CATS

Pumpkin and Mustard were 2 boys who came from the CPL. They were pretty much feral when they arrived in 2004 at a year old. It took us 30 minutes to get them from the small cage they were living in and into a box. Slowly they have accepted us and we can do most things needed to look after them. When they arrived we could see that Pumpkin walked funny, and after dicussing it with our vets we concluded he had maybe been in a car accident when young. However he became very lame in 2007 and we got x-rays taken, it turned out he had permanently dislocated kneecaps and due to this his cruciate ligament had ruptured on one side. Our vet did an operation to fix the cruciate ligament and tried to create a groove for the kneecap to sit in. The cruciate op was very sucessful, but it was hard to make a groove as they was practically nothing there, so it has been partially successful. A year later the other kneecap was fixed, this was much more successful because there was no complication due to the cruciate damage. Pumpkin is now an indoor cat, we cannot risk him being out and perhaps doing serious damage.

Mustard sadly passed away in March 2010, due to complications from heart failure.

Pumpkin is not available for sponsorship.

Sooty also arrived in 2007 aged 7, his owner had sadly died and we were asked to take him. He is a lovely boy and is about the only cat we have without health problems. He can go outside if he wants but prefers to stay in, I think Mr Tomsk is a bit of a bully to him.

Fluffy arrived in December 2009 aged 12 years old. She came for a difficult background, where her owner suffered mental health problems. Fluffy had erratic care and at one point had to go into care with a local rescue. Her owner died in 2009 and she was again taken in by the rescue, unfortunatly because Fluffy had an uncontrolled thyroid problem, is seemed likely she would be difficult to rehome, so we took her. She has settled well, although we are trying to get her used to having her tummy groomed, being long haired she needs it. Fluffy has been very difficult to stabilise, and is now on 30mg of vidalta, she may however need her drugs to be changed or even a thyroidectomy. Misty was given a thyroidectomy in the summer of 2010, she recovered very well, but her thyroid levels were still high when blood sampled after the op. This is because both her thyroid glands were huge, but the vet only removed one because they didn't want to risk complications caused by removing both. She is back on felimazole, but we hope having removed some of the thyroid tissue we will be able to control it levels now. She is certainly looking much better.

Pudding arrived in March 2010, we do not know her real age but she must be a teenager because she was hyperthyroid when she arrived. Pudding arrived via another famous rescue after being found by my neice, Louise, in a state near death. She was skeletal and dehyrated, the vet could only give her a steriod on the day to try and perk up her appetite. She stayed with the rescue for a week and after that came to us. We took her to our vet and we sent off bloods and took a urine sample. She had a urine infection and it also turned out she was hyperthyroid. We were warned she may not make it. After month of nursing her weight increased from 1.7kgs to nearly 3kgs, it was a slow process but we got there. Pudding has turned into an affectionate little things but has now also developed renal failure so is recieveing treatment for this too. She does have vague moment where she gets a bit staggery and distracted but I do wonder if this is damage from her long term neglect before arriving to us.

Loki  arrived in March 2010 aged 3 years old, his owner had become ill and he ended up with no where to go, it was starting to look like he may have to be PTS We were called by a friend who is also a nurse and said we would take him. He has settled in well, been tested forFIV/Felv and the next step will be his boosters and an introduction to the big outside world. Loki has started o go out, but not for very long, it is all big and scary at the moment and he has to come in and use the litter tray- hecan't get his lovely white paws dirty by digging in the soil.

Helga ,9 years old, came to us when her owners booked her in at the vet to be PTS because she was urinating in the house and they could no longer cope. Helga was severely overweight and had chronic cystitis, she weight in at 8 kgs ( average cats are between 3.5- 5.5kgs). Her bottom was also very sore because she could not clean herself. She was giving antibiotics to clear the infection and we washed her bottom nightly and then applied a soothing cream. Her bottom got better very quickly and cystitis soon was cured. She was also put on a diet, but this will not be quick, in the first 6 weeks Helga has lost a kilo and is now living with the other cats, hopefully she will continue to lose weight, we will keep you updated. Helga has now lost 2 kilos! Helga is now 4 kgs!

Mr Tomsk ( a proper tabby, entire tomcat) chose us for a change. He has been living on the yard all winter as a stray. Initially he would just wander around calling to us, but not coming near and we didn't feed him to begin with because we thought he may belong to somebody local. Gradually he would come up to us for cuddles and we could feel he was quite thin and covered in ticks, he was also riddled with worms. We started to feed him because it was apparent he was living in the stables. We asked all the neighbours and checked to see if he was microchipped but nobody claimed him, so we had him microchipped, neutered, wormed, de-ticked, tested for FIV/Felv ( he was high risk being an un-neutered tom) and vaccinated. He has been living in the house for the last month while recovering from his op and getting his vaccines and has been a fairly good house guest. We are trying to introduce him to the others but he is a bit overwhelmed at the moment, he has stopped spitting quite as much as he did though. Mr Tomsk is now living with the other cats, without too much spitting, he and Sooty don't like each other but he and Loki are very close to playing. Mr Tomsk is going out again, but he were much likes his luxuries and comes in every night.

Urchin, arrived October 2010, as a half grown kitten, he was handed into a local vet with bite wounds on his neck. Some rescues were asked to take him, but they were full and didn't really want to take in an animal that was hard to rehome. My friend worked at the vet and asked if we would take him. There is a lot of work to be done with this wee man, because he is very wild. I am sure he will improve with time though and he will be blood tested and neutered before meeting the rest of the family. Urchin is now fully integrated and best buddies with Mr Tomsk, he is slowly getting tamer but I still would try to pick him up for a cuddle!

Sir Buttons arrived in the summer of 2011 after his owner became too poorly to look after him and another cat called Scooby. Initially Cosseted Critters kindly took them in and had them vet checked. Sir Buttons was 16 on arrival and unfortunately it turned out he had an irregular heart beat, and this would possibly cause problems with his health in the long term. Sir Buttons came to stay with us because it was becoming less and less likely he would find a home, Cosseted Critters took Scooby, who was 6, had him vaccinated and he was happily rehomed. Sir Buttons had been well so far and has settled with the other cats, he's tell off anybody who annoys him, even me when I move my feet in bed and he's asleep on them!

Dumpling also arrived at the end of 2011, she was found as a stray and handed into Donview vets, she was thin, dehydrated and showing neurological symptoms. The vets think she was about 15 when handed in, and although she improved in health and had no obvious health issues, they were worried about rehoming her because she started to be aggressive with food. They asked if she could come her and of course we said yes. She is looking really healthy now, and seems to enjoy being with the other cats, she's very relaxed around them, and there has been no sign of aggression with her ( I still have to cut her nails at some point though).

Daisy and Poppy arrived together in June 2012. Daisy was 14 at the time, had hyperthyroidism and no ears after having them removed due to skin cancer. Poppy is a beautiful girl who was 10 on arrival with no issues at that point. They were sadly rehomed because their owner was no longer able to care for them. They are both gorgeous girls who are extremely loving.