Heatons Cats Blog: May 15th
Welcome to our update. With the start of kitten season, things are pretty hectic here!
Rehoming
We have rehomed several cats recently to lovely new homes, and had many successful viewings over the last couple of weeks.
We do, however, receive many adoption requests from families who have dogs or live well within 100m of a busy road. We know that cats can live quite happily in multi pet households but many of our cats are ex stray and we do not know their background. Therefore, it is impossible to judge whether they would be frightened by the presence of dogs, and we simply will not risk it.
The danger from busy roads is obvious, and we cannot deviate from this policy. So many cats are involved in RTAs each year, and we need to ensure that ours are as safe as possible. In all of these cases, we do try and respond to each application & give reasons – but we keep the caveat in place on the form that we only invite applicants in and contact them if we feel they may be a suitable match.
Cats Taken In
We are receiving dozens of calls each day from people asking us to take their cat – for a variety of reasons – and even more calls from people with strays in their garden. Many of these strays are Mums with newborn kittens. We try to make these a priority, but we have a finite number of Mother and baby pens, and once these are full there is little more we can do to help. It is heartbreaking to turn these cats away – and regrettably there will be many more as such a large number of cats are not neutered. We are having regular very depressing conversations with cat owners who simply do not recognise the importance of neutering – and then are surprised and annoyed when the female produces kittens. ” My cat has had kittens and I can t keep them” is all too common.
Our current residents
We have – as always – many gorgeous cats waiting for their forever home. Pippa, our lovely Tortie, Robin our very lively gorgeous pure black bundle of mischief: Portia our tiny black girl and Tallulah our 6 year old dark tortie who has just been reserved.
We have five Mums with litters, who are all doing well and we will have kittens available from mid /late June. All of these Mums were dumped outside, some pregnant and some with tiny babies. All of them are super protective, and brilliant Mums – refusing to leave their babies when placed outside and staying with them to feed and protect them. The change in them once they realise they are safe, and have a quiet cubicle with clean beds and regular food is remarkable. Our gorgeous tabby Summer was so stressed when she came to us that she had pulled out most of her fur, and was really skinny. Saffy gave birth to her babies in a wendy house in a garden, and this litter is at least her second. Her babies were about a week old when she came in, and she never leaves them. She immediately let us handle them to check and weigh them: she knows she is safe, bless her.
Our gorgeous baby Harry (our blind cat) is living with one of our trustees and continues to cause havoc. He is over 5kg now, and looks like a small pony! He is keen to play with the existing cats, who are intimidated by his size (and his clumsiness!) so there is inevitably lots of hissing. He is very loved.
Our Charity Shop
The shop has been erratic, the weather and cost of living both being a factor. We have, however, had some really busy days and we are so grateful to people who have donated items for us to sell.
Regrettably, we have seen an increase in incidents of shoplifting – which isn t always from need, but higher end items disappearing. We have more cameras in the shop now, and unfortunately, we will take action against people stealing from us. We have also seen an increase in abusive behaviour, which cannot be tolerated, and the local police have been really supportive.
Fundraising
We are now the partner charity for Pets At Home in Stockport, and they host us for fundraising days and as part of their own instore days to fundraise. We usually run a home made cake stall, as we are lucky to have a very talented baker as one of our trustees who turns her kitchen into a bakery and produces huge quantities of delicious cakes. Thank you to Alison for baking and to the lovely team at Pets At Home for hosting our sales.
How can you help
By donating a small amount to help towards our vet bills ( Bank is RBS, The Heatons Animal Rescue Group 16 21 17 account 10029815) or by Paypal heatonscats@gmail.com. (see the link on our homepage)
By clearing your cupboards and donating unwanted items to us: we are particularly in need of ladies winter clothes
By donating a small amount of cat food
By offering your time to help in our shop: this can be only for a couple of hours, and does not have to be every week.
Or simply by sharing our Facebook posts so as many people as possible see our posts and are aware of what we do.
heatonscats@gmail.com
0161 975 0784
Shop Hours: Tues-Saturday 1030-3.45
