cat rescue

It’s just possible that you’ll remember that Sooty had a parcel from a secret admirer back in May when he wasn’t very well.  It was stuffed with all manner of goodies which he nommed his way through over the summer.   I was surprised and delighted when aunty Moggie messaged me to say that he’d had another delivery from the same wonderful person.

On top was a beautiful hand made Christmas card addressed to Sooty Ryan:

Being Sooty he’s playing it quite cool, and having had a look at the card casually strolled over to see his present.

It takes a cat who is very confident about his place in the world to be so calm about such a fantastic present.   He’s forgotten the days of being a poor stray out in the snow, and now quite rightly assumes that he’s fully entitled to everything he could ever want.   The girlies however were not so calm – they’re now all vying to be Sooty’s best friend so as to make sure of their share of the goodies.

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I notice Soots has also been given goodies to share with the non furry people in his life.  And of course, I’m his bestest friend …. aren’t I Soots?!

Thank you again to “Claire” for sending us such a lovely gift …… a Merry Christmas to you!

I’d just decided to go for a nice hot bath yesterday evening, and settle down for a purrs and pyjamas session with my residents, when I had a phone call from the cattery. A ginger tom had turned up there, very hungry and not feeling very well. Of course cats arrive at the cattery all the time – that’s what they’re there for – but most arrive in carriers accompanied by doting (and somewhat guilty) humans who are leaving them whilst they go on holiday. This lad however arrived on his own. He looked very weary and down on his luck, and had a red raw sore ear that he’d scratched to bits.

making himself comfy at peak vets

We nipped him up to Peak Vets – thank goodness they’re open while late. He’s not micro chipped, unfortunately, and needed some ear drops to settle things down a bit for him. If he was a healthy stray we’d maybe have just kept an eye on things for a while, or popped a collar on him with a note asking if he belonged to anyone. However given how upset he was about his ear, and that he’s been prescribed drops twice a day for a week, we need to hang on to him.

It’s school holidays and high season for the cattery, so no chance of being able to isolate him there. We’re full here to the point that I was already sleeping on the settee as someone has my bedroom. But …. what can you do? ….. other than ask everyone to shuffle up a bit, be kind to one another, and remember you were all strays once.

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It’s been a day of putting the lad on every online lost and found site we can think of, and then (thanks to the cattery for printing and laminating) taking posters around the relevant areas. And talking to everyone I saw about him – just in case they had heard about a missing cat. It’s another of those occasions that restores your faith in humanity – I’d estimate over 90% of the people I talked to were genuinely concerned and put their minds to thinking about whether they’d seen a cat like him or if anyone had lost one – including the guys in Meersbrook Garage.

So much for just dealing with S8 cats!   Young Jake who came in on Wednesday  fits the criteria, however Meg, who arrived yesterday evening was pushing the boundary a bit with an NG5 post code.   Nevertheless, she was in a bit of a delicate condition …. and we had some space.

meg

In cat rescue you come across some of the most heartless, uncaring people you could imagine.   However, the lady who was caring for Meg and the couple who took Jake in are suuuuuch an antidote to them.  It’s a joy to meet people like these.    In both cases people had spotted a hungry and distressed cat in their garden and done their absolute best for them.    Jake’s ‘finders’ were new to the realisation of how many cats were in a similar mess, and had phoned over 20 rescues in an effort to get the rescue place for him.   They packed him off with a few tears, some food, a blanket he’d been using and a fair bit of pocket money.   Meg’s ‘finder’ knew the score, having taken in strays for decades.   Another lovely lovely lady.   She’d initially thought Meg was a tom cat with a pot belly from having worms.  She’d  taken care of ‘him’ and fed and wormed ‘him’ and then realised that ‘he’ was actually a pregnant lady.   The generosity of some people is amazing – Meg  had a serious dowry to bring with her.

It looked like it could be a tricky journey …. one to add to the all time worst  car journeys with cats (there’s another blog post in that one).   Meg went into the carrier ok but panicked when we got out on the pavement, frantic in the basket and sprayed on the pavement.   Thankfully once she was in the car and had her seat belt on she settled down.   We chatted a little on the journey but mostly she sat back and watched the road go by,  She’s now settling in to the nursery.