Stamford-based Friends of Felines, a 501(c)(3) charity now in its 25th year, says it is at capacity and is urgently looking for volunteers to help foster local stray and abandoned cats.

“Our tagline is ‘caring for the homeless, and otherwise forgotten cats in our community,’ because they are forgotten — people don’t realize what’s out there,” said Friends of Felines co-founder Janine Paton.

While Paton says the need has always been there, since COVID, as clinics cut their hours and prices went up, things have reached another level.

Instead of a “kitten season,” Paton says cats are now being born year-round, even in the winter, leading to a surge in the population.

“This was hard to imagine,” she said. “They multiply, so it just goes from two cats to six cats to nine cats.”

As a result, Friends of Felines now has nearly 100 cats in its care, with many being boarded at Just Cats.

“Now we’re just sitting here like, ‘What are we gonna do?’” Paton said.

While, long term, she says the answer is better, cheaper access to spay-and-neuter programs to keep the population under control, at the moment they are quickly running out of both space and money.

“We are holding our breath. So far, we have managed to pay all our bills every single month, and it’s getting harder and harder, and it’s upsetting. It’s a lot of pressure. It’s really hard to say no to some people asking us for help,” Paton told News 12. “We have to turn down a lot of people, and it’s not a very good feeling.”

Friends of Felines is asking for help fostering some of the cats as it continues trying to find homes for all of them.

“Open up your hearts, your homes,” Paton pleaded. “While we’re all here, Just Cats is fun, but they spend a lot of time in a cage — it’s better than being on the street, of course it is, but this is it. This is what we have.”

Just Cats has an adoption event on the second Saturday of every month, but welcomes volunteers and donations any time.