Trapping request for abandoned cat....

A woman rang one of the Leeds charities asking if we could help a cat which had either been kicked out of some flats in Leeds, or got lost as it was friendly and she was feeding it. She aaid one of her relatives would be happy to give it a home if we could trap it and get it to the vets.

No problem. It took a couple of days as she wasn't always around, but a slow patient approach saw her safely trapped and off to the vets:

Here she is her new home, with her new name, Pickles. A happy ending for the little girl... I love it when a plan comes together!

Winter is coming... bang on your hood before starting your car.

It's a lousy job but someone's got to do it...

Working at the Yorkshire Cat Rescue center last Friday, once we'd fed and cleaned out all the pens, I asked if they had anything they wanted me to do. "Are any good with photography?" they asked. Not bad, I said. They told me they needed some new photo's of some of the residents to go on the website and would I do it? What take photo's of cats? Hell, yeah!

It took a while to coax some of the guys round to where we could photograph them, take Flosie for instance. she was really shy to start but then with the help of one of the other volunteer we coaxed her out and then she just wanted to pose, bless her:

Shadow was abit easier, well not really, she wouldn't keep still!

Last but, by no means least Holly. She wouldn't get out of bed at first and just wanted to be tickled and show her tummy. Then when she was up, she was running around so much we couldn't get a good photo:

Like I say, it's a hard way to spend a morning, but someone has to do it....

Want to help support cats in Spain?

'Help for street cats' is an Indiegogo campaign in order to help the abandoned cats which live in the streets of Veronica's village. Let her tell her story, she can do it better than me:

My name is Verónica. I am from Seoane, a small village in Galicia (Spain). I am trying to raise money in order to help the abandoned cats which live in the street in my village. Until now the only help that I have received was from a NGO called Mascoteros Solidarios, but now they said that they almost have money. So, doing campaigns like this is my last resource.

Now I am going to explain my situation and the situation of the cats. There are a lot of cats in the streets of my village. Some people consider them a plague. What is the reason of this large amount of cats? Simple. Most of the people are not aware that the female cats must be sterilized. If a neighbour has a female cat and the cat has kittens, the solution for the neighbour is to abandone the cat or to kill the kittens. As a result of this the number of cats in the streets is increasing and lots of innocents are killed. And they are killed in a very cruel way. They are knocked or drown or thrown alive to a container like they were rubbish. It is urgent to stop this. The solution is to sterilize the female cats.

In addition, the cats which live in the street are not safe. They can be knocked down by cars or they can eat rat poison, and they also have a high risk of suffering feline leukaemia and feline AIDS. Besides, sometimes people shoot at the cats with pellet shotguns. So they often need veterinary assistance (if they are still alive). PLEASE, CHECK OUT THE THIRD PICTURE OF THE GALLERY: "RITA".

My mother (María Carmen Parada Jato) and I have been helping the cats since almost 7 years ago. Our story with the cats began at the New Year's Eve in 2007 when we saw 3 street cats near of our house and we give them the leftovers of the dinner.

We are having many great expenses. I am not working at the moment and, in Spain, currently, to find a stable job it is not easy. So I don't have enough money to help the cats.

how you can help... You can follow these guys on twitter at @HelpForCats and show appreciation for the work they do.

Recently at the end of their 3rd fund-raising they sent out perks to everyone who donated.

I got mine, to a great postcard, hand sent, and hand signed, just to say 'Thank You'. These small groups of people are doing a their bit, large and small to help improve the lives of cats all over the World. If you think you can't help, you're wrong!

As the slogan for a British supermarket says... 'Every Little helps' and this case it really does.

Yorkshire Cat Rescue

Today was the first time I had been to Yorkshire Cat Rescue, out near Howarth. It's set out in the country, in a secluded area with great scenery and the facilities for the cats are superb. Some really nice pens, both indoor and outdoor spaces to each area for the cats and good clean facilities. The sanctuary looked pretty full, half of it with either kittens or Mums with kittens. yes, we're still seeing kittens coming into shelters, even at this time of year. For anyone looking to adopt the cats I have to say all the animals were friendly and eager to press up against the cage side for a stroke or a sniff, so that was really positive and it just needs the right person to visit and give them a furever home.

Here are some the guys I saw, as I said great bunch of little critters and I could have spent all day there chatting and photographing the various antics of the kittens and charm of the older cats.

Please visit the website - http://yorkshirecatrescue.org/ - where you can see the cats, check out fund raising events or even get involved in volunteering.

If I lived nearer, I would certainly get more involved myself. A great bunch of people, some great cats, what more do you want from a rescue center?

Transport job

Got a job yesterday to help take Rosie the cat across to Yorkshire Cat rescue near Howarth as soon as we could in the next few days. Her owner is moving into sheltered acommodation and has sadly had to re-home her other cats. YCT have taken the other cats and whilst some are very timid due to their previous environment, YCR are working with them to bring them round and make them adoptable. Rosie's sister, Gracie, went across yesterday but Rosie couldn't be picked up and put in a carrier. YCR supplied a trap and I lisased with Kath's friend on how to set up he trap this morning so the could get the little girl. We starved Rosie over night and sure enough, 10 minutes after the trap being set the little cat was in, trapped and safe. As Rosie was a house cat this made things alot easier and I knew it should be quite a quick job as we near the cat would be nearby, hungry, and likely to feel safe in her own space.

The drive across from Leeds took around 30 minutes and Rosie was put in the same pen as her sister, Gracie, so the two can feel a little more secure in their new, and what must be frightening and strange, environment. They are in a safe environment, will be well looked after,a nd hopefully sometime down the road will find a new forever home together.

Be their Voice...

Join the Pet Awareness Campaign That Promotes Pet Adoption

Remember Me Thursday™ is a worldwide coalition of pet adoption organizations, celebrities and people like you, who raise awareness about the plight of millions of orphan pets around the world waiting for forever homes.
By lighting a candle on Remember Me Thursday, September 25, 2014, you are remembering those pets who have lost their lives but you are also shining a light on orphan pets in need of homes right now.
Light Up the World For Orphan Pets

Learn how you can light up the world for orphan pets as an organization or as an everyday animal lover. They need YOUR voice - let’s extinguish pet euthanasia together!

Thank you to all our Remember Me Thursday™ participating organizations! Countries from as far away as Australia and Japan are lighting candles and raising awareness for the orphan pets in their communities. Be sure to connect with our Remember Me Thursday™ Luminaries - a special set of celebrities who pledge to shine a light on the plight of orphan pets on September 25.

http://www.animalcenter.org/events/remember-me-thursday/index.aspx

Black Cats Abandoned By The Hundreds Because They Don't Look Good In Selfies!

This isn't really news, although Yahoo would have you believe otherwise, any cats rescue center or charity has been saying the same for years!

Read the story here.

What's the difference between a cat and a comma?

Poorly cat at Leeds flats

This is one of the cats I was due to try and catch on Saturday, but due to the rain he never showed up... wise cat. I dropped by the flats yesterday and the woman who called Leeds Feline Friends showed me him sleeping by a low wall in the car park. He was quite thin and apparently when running has a tendency for his back-end to collapse every now and then, so not sure what that is yet.

A well set trap with some nice tuna in it and within 5 minutes, once he decided to wake up after smelling the fish, boom, in he went. He is now at the vets so we'll see how he fairs. The feeder would rather he didn't come back to the flats as she has seen kids throwing golf balls at him when he has been in his eating, plus the area around the flats has a preponderance of people with big dogs... pitbulls, staffies, the usual suspects. LFF are hoping to locate him somewhere, if all goes well at the vets today.

Can't get 'em to go into the trap... can't keep 'em out!

This is from a couple of months back, our neighbours cat Brian, exploring a trap I have just brought home from an unsuccessful job -you can see a crush cage and cat carrier in the background.

Brian was straight in, no hesitation. Strewth, if only every cat was that happy to go in, my job would be alot easier :+}

Brian and his owner have now moved away... much to the relief of the local bird population!

We wait on them hand-and-foot and look what they do...

Okay, so you put numerous bowls of clean, fresh, tasty water around the house and outside for your little critters and what do they do? Drink the dirt-ridden water you've just put out for the plants!

Neko even looks round to see if anyone if watching, bless her heart :+}

Kittens do what kittens do... GROW!

Meant to post these last weekend. The little guys, and girl, are growing fast. They didn't seem to mind me dropping by foto take a photo and it will be great for prospective new owners to see how friendly they are. They should have no problem finding new home... fingers crossed.

The little girl who was struggling and had to be hand-fed is coming on leaps and bounds, but is still smaller than her brothers, however,she makes up for it by being 3 times as cute as them!