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February 2016

 


 

This will be the Project’s last newsletter. Things are just too busy at work and home and I feel that my energies regarding the cats can be more profitably spent elsewhere. I will still send out a monthly list of donors, number of cats sterilized, and news of fundraising, as well as updating social media so please follow us on Facebook.

A huge thank you to Donald, Lorna’s cousin, who has done the beautiful layout every month, saving me from tearing my hair out!


Fundraising

Cash and food collections at Pick ‘n Pay: 2 April and 1 October. We rely a great deal on these fundraising events to replenish our vet account, so please contact Mary Bowker – 083 625 7293 or (046)636 1528 - if you can help for an hour. Viv Botha has kindly agreed to have another book sale during 2016 – details still to be confirmed – so please start putting aside any unwanted books. If they are in your way please email me and I will arrange to collect.

 

Sterilisations

Only four cats, all females, were sterilized in February, but eight of our kittens have been adopted by wonderful families who have made every effort to accommodate and welcome their new babies. Wishing you all long and happy lives.

We still have two gorgeous kittens waiting for their forever homes. The adoption fee is R500, which includes first deworming and inoculation as well as obligatory sterilisation. Please contact Griet Wood on 060 954 9347 should you wish to meet them. Strict home-checks will be done. Please note that the adoption will not be finalized until the home-check is passed and the adoption fee has been paid. No kitten will be allowed to leave the foster home unless transported in a secure carrier.



 

 

Rescues

 


Pogo pre-op

 

Malcolm and I received an urgent phone call one Sunday to rescue a badly injured feral kitten from a drain. Investigation by the vet revealed a broken back leg which had to be amputated. Janet Longman kindly offered to foster him – and she and Terry have proved to be so good at this fostering gig that they are now foster failures! Pogo is still extremely frightened of strangers, strange noises and his shadow, but once Janet has worked her magic he will be able to join dogs Lily and Ruby and cats Griffin, Angus and Meggie (also adopted from us).

 


Pogo post-op

 

We were recently asked for emergency assistance with a kitten removed from horrendous circumstances - he had been thrown into boiling water, and Janet stepped into the breach.

From Janet:

Little Bernie wasn't more than 3 to 4 weeks of age. The serious burns had obviously occurred sometime before help was sought and the vet said the one front leg was "dead" and would in due course "fall off". I had also discovered that little Bernie's tail was broken in four places. The vet also noticed severe bruising on his tummy and internal injuries could not be ruled out. Because of the severity of his injuries, it was kindest (on recommendation of the vet) to put this poor, suffering little kitten out of its misery. I cried buckets of tears afterwards but, in retrospect, little Bernie was a lucky one - that the Wild Cat Project existed for him and could help. To all who support this project in Grahamstown, I extend the most grateful thanks possible.

The two adult cats and the other kittens on the property were removed by the SPCA.

 

From Lorna:

When I arrived at a campus feral feeding site last week, I was greeted with loud, urgent miaouws from an unfamiliar voice. Students were trooping past but no-one seemed to notice the small, skinny ginger kitten peering anxiously from some bushes. The kitten retreated deeper into the bushes and I realised he was feral, yet he did not run away - he was clearly desperate for help and he knew to ask for it! I crawled deeper into the bushes and he arched his back a little, interested, a small flicker of hope in his scared eyes. I spoke sweetly and edged closer, reaching in and managed a tiny pinch of scruff and didn't let go. He was somewhat scared being dragged by the scruff through the undergrowth but I had him and wasn't letting go! I managed to get him back to my car and somehow into a basket and home to my tiny bathroom where he has lived for the past week. The day after getting him home, I could see he was not well and a vet visit confirmed he has biliary and although a month of meds still lies ahead, he has responded well to treatment and is eating VERY well on a good quality diet. He also has an umbilical hernia which will need to be repaired as soon as he is well enough for surgery. His name is Joss and he is a very sweet, loving kitten - still quite timid, but quickly finding his feet in the world.

Thanks as always to our supporters who made his rescue and veterinary treatment possible.

   

 

Trapping

I have not yet had time to do trapping at the colonies I mentioned last month but have had offers of help so will follow those up. The one colony is on private property and I’ve been told I can expect no assistance (in 2015 the trapping was done by the owners) and must set the traps outside the garden, so the situation will have to be negotiated very delicately. The cats are fed inside the property so that will be the best place to trap them.

 

Fundraising

Cash and food collections at Pick ‘n Pay: 2 April and 1 October.

Viv Botha has kindly agreed to have another book sale during 2016 – details still to be confirmed – so please start putting aside any unwanted books when you are doing your post-Christmas spring cleaning.

 

Donations

(23 January – 19 February 2016)

Thank you so much to everyone who donated. Your support means so much to us and helps us to continue with our work.

Jennifer Gon
Sheryl Drennan
Jude Daya (adoption fee)
Lee-Anne Venter
Kylie Buys (adoption fee)
Merelda Rex
Natasha Pretorius (adoption fee)
Sal Wedlake (in memory of Gizmo Phampilon)
Rouxlé Hattingh (adoption fee)
Kestrel Raik (adoption fee)
Amy Shaw (adoption fee)

If making electronic payments please remember to include WILDCAT and your name as a reference so that we can thank you. Please email proof of payment to: l.grant@nelm.org.za

 

About Us


All donations go to sterilisation and a small portion to food.
Occasionally there are costs for veterinary care of ferals who are ill or injured.

We appreciate your generosity greatly as it enables us to continue helping the feral cats.
Spays cost us R440 and neuters R287,
plus extra for any complications such as pregnancy or undescended testes.

The adoption fee is R500, which includes first deworming and inoculation and obligatory sterilisation.

If you would like to donate any amount, please deposit into our vet account at:

The Grahamstown Veterinary Clinic,
Standard Bank Account No 282625054
Branch Code 050917

Please add the reference "W/CAT" and your name, and please notify us if possible
so that we can follow up donations in case of accidental misallocation

Please do not take any feral/stray cat into the vet for attention and charge it to our Wildcat account without prior approval from Lynne.

The Wildcat account with the vet is meant for sterilisation of ferals and will only under certain exceptional circumstances be used for other procedures.

Grahamstown Feral Cat Project uses the TNR (Trap, Neuter & Return) approach - globally recognised as the most humane, least costly and most sustainable way of stabilizing feral cat populations.

Volunteers humanely trap the feral cats; we take them to the vet to be spayed or neutered; the tip of the right ear is snipped off so we can easily identify that they have been sterilised; we return them to their original territory where they live out their lives (adult ferals cannot be tamed). Feral kittens, wherever possible, are fostered, tamed and homed.

 

Archived Newsletters

January 2015
February 2015
March 2015
April 2015
May 2015
June 2015
July 2015
August 2015
September 2015
October 2015
November 2015
December 2015
January 2016

 

The Grahamstown Feral Cat project promotes responsible pet ownership. This includes proper care (feeding, vaccination and preventative treatment against parasites, etc.) and sterilisation to prevent unplanned kittens and reduce the number of homeless animals.

See
http://www.ru.ac.za/greenliving/action/petwise
and
http://www.ru.ac.za/greenliving/action/animalwise/feralcats

Useful Facebook Pages:

Grahamstown Animal Network (GRAN): https://www.facebook.com/groups/GRanimalove/
Grahamstown Missing Pets: https://www.facebook.com/groups/341158359327237/

 

 

To subscribe to our mailing list, please click here or follow this link:
http://fables.activedns.co.za/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gfcp-list

To unsubscribe, click here or follow this link:
http://fables.activedns.co.za/cgi-bin/mailman/options/gfcp-list

 

Page updated on February 6, 2018
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