News

As mentioned above, we would like to say a very big thankyou to Sarah Nash, Hayley Ashurst and Jessica Wise for nominating SHUA for match funding by their employer, Legal and General. They have now donated match funding for 3 events in a row - a total of £ 3,000 to date. Thankyou very much Legal and General and thankyou girls!!

We would all like to say a VERY big thankyou to everyone who came down to the event this weekend. We were very lucky with the weather and everyone had lots of fun. It was great to see you all and thankyou so much for all of the photos and updates you gave us on our furry friends. So, drumroll … onto the result - as usual you all reached deep into your pockets for us and raised over £1,800! Thankyou!

In addition to the money raised this weekend, Legal and General have, for the third time, generously allocated us match funding (this time £750) which is just brilliant. This means that, to date, Legal and General have donated £3,000 to SHUA. Thankyou Legal & General! We would like to say a special thankyou to friends of SHUA Sarah Nash, Hayley Ashurst & Jessica Wise, who work for Legal & General and nominated SHUA to receive the donations. Thankyou!

Finally, we would also like to say thankyou to everyone who helped make the event happen - to all of our volunteers and to sisters Jennie & Liz Smith who ran a cake stall (that must have been one serious bake-a-thon guys!) And yes, all of the cakes were scrumptious (talking from personal experience - Sally AKA SHUA Webmaster) and sold out very quickly!

We would like to say a very big thankyou to Royal Bank of Scotland for generously donating £500 to purchase a new shed to be used for food storage. We would also like to thank them for the donation of loaning us a team of their staff for the day to actually put the shed up (during work hours!). And finally, of course, we would like to thank the individual members of the team, led by Carol, who put their names forward for a day of hard slog at SHUA. The new shed is already in use, making the place look a lot tidier as well as keeping the food secure and waterproof! Thanks guys!

Denise, Laura, Claire and Kim (team SHUA aka the Four Sunken Oars) raised more than £900 in sponsorship monies for SHUA last year in the Llandaff Rowing Club Regatta.

This year the event is on the 4th and 5th of October. Find out more and sponsor the Four Sunken Oars...

Those of you who have visited SHUA will know about the summer exercise area for mums & their kittens, the basic structure of which was started with money left to SHUA by the late Mrs Pat Tregonning. "Tregonning Muse" has been a work in progress for over a year now, due to lack of funding for materials & also for labour. We have been chipping away at it little by little until last month, when a local family donated over £600 worth of tiles. This, together with the donation of time & tiling skills by some kindly volunteers, has enabled us to tile each of the 5 pens! The mums & their kittens (as well as all of us) would like to say a very big thankyou to everyone involved!

Kay looked out of the window this morning and saw a lifeless cat lying on the road outside the house. She raced downstairs & outside to find Keira dead. She had been run over. Mercifully she had been killed outright - she would not have suffered. Keira had only been at SHUA for 3 or so months. She was very highly strung when she arrived (& being a tortie didn't help!) and was quite unpredictable, lashing out at the dogs and other cats for no apparent reason. But as time went by she settled down and understood that SHUA was her home. She quickly became a very affectionate, inquisitive & loving little cat. She had not quite found her niche here at SHUA, but was well on the way to doing so. She will be greatly missed by all of us.

Since the development down at Hayes Point (off Hayes Road) we have lost an increasing number of cats on the road due to the increased traffic. Cars speed down Hayes Road without a thought for the wildlife. We have lost nearly as many cats to the road this year as we have in the past 5 years. How would we go about organising a campaign to get a speed camera (or at least a sleeping policeman - the humps in the road) put near SHUA to slow the cars down? If anyone out there knows and can help, please do get in touch.

July was a very busy month for Kay, putting together all of the tombolas for the Whitchurch, Rhiwbina & Big Cheese events. A very big thankyou to everyone who turned up to show their support us &, of course, to the volunteers running the stalls for us. Between the 3 events, we raised over a thousand pounds! Brilliant!

For the past week or so, Jacqui had noticed that Luca (one of SHUA's guard-dogs) had not been eating all of his dinner. Luca has always been a bit fussy with his food but Jacqui had her suspicions that he had taken to stealing someone else's dinner on a regular basis. She did some investigative work but drew a blank & thought nothing more of it. Then, a few days ago, the truth finally came to light when Jacqui & Kay heard Luca yelp in pain one evening. Kay ran to find Luca behind the Lindee Lu pen with blood dripping down his face. He had been stealing food from the ferals' feeding station behind the lindee lu pens - & had somehow managed to tear part of his cheek on a nail sticking out of the wood which he had broken in through!

Poor Luca felt very sorry for himself and the girls had to rush him to the vets for an emergency operation. Thankfully, there was no permanent damage done and after a clean-up and some stitches he was sent home with a lampshade collar to remind everyone just how foolish he had been. Our vet & her staff were not very impressed with Luca because the anaesthetic caused him to fart very stinkily all through the operation and for the rest of the afternoon!

2nd August update: Luca has now fully recovered & the ferals' feeding station has been turned into fort knox.

Last year The Four Sunken Oars singled handedly raised more than £900 in sponsorship monies for SHUA at the regatta. The sponsored rowing event proved so popular with SHUA supporters that we now have two teams rowing for SHUA for the 2008 event!

When we have the date of this year's event, we will let you know so that you can come on down. We will also be providing details of how you can sponsor team SHUA either via the website, by post or in person.

Finally, some good news!

A very big thank you to all of you who came along to our first spring extravaganza and gave so generously.

We've had a very tough start to the year with the shop not doing as well as usual, far more pregnant females much earlier in the year than expected and a flu outbreak which closed us down for the best part of six weeks.

The cats needed a boost from their adoring public and you certainly didn't let us down.

We raised a massive £1,500 which brings us up-to-date with the vet and food bills, so thank you very much!

All of our supporters will have read about Patti, who came to SHUA on Good Friday, 2002. Bulldozers destroyed the tree under which she had sheltered for some 8 years and, in her efforts to escape, Patti's fur got caught on some barbed wire, causing horrific injuries. Years of living rough had also taken its toll on Patti - she had no teeth and her tongue was lacerated from scavenging in bins; her claws had grown around in a circle, impaling her paws. She wouldn't have survived as long as she had if it wasn't for 2 very kind ladies living in the block of flats nearby, who, despite being old and infirm themselves, fed Patti every day, throwing scraps out of their windows for her. (They weren't allowed pets inside the flats)

Patti has lived happily and healthily at SHUA for nearly 6 years, but she just couldn't make her Easter anniversary this year. Patti died in Jacqui's arms at 8.40 am this morning, being cuddled and kissed and fussed until the end. She will be sorely missed by all of us. Rest in Peace Patti. May there be endless supplies of fresh roasted chicken in heaven.

It is with great sadness that we have to tell you that Hannah, Harvey's life soul-mate, has passed away. She was dignosed with FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) only a few weeks ago and succumbed to the illness yesterday. She died in the afternoon, at home, with Harvey by her side. She was so very young and full of life, a real tragedy. Rest in Peace Hannah, we will all miss you.

Some of you may have noticed Ieuan, a rabbit, on the rehoming section of our website over the past few months. A few weeks ago, a family who came to visit SHUA fell in love with Ieuan and reserved him along with one of our young cats. He was due to go to his new home when tragedy struck - he died from an infection caused by a tiny cat bite on his muzzle. Ieuan was friends with many of the cats here at SHUA and we had no idea that such a superficial cat bite could be so harmful to rabbits. We wanted to put something on the website to remember Ieuan but also to warn other pet owners out there who have both rabbits and cats living together. Get any bite, however superficial, treated by a vet immediately (they will most likely give a course of antibiotics). Rest in Peace Ieuan, you will be missed little fella.

As some of you may have read in the national press in December, it was reported that a chemical used in over-the-counter dog flea treatments can be fatal to one in ten cats and leaves 88 per cent twitching and suffering convulsions.

The insecticide - permethrin - is so dangerous that cats will fall sick by sharing bedding with a recently treated dog.

The flea treatments include Bob Martin Dog Spot On, Johnson's Insecticidal Flea and Tick Drops, Wikdo Dog Flea Drops and Armitage Flea and Tick Drops for Dogs, according to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

Please be careful when using these products!

Harvey (albeit reluctantly) dons his Santa hat.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year! From the team at SHUA.

Jacqui has asked us to put this message on the website for Jason - just to let you know that Missy and her kittens are all doing brilliantly. See the 3 pictures we have put up on our gallery for you.

Using the funds raised by the Four Sunken Oars, SHUA is in the process of applying for the necessary insurance to allow volunteers on-site to help with all aspects of the cats!! A big thank you, once again to all those who participated and helped to make this possible!

Denise Bailey (from the rowing team) sent in this fantastic picture of her cat draped (adopted from SHUA, naturally!) over the money box used on the day. This picture is NOT doctored in any way.

If you wish to help SHUA by volunteering your time, contact us!

Team SHUA, the Four Sunken Oars had a fantastic couple of days last weekend, managing to raise over £900!!

Huge thanks to the team (Karen Tuckfield, Claire Johns, Laura Burns and Denise Bailey), all of our supporters and to Llandaff Rowing Club for allowing us to participate in the event. It was a lot of fun and a great time was had by all!

Well, it's only taken nearly three years but we have finally found fantastic homes for Window, Silly-Puss, and Oh-no! The girls went to their new home in May and Window went to his home in August, both on a temporary foster basis. We didn't want to annouce their adoption on the website until now just in case it didn't work out! Both families have given their new additions glowing reports and we knew that you would be as pleased to hear the news as we are to give it! All three cats seem to have finally found the loving, caring homes that they deserve.

Apparently, Window found the novelty of stairs so exciting that he spent several hours just running up and down them!

As a result on her eye surgery last year, as well as daily massaging by her new Mum Ann-Maree, Silly's vision has improved and, with it, her confidence - so much so that she now bosses Oh-No about!

To find out more about Window, Silly and Oh-No, read their rescue story

A BIG thank you to those of you who made it down to our 3rd annual parents' weekend, on the 1st & 2nd of September. It was lovely catching up with everybody and thank you for all the photos of our furry friends!

Thanks to your generous support, we raised just under £2000! This could not have come at a better time, with both Chris who runs our charity shop and Jacqui who runs SHUA being out of action because of their accidents.

Llandaff Rowing club are holding a Regatta on the weekend of the 6th of October.

Check the events page for more info.

In a bid to out-do Chris with her broken leg, Jacqui has managed to hurt her ankle, with a double sprain and torn ligaments. She is unable to walk or drive and the doctors have said that will be 8 weeks minimum before the ligaments have properly healed.

There are certainly a challenging few months ahead for SHUA with first Chris and now Jacqui both out of action.

Please hurry up and get better the both of you, the cats need you!

Regular supporters of our charity shop will be aware that Chris, who runs the shop with her husband Geoff, fell down some steps at home and broke her femur a few weeks ago.

Thank you to all of the well wishers who signed the get well soon cards left in the shop. Wishing you a speedy recovery Chris!

As a result of Chris being out of action, the charity shop will be open for slightly reduced hours over the next few months.

Our first Mum-to-be of 2007 is Mrs Puss, a beautiful calico (ginger, black & white). She is very pregnant and we are expecting her to have her litter any day now ...

You may recall reading about Harvey in a news item back in January. He weighed more than 12.5kg when he came to SHUA and was suffering from a serious bout of cystitis. As it turns out, the water infection was the least of his worries. He has hepatic lipidosis - or fatty liver syndrome - a very serious condition which can be fatal. Harvey has had many in-patient stays at the vets over the past month, receiving round the clock care. In addition to medicines to strengthen his liver (the poor boy was positively yellow all over from jaundice) and stave off the nausea, Harvey was refusing to eat and had to be syringed special high-calorie food to keep his strength up. As bizarre as it might sound, with hepatic lipidosis, an obese cat can die if they don't consume enough calories to keep the body functioning properly.

It really was touch and go for a long time and we thought that Harvey wouldn't make it. He was incredibly depressed and so, in spite of what the literature said about needing cage rest, we started taking Harvey outside for a wander. The fresh air and sunshine really cheered him up - and so this has become a big part of his daily routine. (It's not like he can run off and escape over a fence!) We also managed to reunite him with his companion, Hannah, a beautiful (slender) Siamese. They absolutely adore each other and sleep cuddled up to each other, with their arms around each other's necks. Awww!

Harvey has lost nearly 1.5kg so far. He still has a long way to go but we'll help him every step of the way. Keep your fingers crossed.

It is with great sadness that we report our dear friend Cliff lost his battle to cancer earlier this week.

Cliff came to SHUA in May last year, having been found straying in Barry. We joked that he was a former rugby international star because of his cauliflower ear - an old battle scar from his days living on the streets. Cliff had a tough time settling in at SHUA, mainly because he hated other cats. We'll never forget all those times that Cliff and Fergus, another elderly resident at SHUA, squared up to each other. It was hysterical - two former street-fighting tom cats, now in their golden years, a bit deaf and arthritic, pretending to talk the talk! Bless them.

Cliff hadn't been with us for long when he was diagnosed with cancer of the throat. Thankfully, it wasn't very advanced at that time, and Cliff had nearly a whole year with us before the cancer became aggressive. Cliff was very misunderstood when he first came to SHUA but with a lot of love and patience we revealed a very caring, loving cat. Cliff died with many friends and he will always have a special place in our hearts. Rest in Peace.

One of our eldest residents, Celia, was put to sleep today. She was our eldest tortie (after losing both Pepsi and Bjork in December last year).

Celia has lived at SHUA for several years. She never really settled in our Silly Old Sods wing and soon moved herself into Jacqui's house. Celia could often be found staring at the fridge, willing it to open. To be fair, it worked - she always got fresh roast chicken at least once or twice per day, as well as some milk as a treat now and again! Celia's party trick was sneezing - we once counted 29 in a row!

Celia was a tiny, quiet little cat with a very big personality. She gave us lots of joy and will be greatly missed by all of us. Rest in Peace Celia.

A big thank you to everyone from Day Surgery, Endoscopy Theatre & Ground Floor at Llandough Hospital for kindly donating the proceeds of their recent table-top sale. The £50 that they raised will go towards microchipping our furry friends before we rehome them.

On Friday we had a call from the vets to ask if we would look after a cat who had been dumped there. Harvey weighs more than 12.5kg - yes, really, 12.5kg! Poor Harvey has a very serious case of cystitis which has been left untreated for at least 3 weeks and he must have been in absolute agony before our vets started treatment.

Remarkably, Harvey's heart sounds pretty good for someone as obese as he is. Quite what damage his internal organs may have suffered as a result of the obesity, only time will tell. Harvey needs to lose more than half his body weight but it will have to be a very slow weight loss program because losing weight quickly can be very dangerous for cats and actually do more harm than good. We'll keep you updated.

Our eldest resident, Pepsi, was put to sleep on Tuesday (19th). She would have been 27 years old in only a few months' time.

Pepsi was found in a skip on Rover Way in 1980 when she was just a wee kitten. The lady who found her hand-reared her and they lived together happily until 2002 when, sadly, the lady died. We took the-then 22 year old Pepsi in to the shelter because there was nowhere else for her to go. She has ruled the roost here at SHUA for 4 years and even the feral cats wouldn't mess with her! She was greatly respected by everyone - cats and humans alike, and was a naughty tortie through and through. A fantastic character.

With Pepsi gone, Bjork (also a tortie) was the oldest feline at SHUA, estimated to be between 18 and 20 years old. Bjork had been at SHUA for a few years. She came to the shelter after falling through a false ceiling in Iceland, landing in a freezer and was found devouring several chicken (frozen) carcasses - remarkably sturdy for such a frail old lass! Bjork was adopted by SHUA Webmaster's (my) family recently and, for the short time she was with us, she had lots of fun - exploring everywhere, eating everybody's food (feline, canine and human!) and enjoying lots of cuddles. Tragically, Bjork was taken ill yesterday morning and went down hill rapidly over night. She was put to sleep this afternoon.

We will all miss both Pepsi and Bjork terribly. Rest in Peace.

We would like to thank Burns Pet Nutrition for their kind offer of support for SHUA, a regular monthly donation of their cat complete dry food and rehoming packs to give out when we rehome our cats and kittens. This is a tremendous help and we are all very grateful!

Burns Pet Nutrition manufactures cat and dog food with an holistic approach to health and nutrition. Importantly, they are BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection) approved, meaning that they have been approved under the 'No Animal Testing' Pet Food Standard.

It is with great sadness that we have had to say goodbye to our friend Thomas. He had lung cancer and we had to have him put to sleep on Friday (10th November). Many of you will have met Thomas and will know that he was the head of our colony here at SHUA until last year when his beloved wife Mummy-Cat died. After she passed away, Thomas grieved for many, many months and stepped down from his role as alpha-male. passing the reins instead to a young female cat called Fabia. Thomas was one of Jacqui and Kay's first feline friends and they have known him for more than 7 years. He was a street-hardened feral cat when they first met him and would scram you as soon as look at you - but with the years he mellowed and became a big old softy, enjoying cuddles like any other tame cat. We reckon Thomas was 14 years old this year, which is double the estimated life-span for a feral cat, so he did pretty well really. Nonetheless, he will be greatly missed by all of us. We have buried him with Mummy-Cat, next to Leo (Kay's beloved woofums who also died earlier this year). Rest in Peace Thomas.

Photos from the 2006 Parents' Weekend are now ready to view in our 'The Cats' section.

We have been warned by other rescue organisations in and around south Wales about a group of people who are responding to ads placed in papers for rehoming cats and kittens. They seem to be particularly interested in pedigree cats and kittens but are not concerned whether or not the animals have been spayed or neutered - meaning that they aren't interested in breeding. Pet owners who have taken these phone calls say that the callers sound foreign but that they could not place the accent. From speaking with several pet owners, it seems that it isn't always the same person making the call but always similar content to the call. From what is being said, we are all very concerned that these cats and kittens are being sold into vivisection - animal testing.

Animal testing is conducted at universities, hospitals and other research facilities. Despite what you might think, animals are 'acquired' by any means possible - the cheaper, the better. There are always people out there who will do anything to make an easy profit, even if it involves selling animals into torture and death.

If you genuinely need to rehome your cat or kitten, please read our advice …

It was great to see all of you at our parents' weekend and, thankfully, the weather managed to hold for us - despite the rain overnight we had beautiful sunshine on both days. We hope that you all had a good time, we certainly did! Thankyou for bringing along all of the lovely photos, it's always nice to see how our furry friends have settled in with their new families!

We raised nearly £1,500 and also managed to persuade some of you that you really wanted another feline family member! Our shop was big hit and raised most of the money, but we also had plenty of donations from you all, so a very big thankyou from all of us.

We will be holding some more events nearer to Christmas and hope to see you all again then!

The annual event for all of you who have adopted one or more furry friends from us over the years is now fast approaching. It is scheduled for the 23rd and 24th of September (11:00-16:30). Invitations will be going out in the post/email this week. If we have missed anyone out, please get in contact via the email. Likewise we would be grateful if you could RSVP via the email so that we can get an idea of numbers. Please make sure that you include your full name, address and name of cat/s you adopted. Thanks!

We look forward to seeing you all!

Some of you will know, or have read about, litle Mayhem. She came to the shelter in May this year after being found straying, with a collar on so tight that it was choking her. She was barely 6 months old and, after several mysterious illnesses, we discovered that she had feline leukaemia. This death sentence could easily have been avoided had she been spayed or vaccinated.

Jacqui officially adopted Mayhem and they soon became very good friends and would curl up together at the end of every day with a good book. Tragically, at the start of August 2006, Mayhem became very ill. She went downhill rapidly and we had to put her to sleep today, Friday the 11th of August. We are all devasted. She was just such a perfect little cat, so loving and affectionate, playful and cheeky, intelligent and beautiful. Thankfully, she didn't seem to know that anything was wrong until the last few weeks of her life. We gave her as much love and affection as we possibly could and she returned it ten-fold. She will be greatly missed.

We were contacted on Father's Day by a member of the public who had found a small, skeletal cat cowering in one of her dogs' kennels in her back garden in Barry. 'Taj', as we have named her, is painfully thin and has an horrendous collar injury extending from her armpit across her back. Even more worrying, she is pregnant and is far too weak to be operated on. Taj has been at the shelter for a couple of weeks now and is receiving around the clock care. At this stage, it is still far too early to say whether she will recover, let alone what chance her unborn kittens have. We will do what we can for her and will have to hope for the best. Find out more about Taj...

In May this year a young female cat, approx 6 months old, was brought to the shelter. She had been found straying, still wearing the collar she had been bought as a kitten. However, the injuries around her neck turned out to be the least of her problems. She had developed pyometra, a very serious and deadly bacterial infection of the uterus and had to be treated immediately with an emergency spay operation. There should have been an immediate improvement but, instead, Mayhem developed other symptoms and went downhill rapidly, culminating in her being rushed back to the vets with a temperature of 106.3° and being put on a drip for a week. After further investigation and to our shock and horror, she was diagnosed with leukaemia. The real tragedy in all of this is that she would not be facing this death sentence if she had only been spayed or vaccinated. Find out more about Mayhem...

Most of you will remember Summer, the little lady we rescued on Mother's Day this year with extensive burns and a collar injury. She was due to go to her new home early in June after a final check-up at the vets but unfortunately her progress has taken a few steps backwards. Her burns have all completely healed up now (although there are a few small patches where the fur will never grow back) and we had thought that her armpit had healed up as well. However, investigation by the vets showed that although her skin had covered over the wound, there was still a hole in the tissue underneath. Poor Summer, she was doing so well! They have had to re-open the wound and she has the dreaded buster collar back on. It will be several more weeks before she is even ready for another check-up by the vets, and that's assuming that everything goes to plan this time! We must all keep our fingers crossed that it heals properly now.

Fergus, the star of one our special SHUA cards (Fergus & Rosebud), is back with SHUA for a few months whilst his owner is working abroad. If you have seen the card, you'll see that 'Fat' Fergus, as we used to call him, is a shadow of his former self. He may not be so portly anymore but he still has a very healthy appetite and is currently on 4 sachets of felix per day!

Fergus was rescued by SHUA in 2002 when his owners took him to the vets to be destroyed with no justifiable reason. We homed him in 2003 and has lived happily with Tim ever since. Find out more about Fergus including a recent picture of him.

Any cat rescue or rehoming shelter will tell you that homing kittens is easy; homing adults is less easy; and homing ferals is nigh on impossible. The best that you can hope for is to find a neighbour in the area who will commit to feeding the feral cats and keeping an eye on the colony to ensure that any sick or injured cats receive veterinary attention and any new cats are trapped and neutered.

So you can imagine how delighted we were when we were offered a home for all 4 ferals currently needing homes. Patti and Austin, who were rescued from a block of flats in Llanrumney, & Damon and Curran, an old 'married' couple from an industrial estate in Penarth, will all be going to a fantastic big farm in West Wales in a few weeks' time.

Unfortunately, due to the bad weather we have been having recently, Cardiffs Park in the Bark event, organised by Blue Peter has had to be cancelled.

Even if the weather tomorrow is glorious sunshine, the ground would still be too treacherous for people to walk on.

We have added a new section to the website today called 'Homes Needed'. This section will be used to feature all of the adorable adult cats that we currently have at SHUA awaiting adoption.

All too often, the adult cats are passed over by visitors; most people want the cute, fluffy kittens. Kittens turn into adults, and adults need just as much love. So please, all we are asking you to do is just have a look at their pictures and take a minute to read their stories.

Go to Homes Needed

Those of you who are regular visitors to our site will have read about Summer, the little cat that came in on Mother's Day this year with terrible burns and a collar injury. She has progressed fantastically and we anticipate that the vets will give her a clean bill of health in just a few weeks' time.

And as if that wasn't good enough news, one of the ladies that alerted us to Summer (and who named her) has decided to adopt her! Summer just needs a few more weeks for her collar injury to heal completely and then she can go to her new home.

Congratulations Summer!

Blue Peter has organised an event to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first guide dogs in the UK. They promise a fun-packed family day out for all (including a dog show and special appearance by Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones). Admission & parking are free, and best of all, four-legged friends are welcome too!

SHUA will be there along with many other animal charities and organisations, so come on down and join in the fun!

Suki is a beautiful white and black, long-haired, young, male cat. We rescued him last year after his feline mum was killed by kids with an air rifle. He has had a very traumatic start in life and desperately needs a loving home. Find out more about Suki...

We would like to say a very big thankyou for the donations and many kind words you have sent to us as a result of the feature in the local paper about our shop window being smashed. In particular, we would like to thank the anonymous benefactor who signed their letter 'an animal lover' - your continued support is greatly appreciated by all of us.

We got a call on Saturday night (15th April) from the police to say that our shop window had been smashed in a fight. We rushed up there with wood and tarpaulins to make the window safe. It took ages and it was the small hours of Easter Sunday before we got home.

Due to the Easter bank holiday, our insurance company wasn't able to come out until Tuesday to assess the damage. A new window has been ordered, but obviously until it has been fitted the shop will have to remain closed.

We will probably have to be closed until next week at the earliest - which means that on top of paying the excess for our insurance policy, we will have lost a week's takings. And all because of a drunken fight.

On Mother's Day (26th March) we received a call from some concerned ladies reporting that there was a cat on Archer Road in Ely that was in desperate need of veterinary attention. We rushed down there to find a timid little female cat with terrible injuries. She is painfully thin, has a collar injury and has burns on her back.

We have been treating her for just over a week now, in our isolation wing, and this little cat really wants to live - she has a very healthy appetite, she loves a fuss and purrs lots. She doesn't complain about her injuries; she really is a brave little soldier. We have set up a page for 'Summer' (she was named by the ladies who found her) which we will keep updated over the coming weeks and months so that you can read about how she is progressing.

A very big thankyou to all the students and teachers of Stanwell School in Penarth, who have kindly donated lots of catfood.

We are very sad to say that we had to have Leo put to sleep yesterday morning. He was only eight years old.

He had been ill for a few weeks and lost a very difficult battle against diabetes. We simply weren't able to stablise his blood sugar level and we think that his organs failed as a result. He died in Kay's arms. More details and memorial page…

On Monday night (6th of March) there was a flood at the house. The upstairs bathroom flooded and the weight of the water has partially collapsed the lounge ceiling. Jacqui and one of our volunteers, Karen, came back from shopping to find a waterfall in the lounge.

Thankfully, noone (humans or furries) was hurt. Jacqui and Kay's lounge is home to some of the more 'damaged' cats that SHUA cares for. Most of the cats had scarpered into the kitchen or up high, but Pattie and Celia (two of our 'golden oldies') were both still sat on the sofa, with plaster dust and bits of ceiling insulation on them. While all the other cats were clearly distressed and panicking, Pattie and Celia simply looked at Jacqui and Karen as if to say 'Well, you took your sweet time. We can't possibly get our paws wet so be a love and give us a carry to safety would you?'!

The last few days have, as you can imagine, been somewhat chaotic. The restoration process is going to be slow and, because Jacqui and Kay run SHUA in their spare time, the end result is that SHUA has had to close, effective immediately. We hope to be back up and running at full capacity sometime in May 2006, but this obviously depends on the repair work being completed by then.

Please note, we are still on-call and open to help with genuine emergencies, as usual 24/7. We are also, as ever, desperate to find loving homes for all the cats, young and old, that we have currently have at SHUA - so if you wish to adopt, please contact us in the usual way.

Can you help? The flood has damaged much property. We have lost cat beds and bedding, scratch posts and toys. In addition, we used many of our (donated) towels to stop the water from spreading. If you are able to donate anything to help replace items that have been lost, there are plenty of furries (and humans too) here that would be incredibly grateful. At the same time, we are now very short of space with approximately one third of the house damaged by the flood. We simply don't have any room to store extra stuff! We would ask that you hang on to any donations you feel able to make and give them to us in a month or so's time, when we will (hopefully) be somewhere approaching normality again.

Leo has finally finished his medication. At the outset, last November, he was taking literally tens of pills per day. These have been stepped down gradually and he is now off them altoghether.

The illness has definitely aged him and his coat has been left in a terrible condition (he has bald patches here and there and lots of scabs) but he is vastly better in himself. He has put himself back on active guard-dog duty again at SHUA - we had all forgotten just how much he woofs!! More than anything, you can tell he is better because he smiles so much. We're all very pleased to see him back on his feet.

Many of you will have seen the plea that we were running on our website for Archie, a long-term resident of SHUA who desperately needed a home. His new year's wish has come true - he has finally been adopted. He now lives with his new family in Lisvane and has an entire stable block to himself. Archie loves the outdoor life and has really landed on his feet with plenty of rats and mice to hunt and acres of land to roam.

Also, you may remember Knita, who had been at SHUA for nearly a year. Knita was constantly overlooked because she was nearly 8 years old and only has one eye. She had pretty much given up making an effort when anyone came to look around for a cat to adopt. She found comfort in her food - as lots of us do when we are depressed - and put on a fair bit of weight. Well, Knita's new year wish has also come true - she has finally been adopted! We took her to her new home this week and said that it would be on a trial basis, knowing her chequered history. Her new mum said no, you're not having her back, she's part of the family and is here to stay. Knita even has a budgie to taunt! What a perfect home.

Congratulations to both Archie and Knita!

Tragically one of our feral cats, Houdini, was killed in a hit and run accident yesterday evening, outside our sanctuary. Her brother, Harry, met the same fate a few years ago on the same road. Her companion Max, is devastated. We will all miss her. Rest in peace Houdini.

The gallery of this years Open Weekend is now online. Take a look at all the good times had by all.

The Annual Dickensian Event as Castle Coch was fantastic as usual, with Santa and Mary Christmas putting in plenty of appearances. We raised a spectacular £500, so thank-you to everyone who came down and supported us.

A very big thank-you to:

• Everyone for the lovely Christmas Cards (and generous donations contained within!) we have received.
• George La Zarou hairdressers in Cardiff, who very kindly donated £190
• The Windsor Arms in Penarth, whose management, staff and customers donated more than £350! A special thank-you to Colin for organising the drive.

A big thankyou to all of you who came out & supported us last Friday (9th) at the annual Dinas Powys event. It was lovely to catch up with those of you who came over & chatted. The tombola was a hit as usual & on our main stall, our hand made chenille scarves & hampers went down a treat; in total we raised just over £400, which will help tremendously.

For those of you who have been following the tale of poor Mr Felix, you'll know that he had already been adopted & was waiting to go to his new home in September when he had an accident & broke all the digits in his paw. Good news! He has finally had the bandages removed & has now moved in with his new family, just in time for their first Christmas together!

Also you may remember Smokeit, who was savaged by a dog & spent several months at SHUA whilst his broken leg healed. During his time at SHUA he fell in love with another little kitty called Diamond. They became inseparable & we were determined that they would be homed together... You'll be glad to hear that they went to their new home last month & have settled in well together.

Leo has been diagnosed with an auto-immune skin condition. This is pretty rare & very, very serious. Poor Leo was in a terrible state whilst we waited anxiously for the test results to come back. He is now receiving the vital medication he needs (which he kind of enjoys because it means he gets extra special treats - pills hidden in meaty delights such as ham or chicken) & lots of extra special cuddles. We have been told that Leo will probably need the medication for at least a year, which is a very long time. We hope he feels better soon & makes a full recovery.

Some of our supporters may remember the three elderly sisters that were affectionately known as the 'Munchkins'. They were lucky enough to be homed together in 2004 even though Misty was terminally ill with cancer. Sadly, last week Misty passed away and will be sorely missed by her sisters, adopted mum and everyone at SHUA.

Everyone at SHUA would like to say a very BIG thank-you to all of you who came to our open weekend! You were all fantastically generous and we have raised just over £1,700! Equally important, a number of you have kindly offered homes to some of our kittens and even a couple of our adult cats.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely bath-time with the "Tribbles" (a litter of hand-rear kittens), it was standing room only!

Photos from the event will be up on the website hopefully in the next few days …

SHUA has taken in three cats in the past 10 months with horrific collar injuries. This is where the cat has struggled with its collar (for whatever reason) and managed to get one or both of its front legs through it. Left unattended, this can cause terrible injuries.

Lottie is the latest victim being cared for by SHUA. This brave soldier has to wear a lamp-shade collar and her back leg is bandaged up to stop her from opening the fragile wound. Thankfully she is finally on the road to recovery.

This sort of injury is very serious and yet is very easy to avoid. Collar injuries are a large strain on our resources: financially (regular trips to the vets), time-wise (the wound needs regular attention) and in terms of pen space (injuries of this type can take months to heal properly). If your cat wears a collar, please ensure that it fits properly!

Having been missing for 6 weeks, Whisper has been found! We had a phone call early this morning from the staff at Ty Hafan informing us that a cat had been crying outside their door from the early hours of the morning. We went to investigate and found Whisper tucking into some breakfast.

Jasper was born with an exceedingly rare congenital eye defect which meant that the surface of his eyes were constantly irritated by his over-sized eye lids. This resulted in permanent eye ulcers and pain so excruciating that he kept his eyes shut most of the time.

He has had two extensive operations at the specialist eye clinic in Leominster, where the senior vet has only seen two other similar cases in the past 20 years!

Jasper is now 25 weeks old and recovering from his second operation with his brother and adopted family. For the first time in his life, he can SEE and is free from pain. His family tell us that he chases any thing that moves and is an extremely naughty kitten-cat. He must be making up for lost time!

Read more about Jasper.

In August this year we took in three beautiful elderly feral cats who's owner had sadly passed away. Girlie-puss, Ginger and Blackie have their own luxury apartment at SHUA and dine only on the finest of foods, including roast chicken, fresh fish and their favourite: pork chops. This is the lifestyle that they had become accustomed to and which we will maintain for the rest of their natural lives.

SHUA's trustees are currently discussing how best to utilise the monies for the future of the charity.

We had a phone call from the Vets saying a beautiful grey kitten had been savaged by a dog. His leg was in a terrible state and we were given the choice: Amputate or Pin (a costly procedure, but would save the leg). We were adamant to save his leg and our supporters as always rallied round. He has now fully recovered and has a girlfriend called Diamond. They are inseparable and we are now looking for a home to take them both.

Earlier this year we received an anonymous donation from a lady on behalf of her late grandmother who had a passion for animals. We have put the money to good use and built a path in front of the Lindee-Lu pens and bought 2 'Wendy' houses which are going to be modified for kittens to play around in the summer.

SHUA had a stall here for the second year running and thanks to your support, managed to raise more than £1000 over the three days! Many thanks to Caerphilly County Council for organising the event and putting on a great show!

First thing this morning, Kay discovered that Jaffa had sadly passed away in the night. Jaffa was one of our senior citizens and had spent several happy years here at the sanctuary. He had made many friends and will be sorely missed.

Whitchurch and Rhiwbina Fayres - In one weekend we raised over £550! Tombolas are proving to be very popular with our supporters.

Being able to purchase the second set of geeling pods and finish the indoor/outdoor pens and the utility block is the realisation of a dream for both Jacqui & Kay, who would like to give a truly heartfelt thank you to all those who have made it possible.