Appeal for help to locate injured cat - Animals in Need

Animals In Need (AIN) are appealing to the public for help in locating an injured cat in Ballintra.

The cat was first spotted over a week ago and despite leaving out humane cat traps and receiving reports of sightings of the cat around Ballintra town, he or she has still not been caught.

The fluffy black and white cat appears very dishevelled and is clearly in need of urgent veterinary treatment.

AIN are asking people to keep looking for the cat and if you see him/her, please contact the cat helpline right away so that an AIN volunteer can respond and hopefully catch the cat.

Meanwhile, it has been a good week for cat adoptions, with tabby cats Tim and Rolo, who were featured in last week’s column after they were returned to AIN when their owners had to move abroad, being quickly snapped up and they went to a fantastic new home together only days later.

No sooner had they set off for their new life, than two more cats called Rio and Finn arrived at AIN.

These lovely cats are looking for a new family due to allergies in their previous home.

ABOVE:Hamsters Harry and Gizmo are looking for homes

Rio has some peculiar personality traits as she growls and hisses whilst she is being stroked, although she clearly enjoys being petted and is very friendly.

The dog rescuers have also had a busy week and there was good news for two adorable little collie pups who were adopted by lovely people who had been on the dog adoption waiting list for some time, patiently waiting for the right dogs to come along.

It is very important that the rescued animals are paired with the right people when they are adopted and finding the perfect match can take some time, but it is ultimately in best interest of both the animal and their new family.

Several more dogs were taken out of the Letterkenny Pound by AIN on Monday, and they will be vaccinated and microchipped during this week.

As is too often the case, all the rescued dogs were collies.

Many collies have a tough life. They are frequently discarded and unwanted, despite being the most intelligent breed of dog there is.

Collies make loyal companions who just want to please and to be loved like any other pet.

Sadly, there is a shortage of suitable homes for collies in Ireland and yet female collies are still being overbred, which has led to the current crisis situation in which there are so many collies and too few homes for them to go to.

ABOVE: Two pups went to a loving home this week

AIN also took in two young hamsters this week, which had been bought for two small children at the end of January, but a month later the novelty had worn off and the children were no longer interested in the poor hamsters.

This is one of the reasons why AIN never rehomes animals as presents, especially as presents for children, as the whole family needs to be on board and fully committed to caring for an animal for the rest of their life.

The two male Roborovski Dwarf Hamsters are called Harry and Gizmo and were born in October 2023, so they are still young as hamsters live for up to 3 years.

Harry and Gizmo are looking for separate homes as adult male hamsters cannot be homed together.

Hamsters should not be kept in small cages, and they are enjoying themselves burrowing in a large, deep tank at their foster home, which has been set up to provide them with the entertainment and enrichment they require.

If you can offer a home to either Harry or Gizmo, please contact the cat helpline.

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 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.