Cats Galore!

Spring sprung early this year with extraordinarily sunny days in April here in the UK and it was no different in Spain. When I visited last, the warm weather had resulted in a glut of pregnant cats-everywhere I looked there seemed to be more-it was quite overwhelming. I knew I had to try to catch as many females as possible.

I looked for Rodrigo who was pleased to see me but his little tongue was hanging out so I took him to the vet to have it checked out. We always give him a jab of anti-biotics and hope that he will keep going without too much problem.

Rodrigo

We visited Tarragona to check out the female at the cathedral that we had neutered after she had had numerous litters, many of whom had come to a terrible end after being poisoned or tortured-it was lovely to see her looking so well and hopefully she will be safer now she is not producing lots of unwanted kittens. One of her sons is still around and he adores his mama-I do hope they will be ok-it is so dangerous there.

Cathedral cat

Back in Cambrils, at the boatyard, there didn’t seem to be much food around and the cats were crying. The man who feeds them hasn’t been well so someone else has been feeding but not really enough. We didn’t see Mimi, the mama, the whole time we were there which is very unusual but they were building there so hopefully she was just keeping a low profile in the rocks.

Boatyard cats

The first female cat I trapped had a problem-when I collected her after neutering, they told me they had found a mammary tumour but didn’t do anything about it. They said they would have to remove all the mammary glands but I knew this wasn”t the case so I asked them to just remove the one with the growth. It was not the normal vet I use so I took a bit of a risk in questioning their decision but it was one I had to take for the sake of the poor cat who would be put back on the street to fend for herself with Cancer. She then had to stay in the vets even longer to wait for another operation. Would you believe that when the day came, they put her under anaesthetic again to find that the tumour had miraculously gone? When I released her, I noticed that it looked like she had been nursing kittens which accounted for the swelling-what a shame this hadn’t been spotted sooner- she belted off up the road-what an ordeal for her! I tried to hot-foot it after her to check if there were kittens but she went too fast.

Eager for release after her tumour scare!

As I was keen to catch as many females as possible, I had a few very early starts but didn’t know which cats would be around so it was a bit of a feline lottery. It was like doing a workout carrying two cats at a time in baskets or traps up to the vets-then back again with another two to deliver back to where they came from-there were many times when I thought I wasn’t going to make it-I built up good muscles!

Trapping

It really was the trip for ‘cats with something missing’-nearly every cat had either an eye missing or their tail and one or two cats had both missing! They were all fine though and would be in much better shape now they were sterilised.

One of the one eyed poppets!

When I was looking around for some of the female cats, I found one who had just given birth overnight to just one tiny kitten-she had chosen a really safe vacated dog kennel-with cushions inside!

Mum cat and solo kitten

It was lovely to catch up with Luna on this trip too who was adjusting to his life in a proper loving home at last-lucky boy.

Luna

Cats looking for homes

These two beautiful boys were born on the 2nd March. Fully vaccinated/wormed/flea treated etc.
They are both sensitive little boys that will need a quiet introduction to a new home. They respond much more to play rather than affection from strangers so that does seem to be the way to win them over.
Once they’re settled in they are extremely affectionate and playful.

 

Athena is a 1-2 year old female marble tabby and has beautiful markings and intense green eyes. She was rescued from Chinatown in New York during a rescue project and brought to London by her rescuer who already has six cats and now has to go back to New York. Athena is a very endearing and quirky character. She is shy, but loves to sleep on your bed, be where you are and chat to you when she wants her supper, but she is still hesitant about being petted. She loves playing with toys, particularly catnip.
She is playful with other cats but would also be happy as a single.

 

Mama Cat Trust in the newspapers!

Cruelty claim as Kentish Town resident arranges fox shootings

Neighbour calls in ‘marksmen’ to remove animals from garden

Published: 2nd June, 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

A QUIET street has become the centre of an animal rights row after “marksmen” were called in to shoot foxes.

Residents near Talacre Park in Kentish Town staged a protest after a neighbour used a pest controller to cull urban foxes that had been digging holes in his garden.

The man, who has asked not to be named for fear of being targeted by animal rights protesters, said the foxes were living 12 feet from his bathroom and that he feared this was causing hygiene dangers.

He said he was advised culling was the best form of action as trapping foxes and then abandoning them in the wild leaves them open to starvation and attack.

But Karen Heath, who runs Camden-based animal organisation The Mama Cat Trust, posted leaflets through his neighbours’ doors in a bid to halt the killing after she saw foxes being trapped in the garden.

She said: “I was so upset when I saw a trap in his garden with a baby cub trapped in it. It was in great distress.

“I begged him to let me deal with the problem for free in a humane way. I offered to cancel my animal rescue trip to help him but he wasn’t interested.

“There are other more humane ways to make your garden uninhabitable for foxes.”

Experts estimate there are 16 foxes per square mile in London.

They have become a divisive issue, portrayed as either furry friends or dangerous pests.

Last year, pest controllers called for widespread culls after nine-month-old twins Lola and Isabella Koupparis, from Hackney, were reportedly mauled by a fox as they slept in their cots.

Shooting foxes in urban areas is not illegal if the hunter has the correct licence.

Yasmin Allen, who lives in Malden Road, said it was “absurd” that residents are forced to apply for planning permission to cut down a tree but are allowed to shoot foxes.

She added: “On top of that it is taking place right next door to a primary school and I think the last thing we want children to be hearing is gunshots during the school day.”

The Kentish Town resident behind the cull said the foxes had since moved on and he is currently seeking advice on preventative methods to stop them returning.

He added: “I am completely opposed to unnecessary cruelty like hunting with hounds, but I was concerned by the fact that I had foxes 12 feet from my bathroom, and right next to and underneath part of a primary school playground.

“I was advised to retain a pest control company. I asked this com­pany about deterrent measures and employed chemical deterrent measures in tandem with humane trapping and destruction.

“Importantly, trapping and immediately abandoning foxes elsewhere is both illegal and extremely cruel, leading to starvation and attack by other foxes on the newcomers.”

Sue Royal, a spokeswoman from the ­RSPCA, said: “The most humane and long-term solution to discourage foxes from your garden is to remove or prevent access to what attracts them to the area.”

That was in the Camden New Journal followed by this in the Telegraph…….

Resident prompts anger after ordering urban foxes to be shot

A furious row has erupted amongst residents of a quiet middle class street after marksmen were deployed to shoot urban foxes.

Britain’s urban fox population is estimated to be about 30,000 Photo: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

By Victoria Ward

7:00AM BST 04 Jun 2011

Neighbours staged a protest after one of their number called pest control services to dispose of the animals that were digging holes in his garden.

The irate man, who has not been named for fear of reprisals from the animal rights lobby, said the foxes were living near his bathroom and that he feared it was a danger to his hygiene.

He said he understood that culling them was the most effective way of dealing with the problem.

But when a local animal campaigner saw a fox cub caught in a trap in his garden, in Kentish Town, north London, she notified residents and organised a protest.

Karen Heath, who runs the charity The Mama Cat Trust, told her local newspaper: “I was so upset when I saw a trap in his garden with a baby cub trapped in it. It was in great distress.

“I begged him to let me deal with the problem for free in a humane way. I offered to cancel my animal rescue trip to help him but he wasn’t interested.

“There are other more humane ways to make your garden uninhabitable for foxes.”

The unnamed resident, from Kentish Town, north London, said: “I was advised to retain a pest control company. I asked this company about deterrent measures and employed chemical deterrent measures in tandem with humane trapping and destruction.

“Importantly, trapping and immediately abandoning foxes elsewhere is both illegal and extremely cruel, leading to starvation and attack by other foxes on the newcomers.”

Britain’s urban fox population is estimated to be about 30,000.

But the RSPCA insists that killing foxes is inhumane and ineffective.

A spokeswoman said: “Foxes are opportunists, searching for and defending areas with suitable food and shelter. In most cases the humane and long-term solution to discourage foxes from your garden is to remove or prevent access to what attracts them to the area.

“Some people suggest that the answer is to relocate or destroy foxes. However, destroying a fox will often simply encourage foxes from other areas to move in and take their place. In addition, moving foxes from one area to another is not appropriate in terms of disease management or considered humane.”

Foxes are becoming such a nuisance in urban areas that residents are increasingly hiring pest controllers to shoot them in the night.

A similar revolt against such slaughter took place last year when residents of a quiet cul-de-sac complained to property managers that the animals were fouling on the path and digging holes in the grounds.

Marksmen were called to the estate in Roehampton, south west London, and used live ammunition to kill up to ten foxes.

City dwellers blame the ever-bolder animals for digging up bulbs and lawns, burrowing into compost heaps and ripping bin bags in search of food.

Twins Lola and Isabella Koupparis were mauled by a fox as they slept in their cots at home in Hackney, east London, in June.

The nine-month-old girls both suffered arm wounds and Isabella was left with facial injuries after the animal got in through an open door.

Pest control marksman visited the £800,000 Victorian terrace, laying fox traps in the garden and one animal was subsequently killed.

URBAN FOXES AND THEIR FRIENDS AND ENEMIES

One of the foxes at the centre of the recent controversy over culling

We have all read the scare-mongering but unsubstantiated stories in the press about fox ‘attacks’ and there are some people who don’t question the validity of these tales as it suits them to believe them. Thankfully, most people do not think this way.

Here in London, there are many foxes living in our gardens and in the main, this is a harmonious arrangement where the majority of folk enjoy sharing their environment with wildlife and delight in watching the foxy soap opera unfolding in their neighbourhood! Many people thoroughly enjoy having them as part of their community.

Most people find it an honour if a fox chooses to make it’s home in their garden and will put up with any inconvenience that may cause as it is no big deal but
not everybody feels the same. Sometimes it might be because of their noisy night-time gallivanting or it could be that they don’t like them digging in their garden and actually building an earth might be a step too far. That’s fine-we’re all different-but it is the way that the perceived problem is dealt with that is a cause for great alarm.

Some people immediately call the pest control without looking at the alternatives. Pest control companies will trap and shoot the foxes for you whether your neighbours like it or not. They refer to this as humane-in which way could it possibly be humane to deliberately lure a fox to it’s death by trapping it then leaving it there terrified whatever the weather for a number of hours until it is shot? Apart from being extremely cruel, absolutely unnecessary and pointless, it is completely undemocratic. Foxes can visit as many as 180 London gardens therefore although there might be hundreds who enjoy seeing the same foxes, it only takes one person who decides he doesn’t like them to have them trapped and shot. That can’t be right can it? As well as being unfair, it is never going to win one friends in the neighbourhood when the vast majority of people do not wish for them to be killed.

It is also a waste of money because fox populations are self regulating so within no time, more foxes move into the vacated area.

So, the humane deterrent route is the only  way to go. There is no cruelty involved and everyone is happy. Your garden is vacated, the foxes move on to a more hospitable area-no harm done. The idea is to make your garden unappealing to foxes and there are many ways of doing this. There are experts in fox deterrence who as well as being cheaper than pest control do not engage in barbaric methods in any way whatsoever.

On a smaller scale, products such as Scoot and Get Off My Garden have proven to be very effective and are available from hardware stores, garden centres etc. There is also a water driven gadget “Scarecrow” which works very well.

Foxes are not, and never have been classed as vermin.

 

Autumn Trip 2010

I landed at Reus airport with a long to-do list of cats I had heard about by email with various problems so as soon as I could, I went off in search of them.

I had heard there was a new older kitten who had arrived at Luigi’s shop and I spotted him straight away, untouchable and peeping tentatively at a distance-a very pretty boy, he would need to be trapped.

Manolo with his tissue 'toy' at Luigi's

There had been a report that one of the harbour cats was ill with a sore mouth and I quickly realised that it was the tortie who had been there for many years and I had been worried was getting thinner. I collected her as well as the new very friendly young tabby who had obviously been dumped there and needed to be neutered.

At the port with Georgio

My friends at Progat Cambrils, Raquel and Sigmund asked me to help with a feral colony at a golf club so we set off with the car full of traps and managed to catch three. The others proved more elusive. Apparently the cats had been causing problems with outside wedding parties at the venue where they had been caught jumping up on the buffets tempted by the jumbo salmon-oops! Luckily, the owners  had seen a previous sterilisation programme implemented and working successfully at another of their enterprises so had called us in and not resorted to inhumane methods as many do.

Golf club kittens

The next day, I had good and bad news-the bad news was that the lovely tortie had had to be put to sleep as she had tested positive for Leukaemia and was very ill with it.  I was quite shocked and worried about the implications for the other cats in the harbour group. Although there was nothing that could have been done to alleviate her suffering, many tears were shed over this news as it had all been so sudden and I had known her a long time-since my first trip to Cambrils. There was good news too to help ease the pain-the tabby from the harbour who I now called Georgio, would not be put back-he could stay with my friends at Progat. Also, all three cats who we had caught the day before had been females so we cut down the number of kittens massively there at the golf club. We tried to trap more there but a dog off the lead and without it’s owner came and scuppered the plans unfortunately.

R.I.P Lovely tortie who I knew for a few years and had a long life at the port with her cat friends

When I visited the boatyard, all were well except for the ginger boy I had neutered on the last trip who they said they had found dead-I was so sad about this and although I don’t know what had actually happened,  he had always looked a little more frail than the others.

I heard that there had been some poisonings at a colony where all the cats had been sterilised-this is so upsetting whenever this happens and so mindlessly cruel. Such a lot of effort and emotion goes into helping the cats and then someone can just come along and kill them without a second thought-it is just horrible. On a happier note, I had wondered about a cat with no tail who I had neutered a few years ago and who had disappeared-this was because she had found herself a proper home indoors-clever girl! I happened to meet her and her new owner so that was a very nice thing to happen.

On the weekend we had the chance to see Mama cat and Sebastien at their home-they were bursting with health and Sebastien’s horrific wound was almost healed-he would never have survived on the streets.

With Mama Cat and Sebastian

Also, on the weekend, I noticed a very timid cat who I had recently met, with 4 identical tabby kittens who scuttled into the bushes when they saw me although I persuaded them out with sardines so I could give them  a quick once-over before they fled again!

Manolo, the kitten at Luigi’s was so playful but had to make his own games-none of the older cats who hang out there wanted to play with a silly kitten however hard he tried to persuade them by running around with a discarded tissue in his mouth! Raquel said she would take him if I caught him-he would then have friends.

I also noticed a really friendly young black and white boy cat who was blind in one eye and was such a sweetie-he kept hanging around restaurant tables when people were eating and I really feared for his safety.

John-blind in one eye

One morning I decided to trap at 6.30 am before people were out and about and I struck lucky by first catching Manolo at Luigi’s. I also picked up the black and white half blind boy who was out bright and early further down the road. I then hurried onto another area nearby where I trapped the mother of the kittens. I went back and forth all day to feed them in the absence of their mum and keep an eye on them as they were in bushes next to a dangerous road junction and I realised there were not just four but five kittens-one must have been lazy and sleeping until the pilchards came out-they were crazy for them!

One of five kittens

The next day when Raquel returned the mother cat to me after spaying, I was so worried about the kittens and she asked if I thought I could trap them-if I could, she would take them and their mama too! Obviously that was a challenge that would now have to be met as it was an offer that could not be refused. I set off immediately and although it was very difficult and took a long time, I was thrilled when I trapped them one by one and especially relieved when I caught the last very evasive one. I fixed a series of cages and traps together and put them in with their mum but she got cross with them jumping on her after her op so I separated them again for a few hours to give her a break. I did not stop cleaning for the next couple of days!

The mum and kittens in their temporary housing

I went to trap another cat who looked to be heavily pregnant but when I got close I realised she had an eartip therefore was just very chubby!

The next morning when cleaning them out for the umpteenth time, I decided to handle each kitten to assess the possibility of taming them-boy, were they feisty! I was doing fairly well until the fifth one sunk his needle sharp teeth into my finger-I clung on even with blood flowing!

A very wild kitten!

We went with Raquel and Sigmund several times to their new and bigger home surrounded by countryside which they are renovating so they can give as many Cambrils cats as possible a safer place to live. When we took the mum and kittens there, we had to build a barricade on the ground floor to try to keep them in one area as they were so wild and were likely to hide in the house which was only half finished-this was easier said than done! We were wobbling up on ladders and taping up hidey holes and allsorts but finally we let them out. It was fantastic to see Georgio who was very very purry and happy and the half blind cat, now called Johnny-both had made themselves at home. Manolo was still hiding somewhere inside but had been seen flitting from one spot to another at the speed of light!

With Raquel, Sigmund and Georgio the cat

I really am so grateful to Raquel and Sigmund who took 9 cats from me this time who just wouldn’t have lasted long left on the streets. Life for cats on the street is not great but some can live happily after neutering when they are fed daily and living in a safe spot. Others have a low rate of survival because of where they are living-like these nine who are so lucky to have been given refuge and a chance for a long and happy life.

There is always such a mixture of good and bad news when I am there-real highs and lows and this trip seemed to have more than ever although, on reflection, there were a lot of happy endings.

Many thanks to Katri who took my trap and caught the female cat at Tarragona cathedral who I had been so worried about after her kittens were tortured. It doesn’t make her safe from harm but a lot safer than she was.

Katri has also given a home to Luna the dog who we were trying to place for a long time. He is doing really well and is having a lovely time.

Luna

Luna still needs a home

After losing track of poor Luna for a while, he has been found in a local Spanish dog shelter where he is utterly miserable. He has had such a bad time after first being abandoned by his owner then running loose in the streets only to end up at the shelter. He is safe but doesn’t understand of course, therefore has become too depressed to eat and is becoming desperately skinny. He will not survive like this. Please ask anybody you know with contacts in Spain if they could give a home to a friendly and sweet dog. We have tried so hard but had no luck so far but the more people who spread the word, the more likely a miracle might happen.

Luna before

Luna at the shelter

Summer trips 2010

Sorry about the delay in bringing the latest news but I cannot catch up with myself-whenever I start my update, some animal problem or another comes along and eclipses everything!

There was a momentous day this Summer-Catalonia voted to ban bullfighting! Let’s hope that the rest of Spain and other countries that still permit this horrific and pathetic spectacle, follow suit. Hopefully, the hideous bull runs will also be stopped.

So far, this Summer, I have made three trips to Spain-one in May followed quickly by one in June which was necessary due to problems discovered in May which meant there were cats in great danger.

In May, when I arrived with Victor, it was my first visit since last November so there was a lot of running around to do and cats to check up on. First stop was the boatyard where there were still two males to neuter. Both looked a bit battered-the ginger male was very thin and crying at me-mind you, he always remembers that I bring sardines and he loves them!

The skinny ginger cat at the boatyard

The big black one had had some of his machismo knocked out of him as apparently, some time in Winter, he had a big fight with an outsider male cat and came off badly with injuries to his face and neck. He definitely didn’t look as tough as he usually did and appeared to have given up beating up the ginger one. I was really sad to hear that the sweet black and white male who I had neutered when he was just 4 months old, had been killed by a car-there was hardly any traffic but he just wouldn’t move when cars came along to the boatyard. There was nothing to be done about it but at least he didn’t suffer and as a neutered boy cat who was fed every day and lived happily with his cat family, his short life had been better than most street cats.

R.I.P Little black and white cat

At the other end of the port, all were present and correct and seemingly well except for the tortie who was getting very thin. All the others including funny old Rodrigo, whose black hair now has a ginger tinge all over, were in good spirits and clambering over me. Dolly’s hair was looking glossy and healthy after the haircut I had given her last time

When we visited Victor’s parents, Mama Cat, who never usually leaves the garden, showed us her new trick of participating in the evening dog walk, along with the other cat. The house is surrounded by countryside so it is very safe for an animal procession!

Mama Cat having her nightly walk

We picked up the trap and equipment and Luigi told us about a couple of cats who had gone missing including Nerino. Previously, Nerino had taken three months to make his way back to Luigi’s shop after being homed in the country so hopefully he was just on one of his walkabout’s.

The next day we went off to the boatyard and trapped the ginger male but as usual, the black macho cat must have got wind of it and was nowhere to be seen! He was quite happy to recuperate in a basket in the apartment and after we released him the next day, we went to the harbour and picked up Rodrigo who I noticed was very scabby and was now scratching himself so much he was falling over as if he was having a fit! A steroid and antibiotic was given to calm his skin down. Lovely Marcel the vet didn’t even charge for this. He is so kind.

Rodrigo climbing on my lap then off to the vet!

I bumped into the feeder at the Parc del Pescador and was relieved to see that the females I had spayed in October were thriving.

We went to meet Katri from Finland who needed help with a mama cat in her garden. I was a bit worried she still had kittens somewhere so I showed Katri how to use the trap and suggested she leave it a couple of weeks.

After this we drove on to Tarragona to check out the cats and kittens at the cathedral. When we arrived, the feeder was in tears because just that morning, she had found that three of the five kittens had been tortured and killed. This was shocking news and although I find it terribly upsetting and wasn’t sure what I would find, I set out to find the other two. We were given access to the locked gardens where I found more shocking evidence of the torture, which I won’t go into, then thankfully I found one of the kittens in the shrubbery looking very poorly but with flu rather than injuries. I could not find the other one and couldn’t imagine leaving without it but was just thinking I might have to give up when all of a sudden it appeared flopped on the pathway. I scooped it up quickly and put them both in a box and set out on the journey to the vet. They had managed to escape torture because they were ill therefore had been hidden away. Marcel was very worried about their eyes and thought they would lose them so dispatched us to a pharmacy for a prescription. He did everything that could be done but unfortunately the smaller one did not survive. The little black and white one recovered though and is now in a proper home-he was very lucky.

Cathedral kittens

Unfortunately, access to the locked cathedral gardens is only really possible on the one day a week when the one sympathetic sacristan is on duty so the difficulties faced in trying to trap the poor mother cat are enormous. I knew we had to somehow work out a way to do it.  Victor pointed out to him that if visitors to the cathedral knew what was going on in it’s grounds, they would be disgusted and some would probably refuse to go in if they knew.

With Marcel the Vet

The next day I found the friendly black cat who had been suffering from a massive  injury under his arm last time I had seen him October when I had injected him with antibiotics. I looked and it was still raw and hadn’t healed and was caked in dirt. It must have been so painful for months but he is such a jolly and amenable fellow, except of course, when he is having fisticuffs with other toms which is why it didn’t get the chance to heal as he was always having street brawls! We were running out of time as we were leaving the next day but I ran back to the apartment for a basket and off we drove to Marcel’s to be treated and equally importantly, castrated! When we picked him up later, Marcel said that it was too split open to be stitched but with care and more treatment and antibiotics in another fortnight, he would be fine. Victor decided that his parents would have to take him so he set off to persuade them….which he eventually succeeded in doing! They were a  bit worried about how he would get on with Mama Cat, and the others including the dog though. After a night of recuperating in our apartment, Sebastian, as we called him, was taken by us to his new home where, viewed suspiciously by Mama Cat and the gang, he ate some food and jumped in his makeshift bed! We told them to keep him in a separate room for a couple of weeks which they did. A success to finish the trip!

 

Sebastian living rough

.....and one minute after arrival in his new home!

The next trip came less than three weeks later as I was so worried about the plight of the cathedral cats. Katri had offered to try to catch the mother cat but the logistics of of it were complicated not least of all because Tarragona is not that near and I didn’t have transport this time. Also, access is very limited as it is all locked up. We were also woefully short on traps and restrainer baskets and Katri was still trying to catch the mama cat in her garden with the only trap in sight! It was all so frustrating as I couldn’t do much without the rest of my rescue equipment but my Spanish contacts had been without internet for a few weeks.

It was quite a worrying trip all round for many reasons. Many of the cat feeding areas seem to have empty bowls, which is unusual and some of the cats did seem to be particularly hungry. I kept going round filling up bowls with food-I don’t normally need to do this. This did change after a couple of days when all bowls were full to brimming again in most areas! While on my rounds, I  saw some pregnant females but had nothing to catch them with despite trying my hardest to arrange it.

Rodrigo was a worry as he had started venturing from the relative safety of the port area and over to the park where someone feeds every night. I don’t know whether this was as a result of there being less food around or pure mischievousness-probably the latter! I nearly jumped out of my skin when I was walking round the edge of the park one night checking on the park gang and he suddenly jumped out meowing at me-I couldn’t believe my eyes! Me and Rodrigo go back a long way to many years earlier when he was very ill and curled up in the rocks and I hand fed him and treated him with antibiotic injections so I am so concerned for his safety. He has to cross a main road and big roundabout to get to the park. Another day I saw him do it and he didn’t look before he crossed-he has no road sense as he has not left the port for the whole of his 10 plus years. I waited one night to try to see the feeder to see how long he had been visiting but gave up at midnight!

Naughty Rodrigo in the wrong place!

At the port, there was a new addition-a sweet calico cat and her kitten. I suddenly noticed them sheltering under an upturned boat! I spoke to a man nearby who told me in Spanish that they had turned up there two days previously and originally there had been four kittens. I had my fingers crossed that someone sensible had taken them.  Still I didn’t have any equipment so in the meantime I kept going back and forth to feed and check on them and hoping they wouldn’t vanish! Who could just dump a mother cat and kittens at the port like that? I wondered if they looked back as they drove away and left their terrified cats there.

Abandoned cat and kitten at port

Walking back from the port, I spotted a ginger and white cat with sores on her back. She was another new one who I had never seen before-she was so friendly and affectionate and happy to be fed. I made a mental note to keep an eye on her.

The next day I finally made arrangements to get my equipment but when we went to meet the person, we watched her drive right past without seeing us! We waited another hour and a half in case an emergency had cropped up or something but she never came! We found out later that she had been expecting to see me and my boyfriend rather than me and my mum so she looked right past us so still no trap to use.

We carried on feeding the mum and kitten, the ginger and white cat and any other hungry mouths but decided to use the spare time to visit Barcelona, specifically Jardinet del gats which is a lovely sanctuary in the heart of the city. I arranged to meet Alex who runs it and was introduced to the cats in their care. They are doing a fantastic job and the strays who end up there are very lucky.

Jardinet del gats

All was well at the boatyard although the ginger boy who we had neutered was still skinny and looked a bit fragile but along with the others was pleased to see me as it always means special food!

The boatyard

More members of the boatyard family

Finally, I managed to get my trap and a basket back so went straight away to pick up the mum and kitten at long last. It was a relief to get them safely inside although I did not know what I was going to do with them! I also noticed that the jolly ginger and white cat had become ill over the last couple of days and was lying in the bushes looking very lethargic and I couldn’t tempt her with food so I quickly picked her up and set off for the vets. Marcel spayed both of the females and said that the poorly one was seriously ill with an abscess on her liver and gave her a 50/50 chance. He said he would try to find a home for the kitten. I ended up with two cats at the apartment that I couldn’t possibly out back on the street and was in a panic as I was returning to England. The ill cat was still comatose-it was such a worry. The next morning she came round but wouldn’t eat so I kept dripping water on her nose which trickled into her mouth and I eventually got her to drink.

I was worrying all day as we were leaving first thing in the morning and there was still nowhere for the two cats to go. I tried a few options with no luck but at the last moment, Progat Cambrils said they could them. It would be fine for Poppy the mother but the other one needed intensive care so we took her to someone who could look after for a few days until she could go with the others-if she pulled round. What a relief!

After the operation.

Unfortunately, the ginger and white cat didn’t recover from her big operation. We will never know why she had the big abscess on her liver but at least she didn’t die in the bushes on her own and had all the love and care imaginable in her last few days. RIP little cat-we tried so hard.

The success story was that Poppy and her kitten were very healthy and are no longer frightened on the streets.

Poppy

Something we have been trying to do for months is find a home for Luna, a lovely dog who had been abandoned by his owner in the garden where he previously lived. He was fed by a relation but that was all. I tried everything I could think of to find a home for Luna-surely it couldn’t be that difficult? I tried all the friends and contacts I knew in Spain and I even started a Facebook page for him but while there was sympathy, no home ever came up. We were considering homing him in Finland but the potential home fell through mainly because it was a flat. A very kind person put forward the money to send Luna to Finland but it was just not possible. Thank you Fiona! Recently, it has been discovered that some local people have semi adopted him and he is running around free with their dog which is far from ideal but he is clean, tick free and has put on weight….and of course he is very happy! We will continue to monitor the situation and try to offer help and advice but I don’t know how well that advice will go down!

Luna

In July, my new friends at Sanctuary Angels, hosted an event in their lovely garden at St Neots to raise funds for a few animal groups including Mama Cat. It was a wonderful day thanks to the hard work of Amanda and the angels-we had a great time and were inspired to try something similar ourselves next year.

Victor manning the stall!

An update on the most recent trip in September and October is coming up really soon.