Friends of Felines

Salem Friends of Felines is a charity organization that takes in as many unwanted cats and kittens as possible, and adopts them out to loving homes.

We are a limited admissions, no-kill rescue that believes in helping every kitty we can, by ensuring it will not reproduce an unwanted litter of kittens and by also helping those that are abandoned, unwanted and homeless find a loving forever family home. Every life matters!  The ASPCA estimates that approximately 2.7 million healthy, and perfectly adoptable pets are euthanized each year.  Of that number 70% are kittens and cats. These numbers are heartbreaking!  With your help, we can prevent this from happening by helping reduce these numbers.

They also run a thrift shop to support the cats -- very neat, and all at the same place.  Donated items are put up for sale at insanely good prices, and ALL of the proceeds go towards caring for the cats and helping people in the community afford to get their cats neutered or spayed via a voucher program.

We accept new and gently used items for resale in our thrift store, please do not donate broken or non-working items as it costs us money to throw them out and it takes away from what we can spend on the kitties. We accept small household items (no large furniture or appliances), clothing, books, animal supplies, jewelry, collectibles and other assorted small items.
 
We are not able to accept large items due to the limited space in our thrift store.
 
You can take your donations to the back donation/volunteer door from 11am to 3pm, Monday through Friday (we have someone in that room during these hours that can unlock the door and take your donations in).

After 3pm or on weekends, please go to the front of the Thrift Store and let one of our cashiers/volunteers know that you need to bring a donation to the back door so that we can have someone unlock that door and let you in.

You can take the kitties out of their cages to give them some love, and they have three heavily-windowed rooms where the cats aren't caged at all.  They rotate the kitties so that no cat is ever caged for long.

As for adoptions, all of the kitties have the following:

•    Already spayed or neutered
  
•    Micro-chipped
  
•    Tested for Feline Leukemia
  
•    Tested for Feline AIDS
  
•    Vaccinated
  
•    Treated for worms
  
•    Treated for fleas
  
•    Free vet exam at Willamette Valley Animal Hospital or Neighborhood Animal Hospital
  

DONATIONS can be made to help this wonderful charity HERE.  They're all set up for PayPal and various credit cards, and even have monthly plans if you have the resources to do so!  Right now they're doing a fundraiser for the upcoming flood of kittens that they always get at this time of year, which you can read about on the Salem Friends of Felines Main Page.

I love this place, I really do.  I was having an aggravating day, so I went there during lunch, and not only found some amazing deals on some things I needed, but the kitties also melted away my frustrations.  So sweet.  I found two that I'd really really love to adopt (but can't, because my landlord doesn't allow pets... will be moving soon, though!) and they're both black!

They have a great sign posted at Friends of Felines that goes something like this:

10. Statistically speaking, we are friendlier than other cats.

 9. You can always find them in the snow.

 8. Holding a black cat is very slimming.

 7. Black cats will match any decor.

 6. A lint brush isn't required for a black-tie affair

 5. When you love a black cat, luck is on your side.

 4. Black cats are like onyx, a beautiful gem.

 3. They don't care what color your hair is!

 2. According to Scottish lore, a black cat on your porch brings prosperity to the owner.

And the number one reason to adopt a black cat...

 1. They are the least likely to be adopted. 

Awww, love that black cat sign, Genki   

Yes, they are adopted about 1/3 less often than any other cats, apparently! But they're gorgeous. I've always had a sweet spot for black cats. My current one has the most amazing thick, shiny fur, and golden eyes to die for! She's my "black beauty", and such a sweet placid nature! And purr! Hear her across the other side of the room! I'd rate her in the top 10, looks and personality, of the over 100 cats I've had here.

I got this in my e-mail today.  I can vouch for the organization -- they do wonderful WONDERFUL things for all the kitties in need, and are a no-kill shelter.  My sweetheart Jasmine came from Friends of Felines, and we all know how that turned out

Fragile Lives - Kittens Needing Medical Help Now!!  Dear Colleen, The flood has finally started here in Salem, Oregon.....the flood of kittens that is!    The weather has been ever changing over the last few weeks, and because of that the kittens that have just started to come in are all sick and miserable.  Most are suffering from Upper Respiratory Infections (URI's) and Severe Eye Infections.  Kittens can have a URI blossom into Pneumonia very quickly, and most of them are too small to survive a sickness that severe, so we must start treatment right away.   On Thursday, we received a mom and her 7 kittens that are all sick!  Escada is the only girl and is by far the tiniest, weighing in at only Three Quarters of a Pound!  She has the worst URI of this group.  Her eyes are so watery it makes seeing and playing hard, and her nose is so congested that she has to breathe through her mouth which is causing her to get dehydrated.  One of Escada's brothers, Lacoste, has such a bad infection in his one eye that we are not certain if we can save it.  He is too small to have it removed, but we are hopeful that with medication and treatment it will heal and not need to be removed.  We immediately started medication and treatment on them all as soon as they arrived, and that continues for them in their loving foster home.  After just 3 days of treatment they are feeling much better and will continue on their antibiotics and eye ointment for another 4 days or so.   Escada and her litter, sadly, are not the only babies that need and will need medications and vet care.  Pretty much every kitten that walks in our doors right now is sick and requiring medications and vet care.  In just this last week we have taken in over 5 litters of kittens, and over the next several weeks we are going to get many, many more.  Medications have increased in price dramatically over the last couple of years, and in order to keep up with the medical needs, we are asking for your help.   Will you be the guardian angel of a kitten in need?   Together we can save hundreds of lives in the next few months!    Thank you for helping the kittens!     Sincerely,   Salem Friends of Felines

Direct Mail Donations can be sent to: 
 
Salem Friends of Felines
Attn: Medical Babies Fund
980 Commercial St SE
Salem, OR  97302
 
Salem Friends of Felines is a 501(c)3, non-profit charitable organization.  Your donation is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.  

Click to Donate Your generous donation will cover the costs of medicines, treatments and doctor visits .   $10.00 supplies a tube of antibiotic eye medication $20.00 supplies a bottle of oral antibiotics $25.00 covers the cost of a medical exam & treatment plan $50.00 covers nebulization breathing treatments No donation is too small, and every dollar will go towards the medical care of these fragile little lives.

Another e-mail about a wonderful opportunity for the organization:

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We're super excited to let you know we're part of a really amazing campaign called the Saving Pets Challenge.  It's a friendly fundraising competition funded by Michelson Found Animals where animal welfare organizations like ours compete to raise the most money for their cause.  The top raising animal welfare organization get donations between $5000 and $50,000 and we're out to win that grand prize of $50,000.

Here's where we need your help...

Each week, there are Bonus Challenges with opportunities to win extra cash for our cause.  The first one starts right now and if we raise at least $250 between May 4th at 12pm ET and May 12th at 12pm ET, we'll get entered to win a $4000 donation to our cause.

We could really use your help to raise the $250 and get entered into this Bonus Challenge.  Every donation makes all the difference so please Click here and give what you can.

If you want to go a step further and set up a fundraiser for our cause, that would be even more amazing.  Imagine the money we could raise together if you reached out to your network. So, so great.  To donate or to start a fundraiser, please Click Here.

And, one more quick thing...if you donate at least $25 to our fundraiser, you'll be entered to win a DOG for DOG or Adopt & Shop dog or cat gift basket each worth $100. Just one more reason to give.
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Our local no-kill cat shelter is in financial straits, and needs donations desperately. If you can help at all, please consider helping to SAVE THE KITTIES!

Newsletter I received today:
As you may know, Salem Friends of Felines has been serving Marion & Polk counties for over 12 years, and in that time we have helped find homes for over 12,000 cats and kittens and provided low cost/no cost spay and neuter surgeries for over 11,000 cats.

Throughout that time, we have made an occasional plea to the community for assistance and have received many great items. The simple truth is, now we need cash, $75,000 to be exact by June 15 to keep the shelter open and operational.

Several scenarios have aligned to slam us with fund-draining woes. There has been a sizable increase in medical expenses due to too many cats with serious injuries and illnesses that required major veterinary medical care coming in. Often times, we don't have a say in which cats we take in, as many of these felines are left at our door durning non-business hours. These medical bills add up quickly, even when veterinarians offer discounts. Medications are also very costly, and every year just like with human medicines those costs go up.

How do we decide what kitty to take and what kitty to leave to a different fate? The choice is heartbreaking!

Please be assured that our newly revised board of directors did start enacting measures in an attempt to avoid this situation several months ago, however, due to the public's donations not being as robust as they have been in prior years, these measures did not produce the desired results. We are simply escalating and adjusting our efforts to resolve this matter in the quickest way possible.

Currently we are not issuing our spay/neuter vouchers and we are having to turn cats away just to avoid having extra costs.

Can you help the kitties?

Thank you for your ongoing love and support!

~Salem Friends of Felines

6/3/17 UPDATE!

Short term goal:

Needed overall: