NOW HOMED - PROFILE REMAINING FOR NOW TO MAKE SENSE OF OTHER POSTS!

Young Cathy is one of a group of seven cats and kittens, all clearly related, left to struggle in a very difficult wooded area with nothing but their wits to keep them alive. I was first alerted to them in mid-Sptember 2019 when two very young kittens, aged no more than five weeks old, were spotted on a road leading out of a small Ayrshire town. This was a country road, but a busy one with milk tankers, tractors, lorries and all the usual traffic thundering along it night and day so those babies were so lucky that morning not to have been killed. I set out to try and find them, searching woods leading down to a river, a country estate and steep wooded embankments alongside that road for weeks but could find no sign of the kittens. At that point I had no idea if those kittens had been dumped there, alone and defenceless, and was so scared that they had already been taken by predators, starved to death, been drowned, or killed on the road. It was distressing, to say the least. Then, at last, I had some news in response to posters I'd put up asking people to look out for the kittens. I won't go into detail here, but let's just say that, had I not had the help and cooperation of that one person, the chances are I might never have found the kittens or even known about the others. The terrain was difficult, for sure, but so too were some people who could have helped but refused to do so.

Enough of that - this is about Cathy! As it turned out, finally knowing where to place a wildlife camera and food every day showed me that there were actually three kittens and four  adults in this young colony. It took six weeks to catch them all, but it was so worth every minute! It soon became clear that Cathy is the mother to the three kittens and what a wonderful, brave, little mother she had been out there. She had kept them alive and well in long spells of very wet, cold, weather when she had had to leave them to hunt for food but she had done it, although she's just a young thing herself. Right from the moment I brought them all to our shelters Cathy let me touch her kittens, even when I had to reach behind her as they tried to hide away. She knew I was trying to help, there's no doubt in my mind about that, even although I could see in her eyes that she wasn't sure what to expect from a human. I'm convinced she'd been living in a domestic situation so the chances are Cathy, like so many, was either thrown out when she became pregnant (which was all her fault of course!), or tossed aside to become pregnant when the people she had lived with had gotten over the notion of having a cat. Cathy is now pushing herself forward to welcome me when I go into their shelter, and how I love to see her do that cat 'treading' thing on her blanket, showing me how happy and secure she's feeling.

Cathy and her wee adult friends - Paula, Heidi and Lesley - are all about to be spayed, vaccinated and microchipped so that they can go on to their Forever homes around the end of February. Her babies - Joe, Chrissie and Larry - are having their ops, chips inserted, and final vaccinations this week (30th Jan) and that will be them ready too. In fact, Chrissie already has a home lined up! All four of the girls looked like they might be pregnant when they first came in (our vets were convinced that two of them definitely were!), but they weren't so we can now get on with finding those lovely homes. Cathy and her pals deserve better than what life, and some humans, have thrown at them so far. They're still a bit shy with strangers, especially Heidi. but that wouldn't last if the new people have the right attitude and give them the time and patience they will need to get settled. Ideally, I'd love for them to either go in pairs or, if singly, to homes where there is another friendly and accepting cat. I suspect Cathy will be absolutely fine with older children and possibly a laid back dog who's used to having cats around, because she herself is a sweet girl who shows no sign of aggression whatsoever. A home with access to a garden would be wonderful once she's settled.