StreetCats - Feeding, Desexing, relocating or rehoming

We (the Royal We) are a small rescue with a big heart for helping kitties and their owners. We don’t have a shelter and our contribution-to-the-cause is mainly as follows:

• We Trap-Neuter-Return farm, industrial and town cats. This helps to reduce unwanted kittens whilst leaving these important Pest Control Officers to carry on doing their work in a far healthier colony.

• We approach people on low incomes and offer to help get their cats speyed. This is not dependent on one being on a benefit, just someone struggling to find the money for desexing. Sometimes people fail to desex one or two cats and then become overwhelmed by too many cats and kittens and then there is no going back for them due to the expense. Helping them to desex their cats, helps the cats and helps reduce unwanted kittens. Judging doesn’t reduce kittens, encouraging people to let us desex their cats DOES.

• Rehoming. This is not our primary function, we do not have a cattery. However, when desexing colonies or multicat household cats we sometimes find friendly cats amongst them that could happily be re-homed. We have a couple of fosterers and that’s where they come in. But there is all the associated expenses. Feeding them, desexing, microchipping, vaccinating, worming, fleaing and with older cats dentals and health checks or blood tests.

• We regularly feed homeless cats that are not able to be rehomed but are surviving well in their outdoor homes. Feeding them helps us to keep an eye out for any surprises, like newcomers that are not de-sexed and any kittens. This helps us to control kitten populations whilst leaving the colony to do their important job as Pest Control Officers.

• We help pet owners/people. If for instance an elderly or sick person has to go into a hospital or home, we help to arrange for their pets to be cared for in their absence - which may include a stay in a cattery with all its costs including necessary vaccination before entry. We try to help people who want to keep their pets but their financial situation is under strain, we can help to provide food for the cats.

• Education – often people don’t care properly for animals but this could be down to learning animal care from other people who didn’t care properly for animals. So we try to encourage best care of pets with the written and spoken word.

• Virtual Rehoming – Sometimes we help people to find new homes for their unwanted cats, as with all our re-homing we do a homecheck and have an adoption form outlining our expections for the welfare of the cat in their new home. We will ensure the cat(s) is/are desexed, deflead, dewormed and microchipped prior to adoption.

• Liaising with other Rescues – many is the time when rescues have a dilemma that can be sorted out if we all work together, and this can include transporting stray cats into rescues that have cattery facilities, helping out with large, unexpected expenses and so on.

• Make our traps available to people who are concerned about a kitten situation at their property.

• Elderly, disabled and terminally ill cats – we try to find fosterers to care for these animals but this is often associated with vet costs. We need your help to help these cats to have a peaceful and safe and contented life. (We are a no-kill rescue. The only time we put animals to sleep is when the vet feels the animal’s welfare is being compromised and for the cat to live would only mean suffering for the cat.)

• Hedgehogs – Oh did we forget to mention that? Hedgehogs have a horrible life a lot of the time, with mange, flies and other parasites making their lives barely livable. Sometimes, because of the cat rescue, we come across hogs out during the day (a no no) or we find visibly sick hogs at night. With the right parasite treatment and some good food and lots of water available most hogs can be returned to the wild a healthier, happier creature. No they are not full of disease, they are just affected by their environment. They all have personalities and some really worm their way into ones heart.

• One last thing, if we had a regular amount of funds coming in we would also like to start approaching farmers to ask them if they will let us trap, neuter and return the cats on their farm. All would have a health check and be deflead, dewormed and microchipped. A healthy colony is good for a farm, and endless supply of kittens, fighting toms and constantly pregnant female cats is just not good for anyone or anything.

We have a BIG heart for rescuing kitties. We have the equipment, the time, the passion and the expertise. But when a small rescue is successful, and more people hear about you, one is asked to do more and more. And currently we can barely cope with the vet bills, food and other treatments and the associated running of a rescue vehicle including daily petrol.

So, if you could ‘give a little’ to Keeping Cats in the Community we can do just that.

Keeping Cats in the Community is too small to have a dedicated bank account and therefore your donation will be diverted to us through The Gravity Foundation/NZAP Give-a-Little account. However rest assured every cent you donate to Keeping Cats in the Community will be used by Keeping Cats in the Community for all the objectives and aims we have outlined in this Give a Little site.