FEATURE
Beautiful Oliver is now ready for his fur-ever home
Black puddy-tats are loveable too
Just purr-fect; Amber the Devon Rex
Turning sad ‘tails’ into happy stories T
Irresponsible owners are fuelling a year on year increase in unwanted cats and kittens. Animals in Need is one of the brilliant rescue centres taking the strain, as Pulse's Sammy Jones found out.
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hey might be much more independent than their canine opposites, but puddy-tats still need the love of a good owner, and a full belly. Should the mood take them, they might fancy a lap to curl up on, too. Sadly, at Animals in Need, the cattery is always occupied by those felines who have used up a few of their nine lives, or who have simply been dealt a bad hand. Sally Smith is the charity’s ‘cat lady’, and has been looking after the waifs and strays who find their way to the Little Irchester centre for the past 15 years. “They settle in much quicker than dogs as long as they are fed, warm and fussed – on their terms, obviously!” Sally said, “They manage to adapt to their temporary home with us relatively easily.” There are many reasons why Tiddles ends up at the rehoming centre; everything
from allergies, to owners who are unable to afford the expense of veterinary bills. Heartbreakingly, some are simply left behind when families move away. “Just thinking that people can be so callous as to move away and leave a member of their family behind is particularly upsetting,” Sally said. “We also get people who hand over cats that have terminal illnesses which they fail to mention, and by the time we do find out what’s wrong, it’s too late to do anything. We are there to help, we just need to be given the opportunity to do so.” But there are heartwarming ‘tails’ to share too – like the story of Oliver the feral feline who had cancerous tips on his ears. He had been a street cat for 10 years before Sally trapped him and turned his life around. “...being able to successfully treat him, and then to see him turn into the loveliest, cuddliest boy,” is one of Sally’s favourite
January 2022 | NN Pulse Magazine | 22,000 Copies delivered every month door to door across Northamptonshire
