Little Eric

Angel faced

Little Eric has melted the heart of everyone here and we are really rooting for him. So far he is responding well and is gaining weight daily. Cat Carer Emily has managed to get a few hours sleep too! 

Kittens are born blind and deaf. Their eyes are closed and their ears folded down. In the first week of life kittens basically sleep and eat. At this stage Eric needs feeding between 10-12 times a day. When they are awake, they stay close to the mother. Newborn kittens are unable to regulate their body temperature and rely on mum to keep warm. The kitten's environment must be kept at a constant temperature to avoid either hypothermia. Because Eric is without his mum we have to make sure that he is kept warm at all times.

The umbilical cord remains attached for the first 3 days. At birth they usually weigh between 90 - 100 grams. Toileting is stimulated by the mother. After her kittens have fed, she will lick their belly  genital area, eating any faeces and urine. We have to stimulate Eric so that he can pass urine and faeces. At about three weeks old Eric should be able to start to do this by himself.

We will keep you updated on how little Eric is doing. 

Adoption Day

 
Adoption Day
Saturday 30th June 

10am-6pm 

Urgent appeal for our homeless cats & kittens. Please come and choose a new feline friend.

Tigger - New resident

Walkies with Stacey!

 

Our latest resident cat Tigger has been exploring his new surroundings this week. 

Cat Carer Stacey has been taking him out for walkies on a lead around the centre. 

On Wednesday when the weather permitted Tigger explored the garden with Stacey 

in tow! 

He really loved getting his nose into everything and has a real spring in his step. 

Its lovely to see him so happy. Soon he will be able to explore without supervision, 

we are confident that he is going to fit in very well here. He isn't at all bothered by fellow residents Tiddles and Purdy. In fact Purdy was feeling a bit put out the 

other day. Tigger waltzed right up to her and he startled her so she hissed at him. 

In time they will all get used to one another. 

We will continue to keep you updated on how Tigger has settled in here.  

More babies!

Tammy and her new borns

On Wednesday morning we came into work to find that Tammy had given birth overnight. We were quite surprised, we didn't think she was ready to pop yet! 

She has three gorgeous kittens and they are are all doing very well. Tammy is now much more settled and seems content with her new family. 

The kitten season is really started to get into full swing. We already have a full maternity unit. Tammy and her kittens are currently in our admissions unit. We have a feeling that this will be a very long kitten season. Through the blog you can follow all latest news with us. There really is never at dull moment here at the centre! 

Little Eric

Fighting spirit

Little Eric was found all alone, without his mum or litter mates. At only 2 days old and very hungry the situation was urgent. We are now having to take on the role of mum. Cat Carer Emily has taken Eric home with her, it's a full time job this little guy needs feeding every two hours day and night.

When he was brought into the centre yesterday we noticed that he was covered in lice. He went straight to the vets to be checked over and was treated with Frontline spray. He is now on a diet of Cimicat, a formulated kitten milk. At this stage he is being fed little and often, when he gets bigger he will be fed more but less often.

So far Little Eric has been doing very well. He has gained weight since yesterday and has been demanding milk every hour throughout the night. It is good to see that he has some fight in him. 

Hand-rearing kittens is a tiring job, but who wouldn't want to look after this little cutie? We will keep you updated on how the little guy is doing over the next week. 

New babies

Suki - proud mummy

We were beginning to wonder whether mum Suki was going to have kittens! For weeks and weeks she looked as if she was going to pop at any moment. But the weeks went by and after four weeks in our care she finally gave birth on Friday. 

She has five beautiful babies, she seems so relieved now that she has her little family to look after. Suki had become quite aggressive towards us and was obviously feeling very uncomfortable. She was very large the poor girl. Now she is proving what a wonderful mum she is. Her mood is lifted and the kittens are doing very well. This image was captured today of this very adorable family. 

Homing appeal

Carmen

Carmen came into the centre in February with her five gorgeous newborn kittens. As a mother cat she had to stay here for at least 9 weeks until the kittens were ready to leave. Surprise surprise all of her babies went very quickly but no one picked mum. Her kittens have now been gone well over a month and still no one has shown an interest in Carmen.

Carmen is such a lovely cat, she is still young and so friendly. She is craving attention and she often gets overlooked by everyone. It shouldn't matter what colour she is, we think she a beautiful girl don't you? She deserves a fresh start in a new home after all the stress of having kittens and we have been told that this was not her first litter.

So please come up to meet her, she would made a wonderful addition to a family.

Tigger

Our latest resident

This week we made the decision to make Tigger our 18 year old our newest resident. Poor old Tigger had been sitting in his pen for months becoming more and more depressed. Since letting him out in the Managers office he seems so much happier. He comes and greets you with meows and purrs and looks so much more content. 

It just goes to show what a bit of freedom and a few home comforts can do. We have made it as cosy as possible for him in the office. He has a large scratching post, several places to sleep and a few laps as well!

We really hope that Tigger will be happy here. We will keep you all updated on how Tigger is doing. We will try and get some photos of him too!

Work Experience Student

Hello. My name is Chris and I spent 5 days working at Cats Protection for my Medina College work experience. I have an interest in animals and I believed that by volunteering at Cats Protection I can gain a deeper insight into both the workplace and working with animals. 

I have only recently adopted a beautiful cat from here called Nelly and I was really looking forward to finding out how it was made possible for me and hundreds of other people every year to adopt cats. 

The work people do at the centre is amazing, feeding the cats, cleaning their pens, vaccinating them, providing outstanding living conditions and more despite the large amount of cats they get every month. Personally feeding the cats was one of my favourite parts of the job. This is because the cats were always happy to see me due to the prospect of food and receiving affection.

The atmosphere itself at Cats Protection was also amazing, and the employees were more than happy to help when I was unsure or nervous about something. I was astonished by how much I was allowed to take part when the more serious situations arose. I was allowed to go out on calls to houses, help to administer flea and worm treatment, looking after the kittens and watching the vet apply medication to the cats. 

The entire experience has been brilliant and it’s been a pleasure to work in such a supportive environment. This also helped me to understand my own cat better and it was a brilliant week all round.

Tipsy and Coszee

Gone to their new home

 

We have some wonderful news for everyone. Tipsy and Coszee our long stay cats have gone to their new home today. They have gone to live with an older couple who live in a quiet road in Brighstone. Its purr-fect for the girls. A large garden, a quiet household and plenty of TLC.

We cannot tell you how happy we are that they have finally left! Although we are going to miss them. All the best girlie's, you deserve it.

Felix

Big cuddly boy

Felix came into the centre a few months ago. When he arrived here he had a nasty abcess on his face and was prescribed anti-biotics. After a few weeks the area healed and he began to come out of his shell.

He often sits outside but if you go to see him he greets you with purrs and head nuzzles. He really is such an affectionate, cute kitty.

 





Here are a few photos taken of Felix enjoying a good fuss from our Volunteers. Above (Sami) Left (Wendy). 


You can clearly see how much he relishes all the attention. So please come up to the centre to meet him. We challenge you not to fall for Felix's charms.

Catwalk

 Catwalk - Sunday 1st July

 

Join us for a 'Catwalk' with friends to raise money and awareness of Cats Protection
Dogs are very welcome to join us too.

Starting from IOW Adoption Centre to Puckpool Park for refreshments and return (optional)

Meet at the centre at 1.30pm

Help promote CP by wearing something feline!

Suggested donation £3 for the walk 

Please call the centre on 01983 562609 for more details, thank you. 

Kitten update

Rowan's tiny babies

Rowan came into the centre on Tuesday with her six four day old kittens. Mum and babies are doing very well. It has taken Rowan some time to adjust but she is settling down. She has five tabby and white kittens and one tabby. 

April's family

Just look how huge April's babies have gotten! Three chunky little cuties they are.

April is lucky to have such a small litter of only three. This means that there is less competition between the litter mates for the best nipple! 

We have started to introduce the kittens to solid food, soon they will be fully weaned and old enough to go to homes. 

Sooty's babies

This little family are growing up so fast as well. Mum Sooty is such a sweetheart, so much so that she just would not stay still for a photo! She kept nudging the camera and purring, bless her. 

So here is a photo of the kittens instead. They are at the stage now that they are becoming more adventurous. They are starting to explore their surroundings. They will be four weeks old on Monday. 

Jenny's kittens

Jenny really is the most sweet and gentle mum. Just look at that gorgeous face of hers. 

We have been keeping a special eye on all of them. As you may remember poor Jenny had an infected nipple. This has now almost fully healed. 

We noticed that one of Jenny kittens (torby and white female) was much smaller than the others. So we have been weighing the kittens everyday. On average a kitten at this age should put on between 10-15grams in 24 hours. Jenny's little kitty weighed almost 100 grams less than her biggest kitten. 

We have been making sure that the little female has been suckling. On a couple of days we gave her a top up feed of Cimicat, this is formulated milk for hand-rearing kittens. So far we have been very pleased with how much weight she has been putting on everyday. Her weight is slowing creeping up. We will keep you updated on how Jenny's family are doing.