foster homes into forever homes, so that shelter and rescue resources are freed up to help more animals in need.
Where Cat & Craft Fits In
We talk about the circle of rescue at Cat & Craft quite often, and here’s a little diagram to help illustrate the process:
That’s right – every cat adopted from Cat & Craft means LYFF Rescue can pull another cat from area shelters, which in turn frees up space at the shelter so they can in turn assist another animal in need.
Many organizations will be participating in tomorrow’s National Clear The Shelters Day all across the country. You can click here www.cleartheshelters.com to learn more and enter your zip code to see a full list of local adoption events are taking place near you!
If you have space in your home and heart to help a pet experience the safe, love-filled life it deserves, I hope you will consider adopting tomorrow from the LYFF Rescue fosters at Cat & Craft or another organization.
So, I’m going to continue that trend with another one of our STAR foster kitties… Miss Gracie.
Gracie – if you haven’t met her in person – might as well be the cat version of Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco. With stunning eyes, she saunters through the cat lounge with an aristocratic air.
Even when just relaxing on a cardboard scratcher, she looks like she’s posing for a Vogue photo shoot; therefore, we all figure she’d have quite the story to tell if she could speak human.
Here goes…
Caroline (in bold): Good morning Gracie
Gracie (in italics): Good day to you madam.
Oh you don’t have to call me madam, I’m just the hired help…
Very well, good day to you hired help.
I was trying to be funny… anyway, let’s get started. We’d like to help our guests get to know you better, given you’ve spent a good bit of time with us here at the cafe.
For that I am grateful. What would you like to know?
You have gorgeous eyes… and the purrfect “cat eye” eyeliner. How do you look so stunning all the time?
I’m a 100% natural beauty. No effort required.
For real you always look ready for a photo shoot. Ok how about buddies… if your future family got you a best friend would it be a dog or another cat?
Definitely another cat. I find dogs to be very frightening.
How about snuggle buddies… would you rather snuggle with another kitty or a person?
Purrrrrson all the way. I like cats just fine but tend to prefer the companionship of people who adore me.
Ok how about special skills… what would you like to share?
I’m very adept at sleeping in a purrrfect circle. Also did I mention I am very photogenic?
We ALL mention that about you all the time Gracie…
Good.
Ok Gracie, thanks for playing along with us and we appreciate that you allow us to take care of you. We love you very much and promise we are working hard to find you the purrrfect family!
A few weeks ago, I announced our staff would be taking a field trip to Laguna Beach to visit Catmosphere.
Well, the field trip was this past Monday and we had a blast!
You see, most cat cafes share a common goal – we want to see fewer cats in shelter cages (or worse, euthanized unnecessarily) and more cats happy in loving homes.
So rather than view other cat cafes as competitors, we see an opportunity to collaborate on ideas together so that we all can make the biggest and best impact for both the animals in need of assistance, and the families who will enjoy love and companionship through adoption.
About Catmosphere and its founder Gail
Catmosphere opened in August of 2018 and color me impressed… Gail not only runs the business but also handles all the rescue and adoption efforts herself!
That means she works directly with local shelters, rescues and families who have encountered a circumstance where they can no longer care for their cat. She takes all cats slated to enter Catmosphere to local veterinarians for intake screening and appropriate care, personally reviews all adoption applications AND completes all home checks prior to adoption approvals.
Here at Cat & Craft we work with a rescue organization that accomplishes the same via dedicated volunteers – and they’d tell you it’s time consuming and often times difficult work. So for one individual to handle it all is extremely impressive and worthy of support.
Inside Catmosphere
When you visit Catmosphere you will find a delightful space with lots of windows and natural light, right in the heart of Laguna Beach.
The cafe portion offers delicious toast plates, macarons and they also serve beer and wine. Similar to our space you can either view the adoptable kitties from the cafe or you can book an hour in the cat lounge to interact with them directly.
We had a great time sharing best practices with one another and discussing ideas for how we could help support each other and other cat cafes here on the West Coast.
How fantastic would it be if all shelters, rescue organizations and cat cafes’ collaborated to bring an end to unwanted pets and animal suffering? It’s a tall order, but with enough people dedicated to bring about positive change in our communities and our culture as a whole, it’s not impossible.
If you are ever in the Laguna Beach area please make a point to visit the Catmosphere team and show your support!
Truthful admission, I spend a lot of time talking to cats.
My own cats, cats at the cafe… cats I encounter when walking through the neighborhood.
Yep, I’m the crazy lady who will verbally address and converse with a strange cat like it’s a neighbor. SO, I figured I’d interview current foster Diesel to give you guys a little insight into one of our most unique cats at C & C.
(Disclaimer: Obviously Diesel did not verbally answer my questions, but the imagination is a wonderful thing so this is what I believe he would have said if he could…)
I’m planning to write a blog post about you because you are one of the most interesting kiddos in the lounge right now. So I want to ask you a few questions to help readers learn a bit more about you.. Cool?
[ double slow blink ]
Let’s start with your background. What would you like to share about your life before you arrived at C & C?
If I told you I’d have to kill you.
Come on don’t be salty…
[slow blink ]
…nothing you want to share?
Well I had an owner but ended up at a shelter. I don’t know why.
I’m sorry friend.
Yeah me too… it sucked.
Ok lighter subject… let’s talk about your likes and dislikes. What’s your favorite thing?
When the mood strikes me I greatly enjoy climbing onto the shoulders of a very select few people and drooling into their hair.
Yes I’ve witnessed this… in fact my husband’s feelings are hurt that you refuse to do so with him.
My drool must be earned via the commensurate amount of poop scoopings and feedings.
Fair enough. What about dislikes?
Perfume. Ick.
I sort of figured, given you were diagnosed with cat asthma right before you arrived here.
How dare you.
Oh come on, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. In fact I bet people would be interested to learn a bit about it.
Fine, if we must get all sciencey…
Feline asthma is caused by an allergic reaction to inhaled allergens – i.e. particles that stimulate a cat’s immune system.
At some point I inhaled something my body found to be an allergen, and specific antibodies were then created to target that antigen. So sometimes when I’m exposed to something that triggers it, those antibodies recognize the allergen and I get sneezy, and occasionally my breathing gets a bit labored and I need some medicine.
Yes, I remember a few weeks ago when you needed to go to Dr. Pearson to get an injection that helps your system better control it’s own antibiotic response. Very simple and lasts a good while.
Lucky for both me and the doctor.
Ok let’s move on to your soul-piercing stare. What’s that all about?
It’s my way of gauging who might be truly worthy of my time and attention. I’m a picky dude.
Yes you are… btw it made my day today when you came over and said hello to me of your own accord!
I occasionally choose to be benevolent towards my benefactors.
Fair enough. OK last question, what would folks be most surprised to learn about you?
I like playing with kittens. I’m not really sure how, but I’m learning and it’s fun.
A good thing to take joy from for sure. Well thanks for your time big buddy, we all love you very much and are working hard to find you a loving home of your own.
I know, and I appreciate it. Now leave me be to snooze please and thank you.
Us cat cafe’s need to stick together and support each other as we all share a common goal.
So in that respect, the Cat & Craft team will soon be headed north to Orange County so that we can visit our neighbors Catmosphere Laguna!
It will be a great way for our team to see how others go about connecting lovely people to cats in need, and we will get to share best practices with each other.
There’s no fur-flying competition in the cat cafe arena, we want all to succeed so that all animals have loving forever homes. I’ll be talking more about this in coming blog posts, and of course provide fun photo recap of the field trip!
Now let’s get to some adoption success stories, shall we?!
MISSY
“Missy is settling in just fine. Loves getting her head petted and will just purr up a storm! She loves curling up in all my fuzzy blankets and sleeping.”
~ Missy’s family
OOLONG
“She’s doing great. We love her so much! She’s perfect and she seems very content with us. 😊”
~ Oolong’s family
TIGER (Irie)
“Tiger is doing great! Her name is now Irie. Here are a few photos of her with Vadar!”
The check-ins continue this week with a bunch more success stories from the cats you’ve probably seen at the cat cafe during a visit or on our social media channels – by the way, you can follow all of the action here on Instagram and here on Facebook.
If you didn’t catch the first three in the series, you can find them here, here and here.
Ok, let’s see how everybody’s doing in their new furrever homes…
KOBE
Cat Dad: “He’s doing great! He integrated with our other cat very well, and they cuddle and play often. He is still a bit food aggressive so we separate them during feeding, but he’s a super vocal loving cat. He goes insane for the rope toys! 🙂”
Cat Mom: “We love him so much! And since we brought him into our home, our other kitty’s behavior improved 100%. She is obsessed with him! We couldn’t be happier. He is very loved.”
~Kobe’s family
ELWOOD
“Ellie is doing great! He is my first cat on my own and he has bonded with me pretty well. He is very sweet and playful, sometimes mischievous haha. He is pretty shy with new people but he seems to be getting better with that over time. Overall he’s been a great companion and couldn’t really imagine living without him now 😻”
~Elwood’s Dad
REECE (Ozzy)
“He’s doing great! He’s totally settled into the family. He has so much personality, but is also a total love bug—he’s just the perfect family cat! (We renamed him Ozzy)”
~Ozzy’s family
MEADOW
“She’s doing great! She didn’t want to stay in her special quarantine room for long, and had full run of the house by the end of the first day.
She’s super playful, very vocal, and loves to spend time with us. She likes to play fetch and uses all 4 of her scratching posts, and likes to hang out in the bathroom for some reason. She’s an awesome cat! Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to meet her and welcome her into our little family!”
~Meadow’s family
KATE SPAYED & FONZIE
“The cats are settled in and doing just great! Kate is so good with Fonzie, she plays with him and bathes him until he falls asleep when we’re watching TV at night. Fonzie is a little ball of energy, bouncing off the walls batting his little mouse toys. I’ve made them an Instagram @katecatandthefonz!
~Kate Spayed & Fonzie’s family
WINSTON
“Winston is doing great!! He is the perfect addition to our family and we can’t even remember what our lives were like before we brought him home. 😊”
I donno know if you like reading these, but I sure do like posting these adoption success stories!
If you didn’t catch the first two in the series, you can find them here and here.
Ok, let’s check in on our furry friends…
CALLAHAN
His new name is Nitro, and his adopter called and explained for about 10 minutes about what an amazing cat he is (we agree!).
He told me that he adjusted right away but really in the past 2 weeks he has found his groove and just owns the place as his new home.
He said that he loves to eat and is very happy and healthy – his coat is nice and shiny and he loves his fur brother, Coffee. They play and snuggle and act like they’ve been pals forever.
Nitro + Coffee = Cold Brew Crew? 😹👍
MOLLY
“Hi! Molly is doing great. We have 2 other cats in our household and they love playing, and laying, around together.”
~ Molly’s family
MIA
“She is doing great! She is super sweet and fits in well here :)”
~Mia’s family
TEMPLETON & CHEETEE
“It’s hard to put into words how much joy these kittens have brought to our whole family! From trips to the fire station, helping with laundry, hanging with their big brother cat to just filling our hearts with cuddles…we are just smitten with these kittens!
They’re teaching our 3 girls respect and responsibility of animals and the love and joy they can bring to their lives. Thank you so much for allowing us to bring these amazing kittens home!
It’s be the perfect transition for everyone! Even my 9 year old cat…he’s taken to them so amazingly and lovingly too! He shares his food, water, bed and kids 🤣”
~Templeton & Cheetee’s family
TABITHA
“She’s doing great. Relaxed & loves to be loved, as you can see in these pictures. Thank you for checking on her.
I’m so happy that I have been a part of rescuing this beautiful companion.”
This week we continue to report on a few adoption success stories reported back to us from their new furrever families.
So without further ado, let’s get started…
TODD
Todd not afraid to get cozy
“Todd is doing awesome!! He’s completely adjusted. He’s wild, funny, loving, affectionate and we wouldn’t have it any other way! He can also be a little quirky and stands on 2 legs like a meerkat when he’s really interested in something which gives us a good laugh.
He’ll soon have a lot more room to play and possibly a new buddy when we close on our townhouse next week. So might be paying another visit to Cat and Craft in the near future…
…He’s absolutely perfect!! And very loved and spoiled! Thanks for checking in and look forward to seeing everyone back at the cafe! 🐈”
~ Todd’s family
OPHELIA
Floppin’ out
“Ophelia is doing fantastic!
She’s very happy, loves to cuddle and play and has really made my place her home!… Thank all you so much!”
~ Ophelia’s family
LIZZY
Caught mid-toy-playing
We LOVE Lizzy!!!!! It feels as if she has been a part of our family forever.
My favorite time is when I tell Lizzy it is time to wake up “her girl”. She meows all the way to our 14 year old daughter’s bedroom door and when I open the door she jumps on the bed and throws herself on Bella and “tells her” to wake up.
Lizzy has free rein of the house except Bella’s room at night (you know she must get her teenage beauty rest)!
Suffice to say, Lizzie has totally and completely stolen our ❤️’s.”
~ Lizzy’s family
CRICKET
Tux brothers
“Cricket is doing great, gets along very well with our other kitties, especially our 1 yr old tuxedo.
He’s just what our other tuxie needed, since the other two cats are 7&8 y.o. calicos, and they don’t want to play much anymore. He’s a love! ❤️
I got that scratcher bed, since he loved the one at Cat & Craft so much. The others love it too!”
~ Cricket’s family
This is only a few of our success stories, we are at #83 adoptions at the time of this post since we opened January 12… let’s keep this adoption train rolling shall we?!
