By Nikki Hazelgrove

Hi ! Yes we are back again and plan to update you as to what we have been up to over the past few months.

This year has been very frustrating as a record number of cats and kittens have needed to come into care, but because of the effects of the recession, people are not tending to come forward to offer our furry friends a home. We obviously are homing some but the demand is not keeping up with those who need help. If we are not making spaces we are unable to take more in, which is a very worrying situation to be in. Where will they go? What will become of them?

The County Press very kindly did a feature for us in November highlighting the problems we, and other rescue centres, are experiencing. This is a nationwide problem not just the Island. We had a very good response and have found some homes following the article, which we are really grateful for. We also had several concerned people phoning saying they had no idea the recession was affecting us and the animals in this way, so all in all we did have a very positive response.

One reason the situation has been made a lot worse is because some people have jumped on the bandwagon by trying to make money from breeding their pets. They have obviously noticed there have been fewer kittens available on the Island, although this is not exactly true, as Cats Protection have, in the past, brought kittens over from the mainland, to help ease the problems at their other branches and groups. With the Internet offering free advertising it makes it even easier to sell these animals with little or nothing spent out on them before passing them on. We are already being asked to take some of those bought privately, for one reason or another, or we have people phoning with various worries with the new cat or kitten and need advice to hopefully solve the problems being faced. Also they have not considered the cost of neutering and vaccinating, so then contact the rescue centres for help. The same thing applies when faced with general veterinary fees when the animal is unwell or injured. As we sink further into the recession all these problems will and are exacerbating.

We have had a few months of respite with our Special Neutering Scheme as Cats Protection have been running a free neutering campaign, so we have passed all those contacting us on to them. It is due to end at the end of November so the scheme we run with RSPCA, Godshill will be up and running once again. If you would like to make a donation to our Special Scheme we would love to hear from you, as obviously it is quite a drain on our funds, as it is ongoing and we don’t turn anyone on a low income away. The owner pays a nominal amount, but most of the bill ends up in RSPCA’s lap and ours.

Enough about the recession let us now update you on some of the cats featured in our Summer Newsletter.

I must start with those still waiting to catch someone’s eye:
‘Oliver’ black two and a half years old has been in our care now since October last year. He desperately needs a rural home. A farm, smallholding or stable home would be ideal, but he would need complete access into the home via a cat flap. Or a home which is situated in the countryside. He is a loveable boy and a very strong character. He has previously lived with a small dog but is probably better as an only cat. Can anyone out there help ‘Oliver’s’ plight, he is being very tolerant at being confined, but how much longer can we keep him happy?

‘Milly’ white/tortoishell came to us with her kittens during the summer. All her babies have homes but ‘Milly’ still waits patiently to start a new life. She only has a small portion of her tail left now. She had just the end amputated due to an injury, but it just refused to heal, so eventually we went for a second operation which, thank goodness, has been completely successful. She still has enough to wag, but I think at times she wonders where the rest of it has gone!!

‘Kizzy’ and the last of ‘Milly’s’ kittens actually went to a home together. They have settled very well in their new home, and get on really well together. Their older ‘sister’ took a while to get used to the intrusion, but now they are growing up a bit and going outside to play they are a bit more tolerable!!

‘Holly’ 13 years old abandoned when her owners moved house, is now living in the lap of luxury. Pam fostered her to help us out, but ‘Holly’ very soon got her paws firmly tucked under the table so now is going nowhere! Wherever Mum goes ‘Holly’ is hot at her heels, she demands that she sits down and she is straight on her lap, looking most disgruntled if ‘Mum’ finds the need to get up again!! ‘Holly’ will never want for anything EVER again. Bless Her.

‘Pumpkin’ black 8 years old is being fostered by Pat. She has the run of her little flat and Pat is now very loathed to part with her. We are not quite sure what will happen in the long term, but at least at present both are very happy sharing their lives together!!

We cleared the colony which we mentioned in our last Newsletter. We do have a home for three of the girls, but we are still on the look out for another stable, smallholding or farm home for the remaining three. All are spayed and microchipped and ready to go. They will be happy to live out, as long as there is a nice hay barn to curl up in to keep warm and plenty of food to fill their tummies.

We have four kittens who were also born outside, but as they were only 4-5 weeks when they came to us they are not wild. All are black and black/white, although having said that ‘Tia’ is chocolate/white!! Where her colour came from I will never know, but that is just one of the many oddities in life!! They are now 6 months old and are booked in to be spayed and microchipped this week. Unfortunately ‘Tia’ has irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel which we are at present trying to treat, there is a chance she will grow out of it, but only time will tell. No doubt she will become a permanent resident at ‘Bo-Jangles’ if it turns out to be ongoing.
This little family still await new homes.

‘Merlin’ and ‘Muffin’ are two white boys. They are now 8 months old and are really looking for a home together. ‘Merlin’ isn’t the bravest so really needs to take ‘Muffin’ with him for moral support!! It only takes a short time for ‘Merlin’ to trust people he doesn’t know; he is then throwing himself at your feet – literally!! Both are neutered and microchipped needless to say, and will start their vaccines before going to a new home.

‘Woody’ and ‘Willow’ were born in someone’s garden in a woodpile! They were probably 4-5 weeks when they came our way and both had sore mucky eyes. The later did not prove to be a problem though thankfully, as it was not flu related. ‘Willow’ was chosen by a lovely couple when they were about 10 weeks old, and then following the County Press article young ‘Woody’ set off to his new home about a fortnight later. In the meantime though he wasn’t alone as I put two of the girls from the other litter in with him, which he thought was rather good fun!!

‘Poppett’ tortoishell/white 9 years old. She doesn’t really like other cats much so she needs a home where she is the only one. She is very affectionate and loyal and just waits for someone to come along and fall for her charms!!

‘Susie’ came to us recently, and very shortly after her owner sadly passed away. Corrine is actually fostering her for us, but I don’t think she wants anyone to come forward for her as she has got rather attached!! ‘Susie’ is at least 10 years old and is such a contented little cat.

‘Taz’ came to us on bonfire night. Mind you he had been putting up with fireworks for at least two weeks prior to that, but we took him as soon as we had the space. He had been living in a hedge for at least 3 weeks. The person contacting us thought the owners had moved house and left him behind – that was nice of them! Mind you they have probably done him a favour, as he is now going to a lovely home where he will never be shut out in the cold again, and will be truly loved. ‘Taz’ is very nervous so needs a lot of love and reassurance and I know that is exactly what he is about to receive in his new home. At present he is with Corrine, so has already had a taste of what life should be like.

‘Looby Loo’ tortoishell 9 years old came to us, as unfortunately her owner is terminally ill. We actually homed her nearly 9 years ago as an older kitten. Again due to the newspaper article ‘Looby Loo’ was offered a lovely new home, with someone who has two of our cats already. Unfortunately they lost ‘Willow’ (another ex Feline Welfare cat) a few months ago in very tragic circumstances. You may remember seeing an article in the County Press about him. He had been caught in a leg hold trap and had been missing for several days. Because of the extent of his injuries he had to have his leg amputated. ‘Willow’ was doing really well after the operation but he suffered what was probably a pulmonary embolism. His owners are devastated and will never be able to come to terms with this very sad tragedy.
Leg hold traps ought to be made illegal. It is no way to trap ANY animal. It is cruel, unnecessary in fact barbaric. Let us hope in the not too distant future the practice is made illegal.

‘Huggy Bear’ came to us in an APPALLING condition. He was heavily flea infested, and there was not an inch of skin that wasn’t covered with scabs, some oozing and sore. He had been living mainly under a bush in someone’s front garden. In the rain he would be soaking wet, and in the cold he would just curl up in a tight ball. Poor ‘Huggy’ also has very poor sight, so that is why he wasn’t moving very far from ‘his’ bush, as he knew how vulnerable he would be if he left the safety of his little enclosed patch. We are still having a struggle to get his skin under control, but as you know we don’t give up easily!! ‘Huggy’ is actually in a new home, and at present is a house cat, mainly because of his sight. Does he mind? What do you think!! He spends a lot of time on his ‘Mum’s’ lap or lounging in one or other warm spot, and does not pay any great attention to the doors leading to the outside. He is probably 13-14 years old and it seems such a shame that probably most of his life has been pretty miserable. All we can do now though is to make the rest of his life very well worth living. We have managed to trace some of his past history, and have gone back about 6 years when he was initially a roaming undoctered tom, but he hasn’t really ‘belonged’ anywhere, that is until now of course. Some animals just seem to be at the end of the queue when luck is handed out – it really is a fate of birth as to where they will end up, and what sort of life they will have.

‘Maisie’ tortoishell/white 10 years old is desperately looking for an indoor home as unfortunately she is FIV. We could not believe it as she is literally a picture of health, but we had a laboratory test done just to make sure that we were not getting a false positive. Her previous owners asked their elderly neighbours if they would take her on, as they couldn’t take her with them when they moved – mind you they had acquired a kitten in the meantime and they managed to take that when they left!! The neighbours felt so sorry for ‘Maisie’ they agreed to take her, but they have asked us if we can find her a new home as the wife is disabled, so this is what we are trying to do, at present to no avail. We hope ‘Maisie’ can continue to stay with them while we try to find an indoor home for her, so she can then go without having to come into care.

‘Tiggy’ is 12 years old. We actually managed to home her direct from her previous home. In fact the couple were going to have ‘Maisie’ but when we found she was Aids positive they could not have her as they already had ‘Thomas’ (and ex Feline Welfare cat). ‘Thomas’ took a little while to get used to this jet-propelled whirlwind – she might be 12 but there is plenty of fun left in this little cat!! So for ‘Tiggy’ it is a very happy ending, and it has also given the previous owners peace of mind, especially as we managed to cut out the middleman and an extra move.
We still have several cats on the waiting list needing to come into care, but we tend to take the ones who are literally out in the cold, with little or nothing to look forward to. So as soon as we have space available, the vacancy will soon be filled!!

As you will see on the front of our Newsletter we now have a website. Abbie and her family have very kindly arranged and paid for this to be set up for us, for which we are most grateful. We are hoping it will, in time, make a difference to us especially on the homing front. We are trying to take photos of all the cats in our care so they can go on the ‘Adoption’ page with a short text about each one. We also have a ‘Happy Tails’ page, which shows some of those we have rehomed. If you get a chance why not have a quick browse and see what you think. I am not on the Internet but we can obviously be contacted by phone, and Abbie can also be E-mailed as one of our links. Anyway we wait to see how it will all pan out for us. Many Thanks once again to Abbie and Nicci for coming up with this idea and for getting all the wheels in motion.

As always at this time of year we have so many people to thank. All your help and support is so important to us and it enables us to carry on with our work. Feline Welfare is like a jigsaw and you are a very important part of it.

I would like to thank Sally, Corrine and Jill for fostering for us throughout the year; your support in this way has enabled us to help many more felines in trouble, for which I am most grateful. They also offer a lot of moral support as well. Pat, Rachel and Pam have also fostered for us at very short notice. I think once they said yes I made a delivery to each one the next day!! So many thanks for all your help in this way.

Thanks go also to Liz, Doug and Vanessa for all their hard work throughout the year with fundraising. It is continuous from spring through to as far into autumn as possible! But they never waver. Thank you all so much, we couldn’t continue without you.

Green and Forster Veterinary Surgeons have worked tirelessly with our many furry friends. Not all our customers are easy(!) but the Vets and all their staff have continued to offer a very friendly and efficient service for which we are most grateful. We look forward to continuing our work with them during the year ahead.

Creature Comforts have again provided a great service throughout the year with our weekly deliveries. I dread to think how much cat litter we have got through in the last year, apart from anything else!! Many thanks to you both.

We have had regular donations of food and cat litter from Mary, Ann, Sheila and Liz and Doug. As you can imagine this is a real help to us. So thank you one and all. We have also had donations of food from people who either have fussy cats or who have sadly lost their feline friend.

Katrina and Nigel once again have been very supportive in various ways. Nigel has spent many hours trapping feral cats, picking up strays and others needing our help and going on various Vets trips etc. He has also been busy producing all our forms, posters and Newsletters. Many thanks to you both.

The list goes on forever, but to everyone who has helped in one way or another we really are very, very grateful, and we hope you will be able to offer your support again in the future.

We need to go to print now, because as per usual I am writing this with very few moments to spare!!

May I wish you all a Purrfect New Year, and if you find you have room in your heart and your home for another feline friend you know where we are. There will always be a little face awaiting your call.