Weekly Update: 15 November
Now the weather is kinder to both cats and humans, we are keeping ourselves very busy. Well at least it was kinder until Saturday when we had a thunderstorm early morning followed by a full day of rain! That didn’t stop us though. We had an action-packed Saturday. Read on to find out more…
Cats
We took in a vulnerable kitten from Blue Beach at the weekend. We’ve called her Grace. She turned up there originally with her mother and brother. Sadly the mother died shortly afterwards and then last week, the boy was hit by a car outside on the main road and was killed. In consultation with the staff at the Furry Cup, it was agreed we would take her.
She will join fellow kitten, Yeller, so-named because he never stops yelling! We don’t know Yeller’s story. We found him in the garden, thrown over the wall we suspect, as there’s no way he could have climbed up himself. Thankfully he landed without injuring himself and is now safe in our care.
We continue to care for Ari, a lovey gentle cat from Arigato Hotel, here in Dahab. She has a broken jaw and originally the vet thought it might need wiring in order to set it correctly. However it seems to be healing itself so she’s getting plenty of rest and cuddles and we’re all keeping it under review. When she’s fully recovered, she’ll go back home.
They’re lovely cats and we will vaccinate them, and get them neutered when they’re old enough. They’ll both be up for adoption very soon.
We’ve been caring for three cats with calicivirus for some time now. This is a terrible disease but we’re happy to report that all cats appear to be on the mend now. Unfortunately, we’ve taken in another one over the weekend. It’s very important that if you have a pet cat, you get it vaccinated. Calicivirus is endemic here and spreads very quickly. We wrote about it some time ago, so please read this post for more information.
And we’ve been taking care of three kittens whilst their carer was away for a few days. They are adorable even if they’re into everything and one of them is continuously practising and honing his climbing skills!
TNRs
Last week we held two TNR days on Tuesday and Saturday, and in total we neutered 15 cats (13 males and 2 females). The cats are all given a general health check before and during the operation, the vets carry out any necessary procedures and we keep any cats who require follow-up treatment.
Two of the cats, one female and one male, were found to have heart problems so were not neutered pending further investigation. The most common problem the vets find is with the cats’ teeth and four of the cats required some dental treatment.
Volunteer news
Another volunteer arrived at the house on Saturday. Pilar joined Max and Michelle, so we now have three people staying with us. We couldn’t do what we do without their dedication and full-time support. They help us take care of cats as well as the house and supporting our community work. We’re very lucky to have them.
House news
When cats first come to us, they are kept in isolation for a time to enable them to settle and for us to make sure they are fit and healthy. All the cats that we keep for treatment are also kept separate from our house cats.
We’re very excited that the room we use for this purpose is undergoing an overhaul. Volunteer Max is building some proper cat pens to make sure the cats are as comfortable as possible while in our care and to make best use of the space we have available. Here’s our very own Batcat modelling one of the new pens! Stay tuned for more info.
