2010, april 22 – The Friends of Cats association was founded in in Oradea, by Mr. adrian Gheara, being – to the best of our knowledge – the first of its kind in Romania. It functioned in a two-roomed, rented house, with a common yard, in Oradea. The rooms were converted into play rooms for the cats – shelves on the walls, play centers etc.

2010-2011 – Several attempts were made to involve the local authorities and possible sponsors into this project, with the purpose of obtaining a piece of land where we could have built a shelter of our own, so that no rent had to be paid and the capacity of the shelter could have been increased – with  no success whatsoever.

2011 – Financial problems appear. An English citizen, a real animal lover residing in Oradea, offered us a temporary solution, namely – he allowed us to shelter the cats in a house rented in Oradea and also build an annex in the yard. So at the end of 2011 we moved from the old location to the new one. The construction of the annex began in the same period.

In May 2012, the annex was finished so the cats got access to the outside, too (enclosed space). Two rooms were transformed into sick wards – for incoming cats or kittens. Adoptions became very rare.

In september 2012, we were awarded a 3000 EUR grant from Fondation Brigitte Bardot, destined to cover part of the cost of food for the cats.

By December, the number of our feline inhabitants grew to 50. Also in December, five of our cats were welcomed by Maria Polman Foundation in Holland, where they found happy, forever homes.

During 2012, 25 cats were adopted.

At the beginning of April, we reached the end of the grant awarded by Fondation Brigitte Bardot. Attempts are made to find those people who are willing to donate 1 EUR/month for the cats. Adoptions to Holland continued with the help of the same foundation. Adoptions in Oradea decreased dramatically as the number of stray cats increased continuously and people who wanted a cat could easily find one on the street. Starting with May, the number of abandoned kittens just kept on growing and, by October 2013 we had in our care over 60 kittens, plus the 22 adult cats that couldn’t find a forever home by that time.

Severe financial problems starting with August, expenses with food and veterinary services explode.

In September 2013, a neutering campaign started with the help of Maria Polman Foundation, through FPCC.

78 of our cats found forever homes during 2013, either in Romania or in Holland.

The neutering campaign started in 2013 ends in February, but requests for help keep on coming. In April, the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust grants us 2000 EUR for cat food.

At the end of April, abandoned kittens started coming and by mid-summer we reach the highest number of cats ever cared for in our shelter: 99. Inevitably, health problems appear and veterinary expenses rise enormously. Volunteers and foster parents take home as much found kittens as possible, due to over-population and health problems in the shelter.

At the end of June, our sponsor announces that he can no longer pay for rent, operational expenses and veterinary services, due to financial problems. At this point, only food was still covered by the grant awarded by the Marchig animal Welfare trust.

E-mails and requests are sent out, actions on social Media start in order to raise money for rent and veterinary expenses. Besides people donating small amounts of money, we receive support from the Kitty Connections group in the U.K. with the help of whom we manage to pay rent. Help comes from Kindness trust in Australia – a grant of 2000 EUR is awarded for “most urgent needs of the animals”, which was used for food (starting with end of September when the previous grant ended until December 2014) and more urgent veterinary interventions.

At the end of July we get the approval letter from the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for sterilization of 600 stray cats (500 females and 100 males). The campaign starts in August.

Different fundraising activities are organized at the end of the year in order to raise money for rent, food, vaccines and treatments for the cats: food fundraising, Christmas concert, calendar sale. The money raised help us pay existing debts and survive for a couple of more months.

141 cats find forever homes in 2014, in Romania or with the help of Maria Polman Foundation in Holland.

The Maria Polman Foundation in Holland closes its gates and adoptions decrease.Regular donations from cat lovers decrease from January to March, mainly because ups and downs in people’s own financial situation. As adoption possibilities, as well as financial resources decrease, and health problems persist, we can only take in a limited number of cats – and very few, ideally after having been vaccinated (until then, kept in foster care) and after some more cats are adopted – so there is a waiting list for taking in cats from foster care.

Health problems persist although the cats are fully vaccinated and seen by the vet 3 times a week, treated and sheltered in good conditions. Seeing no chance of moving to a new place, build according to standards, we decide to remove the old floor and place tiles instead – more appropriate for our situation, hoping that the cats’ health will improve considerably and consequently, medical expenses decrease.

With the support of Help Animals International and donations, we were able to ensure necessary food for the cats during 2015.

41 cats find their forever home by the end of the year, many of them thanks to stray Cats Netherlands who help with adoptions. As a rule, when a home is found, the cats can travel directly to their family (maximum of several hours spent at the foundation before being picked up by the owner, due to lack of space).

During the first months of the year, the results of previous year’s renovation and the constant disinfection performed start to show: the overall health of the cats has indeed improved, except cases like e.g. chronic stomatitis which need constant care and treatment. Other chronic or terminal diseases surface in the case of older cats – and not only (no wonder after the life they had on the streets) and our efforts are redirected to saving their lives and improving their health.

We resume the writing of our project for a new shelter, in order to get rid of rent, but at the end of May we are given notice: until 1st August we need to vacate the house, demolish what we had built because the owners have decided to sell. After one month of searching, we finally find a place where we are accepted to move with the 63 cats in our care. Although it doesn’t have a yard or garden, there is no alternative: it’s either too expensive, or they won’t accept cats. Before this terrible news, we take in abandoned kittens found in boxes or bags, until there are no more quarantine rooms left, thus reaching 75 cats at one point. The need of a TNR campaign is obvious but our application is unsuccessful.

Repairs must be done at the new place and conditions improved. Debts at the veterinary clinic pile up, also because we need to prepare the space but also because cats need food, we need to pay for utilities, rent etc. and we have no help except monthly donations and what we can raise by handmade items or by asking for help on social Media. All these combined cannot possibly cover all expenses that are needed. Capacity of the shelter decreases to 40 cats due to new conditions.

At the end of the year we still struggle with repairs, heating, bills. Some of the cats have adjusted well but others continue to lose weight due to difficulty to adjust to new shelter, mainly because lack of outdoor space.

During 2016, 32 kitties find their forever homes either in Romania or in Holland, with the help of our friend, Petra van Hoorn, who had been supporting us for some years now, against all obstacles encountered.

Harsh winter does not make it any easier for any of us, cats or volunteers. Bills and never ending current problems consume all our resources – time, money, people. Volunteers are badly needed, but despite posts and ads, no one seems to find the time to come and help more than once or twice, so the team remains unchanged.

Spring brings many abandoned kittens. With help of people who agree to foster them, and volunteers who take them to their own homes, we manage to assure the quarantine until vaccination. Consequently, the number of the cats in the shelter increases again to over 60 and expenses with vaccination, food and medical care rise, spay and neuter costs to follow. We apply again to Cold Noses Foundation for funding for a TNR programme.

Daily chores and to-do lists take up all our free time. The website is hacked, restored from back-up but the need for a new one is obvious. Volunteers start learning and working on a new one, in the spare time they have left.

In autumn, our friend Petra from Holland turns one room in her house into a cat room, to be able to help more cats and to have a place where even the shy cats feel secure. It is a wonderful project, as even shy cats behave completely different if not surrounded by 30 other cats and they can be in a more home-like environment, with people actually living there and offering lots of attention and love. The cat room can have 5 residents at one time.  

In October, we get a negative response from Cold Noses Foundation but in November, the Trustees of Help Animals International agree to award a grant of € 3,000 to support our cat rescue, neuter and adoption programme, a much needed help which comes to our rescue exactly at a time when we were starting to lose spirit.

As for Christmas, we get a most welcome gift, which comes as a total surprise: 40 bags of dry food (400 kg) from Royal Canin, following an action they had been running on Social Media. This doesn’t only mean that the cats can get very good dry food, or that the expenses will drop for a while, but also that the grant received from Help Animals International will last longer if well managed.

39 cats find their forever homes, mostly in Holland, with the help of our friend Petra and many others find their way into good families with our support, either by posts or by directing potential adopters to those kittens who need it most.

The team gains a new volunteer, who also has the space to foster kittens. He gets more and more involved in every aspect of the shelter, which is of great help. Especially that a “morning volunteer”, a retired lady adored by the cats and by us, encounters health issues and can only go to the shelter 2-3 times a week, out of 5 working days needed.

We do our best to keep the number of the cats in the shelter at 60 maximum, while also having kitties in foster care. Some of the older cats start having worse health issues and until the end of the year we say a very painful good-bye to some of them, especially to funny Lance, sweet Anton and our 19-years-old, beloved Lucy, who have all been with us for many years, through better and worse.

But as painful as it was, a lot of other cats still needed our help. One was a kitten found hours from dying, with both back legs broken, who lived to run again – we named him Lucky. Another desperate tomcat on the side of the road, trying to get people’s attention in vain, until somebody stopped and took him to the vet and now he is living proof that life can be walked through on three legs only – and he goes by the name Bricky, happily adopted now. And last but not least, a cat that lost his eye after being hit and left for dead in the street, whose will to live helped us help him get to his feet. He deserved a name like Matt, as he is a very handsome boy, spoiled rotten by everyone.

Discussions for a piece of land for a new shelter take place in spring. At this point, it seems we found the perfect one and one of our friends is willing to take a credit for some of the money needed. But the City Hall turns out to have other plans of that area, and no authorization of a shelter is possible there.

Good news follow: a company named Sykes contacts us in order to sponsor some cat food and 16 spaying / neutering procedures – a total of 720 euros, a great help for us. This action of theirs is highly appreciated and shows increasing concern for animal welfare. Could this be a sign of change for the future in our society, despite constant impediments from local governance? Namely, the City Hall is developing a project, a local regulation according to which people feeding any kind of animal (bird, cat or dog) on the streets, is fined more than 300 EUR, which is more than the minimum salary, not to mention average pension. A public debate takes place, but the regulation passes anyway, later to be attacked by us and in 2019, by another association, which hires a lawyer to take it to court.

A special case is brought to our attention in summer: 70 cats kept in cages by an elderly man, in his home, in horrible conditions. 3 of our volunteers try their luck and knock on his door, some 60 km away from Oradea. To their surprise, they are invited inside, where they found 35 cats, some yes, in cages – for it was meal time, and the moms were separated from the rest, while the others  were free. He had one room for them for fear the neighbours might poison them, like they did with his other cats. He didn’t have either the money to buy good food, to sterilize or provide medical care, so we started to visit by turns, bring them to Oradea to be spayed / neuter or given medical care and also to provide food for them, what we could afford or raise. 2 of the kittens found new homes, but unfortunately, the smallest one died at the clinic.

30 cats are adopted in 2018, including shy cats who stayed in the shelter for years until they had the chance to go to the “cat room” in Holland and get adjusted to a different kind of life, with much less cats and much more attention. As it turned out, for most of them it was all it took to become perfectly adoptable cats, even if some of the old habits they had took some more time to forget.

Although asking around and posting in search of “morning” volunteers, nothing changes from this point of view. Two of the volunteers who have regular jobs help out in the mornings before going to work, so there is an overload for all of us as a consequence. Nevertheless, the talented ones of our volunteers overdo themselves and on 1^st June they raise nearly 1400 EUR by selling amazing cat-themed items, thus ensuring the roof over our heads for the months to come.

The cat room in Holland works wonders in the first part of the year and 19 cats are adopted into loving homes until May. Holiday and also kitten season approach though and adoptions stop for the entire summer.

May is also the start of a TNR campaign sponsored by Abri voor Dieren Foundation in Holland, to which our friend Petra van Hoorn applied. Both she and us all had the wonderful surprise of being granted 5000 EUR, covering 300 spaying procedures for street cats and 500 euro-worth of cat food. An amazing help for all rescuers in Oradea who have been struggling to pay for the many cats they trap, spay and return to the territory. 190 cats have already been spayed / neutered in this campaign and thus thousands of innocent lives were saved by preventing helpless kittens being born and suffer on the streets. The campaign continues.

It will be followed by another one, sponsored by another friend of ours, Chantal Wolfs, who offered to pay for 160 spaying procedures out of money she’s been saving. Such friends are worth entering the history of our small shelter, as the help they offer is priceless and rare.

Kitten season in Oradea turned out to be worse than expected and before any campaign started, people found newborns in bags or kittens on the streets. As the shelter is overcrowded and volunteers overloaded with work, the best idea we could come up with was taking as many as we could to our homes or to foster families, and care for them until adoptions from the shelter re-start. Considering the many cats, ours, all of them rescues from previous years, we already have at home, it’s no surprise that we soon got completely stuck and now we have no less than 35 kittens in our care. The good part of it is that they are safe, healthy and growing, some of them were already vaccinated. But it’s no wonder that the expenses increased, even if for 15 of them, volunteers are struggling to pay for the food and the litter they need, at least.

The first half of the year was filled with financial struggles and constant running around. With over 80 cats in our care – far exceeding the space and resources we had – we barely managed to take in a few more and fought just to survive and provide for our beloved cats. But in early summer, all our hard work was turned upside down by the building owner’s decision: we had to move out by March 1, 2021. Unfortunately, we knew too well what this meant—our chances of losing the shelter were very high. Why? Because every time we had to move, it was incredibly difficult to find a place where we were allowed to bring so many cats.

Since we’re a small team of volunteers, who need to travel from home—or straight from work—to the shelter or sometimes to the vet (often urgently or even late at night), it was crucial to find a location easily accessible by public transportation or at least where we could call a taxi if needed. So, we started searching, both for a rental property and for a house we could buy through a mortgage—a possibility we were forced to consider simply because renting had always been very uncertain. Even if you pay your rent diligently every month, you live with the constant fear of being kicked out again at the landlord’s whim. This was the third time it happened to us.

By June, 36 cats had been adopted—23 of them from foster homes, where they’d been patiently waiting for a forever home since 2019, thanks to the kind people who housed them. But after hearing the bad news, all our efforts shifted to the cats in the shelter. We had no idea what would happen and scrambled to find alternative solutions for the cats still in foster care—renting an apartment (or two!), taking some into our own homes if there was any room left. We didn’t know where we were headed. By mid-November, as winter loomed, our desperation peaked.

We searched endlessly. We visited a few houses on the outskirts of town, even though they were in hard-to-reach areas—especially in winter—but none met the bank’s criteria or could be bought with a loan. Renting was even harder: landlords wouldn’t rent out even with just six cats, let alone 60! We know because we asked—about six, not 60—and the rent was in the hundreds of euros per month! We looked helplessly at the cats in the shelter, unsure of their future. But one thing was clear: our cats would not end up on the streets. Still, where would they go? Some volunteers lost hope; others stubbornly believed we would manage—and thankfully, they were right!

In mid-November 2020, an ad caught the attention of one of our volunteers who was searching daily, tirelessly, on every platform. Another volunteer “felt” this could be the one and reached out to the owner. The next day, we visited the house with indescribable emotions. We didn’t see it for what it was—old, neglected, and falling apart in places—but for what it could become: HOME. Though it was smaller than we needed, even smaller than our current space, it was perfect for another dream to come true—a yard where the cats could enjoy the sun and fresh air. We visited again with all the volunteers and agreed to seize this chance with both hands.

The house was the cheapest we’d seen in months, and the owner agreed to wait a few days to hear back from the bank. A man of his word, he did just that, even though he could have sold it within days. The bank responded quickly, and with incredible luck, we found that the maximum loan one of our volunteers could secure would (just barely!) cover the house. The mortgage was for 23 years. The only hurdle left was the down payment, and we didn’t know until the very last moment if we could gather it. The “last moment” was mid-December, by which time all the necessary paperwork had to be ready.

We couldn’t have done it without good friends. Everyone pitched in; we raised money together. One of our friends even published a book to sell, we organized fairs, and we reached out to everyone we could. Those who could help, did. Every single day was filled with hope—and fear that we might lose our only chance. There was no plan B; we had to succeed. That house had to become the cats’ home! We still can’t thank enough everyone who helped us, from those who stumbled upon our posts to acquaintances, friends, and family. Once again, we THANK YOU! The weeks after our decision felt like an endless marathon with no visible finish line but with amazing people cheering us on every step of the way.

By the end of December, when we finally made the down payment, we continued to work hard to get cats from the shelter adopted, ensuring their futures were secure. We couldn’t risk anything; the contract wasn’t signed yet. By year’s end, 60 wonderful cats had found homes and families in 2020, most of them in the Netherlands. Even though we thought we’d taken in very few, the year’s end tally showed that 37 new cats had joined us. As for sterilizations, without sponsorships for a proper campaign, we managed to spay and neuter 67 stray cats with our own efforts. It’s worth mentioning that in Oradea, between September 15 and November 15, a local veterinary clinic sterilized 389 stray cats for free.

We began the year full of positive energy, big hopes, and ready for even greater deeds! In the first days of January, we had the joy of signing the contract for our future dream home. Our dear cats would finally be safe! At least, as long as we managed to pay the installments. The hard part was yet to come—we knew that. But after moving one mountain, we had to move another: renovating the house. And that’s putting it lightly.

Imagine a house with a 30-year-old sad story: small rooms, chalk-painted walls, wooden floors, old windows and doors, a crooked ceiling that lost heaps of heat, a small yard overrun with plants, garbage, and dry branches, and an annex where even the walls barely held together. This annex was the only home of Lady, an elderly dog left there by the former owners. She’d lived there her whole life, and it never crossed our minds to take that away from her. However, we moved her into a proper sheltered space because the conditions were horrible—she’d been fed only occasionally by a kind-hearted woman. In her two years alone, she’d developed several skin conditions and other health problems. Naturally, her first trip with us was straight to the vet to start treatment.

For two or three weeks, we focused solely on clearing out the rooms, the annex, and the yard—all while still rushing to the shelter, where the cats were waiting for us. Finally, the renovations began. Throughout this time, we were accompanied by Elisabeta and Victoria, two cats also “forgotten” by the former owners. They stayed by our side through thick and thin, enduring the loud noises, dust, and chaos like true stoics. Volunteers, friends, and family all pitched in, working tirelessly after their day jobs and on weekends, doing whatever they could to help.

We knew we couldn’t afford to hire labor, and although fundraising continued, we soon had to take out loans for the necessary materials. We were lucky, though, to have true “heroes” among us—people who went above and beyond, even learning new skills if needed, just to lend a hand. Our three craftsmen guided us, showed us the ropes, and worked tirelessly for four straight months. Their joy was as great as ours when the cats finally had their new home. Labor costs, in the end, were almost negligible.

February flew by, but we managed to secure an extension until March 31. Meanwhile, the landlord of our rented space began his own renovations, creating noise and disruption for the cats. Even though the workers were separated by walls, the cats were noticeably more stressed and frightened, especially on days when heavy equipment was in use.

At the new house, walls were scraped, skim-coated, and painted; the electrical system was redone; floors were removed; hundreds of sacks of rubble and debris were carried out and sorted (sometimes directly in freezing weather—a truly unforgettable experience!); ceilings were insulated; windows and doors were replaced; donated tiles were installed, grouted, and cleaned; radiators were added; metal shelves were built and painted; a tiny kitchenette was carved out of a hallway; sinks were installed, and pipes were laid. It was Sisyphean labor against the clock.

Thanks to our experience with previous shelters, we knew what materials to use for proper disinfection and what to avoid. Somehow, despite exhaustion and frayed nerves, we managed to complete two small rooms and one slightly larger one. But with no further extension, we had no choice but to move.

On the last Saturday of March 2021, we spent the entire day hauling everything and preparing the space for the cats. During our final trip, we brought Lady to see the house. It was both incredible and emotional to see her recognize the home from afar and to watch her happily roam the yard she once knew so well.

The next day, March 28, we moved the cats—a day we would never wish to relive. Most of the cats, being shy or semi-feral, fiercely resisted as they saw us preparing their carriers. They were terrified and desperate. But we had no choice—the rented space had to be vacated.

Initially, the cats were placed in one room, with improvised sleeping spots—baskets, blankets, anything we had. After hours of trips back and forth, they were all there. Some, to our relief, seemed to feel at home right away. Others, however, hid wherever they could, their eyes full of fear. We opened the doors to the other two rooms, but most of them stayed in the safety of the first room where they’d been released.

Even after the move, the work continued. Over the next two months, we still had to build a fence, repair an annex (we needed every bit of space we could get), and construct an enclosure. The intensity of the work didn’t let up. We hauled sacks to exhaustion, poured countless wheelbarrows of concrete, dug endlessly, untangled and secured wire mesh (doubling it for added safety), and built a small covered terrace. We even divided one room into three sections to create isolation spaces for cats when needed and built a small room—the “studio” for Lady, so she would never have to endure the cold and dirt again. Elisabeta and Victoria gladly shared Lady’s space at night, though during the day, they patrolled the yard and the neighborhood.

In May, late on a Saturday evening, we experienced the happiest moment of our lives in a long time: letting the cats out into the enclosure. Seeing them bask in the sun, roll in the grass, or simply stretch out in the fresh air was an indescribable joy.

Although the cats seemed happy in their new home, what followed is difficult to describe.

We had taken in a mother cat and her four kittens in one of the rooms we called the “isolation area,” along with four siblings in another room—kittens again—as well as a few older cats in foster care and several adults. We participated in Swimathon and managed to raise funds to sterilize 224 community cats. In 2020, we hadn’t been able to secure funds for a sterilization campaign, but in 2021, with the help of the Oradea Community Foundation, this became possible. We are deeply grateful for this opportunity.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until late August, when the cats started getting sick. By the end of the year, we had lost 11 cats: Audi, Eeney, Erin, Cricket, Kym, Xavier, Donny, Ozzie, Whoopi, Dino, and Lidl. Most succumbed to FIP. Cats that had been with us for years, had endured previous moves, both timid and friendly, adults and kittens—they left us one by one. August 2021 remains the darkest month of the year for us. It marked the beginning of weekly, sometimes daily, trips to the vet—a pattern that continued well into 2022.

By the end of 2021, we had rescued 39 cats (including those in foster care), and 27 found loving homes. However, the year ended with medical bills as our primary expense, as we fought desperately to stabilize the situation, treat the cats we could, and properly assess the health of those with chronic conditions.

This year taught us that the true cost of a dream goes far beyond what we could have imagined. But we keep going, for the cats who need us.