The feline rescue and adoption center is in the red for 2024, and will need help to land on its feet in 2025.
Just as The Cat Lounge Rescue and Adoption Center at 1006 Torrey Pines Rd in The Village celebrated its fifth anniversary, leadership began to worry about future celebrations.
The Cat Lounge opened in November 2019, just before the COVID pandemic began, with a large space for the public to visit with rescued felines, outfitted with cat equipment and toys along with furniture for humans and felines alike.
Two years later, The Cat Lounge expanded into the suite next door to create a kitten nursery where kittens are separated while receiving medical care.
All cats within the two spaces are available for adoption, said Cat Lounge Executive Director Renee Shamloo, though anyone can visit the space for a $25 admission fee and spend time with the cats without pressure to take one home.
The admission fee and any donations go “right back to care for the cats,” Shamloo said. “We are our own rescue, so we don’t partner with a cafe; we don’t partner with anyone else. We’re 100 percent nonprofit, so any income and revenue sources that come go right back to our kitties.”
The Cat Lounge houses anywhere from 10 to 20 cats in the lounge with a couple dozen more in the nursery.
“Our focus is reducing the amount of adoptable, friendly cats that are being euthanized,” Shamloo said.
That means mostly taking cats from shelters or strays from the street and working with other rescues who do “TNR,” which stands for trap/neuter/release.
The Cat Lounge will occasionally take in owner surrenders as well.
In its five years, The Cat Lounge has placed 5,680 cats in adoptive homes.
“We’re really proud of that figure,” Shamloo said.
In the last two years, however, adoptions and donations have significantly decreased, which Shamloo believes is due to the economy.
“People are struggling to just pay rent. How are they going to take on a new family member?”
The downturn means The Cat Lounge isn’t able to save, adopt or care for as many cats; by the end of 2024, the nonprofit found itself with a $60,000 deficit.
A Dec 30 Instagram plea for donations garnered about half that amount, “which is wild,” Shamloo said. “It’s really encouraging. … I didn’t realize how much of an … icon we’ve become in the community.”
The Cat Lounge is still in need of funds, however, to bring the 2024 numbers into the black and aid operations for 2025.
“I’m hoping the momentum continues,” Shamloo said.
To help The Cat Lounge, visit the website or the organization’s Amazon Wish List. Any contribution is welcome, though Shamloo said the following is helpful:
•$25 pays for one vaccine.
•$50 pays for kitten wet food for one week.
•$120 pays for one lifesaving spay or neuter.
•$120 pays for litter for one week.
•$240 pays for one blood panel.
The Cat Lounge is also taking volunteers to assist the organization in following very strict shelter protocols, disinfecting and sanitizing daily for two to three hours.
“Volunteers are crucial in allowing us to keep our doors open and remain healthy for the cats and for the community,” Shamloo said.
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