History of the Shelter
The Friends of Cats Association – Oradea – was founded on 22nd April2010. It is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization in Oradea, Romania which rescues, cares for and re-homes abandoned and stray cats.
Adrian, the original owner of "Prietenii Pisicilor," (“Cat Pals” in Romanian) started the shelter out of his love and care for cats. He was inspired by the large number of stray cats in his city and wanted to create a place where they could receive food, shelter, medical care, and a chance at adoption. Adrian wanted to make a difference for cats in need and raise awareness about the importance of sterilization and responsible pet ownership.
In 2011, the shelter was temporarily supported by a sponsor named Gerry, who allowed the shelter to accommodate the cats in a rented house in Oradea. Due to financial problems, the shelter has been on its own since 2014.
Since 2021, the four oldest volunteers decided to form a new board. The first thing on their agenda was to buy a permanent building with a spacious outdoor playpen for the cats. This had to happen soon as the shelter had already moved its headquarters on several occasions since its opening. By that point, the cats were tired from all the moves and the volunteers were also stressed out figuring finances. Fortunately, they did it in 2021, but that does not mean their worries ended then and there.
Current Issues for the Cat Shelter
The capacity of the adoption center is 40 cats – a limitation due to lack of space (including quarantine space) and lack of financial support (no sponsor since 2014). Hence, the shelter is able to take in newly found strays only if the maximum capacity hasn’t been reached. If there is no space, cats cannot be kept in quarantine, which is absolutely necessary to avoid transmitting diseases to other cats.
Moreover, the shelter is struggling to find enough volunteers. For instance, if newborn cats are found abandoned, there are no people who can feed them every two hours, as the volunteers all have regular jobs. More volunteers could also be helpful when it comes to offering space for quarantining the new cats. By having more volunteers, the shelter could help more cats find a home. If you have any friends who live in Oradea, consider sharing this article with them, perhaps they can give the shelter a hand. Yet, what does it entail to volunteer to a shelter?
A Day in the Life of a Volunteer
For most of the volunteers, the day starts at nine o’clock sharp, as the cats need to receive their first meal of the day. After everyone is fed every cat will be checked for any diseases or behavioural changes. Next up, are the treatments. Together with food, the treatments for the cats with various diseases or chronic conditions are administered.
Then it's time for cleaning. The litter boxes are cleaned one by one and washed, if necessary. Although this is done regularly every weekend, the volunteer sweeps and washes the floor, checks the beds and baskets, changes and washes the dirty bedding. The shelter also has a playpen, which needs to be cleaned daily.
The water in the shelter needs to be changed twice every day, because cats need to always have very fresh water or they will refuse to drink it.
All the checking, feeding, and cleaning activities can take quite a long time, a few hours minimum. Throughout the day, the cats are fed again with various delicacies or even boiled meat, which is freshly prepared every day.
After the meal, even though the cleaning is barely finished, all the litter boxes are cleaned again and the cats receive one last meal, before the volunteer leaves.
Of course, the volunteer at the shelter also makes some time to cuddle and kiss all of the cats; they love attention.
The evening will be covered by another volunteer. This person usually goes to the shelter around 6-7 p.m., where, as usual, they start feeding the cats, which, although they have only been left alone for a few hours, meow and follow the volunteer until they have in front of them the plates with wet food.
Again, follows the routine of cleaning the litter boxes, sweeping and washing the floor, checking the beds and baskets, administering treatments (to the cats that need them) and most importantly,checking the cats’ well-being. Unfortunately, cats are very sensitive animals, and in a shelter full of young, sick or old cats, noticing early stages of diseases can save their life.
Other Activities
In addition to all these daily tasks, depending on the situation, the volunteers take the cats to the vet, answer phones, emails and messages on Facebook. They always try to help people who contact the shelter with different cases of found, (healthy or injured) cats, abandoned kitties or people who need other pieces of information about cats.
When needed, some volunteers participate in catching stray cats, transporting them to the veterinary clinic, and then releasing the cats as part of the catch and release sterilization campaigns which the shelter does every year.
Some volunteers are also involved in taking cats in their own homes, especially young, sick or severely injured cats.
Collaboration with SOS Dogs Netherlands
Adrian gradually built the shelter, focusing on providing a safe and caring environment for cats. His efforts attracted local volunteers and international partnerships, including collaborations with organizations like SOS Dogs Netherlands, which helped to provide resources and support for the shelter's operations.
SOS Dogs Netherlands have a farm located in The Netherlands, where they save a room specially for the cats of Oradea. They are also involved in the monthly transport from Romania to the Netherlands. From the farm, the cats can rest and recover from the long trip and there they will wait for their new forever home. They get promoted on their website and they have a special Facebook page: Cats from Prietenii Pisicilor shelter-looking for a home in Holland.
Pawsitive Successes
The shelter has achieved many pawsitive successes already, here are a few:
They have spaying and neutering projects regularly, to reduce the amount of street cats
They have a large and stable support base, with not only volunteers but also friends who regularly help and support us
They have regular fairs for selling hand-made items to raise funds and attract volunteers
They promote their cats online via their Instagram page. The page of the shelter is now a safe space for sharing the stories of the long stayers.
Adoptions of the cats, both in Romania as the Netherlands
They have a stable shelter, as they bought this building in 2021 which gives them the security.
Updates on the Shelter’s Instagram Account
Unfortunately, the website of the shelter is not up to date (latest update was in 2021) as they lack time to constantly add new information about the cats. However, the good news is that they have a fully updated Instagram account. Here they promote the cats, both the long stayers and the temporary ones that are up for adoption.
The shelter always wants to give the cats a face,to make sure people get to know the ones that will most probably not go home, ever. When a cat passes, it breaks the hearts of the volunteers. Since they take care of them for many years, the volunteers get attached to them and know their personalities better than anyone else. The cats will be in the volunteer’s hearts forever. Unfortunately, not all cats will go to their forever home, but the volunteersare there to give them the best life possible. Thus, they want to make sure that these cats can be remembered, at least in one form or another.
Future Goals
The future goals of the shelter are the following:
Providing a temporary no-cage, no-kill sanctuary for a number of maximum 40 feral and abandoned cats and kittens in Oradea
Facilitating the adoption of cats into safe, loving, healthy and permanent homes
Making the local community aware of the role they could play in reducing the stray cat population by neutering cats in the city and in improving the overall quality of animal welfare.
Providing free of charge spay/neuter programs by attracting funding from international foundations.
How to Contribute?
Feline enthusiasts who want to contribute to the shelter can do so in many ways. For example, by following the socials of the shelter and sharing the posts.
You can also donate as they have numerous vet bills. These bills cover the preparation of the cats for their new home, checkups,neutering/spaying or healthcare for the long stayers. To donate, you can transfer money to their bank account which can be found on their website.
You can also help by adopting a cat or spay your cat during one of their spaying campaigns to to control the number of street cats in Oradea.
If you do not have the space for a cat in your house, you can virtually adopt one of their long-stay cats. This will help the shelter to have a recurring income so they can keep taking care of them and have a security of existence.
Finally, volunteers are always welcome, so if you live in Oradea, reach out to them on their Instagram account.
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