On the morning of 11th January 2010, the Cats' Protection called to say that a mother cat and her five kittens had been found in a garden on BURNS Crescent … HELP!!!!!! Armed with traps, nets, gauntlets and, of course, Morrisons' hot chicken we set off to see what the situation was. The area has a reputation for animal cruelty and abandoned cats and dogs have to fight and forage for food and shelter. The kind owners of this particular garden put food out every day to help feed all the animals they can.
When we arrived we counted five nervy/feral tom cats and some very frightened kittens with flu-like symptoms. All the cats fled from the garden as soon as we arrived so we knew that this was definitely going to be a trapping job.
That night the snow fell! Luckily we have a 4x4 and following ten trips over six days, skidding and sliding sideways through the snow, we caught six tom cats, a mum and four kittens. Although Cats Protection agreed to pay for neutering, we had to have them all blood tested for F.I.V. and F.E.L.V and vet assessed before we could operate. Sadly one of the feral toms not only tested positive but was also injured with many puncture wounds which were not healing - he was very sick so we had to have him euthanised. The other adults were fit, healthy, tested negative and had good body weight so they were neutered. Two of the toms were timid but tame so they were wormed, treated for fleas, and returned to the garden. All the other cats would need further help from SHUA.
"BIG BOB"(named for Robbie Burns), a handsome tabby who purred in the trap when we picked him up and loved being fussed by the vet and nurses, tested F.I.V. positive. Cats Protection wouldn't take him, the tenants in Burns Crescent didn't want him back and we couldn't face having this friendly puss put to sleep so he has now joined the other permanent residents of SHUA. He lives with Betty, Harvey, Blue and Penny in the utility block and goes out most days, though he is still fearful of the dogs. He has had a dental operation but is otherwise in very good condition - and is costing us a small fortune in food - he eats 8 SACHETS PER DAY!!
It was obvious that the stunning young blue male, "HAGGIS" and the kittens all once had homes where they were fed and played with before being thrown out when the novelty had worn off. With time we hope that Haggis will calm down and remember how to be a pet so he can find a new home. The kittens, two males and two females between 14 and 18 weeks old, were all emaciated and had problems: "BURN-O-DETT" (middle of 3 kittens at top of page) was really poorly with flu; "EDDIE" (bottom of 3 kittens at top of page) had her third eyelid stuck to her eye - probably the result of untreated cat flu - and needed surgery (she now has full vision in both eyes and is fine); "BURNSY" (top of 3 kittens at top of page) had terrible battle scars and a bad attitude to match; …
… but it was the last kitten, "ROBBIE" who was in the most immediate danger. He was the most subdued of the 4 kittens - despite the expected hissing and spitting. We couldn't quite put our finger on it but then realised that his head appeared too round - a bit like a space hopper. Our vet examined him and thought that it was trapped air due to a puncture wound - but try as we might, we couldn't locate the wound. After 48 hours of repeatedly bathing and massaging his head, we found Robbie listless in his pen - the first puncture wound had appeared and burst. As we tried to clean him up, the wound opened further so we rushed him to our vets for emergency treatment. 6 hours later, Robbie was returned to us - and bless him he looked terrible. Our vet had lanced 3 other wounds to try to ease the pressure and inserted a drain under his skin. Where he was shaved you could see other puncture wounds yet to burst or scab. He had over a dozen deep bite marks - he had been desperate to get food but was clearly no match for one of the tom cats. Every day, for 10 days, we cleaned his wounds, applied hot compresses to ease the pain and make sure that the drain kept flowing. It was around the clock care and Robbie was as good as gold. He must have been in an unbelievable amount of pain and yet he seemed to know that we were trying to help him - he just let us do what we needed to. He seemed to get a lot of relief from the cleaning and hot compresses.
When the drain was finally removed we could see the plucky little kitten beneath the wounds. Robbie must have upset one of the tom cats while trying to get food and would certainly have died if he hadn't got in the trap. The pictures to the right of the above paragraph show Robbie now - all healed (although some fur has grown back grey rather than black, due to the trauma) - and as he was, with the drain inserted under his skin and all of the punctures wounds.
All four kittens took an awful lot of one-on-one socialising. At first, they learned to enjoy cuddles but initially only one managed to purr properly - the others sounded like spluttering drains but there were broken purrs there to be had. It was hard work enticing them to play. It is such a simple thing but up until then they had been far too busy fighting simply to stay alive. Robbie and Burnsy were rehomed together in April; Eddie has also been rehomed.
No doubt we will be back to Burns Crescent and the surrounding areas to deal with similar problems again during the year. No matter how many free neutering campaigns are offered some people just can't be bothered to get their animals neutered and in some cases the desperation for drink or drugs means the small amount of money raised by selling a kitten is enough to keep them breeding cats. They don't consider that the animals need feeding and caring for and just see them as a source of income. 75% of these kittens will become outdoor strays before turning feral and producing more kittens. This creates a perfect breeding ground for flu, F.I.V. and .F.E.L.V, the most miserable and unnecessary of deaths.
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