Lone and sick kittens found regularly around Donegal - Animals in Need

Lone kittens are being found regularly around Donegal. 

Unfortunately, many of them are sick when they are discovered, suffering from cat flu and eye Infections. 

For example, little kitten Abbey arrived at Animals in Need (AIN) on Friday in a seriously ill condition. She had cat flu and her eyes were extremely inflamed, especially her left eye. Abbey was born to a stray cat and her cat flu had been left untreated, but she is responding well to treatment and it is hoped that both eyes can be saved.

Alicia is another sick kitten who was found recently and it was touch and go as to whether she would survive as she was so sick. However, eleven days of medication and TLC later and Alicia is unrecognisable as the ill kitten that was found. Alicia is a sweet and playful kitten and will be ready to go to a new home soon. 

Another little tabby kitten was found in Newtowncunningham at the weekend. She is a lovely, friendly girl and thankfully is in good health apart from her fur being covered in burrs when she arrived. AIN has several cat families in their foster homes, consisting of young mother cats with their kittens. 

One of the mother cats, Callie, has had problems with one of her legs. X-rays revealed that Callie had a fractured toe and initially she did not need treatment, but sadly her injuries were not healing and continued to affect her ability to walk. Callie therefore had surgery to remove her damaged toe and is recovering at her foster home.

Following on, four collie pups, the sole survivors from a litter of eleven pups who were cruelly dumped in a turf bag under a gorse bush in Carrigart are thriving at their Animals In Need (AIN) foster home.

Two weeks ago, a dog walker made the grim discovery of a bag filled with newborn pups. Six of the pups were already dead and another pup died soon after arrival at AIN.  The four surviving pups are female and have been named Arwen, Shelby, Briana, and Zahra.

Thankfully, they took to being bottle-fed special puppy milk formula by their fosterer and all have put on weight and are lively girls.

The pups have now opened their eyes and there will be no holding them back now. It is  presumed that their mother is a collie, but the breed of the father (or possibly fathers) of the pups is unknown, and it will be interesting to see how they develop.

Brianna is much bigger than her siblings and a different shape, and their mix of breeds will become more obvious as they grow. In the meantime, all are doing well.

AIN rely on fundraising to help so many animals, and their latest campaign is for people to donate their Re-Turn bottles and cans to the charity. This has proved very successful and AIN now has stickers and posters available for anyone who would like to organise a collection for AIN in their workplace/office or at an event. 

Bags filled with empty bottles and cans bearing the Re-Turn logo can be dropped off at the Donegal Town charity store or one of the public drop-off points located at BruLab, Glen View Business Park, Carnamogagh Upper, Letterkenny, or at Finnegan’s Shop and Post Office Rossnowlagh. Every three cans or bottles will pay for a meal for a fostered animal.

For further information on how you can organise a bottle/can collection, please contact AIN’s 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 or check AIN’s Facebook page for the most recent updates.