This is my driving force.....

Happiness is...

Two of the lucky ones...

Whilst getting a call to help out with trapping 5 cats at a garden center in Leeds, the caller also told us that 2 young cats has suddenly turned up, dumped over the fence one night, and there in the morning, fending off the 5 cats who's territory it was. Luckily the guy managed to coral the 2 new cats into a conservatory on site where he gave them food and water. They appeared to be about 10 months old, both very friendly and tame, and obviously 'unwanted', Why on earth someone would dump them over the fence we can only guess that they knew about the other cats there and assumed these guys would fit in.

The cats had clearly been pets and well looked after, so what drove someone to abandon them we'll never know. The manager of the site said the cats couldn't stay in the building they were in and if not removed from the site fairly soon, they would just pick them up and dump them somewhere else!

This is the guys in the Conversatory:

These guys couldn't get a break. I rang round everywhere to try and find a home for them,. but as with most charities at the moment, the Leeds ones are full the bursting with Mums and kittens, some weven being kept in people's bathroom until a better space comes a long. I really wanted these cats to be saved and not moved on again. I contacted Yorkshire Cat Rescue, in Howarth, where I regularly volunteer, as a last resort. I was delighted when the manager said they fell into an 'emergency' category and they would find space for them!!!

Last Tuesday I took them across and put them in their temporary pen, where they are now safe, well fed, and waiting for theur furever home.

Thank you YCR, you saved these cats lives and have given them a second chance. It turns out they are brother and sister... a quick trip to the vets is in order, we think :+}

Here they are in the temp pen, one one side and the other the litter area, on the right. The round 'hole' at the back/middle of the picture/pen is where they move between the two different sections.

New YCR pens all finished and ready for cats!

This was a few weeks ago, but the new pen block at YORKSHIRE CAT RESCUE is now completed, and all ready for it's new occupants.

There are around 7-8 new pens, all but one with an indoor and outdoor section and when I visited last week all the pens were already filled either with single cats or mums and kits. It's alot more cleaning for the volunteers with almost double the usual pens, but it does mean they are able to have a lot more cats back on site now they are finished, plus they look great for people coming to view the cats for possible adoption and will be warm and dry for the cats in the winter.

The below pics are the day before the pens were filled, just as we finished off cleaning them out and getting them ready for their new occupants.

New pens... nearly there.

This is the state of the new block today, everything building-wise is in place save the mesh/iron-work which need to go on the exposed side (facing the camera). This is being made at the moment, so should be in place pretty soon. Then it just finalizing the plumbing and electrics and we shud be good to go!

Is neutering cruel and against nature?

Interesting comment on the Celia Hammond Trust Facebook page, interesting that she has even had to say this at all. Comments wholly justified, and when you've worked for a cat charity and seen the effects of unwanted kittens first-hand, and the suffering and death of many a litter, you can't help but agree.

A frequent concern expressed to us is "but isn't neutering interfering with nature?"
And our response....
By domesticating cats and dogs, humans have already interfered. By breeding cats and dogs and caring for them, we have helped ensure their breeding success and longer life.
Cats are prolific breeders: If a female cat was to mate every time she came into season, and all her kittens were to survive and breed, then there could be up to 21,000 extra cats in just 7 years!
With the cat population able to increase at such a fast rate there could never be enough homes to go around.
The dog and cat population can either be humanely controlled by neutering, left to nature or the surplus can be killed or 'culled'.
Nature is cruel and since there are no natural predators of cats and dogs in the U.K the population would be controlled by starvation and disease. The most likely scenario however would be a situation seen by many holidaymakers in some countries - starving colonies of sick animals which are killed by the authorities to contain numbers - a situation we think most people in this country would find intolerable.
Surplus cats and kittens are already euthanased in the U.K because the cat population continues to grow and there are not enough homes.
Stray cats and kittens already struggle to survive on our streets in growing numbers as animal charities struggle to help them all. Cats and kittens become sick whilst living stray and and many do die.

https://www.facebook.com/celiahammondanimaltrust/posts/948189308525262

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....

This is who I am.... what I do... and why.

Great day at Yorkshire Cat Rescue

Well, that was my first shift volunteering at YCR. What a great day, really made to feel welcome by all, especially want to than L'key (probably got that wrong!) for being a mentor and showing me the ropes. Nothing surprising, started off helping with the morning feed, progressed to cleaning the pens, stroking cats, lunch, replenishing food in the food shed, tidying the main storage area, then more stroking/petty duties... it's a hard life.

Worst part of the day was the damn traffic. Going from Leeds across to Keighley there was gridlock in Shipley as everything came to a standstill passing through one junction. I was tempted to go through Bradford, but it meant going right through the city center and at rush-hour that wouldn't be pretty either. I think it's abit rock-and-a-hard-place situation. I may go over abit earlier next time and see if I can miss some of the bulk of the traffic.

Best was this little beauty, Socks, and her six, yes SIX, kittens.

Right little bundles of energy. You can see them here in the run area as someone is down at the far end cleaning out their pen. This gave the kittens a great new area to explore as well as run round. They loved it.

Here's one of the kittens, exploring, everyone else is hiding off to the left of the picture between the pens. There are 3 kittnes similar to this one, then 3 more that look just like mini versions of Mum.

Last, but not least, this is a shot inside their pen. One of the little black & white fellas is so active, he just plays and climbs the walls all the time. You can see the sleeping area at the back, this has a door which closes to keep the wramth in and give the cats shelter and peace and quioet at night. It can opened to feed/clean the cats.

Was at first just considering going across one a month, then maybe fortnightly... now, I fancy going every week. It's that kind of place.

If you want to help cats and can't foster or donate money, at least try to donate your time. It's free and both you and the cats will get plenty out of it. Trust me.

This says it all.... YOU have the power to help!

Gis a job...

On dropping Bella at Yorkshire Cat Rescue today, I was proud to be asked if I wanted to 'join the team' as an on-call trapper/transporter for them. Wow, big honor. I jumped at the chance and said of course I would. This means I am on their books as one of a list of people who they can call on when a cat needs trapping, or transporting to/from the vets. These guys do great work, as I shave said before and it will be awesome to be involved.

I also asked about volunteering at the center, just to help out with odd-jobs and again they said they'd be pleased to have me.

Sam also showed me round the new pens (cheers, Sam!), which I didn't see properly the last visit and they are amazing. Airy, light, with under-floor heating they are just right for mums with kittens or nervous cats. The oder pens mean the cats can see each other and for nervous/timid cats this can be a problem. In the newer pens the sides protect the cats from seeing each other and they can always 'hear' staff approaching so are not surprised when someone appears outside their pens.

I can see me spending a good few days there over the coming months and years :+}

Another trip to Yorkshire Cat Rescue...

Through a series of events, this is Bella. We took her two fellow cats to YCR the other week and everyone thought Bella was staying with her owner. It would have been fine except for her owner's husband showing back up and causing a big scene. Turns out he brought one of the other family cats with him and when things got ugly and the police were called, they had to move the owner and her 'cat'. Well, they got the wrong cat and poor Bella was left in the flat on her own for a week, trapped behind some furniture, before a kindly neighbough realised and went in to look for her. She was rushed to the vets and luckily has suffered no permanent damage, despite being without food and water for nearly a week.

Luckily YCR have agreed to take her in and reunite her with her kittens (not really kittens, now they're fully grown). I collected her from the vets today and she is a sweet thing. No fuss, just the odd 'where am I?' meow in the carrier on the way there. She looks abit fierce in the one of the below pics, but that's just her mid-meow. For what she's been thru she is in remarkable spirits and still doesn't appear to fear strangers. She was happy for me to stroke and talk to her thru the carrier without shying away. Bless her.

Her owner is happy she is safe and well, and God bless YCR for coming to the Rescue, once again. Anyone that thinks that domestic violence doesn't affect pets is naive. Pets can suffer just as much as humans, sometime more so when they become the focus of someone's anger/rage/jealousy. Pets aren't always lucky enough to survive the situation and if they are can be separated from their owners, for one reason or another, either temporarily or as in Bella's case, permanently. I have had previous experience of having to rescue animals from a bad environment, sometimes at very short notice. Right or wrong, humans understand what is happening. Animals do not.

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?