Last Wednesday (30/12) I dealt with a call about 2 cats that had been left behind when someone moved. The lady said a nearby neighbour had moved away leaving behind 2 cats that she had been feeding in the garden for about 12 years
. She said before the lady moved, she lied saying her son was moving in and would continue the feeding but instead, the house was sold. She said although she thought there were 2 cats, she had only seen one. She had taken over the feeding ( the house is at the end of a cul-de-sac opposite the lady's house so quite far away.) The new owners had confronted her saying they don't want her feeding the cat/s and that they will set their dogs on them
- the nice lady wasn't fazed by that and carried feeding by putting food in the front garden of the house next door. The woman had been shouting at her to stop. This is when she called us. Apparently when nice lady moved there 12 years ago, there were around 30 cats. Te old neighbour took 7 of the tamest into her house and tamed them. The RSPCA came and took the rest and killed them
(no other word) the 2 that remained must have been ones they missed.
Anyway, there wasn't much we could do with a cat that was born and had lived outside all those years unless a farm-type home came up. I phoned Rhodes Minnis sanctuary and they said they would put the cat/s on their waiting list. I asked how realistic it was that they came in and they said they had done well with rehoming farm cats lately and there was a good chance.
Fast forward to Tuesday - Another phone person took a message from the lady saying the situation was worse as the neighbours were giving her a really hard time and now the cat was limping
I chased up Rhodes Minnis and they said that hopefully there would be space in a few days. I did the phones yesterday and the first message of the day was the lady saying a man was making threats about killing the cat and was shouting at her (she is 70 and full-time carer to husband with dementia) she asked about the possibility of trying to trap the cat and keeping it in her garage until there was room at the sanctuary. Sharon ran it by Julie & Caroline and it was decided that it was better than the cat being in danger (the nice lady said she wasn't going to be intimidated and her only concern was the cat) I phoned her this morning to tell her the plan - that I was picking up a trap and dog cage from Sharon and would need to ask Angela how to set it
While we were on the phone, I had missed a call from Rhodes Minnis saying they have space
So - I collected the trap from Sharon's house and went over with the lady to set it. It was mad as I couldn't bend over to set it so the lady had to do the donkey work
She is going to check the trap every couple of hours, so fingers crossed. The next problem is transferring the cat (the lady calls her Milly) to Rhodes Minnis, about 25 miles away.
Annoyingly we saw Milly and attempted to catch her but no luck.
The Sanctuary will get a vet to give her an MOT (she has probably never seen a vet) and will assess her. If they think she can be homed to a farm, they will do do but otherwise, she will be given a home in the feral sanctuary there.
http://www.rhodesminnis.co.uk/?Feral_SanctuaryThe lady said when the snow melted last week, she found a paw which she thinks belonged to the other cat
