Cats Protection is the UK's leading feline welfare
charity and has been rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming cats since
1927.
Our nationwide network of 29 Cat Adoption Centres and 260 voluntary-run
Branches rehomes 60,000 cats and kittens every year.
But we could not do any of this without the generous support of the cat
loving public.
Our Branch
The Wellingborough and Rushden branch rehomed over 260 cats and kittens
last year.
Our dedicated unpaid volunteers give up their spare time to assist cats
and kittens in need.
From
assisting feral cats to raising orphaned kittens we provide help
wherever we can. Sometimes our assistance is a lifeline for the cats
and kittens which come into our care.
Please take a look at our new online shop
Charity
No - 203644
Cats Protection Cares
Cats
Protection never puts a cat to sleep just because it
will take a long
time to rehome, we will care for the cat until the right home
can be
found.
We have homed cats with epilepsy and thyroid conditions, cats
that are considered over the hill at 16+ and even a couple of disabled
cats.
We are proud to say that we don't just give up on a cat,
because it is scared of its own shadow on arrival, instead
we spend
time helping it overcome its fears.
We have been very successful in
this area.
We
sometimes come across out-of-work mousers. These
poor unfortunate creatures have never had a proper home or have been
away so long they've forgotten what it was like to have had one. All
they need is regular food and a dry sheltered place to spend the night.
For
further information please get in touch.
Furry Tails
Heatwave!
We are all feeling the heat right now and that includes the cats. Please
spare a thought for the stray cats in your neighbourhood and leave a
bowl of fresh water out in your garden so that they may be able to
quench their thirst.
It's that time of year again. Kittens are arriving into branch care in great numbers. We
are always happy to help these kittens and to fix them up with loving
homes but it would be so much better if we didn't have to take any in
at all. You see, everytime we take in kittens, they take up valuable
pen spaces, which leaves stray or unwanted cats with nowhere left to
go. We
are always overwhelmed with unwanted cats at all times of the year and
during kitten season we have to give special priority to the young
and the
unwell. That's why it's vital that every cat is neutered, to make room for the other cats that so desperately need our help. If
you have an unneutered cat please get it neutered as soon as possible,
or if you know someone who owns an unneutered cat, please tell them why
it is so important to have them neutered - if you are unable to afford
the cost of neutering please get in touch with us on 0845
371 4209or email us at wellrushcats@hotmail.com
For more information on neutering please visit our neutering page CLICK HERE
Part
of the work we do at Cats Protection involves caring for the local
feral (wild) cat population. Recently we undertook some work at a farm
in Finedon. Several feral cats and two litters of kittens were
reported to be living in and around one of the farm buildings.
Pictured here is one of the feral mums and her kittens
Two litters of kittens living in an old barn on the farm
Our
Feral Officer, along with some of our volunteers, set about the task of
trapping the feral mums. The kittens were easy to pick up but the mums
were much more of a challenge. Using our safe and humane traps and a
special net designed for catching feral cats we managed, with a great
deal of patience and care, over the course of a few days to capture the
mums as well. It is very important for kittens to stay with their mums
whenever possible.
One captured cat is transferred from the net to a carrier. In the end we found three litters of kittens (fifteen in all) on this farm alone,
five tortoishell females, (three of them mums and one of them
pregnant), as well as four ginger toms, who are probably the dads of the kittens.
Two tortoiseshell mums safely in care along with their kittens.
The pregnant tortoiseshell cat soon gave birth to five more kittens - here just 8 days old
Do you work on a farm or industrial estate or in an area that has a lot of
stray cats?
If so we would like to hear about them, regardless of the condition
that they are in. It makes our job a lot easier if
we are notified as soon as possible about a pregnant cat or small
kittens. Even entire toms need to be neutered, as the likelihood of
them
contracting diseases is higher in unneutered animals.
PLEASE
NOTE THAT WE NEVER PUT A HEALTHY ANIMAL TO SLEEP
We operate a trap, neuter and return policy for adult ferals in
instances where we cannot rehome them to a better location.
Feral kittens are brought into our care for socialising.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's Not All About Kittens
We
get a lot of requests for kittens (and we've got a lot of kittens that
need homes!) but all too often it seems that the older cats get
overlooked. If you're thinking of offering a home to a cat or kittens
please spare a thought for the not so young cats that are also in need
of loving homes.
Recently
we received a call from a concerned member of the public who had picked
up what he thought was a very pregnant cat. We brought her into our
care and soon began to suspect that all was not as it seemed. As well
as looking very fat and swollen, Isis was extremely weak on her back
legs and her eyesight seemed poor. After a vet check it was determined
that Isis was actually suffering from untreated diabetes. After a
few days in vet care, where her diet and her blood sugar levels were
closely monitored in order to stabilize her condition, she was released
into our care once again. Isis still has a long way to go and she isn't
out of the woods just yet but she is now receiving regular insulin
injections from her fosterer along with lots of fuss and attention and
we are hopeful that she will soon be strong enough for rehoming to a
very special home.
Isis has already run up a large vet bill for
us. If you can contribute to the cost of her vet care, no matter how
much or how little, please donate via our PayPal button on the left
side our our page.
When
Sterling was brought into our care as a stray, we took him to the vet
to give him a check over. Blood tests revealed that he was FIV
positive.
FIV is the name of a virus which attacks and weakens a cat's immune system. An
FIV positive cat will usually still have a strong immune system for
several years after infection, and it is only over time, that the
effects of the virus may start to show, and even then, most infections
can be treated with the appropriate medications.
Long term
studies have shown that cats with FIV are capable of living long and
healthy lives. In one study the FIV positive cats were even shown to
outlive the FIV negative cats! Another study showed that FIV had no
impact on a cat's life expectancy whilst an American study showed that
the main danger an FIV positive cat actually faces is being put to
sleep because so many people are unwilling to adopt them.
We
usually only come across a handful of FIV positive cats each year at
our branch. It is our policy at Wellingbrough & Rushden Cats
Protection to rehome FIV positive cats to indoor homes as only-cats (or along with other FIV positive cats). This minimises
the chances of the disease of being passed onto other cats (the main
method of transmission being through bites). Research suggests though
that the likelihood of a cat passing on the virus to another cat even
within the same household is as low as 1-2%.
Sterling is with us now, waiting patiently for his new home to come along. He is a very friendly little cat who is now enjoying regular meals and lots of fuss. If you'd like to offer him a home please email us at wellrushcats@hotmail.com or call us on 0845
371 4209 You can find more information on FIV here at http://www.catchat.org/fiv.html
Patience
=^..^= Please
be aware of the cats and kittens that come into our care. Some
have been abandoned, ill
treated, and
some just not wanted anymore. Some
will take time and patience to gain human trust again. Your
time and love will gain their trust.
Thank
You =^..^=
Here
are some pictures of our cats and kittens.
These
were once in our care and are now settled in their
new homes.
If
you have had a cat or kitten from our branch and
would like to update us on their progress,
please
feel free to send us a photo and your comments.
If
we have a picture of your cat we will endeavour to display it
alongside our own.
Thank
you.
WARNING
FLEAS
CAN KILL!!!
It
would be a grave mistake to think of the flea as simply a
nuisance. A
heavy flea burden can be lethal, especially to young kittens, ill,
convalescing, or frail elderly cats.
Most
pet owners have no idea that
fleas can kill.
Heavy
infestations will cause the animal to become anaemic which left
untreated can be FATAL. Please
seek veterinary assistance or ring our helpline for advice
regarding the treatment of fleas
