I'm in bits...

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

If you visit our website at http://adel.cats.org.uk you can see video footage of one of the kitten families!!!

They are soooooooooo cute, but were investigating whether one of the kittens has a poorly leg as he seems reluctant to put it down 

[Desley (booktigger)]

What a shame it turned into more, but good luck with the juggling, and hope you find homes before the next case.

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Ok, so when Liz got there, the situation was even worse! It's funny how an e-mail about 4 adults can turn into 21!

Anyway, we've taken away the mum and 5 two week old kits and also another mum and her 2 three month old kits. Unfortunately the siblings of these two, have already been given away to goodness know's who. That leaves us with 9 adults of varting age (between 9 months and 3 years we think). They are all in OK health, they're all small and flea-ridden and a bit skittish, but generally they'll be ok with a bit of TLC.

We have no space, but we're taking the cats anyway into temporary accomodation. They'll stay there whilst we get them neutered and will await spaces to come up. We have two potentail re-homings very soon which would free up space and if we shuffle and move cats round we can just about do it!

Of course this means running around like loonies collecting, moving and re-housing cats.

The lady, was of course not apologetic in any way and is keeping one of the cats (fortunately the only neutered one of the bunch!), but we;ll remain very polite and kind, until we have the cats firmly signed over and in the van!

There'll be a period of stress and uncertainty, but at least they'll be safe and looked after. Being young i'm sure that they'll find homes quite quickly.

Four of the semi-feral colony are being taken to the Norfolk re-homing centre at some point and unfortunately the 4 six month old kits will stay where they are for now, but at least they have shelter, warmth and food.

PHEW!!!!!! Why do we do this???!?!!!

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Well I think Liz is going to see the lady today. We're going to take the mum and kits as we have a suitable pen free. I didn't realise, but the other 10 strays are actually all feral so our priority there is going to be to neuter and help out the poor neighbours who have been left with a hungry feral colony to feed. They will have to be moved at some point to somewhere more suitable, but they will tick over quite nicely as long as they're neutered, being fed and having us to provide vet care if needed.

We could potentially take all the other cats if our family pen was free, but it has three cats in already. It might just be a case of juggling cats round etc.

It's an eviction case (I thought it might be) and that's why it's happened so quickly. It's in a rubbish area where we are well known and have been cleaning up people's mess for years.

We already have homes ready for the kits so they should be re-homed quite quickly if they come on ok and Liz will assess the situation today with the other cats.

I'll say it again, this unfortuanately is not unusual for this branch. We constantly have this issue and juggling of cats, pens and fosterers. We already have the appeal out to head office about the 10 ferals, so hopefully we can deal with this ourselves (lets hope that the other females aren't pregnant, or are early enough to spay)

I'll update when I know more

[Desley (booktigger)]

i do hope you can sort something out, but I would be sorting the strays out as priority. Do you have the CatChat list of rescues in your area? We do seem to be having a lot of people moving and unable to keep the cats, I dont remember it usually being like this in Feb.

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

This is my view..
Get her to get them all to the vets.. See ifyou have space for the mum and new kittens...
Concentrate on the other cats that have been a stray on your list first.
Ask why the lady left it late?

Perhaps you can work with another i.e you all the vet related stuff and they take them in.. Be very stern with the lady for assuming that things can move that quickly in rescue.. Contacting your regional co ordinator who may be able to put out an appeal..

Personnally and i know it sounds harsh the cats that are on your list esp the strays would be my first concern...

We cannot produce miracles but at least if you get themall neutered  you are stopping the circle, as i doubt she will be bothered.

Be realistic... and remember.. They are the ladies cats and therefore ultimately her responsibility, you can do your upmost to help and assist but thte bottom line is that people need to help themselves to help us.....!

[Janeyk]

Wishing you very best of luck xx

[Bazsmum]

Sending you lots of good luck vibes~~~~~

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Well, just taken a call from a delightful lady who lives in a great area who would like to adopt one of our older cats which would free up a pen if we can move quickly.......

[Kay]

Thats heartbreaking. 

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Thanks for all the suggestions. The thing is, here in Leeds this is a fairly normal amount of cats to have in need at the moment. We usually have 10/15 cats in need for every pen space we have.

We will try to get the mum and kittens in and then we'll try and do our best. We have already put an appeal out for the 10 other cats, but everywhere is full!

Grrr

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

What's your regional rehoming centre?

I'd ask her to get the cats to the vets ASAP for the snip. That'll give you a day, maybe 2 to make some calls and to shout at your regional coordinator. Perhaps a commercial cattery can donate a pen or 2 for a while? This time of year they are usually pretty quiet. How's the rehoming doing? Can you speed things up at all? Recruit more homecheckers, for instance? How about a Radio appeal?

Oh... the joys! 

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

leeds

didn't give a reason

[blackcat]

ummmmmmm ,remind us where you live, so we can make sure that we give you reliable advice ...

Where there is a will there is a way ...

Although she does appear to have left her run a bit late - what are her reasons for doing this at this short a notice?

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Just had a call from a lady who is moving 3rd March and can;t take her cats with her...

"yes there are a male and female cat brother and sister approximately 2 1/2 years old and they have not been neutered or anything
there is another femail approximately 2 years old again not neutered
then 4 male cats ages between 1 and 2 years again not neurterd
and finaly a femail 2 years who has just had kittens 2 weeks ago
i havent contacted anywhere as i didnt know who or how i went about it"

What do we do???? We have one spare pen and another 10 cats who have been left by someone who has died and have been stray for 4 months....this isn't to mention the other 10 we have on our waiting list....

I just don't know what we can do to help and I just don't understand how this happens

I'm sorry to sound so pathetic, but i've only been in animal rescue for a year and still find these cases really difficult to deal with