NEWSLETTER NUMBER 33

As befits the long warm summer we've had, and which I hope you all enjoyed, I'd like to start this newsletter with a happy story!  Roz found a young ginger cat outside her house.  He was in a dreadful state and needed immediate veterinary attention.  Gradually, however, his condition improved.  Then one day, she was chatting to a friend, who happened to mention that her mother was very upset because her ginger cat was missing.  Yes, you're right - Ginger is now home, micro-chipped, and confined to the house for quite a while!

It's never too early to add a Christmas date to your diary!  So find a pen and make a note of CATWEL'S CHRISTMAS SOCIAL.  This popular event held at our shop at 17 Whitchurch Road, is a great opportunity to meet other CATWEL supporters for a cat-chat, to enjoy some light refreshments, and have the opportunity to purchase "special" Christmas goods.  And, of course, our Annual Prize Draw - equally popular - will also take place.  The Social will be held on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8TH FROM 2PM TO 4PM.  All supporters very welcome!

Our very special thanks to Mark and Lucy Henderson, who put "donations to Catwel" on their wedding present list.  We received well over £200 because of their lovely gesture, and hope that it's something that will really catch on!  Very warm wishes to you both.

A young entrepreneur! like Mark and Lucy, Brownie Grace Griffiths found a new way to raise funds!  During her parents' wedding reception she set up a stall and accepted donations for CATWEL.  She raised over £50 and proudly presented it to Helen on August 7th.  It was so lovely to see a young person displaying such enterprise, and such kindness to animals.  We are very grateful.  Thank you so much Grace!

It's come round again - our Annual Prize Draw!  Attached to this newsletter is a ticket.  Just put your name and contact details on the back, and return it to me with a donation of your choice.  Those sponsoring cats or making regular donations will automatically be included.  It will be drawn at our Christmas Social - Good Luck!

Arts & Crafts "blind auction" from Thursday October 24th to Saturday November 9th, a selection of lovely handcrafted goods - from patchwork blankets to original paintings - will be displayed in our charity shop window at 17 Whitchurch Road.  All items will be allocated a "lot" number and customers will be invited to place their bids in a locked container in the shop.  A catalogue will be displayed, giving a detailed description of each item. When the shop is closed, bids in sealed envelopes marked "auction" can be put through our letter-box.  This is a "blind" auction, not a "silent" auction - just write down the amount of money you want to bid, the lot number, the date and time of this bid, along with your name and your phone number.  When the box is opened on Saturday November 9th or Sunday 10th, the highest bidder for each items will be telephoned.  This is a new fundraising venture - please help us to make it a success!

Things often happen which confirm the importance of micro-chipping, Roz took in an orientl cat which had been "hanging around" her friend's garden in Ely, for several weeks.  A quick check with her micro-chip scanner, revealed that the cat had been reported missing from a home in Canton.  Within an hour a very delighted couple collected the cat.  It seems they had reported the cat missing three weeks earlier, and put posters, etc, throughout the Canton area.  It was found in Grand Avenue, Ely, in a starving condition.  Had it been stolen?  Simply walked there?  Had it "stowed away" in a vehicle?  We'll never know the full story - but from now on it will be an indoor cat!

However!  Micro-chipped or not, things don't always move as quickly.  We took a seven-year-old female into care, and discovered that she had been chipped.  It turned out that her owner had moved away, but could not be traced via a third party.  He is supposed to want his cat back - but so far we've not been given his contact details and he hasn't been in touch with us.  Watch this space!

Pets At Home have launched a marvellous scheme which will help charities like CATWEL.  If you buy pet products from the store and ask for a VIP card, the first time you use it you will get 10% off your purchase.  After that, every time you make a purchase there and your card is scanned, 1p in every £1 will go to the charities Pets at Home support, CATWEL included, all eventually receiving a share.

Our grateful thanks to Pam Rees, for the donation in memory of her dear friend Gwyneth Abberley.  It was so kind of her to remember CATWEL at such a sad time.

A happy ending for a lucky little cat!  We first became aware of her in the Autumn of 2012, at a time when the only cats we were able to accept were pregnant females and those with kittens.  Sadly, she had to wait - but at last a pen became available.  One of Helen's friends was looking for a replacement for his elderly cat, who had recently died, and he had agreed to take a mother and son, who had been with us for over a year because of the son's nervous temperament.  Amy and Chico were duly installed in their new home, and this little female - who had been abandoned twelve months earlier - was chosen to be the pen's new occupant.  She had never moved from the street her owners had lived in, but none of the neighbours would take responsibility for her, and she had no shelter.  Gradually she had become very bedraggled.  But, when she arrived at our centre, this new "guest" was seen by a very kind gentleman, who had come to view the adults cats we had in care.  He "fell for her" immediately, and ageed to take her home as soon as she had received all the necessary vet checks.  A wonderful ending - we need more like it!.

At last!  I have been so worried about the irresponsible pet adverts on the Gumtree website, which have often resulted in CATWEL  being asked to take cats and kittens into care when their new owners decide their "purchase" was a mistake but can't return it.  I tried hard - but failed - to get the Welsh Assembly Government to do something about the situation, and was beginning to lose all hope!  But now it seems the Pet Advising Advisory Group (PAAG) is going to "clean up" these bad practices, and make all sites like Gumtree conform to minimum standards.  Welcome news, for the pets, the prospective owners - and of course, for CATWEL. 

Some more good news - I'm spoiling you!  I went to see a cat which had been living rough for about two months.  It was a tabby and white male, and looked old, very scruffy, and dirty.  It seems its former owner, an elderly lady, had been placed in a nursing home, and the cat had been left behind by her family.  The people who alerted me to its plight were very caring, but had two elderly cats of their own.  They felt that one of their cats would not accept another male cat, so we agreed to take him into care.  When he went to our vet to be checked over and scanned for a chip, we were amazed to discover that he wasn't an old cat after all, but a two or three year old who had just had a rough time!  In fact, the kind couple who had been caring from him had already improved his condition.  It was agreed that he would be cared for by Jennie until a permanent home could be found for him, and he was taken to her almost immediately.  So I was very surprised when, an hour or so later, Jennie phoned me - the couple had come back to tell her that they wanted to keep him!  I was delighted, as they had a lovely home with a big safe garden, and of course the cat was already familiar with the area.  What a wonderful result.

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS.  A young man phoned me, asking for details of where to send donations.  I'm afraid that at first I was suspicious - we don't get many calls like that!  But after chatting to him I realised he was serious, and in the process of donating £250 to each of a number of charities.  Apparently, he had been paid a substantial sum after witnessing an extremely distressing incident, and felt he should not gain financially from his experience.  In these times when everyone seems to be so money oriented, it was wonderful to encounter a young man who cares so much that he could not bring himself to benefit from someone else's misfortune.  A cheque for £250 arrived the next day, with no letter or address, so we were unable to thank this extraordinary donor.  But if he happens to read this, we are immensely grateful.

Snowie's story - A friend called, to tell me that a beautiful long-haired white cat had turned up in her neighbour's garden the previous day, and didn't seem anxious to leave!  It was wearing a blue collar and was in excellent condition.  We agreed to take the cat to our vet the next day, to be scanned for a micro-chip.  However, the neighbours decided to use their initiative.  They photographed the cat, then took the photo around the houses in their own, and nearby streets.  Success!  The cat's owners had only moved in the previous week, and were delighted to re-claim their pet.  They admitted it wasn't micro-chipped, but agreed to get that done immediately - and we advised them to keep the cat indoors for at least three weeks.

Poor male cats like Mushroom have had to wait for a place in our re-homing centre, because we have been inundated with pregnant or nursing females for most of the year and, for obvious reasons, they have to be given priority.  Some months ago I was contacted by a lady who had taken a young male stray into her home, but would soon be moving to a property in England where pets were not allowed.  She was naturally worried about the future of the cat, and I agreed to add him to our waiting list.  Eventually his turn came around and he wa accepted into care.  Whenever a cat is accepted it immediately visits our vet, and in this case we were amazed to discover that the cat was both micro-chipped and neutered!  Further enquiries made by the vet established the cat's home was no far from that of his "rescuer".  It seems his name was Mushroom and he was two and a half years old.  But the lady who had brought him to us insisted that the home identified via the chip was empty, and that he had been abandoned.  She was wrong.  The next day a young man called at our shop and told me that I had his cat! Apparently Mushroom had been dividing his time between two homes.  Quite a few cats do that!  His owner was horrified to hear that if the lady had been moving to a pet-friendly new home, Mushroom would have gone too, meaning he would have lost him forever.  People "finding" a cat really do need to make a lot of enquiries themselves, before simply assuming that it is a stray and involving a rescue group.  Thank goodness, yet again, for micro-chipping - it is truly essential.

But what worked for Mushroom didn't work so well for Daisy!  We were told about a young female stray who seemed to be very popular with the local male cats.   We moved quickly and got her to our vet - and were surprised to learn that this lovely natured tortoiseshell was middle aged and, like Mushroom, both micro-chipped and neutered.  Simple, we thought.  Wrong!!  The chip identified the owner as the landlord of a pub, which had now passed into new hands.  The pub's new landlady was very helpful, and knew the cat's owner.  She told us that when he visited the pub she would get us a contact telephone number.  This took several weeks, and when I finally received a mobile phone number it turned out to be "unavailable".  This put us in a impossible situation; we had the cat, the owner knew we had it, but we couldn't contact him and he wouldn't contact us!  Finally, in desperation I contacted the Pet Log people and explained the situation to them.  They agreed to place the information on file, and said that when we found Daisy a new home we could legally change her micro-chip details.  Simple? No - it gets even more complicated!  A week later I was contacted by a lady who told me she was the cat's new owner.  She just hadn't bothered to get the micro-chip details amended.  We were able to tell her how to do this and Daisy's story ended happily - but think of what would have been saved if she had done this immediately, or made more of an effort to find the cat!  My time making numerous phone calls and arranging for Daisy to be collected; the vet's time also several phone calls; and Helen's time, preparing a pen at our homing centre.  Yes, I still maintain micro-chips are absolutely necessary, and that they really do work - but only if owners make sure their details are kept up to date!

I HAVE HEARD.....that a client took a litter of black kittens to their vet to be vaccinated and wormed.  As the look-a-like kittens tumbled over each other in the box, the vet could see that it would be difficult to tell which ones had or hadn't been treated!  So she turned on the tap and wet her fingers, gently moistening each kitten's head as she finished dealing with it.  After the fourth kitten, the vet noticed that her usually talkative client was very quiet and looking rather reverent.  As the vet dampened the last kitten's head, the client leaned forward and said "thank you so much, I hadn't realised you baptised them, too..."

WE HAVE SO MANY YOUNG CATS IN NEED OF HOMES.......Molly, black and white; Cleo tabby and white with her young tabby kitten (need a home together); Flora, black and white; Jessie, black; Toby, tabby; and Tigger a lovely natured white with tabby patches aged about 1yr, Pippa and Jasmine mother and daughter that need a loving home together.  In fact they all have lovely temperaments - and are all vet checked and neutered!  THERE ARE KITTENS TOO!!  Black and white males aged 4 months, a white and ginger male aged 5 months and Rosco our male tabby and white very lively 7 month old.  ALL OF THEM IRRESISTIBLE AND MORE COMING IN!!

Have a wonderful Festive Season!  I know it's a bit early - but I'm so busy these days that it's just not possible to send everyone Christmas cards.  But be assured that you all have my very best wishes, and gratitude for all your support in 2013.

MARGARET

The South Wales Echo Wish List!!  Once again, Catwel is included so please collect tokens from the Echo and send them to me (83 Rhydypenau Road, Cyncoed, Cardiff, CF23 6PZ) or take them to our shop at 17 Whitchurch Road. 

Thank you for reading our 33rd newsletter, there will be another in Spring 2014.