March has been an unusually quiet month for the Sheffield Cats Shelter, and we are still looking for suitable homes for our SOS cats, Danny, Venus, Pablo and Katty.  Despite this we have found 18 cats and kittens loving new homes including two very special kittens that had been at the shelter for a while.  Vimto and Ocean were brothers brought to the shelter when they were 3 weeks old.  As time went by the vets discovered they both suffered from heart murmurs.  Further investigations have identified that Vimto has a small hole in his heart which is the cause of his heart murmur, and Ocean has an irregular heart beat. Despite this they are both very happy and healthy, and were very lucky to find a home together with a very caring person.  The shelter also re-homed a beautiful old cat called George who went to live in a residential home where he will have over 50 people to keep him company. He was such a friendly laid back cat it is sure to be the perfect home for him.

During March the shelter has had 20 new arrivals including two long haired cats who were both in very bad condition when they first arrived at the shelter.  Gypsy, pictured here, is a very beautiful long haired cat who had been a stray for a while, over time his long fur had become so matted the only way to relieve him of this discomfort was to shave the tangled fur off and let the coat re-grow.  Long haired cats need grooming on a regular basis, once a day would benefit the cat the most to prevent any knots forming. It is advisable to get any cat/kitten used to being brushed every day and try to make it an enjoyable experience for the cat and not just a chore for the person doing it. The benefits of regular grooming can be easily seen in the healthy appearance of the cat.  Through neglect a long haired cat can become very uncomfortable.

February is normally a quiet month for the Cats Shelter, with numbers of visitors generally slowing down.  Despite this we have re-homed 24 cats and kittens this month including a few that were a little bit of a challenge to find them suitable homes.  Hobo was our SOS cat a few months ago.  He had arrived at the shelter in November 2009 as a stray and was a very independent cat after living and surviving on his own.  He was very playful and affectionate on his own terms but when he wasn’t happy he would give a cheeky bite. But luckily for Hobo someone fell in love with his cheeky character and was happy to accept him for who he was. We have heard he has made himself right at home and will not be moved from his favourite chair.

Minto and Humbug were also adopted this month; they were featured in our December’s news. They were brother and sister brought to the shelter with terrible flu after living outside in a greenhouse through the winter months. After months of treatment and loving attention they were soon on the mend and getting used to people. Because they were used to living outdoors they were timid cats that needed a special home and a dedicated owner. All the staff are delighted they have found their perfect home and are sure they will have lots of fun with their new owners.

We are currently searching for a suitable home for a pair of cats that are both very unique and totally different from each other, Katty and Polly, who are featured on our SOS page. They have been at the shelter since November last year and are in desperate need of a new home. Polly is the perfect lap cat at 12 years old she doesn’t want to do much else than sit on an available lap and be pampered. Katty is the playful youngster at 2 years old and is full of energy, wanting to run and play all the time. However different they may seem to us, they are inseparable, as you would soon understand if you saw them curled up together or saw Katty affectionately washing Polly. To read more about this intriguing pair visit our SOS page.

THIS MONTH'S NEWS

JUNE/JULY

June was an unusually quiet month, as the Shelter normally has a good number of visitors this time of year.  Despite this quiet spell 13 cats and kittens found lovely new homes during June.  June’s highlight was finding a home for Stella and Guinness who had been at the shelter for some months.  Their new owners have sent in some brilliant pictures of them looking happy in their new home, these can be seen on our adopter’s letter page.  June also saw the homing of some of our older residents - William, who is 16 years old, charmed himself into a new home, as did Mindy and Emma, sisters aged 14 years.  Emma has an over active thyroid, which requires medication to control her condition.  Despite her age and condition Emma is now in a home with her sister with someone who will love them for many years to come.  

A quiet month did not stop the arrival of many new cats and kittens needing help.  28 new cats and kittens have been brought to the shelter for various reasons. This time of year is always a challenge as new kittens are being born almost everyday and the number of phone calls from concerned people increases.  With the increase of unwanted kittens it creates a challenge for the shelter to find space for all of them.  The shelter staff always advise people to neuter their cats as soon as they can, and to keep them inside until they are neutered to help prevent litters of unwanted kittens. Many people do not realise that female cats can get pregnant again soon after giving birth, which is why it is important to keep your cat inside until the kittens are weaned onto solid food and then the female can be spayed.  Cats can also start breeding as early as 4 months old even though they do not reach full maturity until one to two years.

July saw a welcome increase of visitors to the Shelter and we rehomed 21 cats and kittens, including two of our SOS cats, Mia and Venus, who had been at the Shelter for many months.  Venus was a very frightened little cat who has been homed with an experienced owner, and will have 3 other cats to keep her company and give her more confidence in people.  July also saw a new home for Tibby, who is diabetic and relies on insulin to control his condition. We were beginning to think Tibby would become a permanent resident at the shelter, he had been with us since November last year. He is a real character and all the staff happy he has been offered such a wonderful new home but will miss him very much. 

We will soon be seeking a new home for new arrival Bernie. Bernie arrived with us in July after being a stray for many years.  He arrived with a terrible injury to his front right leg.  After carrying out X-rays the vets determined the leg would have to be amputated due to the extent of the damage.  

Bernie had his leg amputated and was placed in a foster home while he recovered.  Here he is immediately after the operation:

After the operation his foster carers said he was very quiet and would sleep all day. But with their loving care and attention they soon raised his spirits and he started walking around the house more getting used to being on 3 legs. The wound has healed really well and he has now adjusted to life without his limb and is very content especially when he has a lap to sit on. 

Here he is relaxing in his foster home:

The Sheffield Cat Shelter will go to any cost to treat a cat and give it the chance of a new life. Bernie’s treatment including the X-ray and the surgery to amputate his right leg cost the Shelter £543. But seeing the successful results of this treatment, we think you'll agree he was worth every penny. 

MAY NEWS

May has been a good month for the Cats Shelter we have re-homed 17 cats including one of our favourite SOS cats Katty. Katty had been at the shelter since November last year, and was growing bored of the shelter environment. She is now very happy and settled in her new home, you can see for yourselves in the photo of her on our adopters’ letters page.

Two of our older residents also found new homes this month; they were Arnie at 15 years old and Abby who was 11 years old. It is always rewarding to find a home for our older residents as they can often get overlooked. You can see pictures of Abby enjoying her new home on our adopters’ letters page.

There as been 21 new arrivals to the shelter this month. These included two very heavily pregnant cats, one of which we named Astra. She had been living as a stray for some time and after being at the shelter for just one night she gave birth to five healthy kittens. She is a very proud and loving mum.

We would like to say a very special thank you to Frances’s foster carer David, for giving her a very loving home for the last few months of her life. Sadly we lost Frances this month due to kidney failure. She had been in her foster home for 6 month and despite being blind and having high blood pressure she was doing really well and had never looked better. We are sure the time spent in her foster home were some of the happiest days of her life, feeling safe, secure and very much loved.  Below is a poem about Frances, she was truly a wonderful cat that will be very much missed and certainly not forgotten.

I was a cat

As blind as a bat

I had to live rough

Life was tough

The Cat Shelter took me in

Washed me down like a shiny pin

They found me a Place

That I thought was ace

I found a place that was warm

Where I could stay till dawn

My favourite dish

Was tuna fish

April News

April has been a quiet month for the Cat Shelter with 14 cats being adopted and 8 new cats being admitted to the shelter.  Gypsy the long haired cat featured in last months news has been adopted, to someone who will keep his coat well groomed for the future - some lovely photos have arrived and are now on our adopters letters page.  We also re-homed one of our older and more timid cats Tigger. She had been a stray for 2 years, living outside in a kennel, so she was very timid when she first arrived at the shelter. As time went by she became a little more confident and trusting of all the new people. Tigger now has the perfect home for her to settle down, with two very patient loving owners.

Guinness and Stella are still looking for a new home, you can see them featured on our SOS page. They have been at the shelter Since January this year and are both growing tired of the Shelter. This lovable pair are both eager to explore a new environment and crave more attention from people.

We had a very small new arrival to the shelter at the end of the month, a 3 week old kitten that was later named Alan.  Alan had been found by a council workman trapped on a tractor, we are unsure how he ended up in there. At 3 weeks old Alan was still very dependant on his mother for feeding and also toileting. Without his mother to look after him, it was up to the staff at the shelter to raise him; this meant frequent feeds throughout the day and night. A very dedicated member of staff took on this challenge and Alan is now thriving and growing up fast.  We think you'll agree he is a complete sweetie!

MARCH NEWS

March has been an unusually quiet month for the Sheffield Cats Shelter, and we are still looking for suitable homes for our SOS cats, Danny, Venus, Pablo and Katty.  Despite this we have found 18 cats and kittens loving new homes including two very special kittens that had been at the shelter for a while.  Vimto and Ocean were brothers brought to the shelter when they were 3 weeks old.  As time went by the vets discovered they both suffered from heart murmurs.  Further investigations have identified that Vimto has a small hole in his heart which is the cause of his heart murmur, and Ocean has an irregular heart beat. Despite this they are both very happy and healthy, and were very lucky to find a home together with a very caring person. 

The shelter also re-homed a beautiful old cat called George who went to live in a residential home where he will have over 50 people to keep him company. He was such a friendly laid back cat it is sure to be the perfect home for him. During March the shelter has had 20 new arrivals including two long haired cats who were both in very bad condition when they first arrived at the shelter.  Gypsy, pictured here, is a very beautiful long haired cat who had been a stray for a while, over time his long fur had become so matted the only way to relieve him of this discomfort was to shave the tangled fur off and let the coat re-grow.  Long haired cats need grooming on a regular basis, once a day would benefit the cat the most to prevent any knots forming. It is advisable to get any cat/kitten used to being brushed every day and try to make it an enjoyable experience for the cat and not just a chore for the person doing it. The benefits of regular grooming can be easily seen in the healthy appearance of the cat.  Through neglect a long haired cat can become very uncomfortable.

February's round-up

February is normally a quiet month for the Cat's Shelter as the number of visitors generally eases off. Despite this we have re-homed 24 cats and kittens this month including a few that were a little bit of a challenge to find them suitable homes. Hobo was our SOS cat a few months ago he had arrived at the shelter in November 2009 as a stray and was a very independent cat after living and surviving on his own. He was very playful and affectionate on his own terms but when he wasn’t happy he would give a cheeky bite. But luckily for Hobo someone fell in love with his cheeky character and was happy to accept him for who he was. We have heard he has made himself right at home and will not be moved from his favourite chair.

Minto and Humbug were also adopted this month; they were featured in our December’s news. They were brother and sister brought to the shelter with terrible flu after living outside in a greenhouse through the winter months. After months of treatment and loving attention they were soon on the mend and getting used to people. Because they were used to living outdoors they were timid cats that needed a special home and a dedicated owner. All the staff are delighted they have found their perfect home and are sure they will have lots of fun with their new owner.

We are currently searching for a suitable home for a pair of cats that are both very unique and totally different from each other, Katty and Polly who are featured on our SOS page. They have been at the shelter since November last year and are in desperate need of a new home. Polly is the perfect lap cat at 12 years old she doesn’t want to do much else than sit and be pampered. Katty is the playful youngster at 2 years and is full of energy, wanting to run and play all the time. How ever different they may seem to us they are inseparable, as you would soon understand if you saw them curled up together or saw Katty affectionately washing Polly. To read more about this intriguing pair visit our SOS page.

January News

January has been a great month for The Cats Shelter as a New Year begins we have already re-homed 34 cats and kittens. The best adoption for this month has got to be finding Hubble a new home. Hubble had been at the Cats Shelter since July 2009, so all the staff are delighted she has finally found her perfect home. She certainly looked very content and happy sat dribbling on her new owner’s lap.

This month has also brought some good news for Sweep who has been on foster since 2009. Sweep was found a foster home because he was suffering from gingivostomatitis, which is a severe and painful inflammation of the gums, he later developed diabetes. After months of working to stablise his diabetes and finding the correct dose of insulin for him, he is now showing good signs of recovery. There are positive signs that his dependence on insulin has subsided and he may no longer need treatment in the future - fantastic. His gums have also shown signs of improvement, they are no longer sore or inflamed. We are closely monitoring Sweep over the next few months but are hopeful that he will no longer need treatment for either of his conditions. His fosterer David says Sweep acts like a little kitten as he runs around the house playing and appears to have no problems at all - wonderful!!

Christmas raffle

The following tickets were drawn in the Christmas raffle: First prize of a Christmas Hamper - 3479, Second prize of £50 John Lewis Vouchers - 2370, Third prize of a dinner for two at the Holiday Inn, Victoria Hotel - 3735.  Runners up prizes were drawn as follows: 3362, 4725, 1999, 1658, 2307, 1459, 5568, 2443, 3828, 1278, 3394, 1563, 4709, 3014, 1268, 1453, 3541, 0108, 1546, 3933, 0632, 0442, 0257, 3609, 5678, 3547 and 3245 

DECEMBER NEWS

During December the Sheffield Cat Shelter closed for a short time over the Christmas period to discourage people buying cats and kittens just for Christmas. We closed on the 18 December and re-opened on the 1 January, but we re-homed 26 cats and kittens in December, which is brilliant over just 18 days.  During December four of our SOS cats found loving new homes including Copper and Smudge who have been SOS cats since November, and Casper and Rosie who were our December SOS cats.  Lets hope January sees our beautiful Hubble rehomed, she has been an SOS cats since July 2009.

December has also brought to the shelter 21 new cats including two very ill kittens called Minto and Humbug. When they were brought to the shelter they were suffering from cat flu, after living outside in a greenhouse. When they first arrived at the shelter, they both had sore eyes and where very quiet and scared. This is Minto looking particularly sorry for herself:

Once they started treatment they soon improved in condition. They are now a lot happier and settled and the improvement in their health is easily noticed.  You'll see at the bottom of this news how much improved they are.  They will be available for adoption as a pair very shortly, so do please ring the warden for an update if you are interested in adopting them.  Humbug is much more timid than Minto, so a quieter home where they can learn to play happily would be best for them.

December is also a time to reflect and look back on the year's achievements. The Sheffield Cats Shelter re-homed 300 cats and kittens in 2009 giving many cats the second chance they deserved. The shelter also found long term foster homes for 7 cats all with on going medical conditions. One of these cats is called Frances who was found as a stray, blind and in very bad condition. She is 15 years old and also suffers from high blood pressure; it is amazing that she survived so long as a stray. The shelter has worked hard to improve Frances condition and quality of life and she is now very happily living in a foster home with two other cats - please see our fostering page for a look at Frances.

October News

October has been another great month for adoption, with 33 cats and kittens finding loving new homes, including our 7 dwarfs who were kittens admitted to us back in August. The best news of all this month is that Tinker and Ginger have finally found a new home after being at the shelter for a whole year. They have found a home together with two very devoted owners and everyone at the shelter looks forward to finding out how they get on. Another four of our SOS cats have also been re-homed this month including Alexis, Fred, Mark and Stuart, you can read how they are settling into their new homes on our adopted letters page, although their names have changed a bit now.  This month we also managed to reunite a cat with his owner after being missing for over 6 months, here’s Tweedle's story. A concerned member of the public who believed him to be a stray brought Tweedle to the door one morning. After scanning Tweedle for a microchip we discovered he was not a stray at all but had been unlucky and got lost from his home. The staff at the shelter were straight on the phone tracking down Tweedle's owner and informing them of the brilliant news that their cat had been found. Tweedle had been missing for so long his owner had begun to lose hope of finding him again. He had managed to get across a very busy dual carriageway, and there he had remained as a stray for over 6 months. With the use of microchipping Tweedle was finally reunited with his owner, which shows the big benefits of getting your pets microchipped. If Tweedle had not been microchipped he may never have found his owner The shelter also had a visit from a much-loved foster cat this month called Max who was fostered in April this year. His fosterer had to go away for a few days so Max came to stay at the shelter and all the staff and volunteers enjoyed seeing him again. Max was fostered because he is unfortunate enough to have tumours in his ears, removing them would involve a very serious operation which could make Max deaf. So instead of putting max through that he now has a loving foster home with on going care and treatment to keep his ears clean and healthy. He has been fostered for 7 months now and has never looked better.

September 2009

The Sheffield Cats Shelter has really seen an increase in adoptions in September with a total of 29 cats and kittens finding loving new homes.  Also during September 7 of our SOS cats have been adopted, some of which had been at the shelter for quiet a while, including Sooty who had been at the shelter since March 2009.  We are all delighted that they have all finally found suitable loving homes and look forward to reading about their adventures in their new homes. Unfortunately Tinker and Ginger are still at the shelter and will soon be celebrating being with us for 1 whole year. They are still in desperate need of a quite home with an experienced patient owner.

Alongside the adoptions the shelter has also had a staggering 45 cats admitted to the shelter this month, a lot of these were abandoned by their owners for unknown reasons. We have also seen an increase of young kittens admitted to the shelter at an age when they should still be with their mother. Kittens should remain with their mother until they are 8-12 weeks old. Taking kittens from their mother before 8 weeks of age can course health and emotional problems for the kittens as they develop. Their mother’s milk also contains vital nutrients and continues to provide immunity to many diseases that a kitten's immature immune system cannot fight on its own.

During this month a little cat called T.C (pictured below) was brought to the shelter who had to have the tips of her ears removed due to severe sunburn. Cats with white ear tips and noses are very susceptible to skin cancer in these areas. Cats have less fur on their ear tips and nose and white cats have little or no pigment in their skin to protect them from sun damage. T.C like many other cats had white ear tips that require some source of protection from the sun to prevent skin cancer. The solution is to use pet sun-cream on your cat's nose, and the inside and outside of their ear tips. Apply it twice a day if your cat is a real sunbather, or try to keep your cat indoors around midday, and times of strong sunlight, to keep your cat healthy. T.C has now been adopted and is very happy and settled in her new home where she will receive skin protection in the future.