Who could possibly resist a kitten wearing lederhosen? That thought must have guided Friends of Cats when a year ago the nonprofit cat shelter rebranded September’s fundraising and adoption event as “Catoberfest.” Like the shelter’s companion springtime “Cinco De Meow,” the gathering is timed to coincide with a major “kittening” season around San Diego County, when young cats are old enough to be adoptable into homes.
Who could possibly resist a kitten wearing lederhosen? That thought must have guided Friends of Cats when a year ago the nonprofit cat shelter rebranded September’s fundraising and adoption event as “Catoberfest.” Like the shelter’s companion springtime “Cinco De Meow,” the gathering is timed to coincide with a major “kittening” season around San Diego County, when young cats are old enough to be adoptable into homes. The second-annual Catoberfest festival of fall “cattitude” was held at the El Cajon facility off Olde Highway 80 on Saturday, September 26.
The Friends of Cats slogan is “You can’t buy love…but you can adopt it!” The event centered on raising awareness of the organization and its work, bringing in money to support the group’s efforts, and pairing humans with cats for adoption.
Coe Lewis of KGB-FM emceed the festivities, as she had the year before. Lewis noted that she had worked with the shelter for around seven years and adopted two or three of her 12 cats there.
Festivalgoers attending the three-hour midday celebration of fun and fundraising could tour open areas of the shelter to interact with feline residents, sample traditional Oktoberfest fare in the patio area, and shop for feline-themed sale items at the cat boutique. They could also try their luck at noon kitten racing bets or raffles and auctions of special items. The grand prize was a unique hand-stitched Cat Quilt.
Friends of Cats is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to the care and well-being of homeless felines. The complex is currently at capacity, housing about 270 cats and kittens in a treatment-adoption center building and four adjacent cottages, with 24-hours-a-day on-premises staff monitors. The group receives no government funding and, besides the income from fundraising events like Catoberfest, is reliant on donations and membership and adoption fees to maintain the shelter.
Janet Bianchini, the facility’s shelter manager for over four years, described changes over the past year since the first Catoberfest. Donor generosity this year allowed remodeling of the old central treatment building, increasing office space and expanding adoption center rooms. Bianchini also described how FOC has recently been able to take cats for adoption from shelters in El Cajon and San Diego.
The shelter’s on-site feeding needs are 400 pounds of dry food and 50 cases of wet food weekly, according to Bianchini. They get kitty litter by the ton. A trucking company delivers low-cost industrial clay litter, commonly used to clean up road spills, every seven to eight months — 22 pallets of it weighing in at 2,000 pounds per pallet.
The FOC shelter set the example as an original, true “no-kill” facility, with cats euthanized only for compassion to prevent suffering if they are fatally ill. At intake, cats accepted into the care facility are quarantined until their health status is determined. One cottage on the grounds is reserved for cats diagnosed with transmissible, potentially fatal diseases, such as feline leukemia and feline AIDS. Friends of Cats is seeking families willing to provide loving foster homes for these ailing, special-needs cats.
Adoption fees range from $100 for kittens, $75 for adult cats under eight, and $35 for senior cats over 8 years old. All cats for adoption are current on feline vaccinations, and they have been spayed or neutered and micro chipped for identification.
Friends of Cats is located at 15587 Olde Highway 80, (619) 561-0361. The facility is open Tuesdays through Sundays, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., except on major holidays. Volunteers and families wanting to adopt loving felines are always needed. The group’s next fundraising event will be a morning Rummage Sale on Saturday, October 24. More information and the “kittykam” for live video of FOC felines at play can be found at www.friendsofcats.org.
