Sunday at the Shelter 1-09-13

It was great to see how many volunteers were at the Shelter this morning, it meant jobs got completed much quicker.

As you can see, there are still some rooms struggling to fully overcome flu but, all in all, the situation is much improved.

Libby and I worked in Infirmary.  Here, 3 cats have been admitted under strict quarantine.

Mike is a sweet boy, but a little timid at the moment.  He was keen to be back in his little house as soon as possible.

Mike

We also met too adorable boys who came in together and really are best friends.  They enjoyed rubbing round our legs and each others faces!

Luke

Charlie

Later we were also lucky enough to meet Womble as she was being adopted.

Many cats have a story, but hers is one that sadly, the Shelter hear all the time. Womble was first seen at the Shelter when she was around 7 weeks old. She was suffering from such terrible diarrhoea it was actually dripping out of her. The cardboard box she was in was soaked through.

Malnourished and dehydrated she spent several days in the Vet hospital at a cost of approximately £100 per day for care and fluids. Medication costs are on top of this.

You may think that this poor mite had been found abandoned somewhere, but this wasn't the case.

Her owner bought her after seeing an ad on the internet. She was just 5 weeks old.  The Shelter were told she'd had diarrhoea from the start and no medical advice had been sought. 
The owner lived in rented accommodation and didn't have permission from the landlord to have a cat in the house.  Once the landlord became aware, the owner was told to 'get rid' of the kitten immediately.  

The Sheffield Cats Shelter were left to pick up the pieces for this poorly little girl.  As you can see from the photo below, the Vets, the Shelter Staff and her Foster mum rose to the challenge. :)

Womble in her foster home, fit and healthy

There are a number of lessons to learn from this.  It's frightening to see how many tiny kittens are advertised online.  When they are so young, they need to be with mum and if there is no mum, they need to be with someone who knows how to care for them.

Then there is the issue of tenancy agreements.  If you want to give a cat or kitten a home, check with your landlord first.  

Back to today:-  It got a little busy at visiting time, so I helped out showing a lovely lady around some of the available cats.  She had recently lost her previous cat to illness and was missing having a feline friend in her home.  I really enjoyed chatting to her and hopefully she'll be back with her husband to make a choice.

Whilst I was showing cats, Libby was helping Emma and Ray with 7 cats that had been given up for adoption.  All from the same home, they are a mix of ages, but are all beautiful.

This pretty girl is around 6 months old.

Here's Patrick, thought to be the Daddy to some of the others, he's very handsome and was balancing on top of the open window.

Patrick balancing on the open window

The others are young adults except for Percy who is about 4-5 weeks old.  Sadly he's malnourished, dehydrated, subdued and crawling with fleas. His gums and pads were so pale due to anaemia caused by his flea infestation.

Percy, covered in fleas

Emma had no option but to spray Percy to try and kill the fleas.  We then attempted to use a flea comb to remove as many as possible.  Left untreated, a serious flea infestation can kill. 

Libby holds Percy as Emma sprays on flea treatment

This was my first experience of such a bad infestation.  He was covered in them :(  Libby and I helped Emma and you can see an example of how many we managed to get off him below.

Dead fleas

Makes you itch doesn't it?   It was obvious that he was getting cold so despite him not yet being fully clear of fleas, Emma wanted to warm him up and dry his fur.  Bring on the hairdryer...

Unhappy with his hydration levels he was given some milk with a hydration solution mixed in. I had him sandwiched between my body and a heat pad for some time to try and get his little body warmer.

Percy sandwich

It did seem to make a difference, as you can see he did perk up.

Perky Percy

This evening he's at home with Emma and hopefully when he's flea free he'll be able to play with Spud and Ernest who are a similar age.

In the meantime, he'll be getting regular food and hydration through the night and will then be off to the Vets in the morning.

Fingers and paws crossed.