August 2011 Newsletter
Apologies for the late arrival of your newsletter, we have been very busy with lots of kittens and fund-raising. We have also had illness in the family which has meant hospital visits and sadly two bereavements. Thanks to all of you who sent cards and offered your support, Brian and I were very grateful for your offers of condolence and good wishes.
Homing has been very slow and we are unable to take any more cats and kittens into the rescue until we rehome some of the many we are currently caring for.
CATS HOMED
Amber, found a lovely new home in Ingol where she appeared to be settling in slowly when she made a dash through an open door and disappeared into the woods. Thanks to Sylvia who offered Amber’s upset new owners support and advice whilst Brian and I were making hospital visits. Three weeks to the day who should turn up at the front door asking to be let in but Amber who appeared in good health and happy to be home. I have said it before if only they could talk!
Fraggle, now called Petal, has gone to live with Delia in Preston, this was as a result of Jenny and I having a stall on Preston car boot. Delia mentioned she was looking for a cat and came to have a look and chose Fraggle who settled in straight away. Delia has given us some things for our stall and Tombola and her friend Dawn has collected some cat food for us. It really paid off for us having a stall that Saturday.
Gino and Mario, are two kittens, both smoky grey found with their 2 brothers abandoned in a box on Ashton Park in Preston by two Italian gentleman. They were known collectively and affectionately as “The Italian kittens”, and given Italian names. They were fit and well when they were found so it was a mystery why they were abandoned so callously. They are the most loving kittens and purr at the drop of a hat, Gino lives round the corner from us in Penwortham and Mario has gone to live in Broughton.
Sparkle, our playful tabby and white cat now has a new home in Penwortham.
Fireman Samantha, came to us from the vets in Chorley where she had been taken after firemen were called to rescue a small kitten who had travelled from Lytham to Chorley in the engine of a car. I was hoping the kitten was going to be a boy so he could becalled Fireman Sam but it turned out to be a little girl so Fireman Samantha she became. Holly, as she is called now has a new home in Barton with Isabel and Emily, where she has settled
in very well.
Tiptoes, came to us with her four kittens after we were asked to help with finding them new homes. Natalie & Elliott, now live in Broadgate while Porter & Billy live in Fulwood. Tiptoes, was spayed and has a new home in Heath Charnock where she is now called Tipsy. Tipsy, has a mad ten minutes every morning racing around jumping on and off the furniture before settling down on the settee which she has claimed as her own.
We were asked to help with rehoming four kittens from a home in Preston. Caramac and Fudge, two pretty tortoiseshell kittens went to live in Leyland together. Treacle, their black brother now lives in Longridge and Licorice has just gone to his new home in Fulwood.
CATS NEEDING HOMES
Pickle, was mentioned in the March newsletter, she came to us after being taken to the vets to have her jaw wired because she had been hit by a car. Pickle was very nervous and used to crouch at the back of her pen and I would just stroke her head I was waiting for her to become used to me before trying to pick her up. One day she came towards me to be stroked and I was amazed to see a very full tummy, Pickle was pregnant. Poor Pickle, could not have the operation to have her wires removed until after the kittens were born.
One Saturday I got up to find Pickle had given birth to six babies, sadly one was dead, but the others seemed okay. Pickle had not cleaned the babies very well so I got involved and made sure mum and babies were warm and dry. I left Pickle to bond with her babies and popped in to see her a short while later. One of the kittens was out of the bed and crying for mum who was totally unconcerned and a little white & black kitten was cold and still round the back of the heated bed. I popped the tabby kitten back in bed with mum and took the other kitten into the house where I warmed him up and put him back with mum. I was so pleased that he started showing signs of life and everything was going well although he was considerably smaller than his
siblings when at six weeks old he died overnight. This left four babies and they are now thriving but have been back and forth to the vets as they had upset tummies or were off their food or being sick but not all at the same time.
Then just as we thought we were turning a corner poor Pickle got an infection in her jaw and it became swollen. Pickle loves her food and even though it must have been painful she still wanted to eat. Off to the vets yet again and Pickle was spayed at the same time as she had her wires removed, shereally deserves a lovely new home after all she has been through. She was not a particularly good mum not all of which can be put down to having a sore jaw. One Saturday Jenny and I came back from fund-raising on one of the few really warm days we have had this year, to find Pickle behind the bed the kittens were in with a disgusted look on her face! Two of the kittens had very dirty bottoms at an age where mum cleans them up as they were too small to be using a litter tray. One look at Pickle’s disgusted face made us realise we were getting no help there so many thanks to Jenny who responded very well to “I will clean this one you take that one”!! Pickle only returned to the bed once everything was clean again. I think she was a young mum and coupled with a wire in her jaw just could not be bothered with her babies. Pickle is the only cat that I have seen who always fed her kittens sitting up never lying down with them.
CATS HELPED
Bridget, is a small tortoiseshell cat around six months old, painfully thin with major hair loss over most of her body. We got a call from the Police at Leyland asking if we could help, the poor thing had been abandoned in the garden of a house where the tenants had been evicted. A trip to the vets and it is thought the hair loss may be due to stress, we are hoping lots of TLC will soon have her looking and feeling better.
Gwen, came to us after being found abandoned in the country by one of our members, Gwen. She was full of cat flu with very sore eyes and covered in fleas and lice. What a mess but all she did was purr, she would rather have a cuddle than any food so it was difficult for the first few weeks as there was the very strong possibility of passing on the cat flu virus to our other kittens. We put her in the spare bedroom and made sure we looked after her last so we could spend some time with her. She will always be a snuffly kitten, prone to outbreaks of runny nose and eyes and will need medication for those outbreaks.
A big thank you to Sylvia who held a psychic evening and raised £100.00 which she donated towards Gwen’s medical care.
A stray cat turned up collapsed in a back garden late one night and we got a phone call asking for help. We took the poor little thing to Vets Now the out of hours emergency vet where he could be examined. It looked like he had injured himself and then flies had landed on him and laid their eggs which then turned into maggots. In the hot weather which we were experiencing at that time it only takes 24 hours for this to happen. I have seen several cats over the years with flystrike but this was the worst case I have ever come across, the poor cat was covered and the kindest thing was to put him to sleep. Many thanks to everyone at Vets Now for their kindness and compassion.
FUNDS RAISED
The Flea Market in May raised £1,100.00, many thanks to everyone who came to help and to those of you who donated items for our stall and the Tombola.
Several outings at the car boot in Preston on Saturdays over the summer raised much needed funds. The first time we had a stall we raised £110.00 which we were very pleased with. We booked another stall and this time raised £153.00. The third outing raised £101.00 and the final Saturday in August raised £85.00. Many thanks to Jenny for getting up at an ungodly hour and spending her Saturdays loading and unloading the car. We really enjoyed these car boots as we were lucky with the weather and met some really nice people. Thanks also to Dawn, Carol and Sylvia who all came along at various times to help on the stall so Jenny and I could have a break.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Sunday 18th September 2011, Flea Market at Barton Village Hall, 9am until 3pm. Helpers needed as always. We are also asking if there is anyone who could bake some cakes for us or donate some ingredients towards the lovely cakes that Dawn makes each time. These cakes are very popular but Dawn spends most of the previous Saturday in the kitchen baking. If anyone out there is willing to contribute to the ingredients she needs each time, flour, sugar, cocoa powder, pecans then please give Christine a ring on Preston 750263. If you could bake some cakes for us please get in touch.
Saturday 1st October 2011, Stall at the Open Day of the new branch of Oakhill Veterinary practice recently opened in Kirkham. Oakhill is part of the Abbey Vets that we use in Fulwood and the Open Day is from 1pm until 5pm. There is going to be a BBQ and face painting with a raffle and Tombola. As well as LCR there will be a Hedgehog Rescue there and also Greyhound Rescue. Come and have a look around behind the scenes at a veterinary practice and support your local animal charities. We may take a couple of our rescued cats as we have been told we can borrow a couple of the pens there.
Saturday 8th October 2011, Stall at South Ribble Pet Cat Show at Walton le Dale Arts College, Brindle Road, Bamber Bridge. We need helpers on the stall all day, please Tel Christine on Preston 750263 if you can come and help if only for an hour.
For the last two years Toffee, my daughters cat has won the title of Best Household Pet and last year Sophie mine and Brian’s cat won Best Adult Cat. This meant that Toffee who had won Best Junior and Sophie were judged for the title of Best Household pet, which Toffee won, much to the delight of my two grandsons. Toffee, is entering again this year, please come along and see if she can make it three in a row!
Why not consider entering your cat or kitten in the show? For more information and to download an entry form click here or Tel Pat or Carol on 01772 321869. Closing date for entries is 19th September 2011.
As well as cats to see, there are charity stalls a Tombola and a raffle as well as home made cakes.
Please come along and help make the show a success, all proceeds go to the South Ribble Pet Cat Clubs Welfare fund which helps pay stray cats vet bills. They also help pensioners on a low income with their vet bills, so please come along to see the cats and Toffee defend her title and help support a worthy cause.
HOW YOU CAN HELP!
We always need cat food and toys for the cats in the rescue, we like to feed them Felix in jelly. We have started to collect the Felix tokens so we can send off for the Felix cat cushions, these fit our plastic cat beds perfectly and the cats love them. We were lucky enough to have some cushions given to us by Glynnis who also collects items for us to sell.
We also need donations of small baskets to make up Tombola prizes, we fill them with toiletries and cover them with cellophane and ribbons. Jenny and Dawn make up the baskets for for me and very pretty they look too. If you have any baskets or toiletries to donate then please get in touch.
If you have any items to donate then please ring Christine on 01772 750263 or Sylvia on 01772 716837.
Best Wishes from Christine
