Pretty Susie is one of 11 adult cats and two kittens we trapped and removed from a landfill site over April and May this year. One of the adults was already nursing kittens and three were initially thought to be pregnant, including Susie. As it turned out, one of those three girls wasn't pregnant at all but Susie was and subsequently gave birth to just one little kitten, Bella. What those cats were scraping a living in was really horrific; I watched them wander back down from the landfill itself and around the area where the garbage destined to go there was piled high, looking for anything edible to fill their poor stomachs. In our care, one actually brought up what turned out to be a spiralled piece of cloth about six inches long and almost as wide, swallowed no doubt when discovered amongst the garbage covered in food of some sort. Susie, being pregnant, was lucky enough to be one of the first cats to take advantage of the brand new fully-equipped accommodation set up with a new fosterer and she must have thought she'd landed in the Hilton! Of course, she was worried and confused when she first came in but she's made such a lot of progress since then. She's just loved having food on tap, clean and cosy beds to choose from, toys to play with, things to climb and an outdoor space to enjoy fresh air and sunshine but more than all of that she's loved having her baby safely by her side. I dare say Bella isn't the first kitten Susie's given birth to but given the absence of older cats and there being only two kittens on that site, it's quite evident that most of the kittens born there and older cats fell prey to hunger, weather and the hundreds of rats and seagulls who descended on the place once work had stopped for the day. Susie is still a shy cat so would need a home with someone who has the experience and patience to see her past that. Ideally, we would love to see her homed with her little daughter Bella, but the home would have to be right for both of them. Born in our care, Bella is a very confident and cheeky wee girl but then she had a start in life denied to her poor mother. A very healthy Susie has now been spayed, vaccinated and microchipped but Bella is only 13 weeks so not old enough yet to be spayed. It's not out of the question for Susie and Bella to be homed separately, but we would just love to see Susie have the opportunity to continue enjoying life with her little daughter. Their foster mum has offered to be the contact for anyone wishing to know more about Susie (and possibly Bella) and can be contacted on 07517664273 at weekends and after 4pm on weekdays.
N.B. At the moment the U.K. is still in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it is still possible to carry on the work of the charity without contravening safety guidelines. Potential new homes can still be visited, meeting either in the garden or street. Although some restrictions have now been lifted in England they don't yet apply in the rest of the UK and so people still can't visit any of the cats in their foster homes. All we can do for now is provide photographs and absolutely all information about each individual cat or kitten and then deliver the cat to his or her new family.