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An easy and unique way to ring in your birthday and help shelter cats is by hosting a fundraiser on Facebook.
If your profile lists your birthday, Facebook will probably prompt you as it approaches to set up a fundraiser. You get to choose which cause or non-profit organization you want to support. When you select Cat Care Society, Facebook will automatically create a post for your friends to donate to. We recommend tailoring the automatic post language to something more personal that shares why you chose us and your connection to the society. It’s your day, and you get to boast about why you love cats so much! Then, select how long you’d like the fundraiser to run and your donation goal, and you’re off to the races. Your connections will be able to donate directly through Facebook, with no additional processing fees. At the end, we get a nice deposit in our bank account thanks to you!
The best part is it takes so little time to put together that you can set up your fundraiser and still have time leftover to plan that sweet birthday bash at the roller rink (or the party place of your choosing).
(Need help or have more questions? Visit this Facebook help center article.)
Once your fundraiser is live, Facebook will notify us, but we’d love if you reached out and told us about it, too! Email our director of philanthropy at aleader@catcaresociety.org so we can watch your party in action.
“As my birthday was approaching this year, I decided to host a fundraiser for a cause close to my heart,” Brenda Johnson, a Cat Care Society donor and volunteer who recently hosted her own fundraiser, said. “Since I volunteer with Cat Care Society, the decision was easy. I knew that this way, my friends could donate funds to a great organization I love that helps support cats in need. Creating the fundraiser was super easy and made me feel good. I set a goal of $200, and was able to successfully raise $170 from multiple friends who donated directly through Facebook. Now, I can rest easy that Cat Care Society gets a check and knowing that the process was easy and accessible for everyone.”
Not on Facebook? No problem! There are so many other ways you can help the cats. Consider hosting a supply drive, sending financial or physical donations or spending part of your day giving scritches to the kitties.
In case you missed it, on August 13, we hosted a waived-fee adoption event alongside a pop-up thrift shop, for Clear the Shelters month, and we are overwhelmed at the positive response from our community! In fact, we adopted out the most cats EVER in a single day for our shelter: 31 cats went into loving homes as a result.
We also made a few hundreds of dollars in sales from our thrift store and Meow Mart and collected donations as well, and we are so incredibly grateful at how kind, supportive and generous our shelter visitors were.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
We also want to thank our amazing staff and volunteers for their tireless efforts getting ready for this event, including our animal care, adoptions, foster and management team to the fosters and volunteers that came in to help.
In addition, some of our partners showed up in a big way as well – thank you to KONG for providing toys for our adopter’s bags and Purfect Pose Photography for capturing so many special moments that day. We truly have such a fantastic community of animal lovers, and our hearts are full.
Check out some of the action in this TikTok from the day:
@catcaresociety FREE CAT ADOPTIONS TODAY! Lakewood, CO! #cleartheshelters #adoptdontshop #lakewoodcolorado #colorado #adoptacat ♬ Mr.Blue Sky – Elijah Ray
We know that there may have been concerns over the decision to waive adoption fees, and we truly appreciated the concern for our cats’ well-being. The decision to do a free adoptions day was made after much discussion and consideration by the shelter team. Please know that regardless of waived fees or special promotions for an event, we always do our due diligence. All interested adopters must fill out an application and be approved before bringing any cat home. It’s important to us to make sure all our cats end up in good homes committed to loving and caring for their cat, and we’ll never compromise these values.
There have even been multiple studies done by respected animal welfare groups that have found that waived adoption fees do not affect animals in any negative way:
We were so happy to be able to chat with several visitors that day and learned that many had only just heard of us through advertising for this event and were excited to come check us out. Others had been thinking of adopting and were just waiting for a special day like this to finally make the decision to bring a new friend home. Most even did their research beforehand and knew exactly which cat(s) they were interested in adopting! And many had filled out the application and went through all of the screening questions and process before even showing up. We have no doubts that all our cats went to great homes.
Once again, we thank each and every one of you that supported us for this event and made #CleartheShelters 2023 an incredibly positive, successful day.
With Halloween approaching, it’s the perfect time to spotlight a particular type of cat—and no, we’re not talking about black cats! Instead, we’re focusing on tri-color cats, whose coats feature a mix of black, orange, and white in varying patterns and ratios. While “tri-color” and “calico” are often used interchangeably, calico cats have a distinct coat pattern. Tortoiseshell cats are also considered tri-color, even though they usually lack white and have their own unique pattern. It’s important to remember that “calico” and “tortoiseshell” refer to coat patterns, not breeds. These color combinations are the result of genetics and can appear in any breed, though they are more commonly found in breeds like American Shorthair, British Shorthair, Japanese Bobtail, Maine Coon, and Persian.
There are also diluted and tabby variations of tortoiseshell and calico cats—so many colorful kitties to love! In the rest of this article, we’ll explore the different markings and patterns that define each type of tri-color coat. By the end, you’ll be able to recognize the unique beauty of every tri-color cat you encounter.
Tri-color cats are almost always female, with approximately one in 3,000 being male. This is because two X chromosomes are needed to have a distinctive tri-color coat. Typically, if a cat has an XX pair, she will be female. Male cats have an XY chromosome pair, so they’re not tri-color unless they have at least one extra chromosome (XXY). Unfortunately, these males often suffer from Klinefelter’s Syndrome, a condition that can negatively affect their health and longevity.
Calico cat coats feature patches of solid orange, black, and white. The white color is a result of a genetic condition called piebalding, which occurs in a range of other domestic and farm animals. In a diluted calico, the colors are more muted to cream, gray, and white, due to a gene inherited from one of the parents that diminishes color intensity.
“Tabico” is a term for cats that have a combination of tabby and calico markings. These cats have large patches of orange and black on a white background, with tabby stripes overlaying some of the black and orange areas. When tabby stripes cover the forehead, they form the distinctive “tabby M.” A diluted tabico’s coat features cream, gray, and white fur.
Tortoiseshell, or “tortie,” cats have brindle patterns (irregular stripes or streaks) of orange and black with little to no white. A diluted tortie has gray and cream colors and is a result of both parents carrying a recessive gene that impacts the intensity of the colors.
A torbie cat exhibits both the multi-colored brindle pattern of a tortoiseshell cat and the characteristic stripes or spots of a tabby. Like the tabico, if there are tabby stripes on the cat’s forehead, they will display the “tabby M.” Diluted torbies usually have a cream, gray and white coat.
A “tortico” is a combination of classic tortie and calico markings, featuring large patches of orange and black brindling on a white background. A diluted tortico is relatively rare, and will be gray and cream, and white.
As you can see, there are many variations of tri-color cats but you can still count yourself lucky if you run into one! In many cultures tri-color cats are connected with good luck and good fortune, and in the U.S., they are sometimes called “money cats.”
People who have tri-color cats often report that they’re equally sweet and sassy and tortoiseshell cat owners often refer to their feisty side as having “tortitude.” However, since tri-color cats aren’t a breed, research hasn’t been able to confirm that this extra feistiness is a distinct trait related to their coat pattern. That said, if you haven’t taken our “Whats Your Cat Purrsonality” quiz on our Just Fur Fun page, now’s your chance! Discover which cat breed or color pattern best represents you—maybe even find out if you have a bit of tortitude!”
About the Author: Beth Dokolasa is a volunteer for Cat Care Society and serves on the Board of Directors. She is an instructional developer for Natural Grocers and lives in Indian Hills, Colo., with her husband, daughter, and two cats, Techno and Digit.
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The Cat Care Society is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Our tax identification number is 84-0869447.
