Nine year old Sam is an indoor cat who arrived with advanced flea-induced anemia, a heart murmur, and a worrying blood results suggesting the need for a heart scan to establish whether he has heart disease.

A recent arrival at Catcuddles, as Sam is waiting to have a heart scan (booked for early December), and we are still getting to know him and his fellow felines we are not taking enquiries specifically for him currently.

This is Sam’s story and how he arrived at Catcuddles:

"On Thursday evening we received a desperate plea for help from someone who had been admitted to hospital for urgent mental health treatment, leaving six cats alone in a flat and without care. At that point, the cats had not been fed for four days.

Despite being in a fragile emotional state, the cat’s owner had been frantically trying to get help for them since entering treatment on Monday, but had simply hit a brick wall. They’d contacted several major animal charities, to no avail, and were growing increasingly desperate. Finally, on Thursday, they discovered CatCuddles, and within a few hours of the charity being notified of the situation, all six cats - Jinx, Chiquita, Skye, Sam, Jessie & Daisy - were safely in our care. Due to not having seen a vet for some time, all six were in very poor health and will require several thousands of pounds’ worth of veterinary treatment.

You may be aware from our recent posts that the pandemic has hit CatCuddles hard. Lockdown measures have put a stop to many of our main revenue streams, and we are struggling to fund our new vet clinic, which opened its doors just as Covid took hold in the UK. At present, we persevere in our rescue work only thanks to multiple fundraising appeals, and the inexhaustible kindness of our supporters.

So an emergency such as this, involving six cats with a frankly staggering number of health conditions, could not have arrived at a worse time for the charity. But as is the dilemma with so many desperate cases that have come our way recently, how could we possibly turn them down? The answer is that we couldn’t; it is hard to imagine a situation where we were more morally obliged to act, both for the wellbeing of the cats and for their vulnerable owner. Whilst we are saddened by the cat's condition, we have nothing but empathy for someone struggling to fulfill their duty of care in the face of severe emotional crisis.

And so we must turn to our supporters once again, and launch yet another appeal for donations. We know that times are tough, but we have no alternative - we need your help in order to keep helping. To give you a sense of the financial hurdles facing us in restoring these six cats to health, here is a breakdown of (some, but not all) of their medical issues:

Jinx (Black male): worrying chest sounds and noisy breathing; needs an X-Ray and ultrasound after an initial course of antibiotics; dental disease, flea-induced anemia, and allergies. Chiquita (Black & White girl): severe dental disease requiring several tooth extractions. Sam (Ginger boy): advanced flea-induced anemia, dental disease, heart murmur, worrying blood results suggesting the need for a heart scan. Jessie (one-eyed Black girl): dental disease. Daisy (Tortie girl): severe dental disease, severe flea allergy. Skye (Black & White boy): heart murmur and tachycardia (racing heart) requiring an X-Ray, dental disease, concerning lung sounds, possibly compromised liver function.

All six have a shockingly bad flea infestation, with varying degrees of anemia and skin irritation as a result. All are thin and frightened. Due to their owner’s declining mental health, they have unfortunately gone without basic veterinary care for some time. Thus the work ahead - and what it will cost - is daunting. It’s only with your help that we are going to make it through, and get these cats healthy enough to be adopted into loving new homes.

So please consider donating at https://bit.ly/3pCRIzl for Jinx, Chiquita, Skye, Sam, Jessie & Daisy, and for their owner who wanted the best for them, but simply found themself unable to provide it".