Monday 21 May 2012

My wife and I rescue, shelter and find homes for lost, stray or abandoned cats and kittens. We keep getting calls from people who want to offload cats on us; less from people who want to help us. But we need help. Before you ask why we do not help homeless children or any other group you would care to mention, may I just say that we each need to choose our own battles and if you feel strongly for a cause, please take it up yourself instead of telling me what I should be doing with my limited capacity for doing good. I care about a lot of things but I can't do everything. Anyway, if you are interested in helping or know someone who might be, I am crossposting a list of ways to help from my cat adoption blog: 

We're miles away from being able to set up a dedicated cat shelter or register as an NGO. We've been taking on increasing numbers of cats (and dogs - we look after 15 street dogs in addition to our mutts at home), helping co-ordinate rescues with the medical help of various vets and at times the CUPA clinic and shelter. But CUPA itself is overloaded and we try not to add to their burden of sheltered animals.

We need help. If you would like to help out and make a difference to a cat or kitten's life here are some ways how:


  • The biggest way you can help is to adopt a cat. Better still two: they will be companions for each other. Cats aren't exactly low-maintenance but in many ways they are actually easier to look after than dogs and we will be happy to give you all the tips and tricks you'll need as a cat owner. 
  • Don't 'give up' your cat. It's not a bad habit. Landlords, relatives, neighbours and spouses would find it hard to get you to give up a child, why is it so easy for them to make you abandon your cat. In both cases, you have taken on the responsibility for another life. Please make sure you have truly exhausted all options before you give up that responsibility and pass it on to us. 
  • We welcome contributions of food. Kinds of food we need are: 
    • Commercial cat food for kittens and cats. Acceptable brands: Royal Canin, Whiskas and Butch/Ginger Tom. We've had mixed results with other brands
    • Recovery/special care food for post-operative or sick cats. Examples: Royal Canin Recovery, Dr. Hill's Prescription Diets
    • Milk formula for kittens: Lactol or Royal Canin First Food
    • Occasional supplies of fish are always relished by the moggies. You can come over and treat our cats on your birthday/anniversary/other special day, if you want!
  • Hygiene supplies: Old newspapers, cat litter, even cleaning detergent
  • Grooming, medical and other supplies: Tick/flea/mite medication, dewormers, vitamin supplements, baskets, brushes, cages
  • Time: Volunteer your time! You can help out with vet runs, looking after newborn kittens, sick or injured cats, even with cleaning cat trays if you are willing
  • Fostering: Sometimes cats or kittens need a temporary home while we look for a permanent new home for them. 
  • Rescues: We get calls about cats in urgent need of rescue all over the city. If we can build a network of friends it will help in responding rapidly to these emergencies. 
  • You can passively adopt one of our permanent cats, paying for its upkeep at our house.
  • Money is useful but as we are not a registered NGO all we can do is explain what we will spend it on and give you receipts if you want. 
If any of this sounds good to you do contact us. We'd prefer it if initial contact is via a message here - but do leave valid contact details, too many people don't. Or you can email jayaprakash (at) gmail.com and claireyasmine (at) gmail.com. 

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