The Sheffield Cats Shelter

Just a quick line to tell you that I'm now on some Internet Courses at Norton College.  Although you can see that I've got the hang of using my paw on the mousepad, I'm still struggling to get the correct position for the keyboard.

Dalriada McPherson
(the cat formerly known as Annie)

Tiddles is doing very well and her eating habits have levelled off. When she came to us, she spent the first few days eating several cans – per day!  Her name is now 'Cleopatra' or 'Cleo' for short (which is used more often).  We chose this because of her sleek black Egyptian looks and her strong attitude.  She is so beautiful. She gets along really well with her brother Eric, formerly ‘Ches’ also from your home. He is still a bit wary but he knows he’s boss so I’m happy with that.

She has not, however, worked out how to use the cat flap. At the moment we have to prop it open with a shoe at night, but discovered two dead birds under my bed so have to be on the look out at all times. Naughty little Cleo! Lovely presents though!

Ellen

Abby here, hope you good people are keeping well.

Thought I'd check in with my favourite shelter and say hello. The new digs you sorted for me are working out nicely; there's plenty of places for a snooze and the food aint half bad. You know me, that's all I need really so I settled straight in. Oh there's a garden too but I only bother if it's sunny, my coat wasn't built for rain. Speaking of which, a nice lady at Highfields sorted me out with a haircut the other week and I've been grooming rigorously ever since. Slighty hairy moment when I ended up lost in the basement - won't be going down there again any time soon - but other than that I couldn't be happier.

I attached some snaps to show you what I've been upto since I left. You might notice I've lost a few ounces, I'm trying my best to stay trim by chasing shoe laces and climbing trees. Vet reckons I still need to shift half a kilo though!!

Thanks for everything guys. I'm only around the corner so you never know, I might drop by for lunch one day. I'm partial to a bit of lamb but won't turn down chicken, duck, rabbit, tuna or trout either :)

I thought I would write and let you know how Treacle is doing, a year after the last update.

I brought her home in March 2008. She's now 3 years old, and we recently moved to Southampton. The move was scary for her - she hid inside a sleeping bag for six hours after we arrived at our new home! - but she's now settled in and is back to her normal affectionate self. She has a large garden to play in, safe from any busy roads, and spends a lot of time out there with the neighbour's cat, a pale tortie called Isla. They get on well, but Treacle will tell Isla off if she tries to get into our house!

Her appetite is excellent, but she can be picky - she won't drink cat milk, prefers to drink water straight from the tap instead of out of her bowl, and won't eat wet cat food. She just licks off the gravy then turns her nose up at the meat! She does love tuna, though, so it's an occasional treat.

She's always sitting in the kitchen window when I get back from work, and runs to the door when she sees me, complaining until I open it.

In the evenings if I'm sprawled on the sofa she climbs onto my lap, curls up, and goes to sleep. When I have visitors she hides behind the sofa for the first 10 minutes, then ventures out to examine them. Within half an hour she's usually curled up on their lap, purring away!

All the best,
Elaine

Hi . We thought you’d like to know how Kenny is getting on. 

What a gorgeous little kitten he is. We adopted him two weeks ago, and he settled in straight away. Our girls wanted to name their own cat, but when they heard that the shelter named him “Kenny” they were happy to keep the name.

He is very affectionate, and as you’d expect vey playful. He really has been a most welcome addition to our family, and we all love him, and feel very lucky to have such a well trained, loveable cat.

Thank you so much for the fantastic work you do.

Mike, Fiona Ellie & Rebecca (and of course Kenny)

Just to let you know how Gypsy is getting on.  We call him Humphrey!

He started off a sad, dainty thing, with a sweet but haunted face.  He was friendly and playful with us from the start, but growled and spat at our old cat, Barney.  We kept them separate for 10 days, then decided they would have to 'sort it out'.  So we moved the litter tray downstairs and left them to it overnight.  In the morning Humph was hiding behind the curtains, still growling if Barney came near.  So we persevered for a few more days.  Humph was eating like a horse and playing wild games with his toys in the veg box, but hated Barney coming near him.  Mostly Barney ignored the bad manners but occasionally he would make a run at Humph and spit back.

One evening my husband plonked Humph on his lap and had a word with him.  'Look Humph, Barney's not a bad lad and you're just going to have to get along. Stop growling!'  He growled more and more.  I joined in and told him to stop it, there's no need for it now, you're being silly.  Humph growled some more and swished his tail.  'Humph, pack in the growling now!' we said, and Humph ran off sulking to his windowsill.  Then Barney put in his twopenn'oth, and made a dash at Humph, with a swipe and a loud hiss!  So that evening poor old Humph had a bit of a telling off from all of us.  But guess what, it did the trick!  Next morning, Humph was cautious, but didn't growl.  A couple of days later Humph and Barney were sniffing noses and brushing past each other in doorways. What a result!

It's quite remarkable how much he's changed in 3 weeks.  Now he's far from dainty: he's quite literally grown bigger and stronger, and he swaggers around the neighbourhood chasing squirrels and birds.  He is a great big, swaggering alley cat who couldn't be more delighted to be out there strutting his stuff.  He is so cocksure now that he ignores Barney's attempts to goad him.  I think Barney wants to be in his gang!  But Humph is way too cool to consider it!

Well, who says cats don't like water?  Red's new family tell us he is very active and into everything.  He is a lot of fun. 

Here's Red keeping an eye on things...

Some of you will remember Katty from our SOS page - whilst she was with us she lost her lifetime companion Polly, so it was heartwarming to receive the attached letting us know how well she was settling in to her new home:

We have renamed Katty to Roxy and she is doing very well.  She seems to be enjoying her new home and settling in well, enjoying her food and also enjoying chewing boot laces and playing with tape measures (whatever keeps her happy....!)

Thank you for your help when we visited and hope all your other cats and kittens are well.

Sarah and Rob

Here is an update from Jimmy, one of the cats that the Cats Shelter supports on long-term foster placement. If you want to learn more about our fostering programme, please visit our fostering page:

Just an update on Jimmy. He is in fine form and really enjoying the better weather. He’s going out for several hours at a time now it’s a bit warmer, after being a complete couch potato all winter. He never goes very far and likes it best if I’m out there gardening so he can remind me that it’s nearly teatime at regular intervals! Here he is inspecting the lawn for weeds.

Ruth

We adopted Sam (formerly Simon) from you 10 days ago, on Sat 1 May.  He is a delightfully laid-back little boy, who loves people and would sit on our laps all day, if we let him.  You can see his second favourite place, a radiator hammock, in the attached photo!His new sister, Alice, tolerates him very well, and they are often to be found sitting on the same window sill together.A happier cat than Sam would be hard to find!

Keep up the good work!

Val and Mike