Cats Protection as an organisation rehomes around 60,000 cats in the course of one year. Volunteers at
Tain & District Branch are trying in our small way to help rehome the many stray and abandoned cats and kittens which come into our care each year.
Please do not feel you should allow your cat to have one litter of kittens. Many folks think this way, but we are still faced with many unwanted kittens. Please have your cats neutered between 4/5 months old if they are not to be used for breeding purposes . Neutering helps to stop male cats fighting and female cats having up to three litters of kittens per year. Over a five year period, one cat could be responsible for 20,000 offspring!!
Some cats rehome very quickly, but some are with us for some considerable time. In the main the cats who are with us longer are the 'older' ones. Some people think that a cat is old at the age of 5. Two cats taken into our care at the age of 17, as their owner had died, were in danger of being put to sleep, lived until they were just over 22 years old. This must surely prove that a cat is never an 'old' cat, just an 'adult' one.
We carry out home visits prior to homing any of the cats in our care, when any queries or worries can be dealt with. I know this must worry some people, but it is only making sure that the appropriate cats is rehomed with the appropriate family.
We often are asked to rehome feral cats. Unfortunately we do not have a specific place to home feral cats, and the only thing we can offer is to trap, neuter and return them to where they are living as a colony. Once a colony is neutered, it should become kitten free. To remove a colony is to invite, within a matter of weeks, another colony to come in and take over that space, where they know there is a food supply readily available. If you can offer a home to a feral cat or cats, please contact us.
As we are all volunteers, our telephone line is not manned 24 hours a day. If we are unable to answer, please leave a message and someone will return your call as soon as possible. Any delay in replying will be down to work commitment.
Our Telephone Number is: 0845 3712737
Cats Protection do have an extensive range of leaflets giving all sorts of down to earth information about keeping and looking after kittens and cats. These leaflets can be downloaded from the website -
www.cats.org.uk