We're making big changes at Catoro...
Dear friends,
We have some important news to share with you. As many of you probably already have seen or heard, our partnership with Cat Therapy Rescue Society has come to an end after more than 2 and a half years since opening Catoro with them back in August 2019.
We now look to the future with new plans for how we can make better lives for more rescue cats, and how you can help us make a difference.
Read on to find out why we are starting a Patreon, plus more news and changes!
What we’ve achieved so far
We've helped find homes for over 600 cats since August of 2019. In that time, and with the support of our community, we’ve established our relevance in the city and in many people’s day-to-day lives.
Time and time again, we've seen many cats that were in shelters and fosters for months, where they received little attention in terms of adopters, and few opportunities for socialization. Once brought to Catoro, these cats flourished and completely came out of their shells, showing the world who was really inside.
We’ve seen so many cases where cats have trauma or fear of humans/other cats. This can all change with the right care and socialization.
Bridging the gap
These are the reasons that Catoro exists and keeps us relevant in the animal rescue space. Furthermore, many shelters are too far to access easily, and they are not often welcoming environments that you can spend a long time in. It's difficult to connect with a cat and find out about their personality in conventional shelters.
This is the purpose of Catoro (and any cat cafe in general). We bridge the gap between a shelter, and having true bonding opportunities. Our space takes you to a magical forest, away from your daily life and into the wonderful world of cats. This lays the foundation to make real connections, friendships, and to find the companion that is just right for you!
Animal therapy
On the other side of Catoro, we have the human connection by means of animal therapy. To many people, they don't understand it until they see and feel it. But in our daily lives we rarely get the chance to interact with animals. More and more people cannot have pets of their own due to rental restrictions or career choices that don't allow them the time to care for a pet.
Animal therapy is nearly an essential service to people that struggle with their own mental health and happiness. Since opening, we've had over 30,000 guests come through Catoro to meet cats, some for the first time, and some again and again.
We've seen people come in after a hard day of studying to get them through to their exam days. We've seen people come in in tears after being let go from their jobs. We've even partnered with the local crisis center where volunteers have spent hours on the phones with suicide calls, carrying enormous mental loads on their minds, just come in to play with a cat and let it all out.
The value this gives to many is immeasurable and we will keep this as a priority when moving the business forward.
The impact of the pandemic
When the pandemic crisis first began, we were forced to shut our doors for nearly 4 months. As a result, we were prevented from having guests come in to visit, cutting our main revenue source for the business.
In order to continue with our mission, we made a major pivot and partnered with many high quality vendors to begin our journey into offering unique pet supplies and creating a strong platform and customer base in this space. We offered next to the best loyalty rewards system in the industry, free local delivery, and even automatic refill options, something that was truly lacking in this space. We called this Catoro 2.0.
What’s next?
With all of this in mind, we move forward and embark on a new chapter for Catoro. We’ve learned many lessons and feel that this is the most natural progression and evolution given all that we’ve learned and experienced.
Beginning in February 2022, Catoro will be branching off into our own rescue journey!
With health and safety standards being at the top of our priorities, we have carefully chosen a select group of rescue partners from across Canada that are dealing with their own feline overpopulation issues.
Each month, we will be taking in new batches of cats in need and rehabilitating them back to good health. In our Cat Forest they will receive the best care, along with many opportunities for socialization that will allow them to share the best of their unique personalities, and find the right adopters.
In addition to this, we will soon begin to rescue our own cats and accept owner surrenders, making Catoro a true shelter and rescue!
Want to help?
We have launched a Patreon where you can support our mission, and receive exclusive benefits in return.
Our minimum monthly goal is $15,000 which will allow us to cover the costs of caring for our cats. But in addition, we are hoping to raise an extra $10,000 each month, to set aside for medical expenses and emergency surgeries, so that we can help all the cats that we have the chance to save.
For the time being all of our Patreon funds will be going into our renovation and improvement costs to update our space so it will allow us to grow and pursue our future rescue goals.
Within 2 months time, when our cat population is back to our regular pre-pandemic levels, we will be introducing more benefits for each tier.
We truly thank you for supporting Catoro and are furrever grateful to you for your generosity in helping our dream stay alive!
Whether you can donate or not, we sincerely appreciate even a share to your own family and friends to recommend Catoro and help spread the word on the mission we set off to pursue!
Thank you,
Nathan
Catoro Pets
