a lifeline for feral cats

Newsletter Issue 73 Winter 2019

Registered Charity No. 801245Cat Action Trust 1977

PATRONSLesley Anne Ivory, Stephanie Cole,

Dame Eileen Atkins, Daphne Fowler

Out for a walk down a beautiful country lane in the remoteYorkshire Dales on a scorching mid-summer Sunday, alovely couple named Scott and Julie discovered a black andwhite cat cowering at the side of the road. The couple lookedaround them, but there were no houses for miles and miles!The poor cat had clearly been injured for some time and hadbecome dehydrated during the heatwave. He must havebeen starving! On closer inspection, he had an abscess onhis face and swollen bleeding paws which must have beenvery painful, making it impossible for him to walk. Withouthesitation, Scott and Julie brought the little cat back toLeeds, took him to an emergency vet and contacted us forhelp.

To our dismay, the vets recommended that the cat should beput to sleep, but we saw something in the little cat that saidhe wasn’t ready yet. He still had a lot of fight in him and sowe insisted that the vets try to save him.

Jerome, as his finders named him, spent four nights at theemergency vets in intensive care. During this time, anothertwo vets advised that he should be put to sleep. We refusedto let this happen as we could see he still had a lot of fight inhim. After four nights, Jerome was strong enough to be trans-ferred to our regular vets. His finders, Scott and Julie werekind enough to foster Jerome and administered two coursesof antibiotics as well as painkillers and anti-inflammatories.Once on medication, Jerome’s health began to improve. Hisabscess and sores began to heal. His paws remained veryswollen for quite some time, but did heal eventually.

Jerome was not out of the woods just yet ……. he had aseries of follow-up appointments and continued to makegood progress. He did continue to have problems with one ofhis back legs and found it too painful to weight bear or towalk more than a few steps. Sadly, after several vetappointments and various treatments, the vet advised thatthe leg was worsening and strongly advised amputation.

Against AllThe Odds

We wish all our Friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Jerome after a full recovery, and how helooked shortly after he was first rescued.

Continued on page 2...

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AGM 2019Our AGM was held on October 19th, a very busy day inLondon due to the large march taking place calling for asecond referendum on Europe. Nonetheless, we werejoined by twenty-three members which was encouragingafter many years of declining attendance. Volunteersfrom Leeds, Doncaster South and Central London werealso present.

Our Chair, Kim O’Kelly, gave the meeting a report on theactivities of the charity for the year 2018/19. The numberof cats that we were able to help had increasedconsiderably against last year’s figure, all due to thehard work and commitment of our branches. TheChristmas Appeal was very successful, raising almost£19,000 of much needed funds. We also received agenerous amount of legacy income. As a consequenceof this we have also been able to recover around £6,000Gift Aid over the last financial year. This enables theExecutive Committee to supplement local fundraising bythe branches with extra funding/equipment wherenecessary and we are very grateful to our supporters asthis enables more cats to be neutered at a time when thesituation appears to be worsening with more and morecats being abandoned each year.

Following the closure of BT My Donate, an onlinedonations facility, we have set up with PayPal. Giving farmore flexibility, not only can we receive online donations,it is now possible to join and renew your membership toCAT77 through our website. The Executive Committee

strive to keep administration costs to the minimum.Choosing the option to receive your newsletters by emailsaves postage, donating and renewing online or byStanding Order saves bank charges whilst the committeetry to ensure as much of the admin is carried out by us,rather than paying for services.

Treasurer Malcolm Godden presented the accounts for2018 – 2019 and reported on the charity’s robust financialsituation. A copy of the full accounts is available onrequest. The accounts were formally adopted by themeeting. The meeting also reappointed Anne Payne asour Independent Examiner. We thank Anne, andassistant Luz Pineda for all their help.

Nigel Waddy, Kim O’Kelly and Trudie Farrell werere-elected to the Executive Committee to serve anotherthree-year term.

The meeting passed the change to the constitution toreduce the number of members required to be quorate atthe AGM from twenty to ten. This will take effect from thenext AGM, the date and venue of which will be advised inthe spring newsletter.

Following the AGM Sheila Pickersgill and volunteers fromLeeds branch gave a short presentation on their workwhich was very interesting. Then, we broke forrefreshments and enjoyed a good catch up with oldfriends and new whilst enjoying the lovely food organisedby Helen, Tim and Trudie.

Enclosed with this newsletter you will find our 2019 Christmas Appeal form. £25goes a long way towards the cost of neutering a cat and is a tremendous help to ourbranch workers in carrying out their vital rescue work.

You can donate to HQ or to our branches. Please make sure you indicate clearly onthe form where you would like the money to go if you wish to donate to a specificbranch (or branches). Please ensure all cheques are made out to Cat Action Trust1977 (the 1977 is important).

Thank you for your support, it is greatly appreciated by each and every one of us!

CHRISTMAS APPEAL

...Continued from page 1

It broke our hearts to take Jerome for his amputation after allhe had been through, but we knew it was the only way hewas going to have a better life. The operation was a success,but whilst under anesthetic, the vets found several nodules…We thought “Poor Jerome, when will this end?” The noduleswere sent off and we were shocked to discover that theywere in fact …... gun pellets! Jerome had been shot! Multipletimes!! How can people be so evil? Some of the pellets wereremoved with his leg and the others will remain but areunlikely to bother him now.

Jerome recovered well from his operation and is managing toget about much better than he has in a very long time!

Against all odds, he defied the opinions of the vets andproved that he’s a survivor! And what a lovely little soul he istoo! Such a happy and purry cat despite all he’s beenthrough. He’s clearly glad to be alive today and showsaffection with his head-butts and little purry meows. He’s areal charmer who has melted the hearts of our supporters.

We are very pleased to say that Scott and Julie fell in lovewith Jerome and offered him the purrfect forever home wherehe will remain as an indoor cat to ensure he keeps safe. Hehas made friends with the other two resident cats so willalways have company. All the best Jerome! We love a happy ending!

Sheila Pickersgill

© Sally Mangum

AYRSHIREIt’s been an eventful spring and summer, for sure, but before I tell youabout some of the more memorable situations we’ve been dealingwith, here’s an update on our previous branch news.

Lovely Ben, the boy with the badly disabled leg, went on to hisforever home some months ago, as did Swampy and Sammy. Xenawill always be a sneezy cat, but is otherwise very healthy now. It tooksome time to nurse her through her illness and in that time she and Ibecame good friends. I was worried about finding just the rightunderstanding home for this adorable girl and how much her underlyingcondition might be affected by another move, so she’s staying herewith me and I can’t say I’m sorry. Her little daughter, Matea, has awonderful home where she’s just adored and is very happy.

Early in the year I trapped and brought in a boy living as a stray andalthough the person feeding him assured me he could be stroked hereally doesn’t want that one little bit. I couldn’t put him back out afterneutering, which was just as well because he developed an eyeinfection that didn’t respond to treatment. He had a long-actingantibiotic injection and I had to trick him into a carrier twice a day toget cream into his eye, which was no fun for either of us. At first thatseemed to help and his eye got better but then the infection returnedand this time it grew worse very quickly indeed. In the end, there wasno choice but to have the eye removed. He still doesn’t like me. Hugowasn’t the only cat to have to undergo such an operation this summerthough. Around the end of May, someone shared a photograph to meof a cat seen wandering near some shops in an Ayrshire town. Thephoto was neither close-up nor clear but what was very apparent,though, was that this poor cat had a badly injured eye. I went lookingthe next day, assuming the cat to be a stray in need of help, andactually found her sitting in the garden of her home. I was so shockedat the state of her eye and knew there would be no saving it, and thatshe would be in terrible pain, that I asked if I could take her to our vet.Her owners agreed, later signing her over into our care for rehoming.Her name is Mitzi and she’s a beautiful, good-natured, tortoiseshell butshe’s still to find a home where she would be the only animal in thehouse and get all the attention she deserves. Yet another cat, badlyneeding treatment but signed over into our care is Rio. Rio had a veryneglected long-term injury to his neck which required surgery, the vetreporting that the smell from the infection was so bad she was almostsick. He’s made a good recovery from his operation but is such anunhappy boy in our shelters, so I hope we can find the right home forhim before much longer.

Also this summer there’s been some tiny kittens to hand-rear whentheir mother was injured on the road, all four of them doing well beforebeing handed back to their owner when they were weaned and littertrained. Another little one wasn’t so lucky though. Right at the start of

August I had a call late one night asking if I could take a 12-day-oldkitten. His mother had had to have a hysterectomy just after givingbirth and wouldn’t feed them, so by the time I got this little boy he wasalready terribly starved and dehydrated. His little sibling had apparentlydied two days before I got the call. I called him Ethan. Despitesub-cutaneous fluid injections and being fed tiny drops of orphankitten formula, initially every 15 minutes, too much damage hadalready been done to his internal organs and little Ethan slipped awayin my arms aged just 17 days.

On September 16th I was contacted via our Facebook page to say thattwo tiny kittens, aged around 5 weeks old, had been seen on the roadat the foot of a steep wooden embankment. Although this was acountry road on the edge of a large village, it was by no means a quietone. Tankers, tractors, vans and cars, some paying little attention tonational speed limits, all keep that road really pretty busy. Trying to findthose kittens turned into quite an ordeal as the area is heavily woodedand there’s a large country estate and some businesses nearby. I’dbeen searching for a couple of weeks (thank you Morven and Summer,who both gave up time to come and help) before being told byresidents of the only two houses nearby that the kittens and someadults had been spotted within one of the factory premises and I wasabsolutely elated, having thought the kittens may have been

abandoned alone and hadn’t survived. However, I was denied accessto the factory grounds to catch the cats and kittens. There’s no point ineven trying to understand the thinking behind that. It was only with thehelp of one person, an individual who had spotted not two, but three,kittens and could tell me where best to try and trap them that progresswas really made. We decided to buy and set up a wildlife camera sothat I could determine when they were turning up for the food I wasputting out every day, and I’m so glad we bought that camera! Withoutit, I might never have known about the four young females, one of themthe mother of the kittens, who together formed this little colony. Theadults are all very young so this colony very possibly started with onewee girl being abandoned either before or after she got pregnant andthat the other three young females are her daughters. There need onlybe a few months in age difference after all. It’s taken six weeks ofmixed day shift, back shift and very spooky night shifts but all sevenare now safely in our care (see photo of five of them – two still hidingaway!). The camera has also captured images and footage of what Ibelieve to be two tom cats but they appear very infrequently, usuallyseveral days apart, and at odd times of the day and night. They bothlook well fed and clean but I haven’t yet been able to determine wherethey’re coming from. I’m still working on that one….

Thank you so much to all our amazing fosterers, to everyone who hashanded in food for the cats or give donations to help us pay for it all. Itcouldn’t happen without you. Our website is down at the moment butwe do still have our page on the wonderful Cat Chat website and ourFacebook page (Cat Action Trust 1977 Ayrshire Branch).

Flora Fleming

BRANCH NEWSThe work of our branches is entirely carried out by volunteers, but sadly, there are never enough of us.

Please contact us on 020 8993 7041 if you can help and we will put you in touch with your nearest branch.

The Mauchline cats

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Mitzi

CENTRAL LONDON

Little Lola has died…Some 22 years ago I received a call from a nearby garage, a cat hadappeared overnight along with four young kittens, which she was hidingunder a yellow Mini. Kittens under cars, this was an emergency and Ihad to get there immediately before she could move them elsewhere.When I arrived, I found a tiny little mother cat, only a kitten herself asthey say, curled in with four babies, which she protected with all fourlegs. I knelt down and started talking to her gently, and she came outimmediately begging to be stroked and then she walked easily into theopen basket as if she wanted to be taken. I quickly gave her the fourbabies, closed the basket and walked home with them, happy, as if Iwas walking on a cloud. This was the easiest rescue ever, and such alovely cat! At home she settled as happily in her big playpen and I couldtake her to the vet the next day to be checked over and blood-tested.The result was frightening, she was FIV (Feline ImmunodeficiencyVirus) positive, although she seemed perfectly healthy. It only took metwo seconds to decide that she was definitely not going to be put down,although that was commonplace among most animal charities at thetime, and it would, of course, have been an easy option. Not for me, youdo not kill an angel. Most fortunately, the kittens turned out to be FIVnegative.

A few weeks later I had the offer of a home for two of them, highlyrecommended by the officer of another charity. The retired couple werevery enthusiastic about these beautiful kittens and one of them had theticked markings of an Abyssinian pedigree. I checked their Londonhome which was entirely closed off to traffic. Their weekend home inOxfordshire was on a private road serving only five houses. I thoughtthe kittens were young enough to get used to travelling in their new bigQueens Cage and the reports were very positive. Then, after severalweeks, I received a call from the lady, twittering away how lovely thekittens were and how clever the recommended cage had worked out.I then asked her what the kittens were up to “oh, they had beenwonderful, but little Selassie had been run over at night by hernext-door neighbour ...”

It seems that the neighbour came back late at night and did not see thekitten, he was very sorry and said that it would not have happened if thekitten had worn a fluorescent collar. Since I had been promised thatthey would never be let out after dark I had not made that suggestion...."and how was the kitten now?" her reply “…oh, this happened weeksago. The kitten had a broken back and the vet thought it was not worthputting him through weeks of cage-rest, we had him put down...” Thenext comment was unbelievable “the vet said “ask her, has she not gotanother one?"”! I was appalled and I told them in no uncertain termsthat this was unacceptable. Had I known, I would have immediatelytaken a minicab to Oxfordshire and collected the injured kitten to take itback to London.

The woman asked me again, if I could give her another kitten, to whichthe reply was "certainly not!” I ended the conversation because mygrief and my anger were overflowing. Lola, the kittens’ litter sister waswatching me during this conversation and to make up for this immense

mistake, I decided there and then to keep her for good. I am sure thiswas the right decision, apart from giving me comfort she was awonderful addition to the household. She was mild mannered andloved by everybody, cats and humans, who adored her saucer-like eyesand her squawky voice when she greeted everybody at the door,stretching her head up asking to be stroked.

It is not surprising that my older remaining cats are now less relaxedand less content, since Lola has died. I never expected them to reactlike this, because they never showed real affection for her, but she wasalways there!

And how about the fate of the most important person, Yellow Mini, as Icalled her. She was adopted by one of my friends together with anunrelated FIV positive boy kitten, the only survivor of an entire FIVpositive cat family, who all died on me despite all the possibleveterinary care. They lived happily together for 18 years, and apartfrom two very short urinary infections which they suffered at the sametime, and which were easily cleared with short courses of antibiotics,they were never ill. We also blood-tested several cats which were livingin the same household repeatedly, none became infected.

FIV… no longer a death sentence…Since then, FIV has become less of a threat to other cats throughbetter management and because “cross infection through the sharingof food and litter has not been demonstrated”. This informationcame direct from the University of Glasgow Veterinary School. Thedisease is transmitted into the blood stream of a healthy cat through aninfected cat’s saliva, which happens through biting, when tomcats arefighting each other and when they hold on to the female's neck withtheir teeth during the mating process. Most cat owners have no ideaabout the danger to which they are exposing their treasured cat whenthey decide to let her have even one litter of kittens, or fail to havetheir little tomcat neutered. The scent of one cat in season attractsany number of tomcats which spread the disease to each other andneighbouring cats, both male and female.

We thank all our friends for their ongoing support and would like to wishyou a very Happy Christmas and a healthy year 2020! Greetings alsofrom the Southend fundraising group! Thank you to everyone whosupported our events. Hopefully we shall see you next year! Forinformation please ring Mandy on 01702 477163.

Elke de Vries

BEWDLEYWhilst there are other animal charities in our area, when approached forhelp with feral cats the answer is a definite “no, we don’t dealwith ferals.” As long as people are referred to our branch, very oftenthrough local vets, the necessary neutering and ear tipping can bearranged and funded by us.

Often, homeless cats frequent local public houses and eateries wherein return for leftovers they control mice and rats. If neuteredand provided with some sort of shelter, as in the case of some cats

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Lola

Little mum Mini and friend Bonnie pictured in their loving home of 18 years

found at The Plough pub near Bewdley, this can work very well. Ourbranch supplied trapping equipment and hospitalisation baskets toAddy, the only person I know locally who is prepared to house feralequipment. Our branch offered to pay the vets bills for neutering. Pat,who discovered the cats writes

“In January, a white cat appeared so we used to put turkey and anyother bits out for her until she became a regular. She was wild,hissing at us all the time, we could not get close to her. She wassleeping in the shed so I put a few boxes out with blankets in but thenshe disappeared. It was about four to five weeks until she reappearedagain, sitting on the wall outside the window, so we started feeding heragain. Then, one morning we went into the shed to find her in a boxwith three kittens. When we thought the kittens were about 8 to 12weeks old, I started making enquiries about how to deal with these cats.I got in touch with Addy who helped me catch them, told me which vetsto take them to and put me in touch with Diana, so thank you again verymuch they are all doing well.”

Thank you very much to all our loyal supporters without them wecouldn’t continue and all the best for the year 2020!

Diana Edmondson

DONCASTER SOUTHWe have been busy bees as always especially Karen, who has beeninundated with feral sites which most of this entry is about.

Around seven months ago, we got a call from a Co-Op shop askingfor help as some kittens had been found in hedges. No sign of mumso Marie and the staff all got stuck into the hedges trying to catchthem. New meaning for being dragged through a hedge backwards,they certainly looked like it afterwards! All three kittens were caught.Two were taken in by a vet nurse at our vets and the third (we namedHerbie) came into our care. Herbie was a little black kitten and we allknow how that normally goes, but my friend had recently lost one ofher beautiful cats to a rare heart condition, and fell in love as soon asshe saw his photo and adopted him as soon as he was ready. He isnow enjoying life with his new parents and cat siblings, and is a verycheeky boy.

Another feral story, which is a bit more unusual for us, and, in fact,something we have never encountered before. Karen got a call abouta feral mum with a sick kitten on a large site she was working on. Shewent out with her trap to have a look. I don’t think anything could have

prepared her for what she saw. Thankfully the trap wasn't needed asthe caring mum knew something was wrong and carried the kittenstraight to Karen. His eyes were completely crusted over, she couldbarely see his tiny little face. He was rushed to our vets, who werealso shocked, and started on immediate treatment, it did not lookgood. Not only was he so young so needed encouragement to eat, heneeded intensive treatment. We just hoped his little body would cope.

Herbie

Fifi and Fletch

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One of the feral kittens from The Plough

The following day the same person rang again, they had found twomore siblings in a similar condition so we took them too. Fifi andFletch weren't quite as severe but once the infection calmed down inthe first kitten, Flynn, it was obvious he had no eye in one socket, andthe other eye was prolapsed. As if this wasn't bad enough, a weekafter we picked them up another call came in from a different areaabout another black kitten with an eye condition, so along came Olive.All of them have made a fantastic recovery and are doing well. Fletchhas scarring on his left eye so is partially sighted, but they all can see,apart from Flynn, who when old enough for surgery will have his eyesockets surgically sealed.

Moving on to another good news story. We received a report of afemale cat straying in someone's garden that could be pregnant. Wehad a space come up so Karen went off to get her. She scanned herwhen she arrived at the foster mum’s house and ping, she had a chip.So, quick call to the owner and she was reunited within an hour ofbeing rescued! She had been missing for a couple of months, andwas a very loved neutered cat. We love a happy ending.

We have been particularly busy over the last few weeks, and haverescued three friendly mums with kittens, and a variety of other kittensof all ages. It’s never ending this year.

We recently attended the AGM in London and as always it was agreat day and lovely to see everyone again. May we wish all oursupporters a happy Christmas and New Year.

Leanne Gleave

EAST KILBRIDEThis year has been a very difficult one for rescue here. As I was in andout of four different hospitals, it was impossible for me to take cats atmy home. I had hoped to be back to fitness by autumn but I was alittle over optimistic and it will take a wee while longer than expected,which is a bit annoying.

However, we did manage to keep ticking over by homing direct frompeople’s houses and garages. We also continued to treat strays - itwas amazing how people took these friendly cats to our vets, knowingthat they would not face a bill. A number took them in permanentlywhich of course was always an excellent result. I also showed anumber of people how to use our newest trap, which is almost foolproof, (no offence intended). They were then able to trap and take theferal cat to the vets for treatment. This was in the case of cats whowere already in permanent residence in shelters in their gardens.Margaret of course continued to ferry cats to the vets and scan straysetc. and we continued to offer neutering where necessary.

One lovely black cat, that we have treated and found a wonderfulhome for, is Baby. Baby turned up at John and Vera’s in a rather pitifulstate. It must be something to do with the large neon sign saying “Catshotel - all welcome” over their door!! He was, of course, un- neutered,had green gunge pouring from his eyes and was totally lost. He wasless than a year old. He was taken for treatment immediately. It provedimpossible to find his owners, as is usual in the case of neglected cats.He was then neutered and vaccinated and micro chipped. Yesterdayhe went to his new forever home. Judging by the amount of moneyalready spent on him and the pictures coming in, we have absolutelyno doubt that this is one lucky little cat.

May we take this opportunity to thank all who have contributed to usover the year in any way, be it by donations of food, cash or goods etc.or doing runs for us. It is all gratefully appreciated and if we can’t useit then it is passed on to someone who can.

We wish you all health and happiness for Christmas and the New Year.

Joan Docherty and Margaret Scott

JERSEYGreetings from Jersey!

A lady who runs a greyhound rescue sent me a message via our vet (Iwas in the waiting room at the time!) to say she had seen a mum catand four kittens (all black or black and white), crossing the road, at4.30 am that morning, when she was taking her dogs for a walk (veryearly risers in Jersey!). I told Carole, who went down to check out thearea and she spoke to the kitchen staff of the restaurant close by. Theyhad seen some of the cats so Carole started trapping. Mum and fourkittens were caught within the next few days. Thinking there may beanother kitten, she persevered and a few days later another black kittenwent in. No other kittens were seen, so we assumed that all werecaught. Then a few days later, a chance post on a vegan Facebookpage alerted a cat lover to someone who had been to the restaurantand had a lovely vegan meal and was “happy to see a black and whitekitten sitting in a tree!” Carole hurried down again and the last kittenwas really pleased to go in the trap and came to join his family. All havenow been homed, the kittens in pairs so they have a playmate.

Baby Two of the feral kittens

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Geoff made another trip to our Central London branch in July andbrought back a few more beauties. Snowman and Snowflake werequickly chosen as they are such beautiful boys and really friendly.

Microchips have again enabled us to reunite lost cats with theirowners and it is so important the details are kept up to date. One littleold (18) cat had been missing over two years!

A huge thank you to everyone who donates food and cat items andmonetary donations to help the cats. We are fortunate to have so manycat lovers in the island.

Wishing all our adopters, supporters and all who help cats in any waya very happy Christmas season and looking forward to a peaceful2020.

Jean Falk

LEEDSApart from Jerome we have had both good luck and bad luck storiesover the last few months, but we thought he was the worthiest ofmention.

We have been very busy and have managed to recruit some newvolunteers. We have Lucy who has made a big difference to our fundraising and has worked brilliantly for us raising more than we ever coulddo before We also have two new male trappers which is a godsendand makes us girls feel much safer while trapping in abysmal areas -we call them “the bodyguards.” We have also acquired a few morefosterers which has meant we have been able to deal with so muchmore than before.

We have had more cats neutered and vet treated thanks to extradonations from our expanding group of cat loving followers.

On a more negative note we had our van stolen in January and we weredevastated, because it has been a great help to us and enabled us todo more work as we could carry more equipment in it. We put out anappeal and thanks to our supporters and help from Head Office wehave been able to get another one and so our work goes on.

We will continue to help and neuter cats in need and also deal with asmany feral colonies as possible, they seem never ending

Without your help none of this would be possible and so we would liketo say a big thank you to all who have supported us in our work. Also,to the staff at Pets at Home, where we hold tombolas etc. as they arealways a great help. A very big thanks to Sally, Sarah and many morewho have helped us tremendously in our work and also to SupportAdoption for Pets who afforded us a grant of £10,000 this year whichhas proved to be a phenomenal help and enabled us to do much more.Wishing you all the best for a very happy Christmas and good wishesfor a healthy and happy 2020.

Sheila Pickersgill

NUNEATON AND HINCKLEYAnother hectic year, so many feral cats and kittens out there. Not tomention the fleas! It seems to have been a bumper year for fleas andticks also.

We welcome Diane as our new treasurer, who is getting to grips withthe ins and outs of our accounts. We thank her for volunteering.

We have been very busy on the neutering front, Vicky helped one ladywhose cats were multiplying and didn't seem to know what to do aboutit! We neutered twelve altogether, so hopefully that will stop any moreunwanted cats. Jo and Sybil have also been busy, at an industrialestate, small holdings, equestrian centre, even a pub! We are stillworking on the farm, but the last few are playing hard to get. We havenow heard of another site by some flats, where there are several catsthat have been allowed to breed, and now they ask for help. Anne O.B.

and Vicky went to look and saw half a dozen beautiful kittens and severalolder cats, all very nervous so will take some time to get them all.

Our kitten fosterers - Sadie, Jo, Ann and Sybil - have been busy copingwith several litters. Not to mention the collateral damage to ourproperties & belongings. My T.V. is now on the wall and net curtainstorn to shreds. Our kind fosterers are usually full, so it is sad to have toturn some away. Other local groups are finding the same. Homing isalso slow due to the number of cats being advertised.

We are grateful to the kind people who have re-homed our cats. Aswinter approaches, we can only hope fewer kittens will be born,although there doesn't seem to be a kitten season anymore.

Our thanks to all who help and donate time, goods and money. We aregrateful for a £1,000 legacy willed to us by a long-standing supporter,Margery Hubbard, a lovely lady who adopted many stray cats from herarea in Leicester.

We wish you all a peaceful Christmas, and a better year for all animalsnext year.

Sybil Brown and Vicky Hedger

SHAWShaw Branch have not submitted any branch news.

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Cats we have helped recently include Bill and Ben

… and Dotty, Harry and Margo

Cat Action Trust 1977Registered Charity No. 801245

Cat Action Trust 1977 is a registered charity set up to help the plight of feral cats.

Feral cats are domestic cats and their offspring living wild. They may originally have been abandoned by uncaring owners or may have wandered away and become lost. Their offspring are not used to people and grow up feral. When left uncontrolled to breed, these cats suffer malnutrition, disease and starvation.

Our policy is to help the plight of feral cats without killing: all adult cats are neutered and returned to site, while young kittens are taken in and found homes.

HOW YOU CAN HELP1) Become a member of Cat Action Trust 1977. Your subscription can be paid by one of the following methods:

a) A cheque or postal order sent together with the Membership Application form (at left); or

b) A Banker's Order, which saves our administrative costs – if you decide on this method, please return the Membership Application together with the Banker's Order form (at left). Do not enclose any money unless you wish to make a separate donation.

2) Make a donation.

address listed below, you can now donate online by debit or credit card through our secure My Donate fundraising page

allows charities to claim back 25p on every £1 donated by a

Fundraise either for central funds or for a local branch.

4) Make a bequest to Cat Action Trust 1977 when making your Will. Please write to us for details.

5) Help a local branch with their work! Please write for our guide, HOW YOU CAN HELP.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

I wish to join Cat Action Trust 1977 and

£8 Annual £100 Life

£4 Junior £15 Overseas

£4 Senior Citizen and concessionary

I enclose a donation towards your work of £

Address

Postcode Signed

Date

If you are a UK taxpayer and you wish the charity to reclaim tax on your donation/subscription, please tick here

BANKER'S ORDER FORMTo the Manager (your bank's name and address)

Please pay CAT ACTION TRUST 1977 (Registered Charity no. 801245)

Barclays Bank plc 54 High Street

(delete as necessary)

Please debit my account no:

First payment to be made on:

Address

Postcode Signed

Date**

Please remember to make all cheques payable toCat Action Trust 1977

(the 1977 is an essential part of our name).

Cat Action Trust 1977

PO Box 1639London W8 7ZZ

www.cat77.org.uk

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Email us at:info@cat77.org.uk

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONI wish to join Cat Action Trust 1977 and enclose my subscription (please tick box)

PLEASE MAKE ALL CHEQUES PAYABLE TOCAT ACTION TRUST 1977(The 1977 is an important part of our name)□ £8 Annual (inc overseas) □ £100 Life□ £4 Junior (under 18) □ £4 Senior Citizen & concessionary □ I enclose a donation of £_________________________Name Mr/Mrs/Ms _________________________________Address____________________________________________________________________ Postcode ____________Signed _____________________ Date________________

If you pay sufficient British income and/or capital gainstaxes to cover the amount the charity will reclaimagainst this gift, and any future gifts, please completea GIFT AID DECLARATION form Please notify thecharity if your tax circumstances change in the future.

BANKER’S ORDER FORMTo the Manager (your bank’s name & address)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please pay Cat Action Trust 1977 (Registered Charity No. 801245)Barclays Bank plc, 54 High Street, Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 7BRAccount No. 10244899 / Sort Code 20-73-53

The sum of £ ________ per annum / quarter / month untilfurther notice (please delete as necessary)Please debit my account No. ________________________First payment to be made on ________________________Name Mr/Mrs/Ms _________________________________Address____________________________________________________________________ Postcode ____________Signed______________________Date______________(1)(1) This date must precede the date of the first payment

RETURN THIS FORM TO:CAT ACTION TRUST 1977, PO BOX 1639, LONDON, W8 7ZZ

Cat Action Trust 1977Registered Charity No. 801245

Cat Action Trust 1977 is a registered charity set up to help theplight of feral cats.Feral cats are domestic cats and their offspring living wild. Theymay originally have been abandoned by uncaring owners ormay have wandered away and become lost. Their offspring arenot used to people and grow up feral. When left uncontrolledto breed, these cats suffer malnutrition, disease and starvation.Most of their kittens die miserably through accidents or exposure.

Our policy is to help the plight of feral cats without killing: all adultcats are neutered and returned to site, while young kittens aretaken in and found homes.

HOW YOU CAN HELP1) Become a member of Cat Action Trust 1977.

Your subscription can be paid by one of the followingmethods: a) A cheque or postal order sent together with the MembershipApplication form (at left); or

b) Banker's Order, which saves our administrative costs – if you decide on this method, please return the MembershipApplication together with the Banker's Order form (at left).Do not enclose any money unless you wish to make aseparate donation.

2) Make a donation.As well as sending a cheque or postal order to our PO Boxaddress listed below, you can now donate online by debit orcredit card through our secure PayPal fundraising page.Click on the DONATE button on any page of our website.Here, you can make a donation, and apply for - or renew -your membership too.

News for UK taxpayers: your donation, however large orsmall, can be increased by 25%. A decision of the Governmentallows charities to claim back 25p on every £1 donated by aUK taxpayer.

Don't forget to tick the ‘Gift Aid’ box if donating online or askus for our Gift Aid Declaration Form if you would like us tobenefit from this opportunity, at no extra cost to you.

3) Fundraise either for central funds or for a local branch.

4) Make a bequest to Cat Action Trust 1977 when making your Will. Please write to us for details.

5) Help a local branch with their work! Please write for our guide, HOW YOU CAN HELP.

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