The year has raced by in a flurry of animals, mainly cats and foxes!

I recently lost my beloved Pushkar at the grand age of 20 and a half-he had come into my care at the age of 9 after his former owner had  a baby and felt they could no longer keep him. Their loss was my gain! I adored him and saw him through various health issues including managing to keep his hyperthyroidism under control for the last few years. I miss him terribly-he was a friend to all cats and such fun!

In chubbier days!

Here are a few of the cats rescued this year-

Romeo was outside for at least a year relying on people feeding him-he was safe and had shelter in a shed although he really wanted to get into a house of his own and often tried! When he fractured his pelvis probably in a road accident, I realised enough was enough and took him into care. He was lucky enough to find a fantastic home with other cats who he loves!

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Harry’s owner died and he was left alone-it also quickly became apparent that he had thyroid problems. My lovely friend offered him a wonderful home and he has been living in luxury with his every need attended to ever since! She has even changed her plans of moving back to her native Australia until he is stable enough to move-he is the luckiest boy!

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Sanderson was also living outside and his feeders were moving abroad….he was offered a great home with my fab friend by the seaside and is now friends with the new rescue chickens!

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Lola’s owner was in and out of hospital for over six months leaving her alone in the flat with someone popping in every other day to feed her. Poor Lola who is a friendly and sociable cat was very stressed and started to pee in the flat. When her owner came out of hospital she decided she couldn’t cope with it even though she had her for many years. Luckily for Lola, a kind friend offered a wonderful home with two other cats and she has not looked back since-she is the boss!

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Wilma the kitten was hanging round a garden trying to move in with the cats who already lived there but they couldn’t take on any more cats so I found an amazing home with a friend who already had cats but was very taken with her photo-what a lucky girl!

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Lucy’s owner died and I was told she was around 10 years old-I found her a new home but when I tracked down her vet history, was shocked to find that she was actually 17! Not only that, she also had kidney disease so bearing that in my mind, I told the potential new owners that I would understand if they could not take her on. They took her on! A fantastic home for a very lucky girl-she couldn’t be happier!

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I was told about a feral cat who had given birth on a high rooftop-when she had brought the kittens a bit further down onto a high wall, I went to try to catch them. It was not easy but I managed to trap them on the 10ft high wall! They were very wild but with some intensive interaction I managed to tame them enough to be homed. As they had been through so much, I wanted them to be homed together as a trio. I knew it was a tall order but I held out and the most delightful home came along! They went to live with a lovely family and are thriving and having so much fun-they are now called Chase, Rusty and Esther. ( I had already named Esther and they stuck with it!)

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Leonard had been sleeping in a friend’s porch for several months on and off but they already had three cats including an old poorly one so they felt they could not take him on. They loved him though and were keen to find him a brilliant home which I was lucky enough to find! He now lives in harmony with a long standing resident cat and he is over the moon!

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There have been many more cats plus even more foxes and a few pigeons too. The fox rescue is constant-I manage to treat many in situ but there are also very many sad endings from road traffic accidents or severe mange which has not been treated. If you see a fox with mange, please contact me as soon as possible and the fox’s life can be saved.

We have also campaigned against various organisations including prisons and schools who have called pest control to eradicate what they see as a problem with foxes. We liaise with them and try to convince them that as well as being cruel, killing is futile as more foxes will fill the vacated space virtually immediately. There are much more effective ways to deter foxes if it is deemed necessary. We have had great success with this and will continue to intervene when necessary. This is a very positive outcome for the foxes and everybody concerned.

There is a Facebook page devoted to this- https://www.facebook.com/dontkillthefoxes

Thanks to everybody for all the invaluable support-it is so much appreciated.

Wishing a happy 2017 to all!