Feeding Cats to Keep them with the Family
Once monthly, the Cat Food Bank provides free cat food to qualified cat owners still struggling with this poor economy.
If you need assistance, please visit CAT’s event calendar for the specific days the Cat Food Bank is open.
About the Cat Food Bank
Who Can Receive Food
2012 Client Guidelines
Donations and Other Ways To Help
Donation Drop Off Locations
In June 2008, we opened the first organized pet food bank in the Portland area. After reading news accounts that pets were starting to be relinquished to shelters at an alarming rate, we wanted to do our part to help pet owners keep their pets.
With no idea what to expect, and very few examples of successful pet food banks across the country, we launched a program that has become a lifeline for struggling cat owners.
On June 1, 2008, we opened our doors and handed out 375 pounds of cat food to help 16 families feed 45 pet cats.
By the end of 2008, 3,700 pounds of dry cat food had been distributed. What makes that so amazing, as we look back, is that for six months in 2011, we handed out about that same amount of food – monthly. (Get the updated cat food bank statistics.)
The need had grown over 1,100 percent in three years.
In September 2009, we forged a unique partnership with Washington County Loaves & Fishes, which operates the county-wide Meals on Wheels programs, to provide cat food for their home-bound cat-loving seniors. Currently, the Cat Food Bank provides cat food for clients through the Beaverton and Forest Grove Centers. The Hillsboro Senior Center sends representatives to pick up food for their clients.
The Cat Food Bank is 100 percent donation driven. All the bags and cans of cat food handed out are donated at CAT or dropped off at one of our many donation drop off locations. Supporters of the Cat Food Bank can also make cash donations directly to the food fund. This money is used to purchase cat food, at a reduced cost, to keep the pantry shelves full.
And it’s not just cat food. We offer behavior information, answer questions, and provide resources for low-cost spay/neuter, as all cats fed through the Cat Food Bank must be spayed/neutered.
Qualified cat owners from across the region are eligible to receive enough food to feed up to four pet cats for a month. The Cat Food Bank is not a resource for rescue organizations, other animal shelters, or feral feeders.
New Clients: all new clients must come to the Cat Food Bank in person to complete the enrollment form.
Picking Up Food for Others: you may pick up food only for yourself and one other person. You must be listed as the “authorized” pick up person. To authorize someone to pick up your food, you must come to the Cat Food Bank and update your client form.
Show ID: you will be asked to show identification when you come to pick up food. This will help us find your information quicker, allow us to make updates to your form, confirm your legal address, and verify you are the person receiving the service. Please remember to bring a valid Oregon/Washington driver’s license or ID card or some form of photo identification that has your name and address.
Verify Assistance: you may be asked to verify the form of assistance you are receiving. This means bringing proof of the qualifying benefit you receive, when we ask. Assistance may include:
•Medicaid
•Unemployment
•WIC
•Food Stamps
•SSI
•Section 8
•Public Housing
•TANF
•Oregon Health Plan
•Meals on Wheels
•Subsidized School Lunch Program
Number of Visits: all Cat Food Bank clients may receive cat food 9 months out of a 12 month year. You can come nine consecutive months or come three or four times and not the next month.
First Come First Served: the Cat Food Bank is a first come first served operation. We ask that you not save spots in line for other people receiving food. We will hand out numbers to those in line beginning at 9:30 am.
Cats Must be Spayed/Neutered: all your pet cats must be spayed/neuter. If any of your cats are not spayed/neutered, you will be given three opportunities to comply before we are unable to continue to help you. You must bring in proof of the spay/neuter surgery.
Only 4 Owned Cats: the Food Bank can provide food for up to 4 owned cats per family only. We do our best to match the food we give you with your cat’s needs; however, since the food is donated, we won’t always have the same brands available each month.
Please, no new pet cats: we know you want help us save all the homeless cats; however, we urge you to refrain from bringing more cats into your home than you currently have either through rescue or adoption. We can provide you with detailed resources to help find homes for stray or unwanted cats that are in your neighborhood.
Other Food Banks: if you get food from another pet food bank, please refrain from getting food from the Cat Food Bank. All the pet food banks work together to make sure everyone’s pets are fed.
Bags of Food: you may receive a different number of bags of food. CAT calculates the approximate amount of food to feed one cat per month at 7.5 pounds. If you have more than one cat, you may receive one large bag one month and two small bags the next.
No transportation is provided to the Cat Food Bank and we are unable to deliver food to a client.
The Cat Food Bank needs about 3,000 pounds of dry cat food every month to meet the demand. That’s about 428 seven-pound bags…every month!
Donations should be unopened, and unexpired. Any size bag and any brand are accepted (prefer bags that are seven pounds or more). Our clients prefer mid to high-quality foods such as Meow Mix, Purina, Kirkland, Friskies, Iams, Natural Balance (to name a few).
Canned cat food is also needed as is scoopable litter.
Bring your donations to CAT’s Sherwood shelter or one of our drop off locations.
Host a cat food drive at your workplace, church, or club: we’ll provide you with signs, posters, and collection box/barrel.
Make a secure online donation to support CAT and the food bank. You can feed one pet cat for a month with a donation of $14. Just think what a little more will do.
Display the Cat Food Bank brochure and encourage others to donate to feed hungry pet cats.
View and share Cat Food Bank PSA.
Updated 12/2011