Time for Community Cats Neutering Programmes says Donegal Animals in Need

With Spring in the air, this is the perfect time to neuter any stray or feral cats in your area.

Animals In Need (AIN) is contacted with requests for help with feral and stray cats on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to take every feral cat in and many of the cats, who have lived outside with little human contact their whole lives, would not appreciate their sudden loss of liberty.

The best solution for these cats is to neuter them, have them health checked and then return them to the area that they came from.

AIN carries out T/N/R (Trap/Neuter/Return) of numerous cat colonies all over Donegal every year.

However, there are only a handful of volunteers, who cannot be everywhere at once, but AIN have invested in humane cat traps and transfer cages that are available to borrow.

Caption: Missing car from Ardara 

AIN will also offer advice on how to successfully trap and transfer feral cats as well as providing financial assistance.

For further information on carrying out T/N/R in your area, please contact the cat helpline.

AIN are appealing for help in finding a missing cat in Ardara.

The cat is mostly grey with peach and white markings and had been living behind a shop on the main street but has missing for a week.

It is believed that she is sick and pregnant. Her last litter of kittens and her partner cat have been rescued but they were all very ill on arrival.

If you spot this cat, please contact AIN as she is in need of urgent help.

Monday was an especially hard day for the cat rescuers. It began with the rescue of a young kitten called Evie, who had a total rectal prolapse.

Caption: Little Evie was beyond help

This young kitten had been straying around the area for a few weeks and had ended up in a terrible condition, with gangrene setting in.

She was clearly sick and would have been in agony. Sadly, by the time AIN were alerted, it was too late to save her, the only consolation being that her suffering finally ended and she knew warmth, cuddles and care in her final hours.

Next in was Leo, a freezing cold ginger kitten who was found malnourished and dehydrated, with badly infected eyes and cat flu.

It was Leo’s lucky day when he showed up at the house of kind people who contacted AIN and brought him to the cattery immediately for care and treatment.

After having his eye cleaned up and receiving subcutaneous fluids, Leo was delighted to settle down on a warm bed under the heat lamp.

An adult stray cat showed up with a badly infected eye at a house he had been hanging around and was brought to AIN.

His eye had nearly popped out of his head and is beyond saving, so he has an appointment at the vets to have the eye removed, after which he will recover in his foster home.

The dog rescuers have had another busy week, with all their foster places filled.

There is a list of people waiting to adopt small dogs, but the dogs that are coming in are all large, mostly collies.

The overbreeding of collies in Donegal is out of control, with litters of pups being churned out in the hope of finding a working dog.

If one pup in a litter turns out to be a good working dog, the breeder will be lucky, but what happens to all the other pups?

There are not enough homes for them to go to and most will end up in the Letterkenny Pound or surrendered to a rescue in their first year of life.

Finding enough suitable homes is the hardest part. Collies are highly intelligent, loyal and energetic dogs who need an active home where they will get plenty of exercise, mental stimulation and human companionship.

The only way to break this tragic cycle is for people to stop breeding their female dogs.

In the meantime, rescues such as AIN are left to pick up the pieces and the situation is getting worse rather than better.

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.