Changes to the rehoming process at Donegal Animals in Need

Animals In Need (AIN) is overhauling its rehoming process from the end of this week. As kittens are rehomed from eight weeks old, they are too young to be neutered before leaving AIN.

Therefore, all kittens rehomed after February 1 will have the neutering costs included as part of their adoption fee.  This means that all cats will be wormed, microchipped, and as a minimum have their first vaccination (depending on how long they have been with AIN, they may have had both vaccinations). 

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Adult cats will also have been neutered before rehoming, and kittens will have free neutering included in the adoption fee for when they turn six months old. Their owners can choose from a selection of vets throughout County Donegal.

AIN will ask for an adoption fee of €90 as a contribution towards all of the above, which is much cheaper than taking a kitten to a vet privately. The revised system will hopefully increase the uptake of neutering of kittens when they reach the appropriate age. (Please note, neutering will be paid by AIN and is not an offer from the vets).

At this time of year, AIN mostly has adult cats looking for homes, and the volunteers have seen little interest from the public in adopting them. There are currently young adults, mature adults, and senior cats all sitting in their foster homes, waiting for love. Amongst them is a tortoiseshell senior cat called Ziggy, who is 13 or 14 years old.

Sadly, she was surrendered to AIN due to her family’s circumstances. Ziggy has had a paralysed front leg for the past 11 years, and AIN brought her to a vet for a full health check when she arrived.

She is in good health apart from her leg. Amputation of her paralysed leg was considered, but as Ziggy was found to have arthritis in both front legs, removal of the damaged leg would cause too much strain on her good leg. 

Ziggy will now receive monthly injections of arthritis medication, which should give her a new lease of life. There are many advantages to adopting an adult cat; they are calmer, settle faster, are less likely to have litter tray accidents and can be introduced to the outside sooner plus their personality has developed and so potential adopters can be paired with the right cat for them.

If you are interested in offering one of AIN’s adult cats a home, please check the Rehoming Album on AIN’s social media pages, for information on the cats available.  A six-month-old black kitten called Freddie was rescued by AIN this week, after badly injuring his leg in an accident.

Unfortunately, the leg was beyond repair and had to be amputated by a vet. Freddie is a sweet natured young boy and is now recuperating at an AIN foster home, where he is doing well.When he has fully recovered, Freddie will be looking for an inside only home.

Meanwhile, AIN’s dog rescuers are extremely busy, with calls from people who want to surrender their dog coming in more or less daily.

There is good news regarding Roy, a young collie-labrador, who was rescued after he was spotted standing alone and shivering in the middle-of-nowhere by passersby, a few weeks before Christmas.

Roy’s rescuers were driving to Letterkenny to do their Christmas shopping when they noticed him, a trip they abandoned and instead spent the next eight hours trying to catch him. Poor Roy was very frightened and kept running off, but eventually they managed to secure him and brought him to AIN.  He was in a bad way and was extremely emaciated, with his ribs clearly visible.

It is unknown how long he was out there by himself or how much longer he would have survived, but Roy has made a remarkable recovery in his foster home and has gained much needed weight through having four healthy meals a day.Roy is around a year old and has a fantastic nature despite the hardships he has endured, and AIN will ensure he finds the perfect home.

Finally, AIN would like to say a huge thank you to Gary’s Pet World, Letterkenny, who held a fundraising raffle on behalf of AIN and thanks also to everyone who entered. Congratulations to the raffle winner, Cian! 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 www.animalsinneeddonegal.com.