<Insert pussy joke here> (Cats Protection)

Member Name: michaird

Product:	Cats Protection
Date:	20/01/03 (692 review reads)
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I grew up in a house full of animals. Animals of all sizes, all shapes and all descriptions. When I left home the complement of the house consisted of two dogs, one cat, one parrot, one hamster and a rabbit. So it seemed rather inevitable that I would get my own pets soon enough.

I'm a dog person myself; they're mostly dumb and give you a lot of affection. My vision of a good dog, stupid, obedient and faithful is very close to my vision of a good man. However I have a good man and as I work all day long it's simply not possible for us to have a dog and be able to look after it well enough. So I was persuaded by my moggy loving man to get a cat. Well, as we work all-day we ended up deciding on two cats, to keep each other company.

And we went to the cat's protection league.

Cats protection is a large registered charity that has been around looking out for cats for over seventy-five years. With the help of over 5000 volunteers they rescue and re-home around 60000 cats every year. They operate a strict 'no kill' policy that means no cat in their care will be put to sleep unless a vet advises them on medical grounds. In fact they even rescue cats which have been left with a vet to be put down for no other reason than that they were not wanted anymore.

The league also operates a strict neutering policy all older cats in their care will be neutered and if you adopt a kitten you will have to sign to agree that you will have them neutered at the earliest opportunity. If you do not do so the league will be able to remove the cat from your care. The philosophy behind this is that, although they love cats, each female cat could be responsible for around 20000 descendants throughout their lifetime, and there is no doubt that a significant proportion of those descendants with end up being abandoned.

They also do not advocate allowing a female cat to produce a litter before being neutered, on humane ground
s. Their reasoning is that the maternal instinct does not activate until the mother has recognised her first kittens, by allowing her to produce one litter your are providing her with a memory of something she will never have again. Whether this is true or not I do not know, but I would assume that they have taken proper veterinary advice regarding this policy and it appears to make sense. Research has also shown that a cat that has not reproduced is at a lower risk from certain diseases, such as mammary cancer, that one that has.

If you are a full time student, on a pension, on means tested benefits or on a low wage you can obtain help for cats protection towards the cost of neutering. There is no excuse.

You can become a member of the league for £12 per year or your children can join the cool cats club for £5 per year. Adult members get a bi-monthly cat magazine and children get a club membership pack and a bi-monthly children's cat magazine.

To adopt a cat from cat's protection you will need to contact your nearest branch. There are 30 shelters are 260 branches throughout the country so there should be one reasonably close to everyone. They will take a few details and arrange to visit your home.

The home visit will usually take place in the evening, as most volunteers work full time, and for safety reasons there will always be two visitors. The visit is mainly to establish the suitability of you home for a cat. They don't go poking round the place being picky they just want to make sure that you have a decent place for them to stay when you're out, easy access to the outdoors and that the conditions are suitable.

They will have a chat with you about what kind of cat you want, considerations such as age; sex, breed and colour will be discussed. They will go through a few questions on how you intend to look after them, the arrangements for when you go on holiday for example and their policies regardi
ng neutering and care. If you agree to their terms and you meet the requirements they will start to look for a cat for you.

They ask for a donation of at least £20 for each cat they re-home, although it is not expected as they are usually just as happy to find a home as receive a donation. But remember it cost a lot more than that in food and vet's fee before a cat is re-home and they do usually come with all the necessary vaccinations.

Now, most people want kittens, little fluffy bundles of fluff. So kittens can be in short supply. We were quite specific that we wanted two cats and luckily there was a pair of female kittens aged 14 weeks old in care that they didn't want separating. So when the woman asked if we would be able to take our new pets the very next day we were a bit taken aback. Of course we could, no withstanding a quick trip into town to get a few essentials first of course. But the next day she turned up with two balls of fluff.

We signed the paperwork that bound us to the terms of the organisation, she went through their care and how they had been and a few other points then left us to it. If the cats were to need any veterinary treatment in the next two weeks the league will reimburse us for the costs, we were also given an insurance policy, which covers us, free of charge, for the next six weeks. One of them appears to have a bit of a cold so we may end up using it. We were also given a pack of leaflets explaining everything from how to introduce them to their new hone to how to introduce them to their new family (and any boisterous children!).

So now we have two cats. A dark tortoiseshell newly named Ellie and a black cat named Molly. They're not little kittenish balls of fluff but more like five years olds and as such after two days they're still a bit frightened but seem to have made themselves at home. Using my dining room chair as a bed even though they have a perfectly good blanket in th
e corner of the kitchen. We've let them explore on their own for a while, although when we brought them in the living room they just hid behind the curtains looking out the window. They're greedy little gits too, half a tin of kitten food gone in about thirty seconds with the Ellie, the bigger one, getting most of it (we may have to do something about that).

Now I'm sure everyone is aware that the New Year is often the busiest time in the abandoned animal market. Most years it is a glut of unwanted kittens that the charity has to contend with, this year however it seems to be that more older cats are being abandoned and these are much harder to re-home. So, if you've got some room, time and love, why not help out?

The cat's protection website www.cats.org.uk is really quite good and will not only give details of your nearest branch but also has a few of the cats they have available for re-homing and a history of success stories. There is plenty of information on cat care, facts and history. So even if you're not looking to adopt it's a good resource for people who like cats anyway.

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