December 2015 Cat Transport: A Special Christmas

Last Friday’s cat transport to Germany and the UK was a special one for me for a number of reasons. Firstly 12 cats travelled from SOS Pechina which is one of the two main rescues I work with on our Germany Re-Homing Project, all of whom I had watched for weeks, and some for months at the rescue, and become emotionally involved with. Every time I visit Pechina, I want to take all of the cats home with me, which is why each time that one of them gets the chance to leave it is a huge success story. Nine of these beautiful cats are now in families or foster homes in Germany found through the wonderful work of the girls at Katzenherzen, whom I have been working with to help Almeria cats for 8 years now! The remaining 3 cats have travelled to homes in the UK, and this marks the start of a new relationship with 2 more lovely ladies who want to help handicapped cats or cats that for some reason are difficult to find homes for.

Re-Homed in Germany

Frodo and Samwise were the youngest travellers. They are 2 of my ‘hobbit’ kittens and arrived at Pechina when only about 2 months old. They have survived terrible colds/cat flu, spent weeks in the clinic when younger, and have come through as 2 gorgeous, friendly little boys of now about 6 months. One of my focus’s in the last few months has been to make sure this litter of 4 survived. Rahda also came to Pechina as a small kitten and has grown up in Pechina, progressing from the kitten to the adult pen after her sterilisation. Little feisty tabby, Minty, should have travelled last month but she had a cold, so finally after close to a year in the rescue she has her home. Juani is a beautiful, affectionate older lady who puts her paws round your neck for cuddles, Claudette the siam-mix lady was losing weight at the rescue but in my foster room gained confidence again and started to look like the young cat she really is, while Thackery and Suki had taken the rescue more in their strides. Persian cross Miguel was handed in to the clinic by his owner who no longer wanted him, and with the help of a local foster home, we managed to keep him out of the main rescue. These are the 8 Pechina cats that went to Germany, along with little Noa who was found by a kind Spanish girl, actually in Pechina village. We also managed to keep her out of the rescue, when a foster home was found for her quickly in Germany.

Claudette

Suki

Thackery

Minty

Juani

Samwise

Frodo

Rahda

Noa

Miguel

Re-Homed in UK

As for the 3 that went to the UK, they are the brave cats that have undergone trauma but now have the chance of happy lives in spite of their handicaps. When I first saw ginger Chris he was very afraid in the rescue cattery, surrounded by 60 other adult cats. His back left paw had been so badly crushed it needed amputation and he was left with half his leg hanging down useless. In the last 3 weeks he has had the remainder of this leg removed by my great vet, and has had the best food and care with us to recover not just his health and mobility but also his confidence in life. Now we see him as the loving, talkative character cat he was meant to be. He has been joined in his home by big beautiful white Cosmo, who is slowly regaining strength in his back legs after weeks in a cage to recover from a back injury. He may always have some nerve damage but he has made great progress in the last 2 weeks. The last cat is beautiful little Dora, who I found afraid to move in the kitten pen. She lost her sight and one eye and suffered a broken jaw, the vet believes from a close explosion. She suffered not only this trauma but weeks in cages following surgery. She has learnt to enjoy strokes and has gained weight with us, and is now confidently exploring her new home.

Chris

Cosmo

Dora

All the cats are doing well, adjusting to their new lives and slowly making new friends, cat and human. I wish them all a wonderful Christmas and a great start to their new lives. I also want to say a BIG thank you to Katzenherzen as always, to Angela and Elicia for their loving homes in the UK, to all the adopt ants and foster homes in Germany, and to everyone in Spain who has helped these cats in any way, our vets, the rescues that play their part, our foster homes and Pam, Iain and Jenny, and of course Chris, who help me here in Amerimar, and transported them via our pet transport service.

Happy Xmas to all and I hope for a great 2016 helping more beautiful cats to new, happy safe lives.