Abandoned kittens and lost dogs flooding into Donegal Animals in Need

Animals In Need (AIN) have had a hectic week with numerous dogs being lost and found throughout the county due to the thunder.

The majority of the dogs have been reunited with their owners but AIN are appealing to people to keep their pets safely indoors when thunder is forecast as even dogs who have never wandered from home before have been so panicked by the storms that they have run off and got lost.

The AIN volunteers have also had to deal with kittens coming in from all over Donegal.

Amongst them were five very dirty little kittens who were left at the home of one of AIN’s dog fosterers on Saturday.

Dumped kittens needed a bath

The kittens have had a bath and plenty of good food and are much happier now.

A number of sick kittens have been found over the weekend, including a kitten on Friday, two kittens at separate locations on Sunday and another kitten on Monday night.

On Saturday, AIN also helped the ISPCA with a litter of kittens in Inishowen, as they were under siege by the rally.

The three orphaned kittens are only about three weeks old and were found alone under a bush.

Two of the kittens were covered in maggots and fly eggs, so the first stop for all the kittens was a good bath to get rid of them.

Thankfully, these hungry kittens soon took to being bottle-fed and really perked up overnight and were transported to the ISPCA Rehabilitation Centre the following day.

Sadly, not all animals can be helped and Raven, one of two new-born kittens found a week ago, passed away.

The tiny black kittens had both been doing well to begin with, but Raven had fading kitten syndrome and despite her fosterer doing everything possible, she could not be saved.

Three orphaned kittens found in Inishowen

Her sister Sully is fighting on.

In better news, AIN are delighted that mother cat Leia is being adopted with her son Greyson, who suffers from neurological condition Cerebellar Hypoplasia, which makes his movements very wobbly and uncoordinated.

This condition is caused by the part of the brain that coordinates movement being smaller than usual or not completely developed.

Despite this, Greyson can live a good life. Tragically, his two brothers were not as lucky and their condition was so serious that they could not walk at all and the extremely hard decision had to be made to have them put to sleep as they had no quality of life.

Cerebellar hypoplasia usually occurs when a pregnant cat contracts the Feline Panleukopenia Virus, which is passed on to her kittens.

Sick kitten in fostercare

The virus attack growing cells and the cerebellum is particularly vulnerable as it is growing so rapidly.

Greyson and his mum are going to a home with wonderful people who specialise in caring for cats with disabilities, so a huge thanks to 4Poshpaws.

Finally, AIN are bringing back the Big Sale to their charity shop in Donegal Town.

The sale will be on all week and everything in the store is on sale as part of a buy one get one free offer, so why not pop in and find yourself a bargain or two.

AIN’s Charity Shop is located between Specsavers and Aldi in the carpark, Donegal Town, F94 P896). Shop opening times are Tuesday to Saturday 11am-4 pm

To help AIN’s animals, please donate €2 to AIN’s ‘Help Us To Help Them’ fundraising appeal via your phone by texting the word ‘KITTEN’ to 50300. Every last cent goes directly to the rescued animals for their food, bedding, vet bills, worming treatment and vaccinations.

For further information on adoption, fostering, volunteering etc, please contact the main helpline on 087 1356188. For cat/kitten enquiries please call 087 7644420. Animals In Need Donegal is also on Facebook and has a website at http://www.animalsinneeddonegal.com.