Welcome to the 5th Edition of our Mewsletter - the online newsletter dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest information on our Cat Room Expansion Project and Purr-fect Shelter Campaign.

Sponsor a Commemorative Wall Tile by June 1 and Help Fund our Cat Room Expansion
 
There's still time - but not much - to sponsor a commemorative wall tile to help fund our cat room expansion. These colorful tiles, which will greet each visitor as they enter our new cat room entrance, are being offered until June 1. Would you like to honor a loved one or special pet, recognize a special event, or show how your business supports the shelter? If so, we have a limited quantity of 8" x8" tiles available for a donation of $1000, and 6" x 6" tiles available for a donation of $500, with all donations being completely tax-deductible. By sponsoring a tile, you will help us reach our fundraising goal and move our cats out of the cramped steel cages they currently occupy into more spacious kitty suites.

For more information and to order, visit our website www.ppfcatroom.org and go to the "donate" page to download an order form. Or, call Pet Project Foundation at 949-595-8899 to order.

We'll only be offering these tiles until June 1, so don’t delay - sponsor a tile today.

View Our Updated Cat Room Floor Plan
 
Now that we submitted our completed architectural plans to the city of San Clemente, we thought you’d like to see what the final version of our new cat room floor plan will look like. Here are just a few of the highlights of our cat room expansion and renovation project:

• Eight spacious cat suites that allow plenty of room for cats to climb, perch and play. Each suite is equipped with a window for sunning and bird watching, and will allow adopters to interact with the kitties in the suite itself. Cats residing in surroundings that are more comforting - like spacious group housing - are more likely to display their true personalities and get adopted faster.
• A remodeled area for our "shy" kitties that allows them to be housed and socialized until they're ready to enter a multi-cat suite in the addition.
• A "kitty kitchen" that provides increased space for storage and food preparation.
• Substantially increased storage areas throughout the cat room.
• New "kitty kottages" that double the size of our current cages, each equipped with a porthole divider that allows litter boxes to be kept separate from food and sleeping areas.

Next Stop: Breaking Ground on our New Cat Room Addition
 
The excitement is starting to build as we get closer to the construction phase of our new cat room addition and renovation. We recently submitted our completed architectural plans to the City of San Clemente for review and approval. Once we've received notice of approval, we can then request bids from construction companies, hire an appropriate firm, and then - break ground. We're hoping we can break ground in late summer or early fall, and have no fear - you'll all be invited to this momentous event.

New Kitty Kottages Will Keep Our Kitties Svelte!
 
"Kobi girl!" is my usual refrain when I walk in the door to the cat room. She's right there, the first bottom cage as I enter. All 16 pounds of her... in her 45"x28" cage. Kobi was not that large when she came to the shelter in May of 2009. Yes, you read that right. Over a year and a half ago. She's gained this weight through lack of room to work off calories.

Kobi is one of the cats for whom we need to replace the cages with roomier ones, - what we affectionately call Kitty Kottages. She will not tolerate living in a Kitty Suite with other cats. Yet she needs room to move around to work off her pent-up energy. She paces back and forth in her tiny cage until it's her turn in the visiting room. It's not exactly the aerobic exercise she needs.

Other cats are in need of private dwellings due to medical conditions that dictate a different diet than the rest of the population. The Kitty Kottages will help us care for those kitties while giving them a comfortable place to live until they find their forever home.

Please consider sponsoring a custom-made Kitty Kottage for Kobi and all the other kitties we will need to house separately. For a tax-deductible donation of $2500 you can sponsor a roomy Kitty Kottage for a cat in need - like Kobi.