Friends Forever

Volunteer Application

FFACS is a for purpose, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to rescuing homeless and abandoned cats and kittens in the Placer County area and finding forever homes for them.

Friends Forever, a Cat Sanctuary is a not for profit, for purpose organization that started in September 2008. It operated out of volunteers’ homes until September 2012 when we opened the Adoption Center and the Cats Meow Thrift Shop in its present location.

FFACS was born from an idea that more had to be done about the overpopulation of cats and the number of cats that were homeless. While reducing the number of cats born each year by aggressive spay/neuter programs was a major goal, homeless and abandoned cats waiting for their forever homes needed a safe and loving place to stay while receiving the best care available. Caging cats was never an option so kittens are raised in volunteers’ homes in order to get the social attention and care from volunteers until they are ready for adoption. While in foster care, they are vaccinated, tested for communicable diseases, then spayed or neutered before they come into the Adoption Center for adoption. Once in the Adoption Center, volunteers care for and work with the cats daily to keep them healthy and socialized until they are adopted.

The adoption center opened in September 2012 and rescue approx. 350 cats a year with many cats/kittens available for viewing and/or adoption during our normal business hours. We are located at:

359 Nevada St., Ste. 101
Auburn, CA 95603

Adoption hours are;
Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 11:00am – 4:00pm
Saturday: 11:00am – 3:00pm
Sunday: Closed

FFACS now operates a thrift shop located adjacent to the adoption center in the True Value Hardware store shopping center in Auburn, CA. All of the items for sale in the shop are donated and donations are accepted during our normal business hours.

359 Nevada St., Ste. 103
Auburn, CA 95603

Thrift Shop hours are;
Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 10:00am – 4:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am – 3:00pm
Sunday: Closed

FFACS is a non-profit ‘501 ( c )3 organization; therefore, donations may be tax deductible. You may make contributions online through Paypal, or send a check to our address;

359 Nevada St., Ste. 103
Auburn, CA 95603

You may also donate any gently used, clean and reusable items to our Thrift Shop.

Cats are considered pets and are to be treated as a member of the family. We believe that cats are domestic creatures and should not be allowed to roam outdoors. Cats that are allowed outdoors will kill wild animals and birds in the area for entertainment and they themselves can be killed by wildlife, cars, dogs, disease and can be stolen, abused or killed by humans. When a cat is adopted from FFACS, another life is saved by making room for another rescue.. If you are interested in giving a cat a forever home, you may apply at our Adoption Center located at 359 Nevada Street, Ste. 101 in Auburn, CA. Our cats are socialized, spay/neutered, healthy, vaccinated, micro-chipped and tested for communicable diseases. There is a screening process before an adoption can occur but if a match is made, the cat can go home on the same day; however, we reserve the right to deny an adoption.

If you or someone you know must rehome their cat and have tried all the other options of friends and family, please contact a no-kill rescue group. There is usually a small surrender fee that assists with the care of the cat until it can find an appropriate home. FFACS will accept their own cats back if this becomes necessary but encourages owners to keep the cat if at all possible. We are always ready to assist with challenges that owners often face while owning a cat. If your cat is a senior citizen, over the age of 8, we recommend keeping the cat in its own environment or with a person the cat already knows because transition for them is very difficult.

The reality of homeless felines

Homeless cats in our community and in shelters face many challenges. Only a fraction of the cats being brought into county run shelters find homes. Thousands are euthanized because of space limitations. According to the Humane Society of the U.S. more than 4 million homeless pets are euthanized annually in shelters across the US. Our tax dollars are used to operate these shelters. The average cost nationally to euthanize an animal is over $200. In comparison, the average cost to spay or neuter a cat can be as low as $30 and less with certain programs. Free spay/neuter programs are offered several times a year to entice owners to fix their animals. So why don’t people spay and neuter their animals? We feel that with more publicity, more people will make that decision.
What can be done?

At this time, there are not enough safe haven shelters for cats in Placer County and the need is critical! The only alternative for most cat owners when they can no longer keep their cat or have a litter of unwanted kittens is to take them to the county shelter. The shelter has a limit on the number of cats they can house. Once that limit is reached, many are destroyed. Until the number of kittens being born is reduced through spay/neuter programs, we must have a facility to house and care for homeless cats in the community. There are a few rescue groups that are working independently rescuing cats from the shelter and the public to keep them from being killed. But the needs of the community cannot be met at this time. We hope, however, that through education and collaboration with these groups, we will be able to affect a change for both cats and humans. Making people aware of the critical need to get cats fixed is the answer at this time. It will take time and money to accomplish these goals. We are committed to that goal by participating in trap/neuter/release programs as well as getting every cat fixed before being homed.
What is a cat sanctuary?

Our philosophy as a no kill rescue facility maintains that all cats can find their forever home given an opportunity and should not be killed if deemed not adoptable as an in-home pet. Feral cats fall into this category. These cats were born without human contact during their first few months of life and have thereby developed a fear of humans or of captivity. These cats should be spayed or neutered and returned to their home place, given food and water by caregivers and left to live out their lives. Rehoming feral cats has a high failure rate so therefore; we support Trap Neuter and Return. If a cat has life threatening illness or injury, either upon intake or while in our care, humane euthanasia by a veterinary is used. Killing cats as population control or because they are not adoptable as pets is never an option. We are a rescue based center and not a shelter; therefore, our practices are quite different from shelters.