FELINES. CARING FOR CATS Our vision is a world where every cat is treated with kindness and an understanding of its needs.

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1 FELINES Taunton & Wellington Branch Newsletter Summer 2015 Issue No 110 CARING FOR CATS Our vision is a world where every cat is treated with kindness and an understanding of its needs. REG CHARITY (ENGLAND AND WALES) AND SC (SCOTLAND)

2 Callie It was rewarding to successfully home an older cat. She had been with us for a considerable time and become a firm favourite with our volunteers. Her new owner says It is indeed three weeks since you delivered Callie. She is settling in very well. She has the run of the house and a routine of moving around to different favoured places to sleep as the day goes on. She finds her way upstairs at night and sleeps peacefully on the duvet. We let her out for the first time yesterday. She comes back OK! We don t think she goes very far as yet. Callie is eating well and has eventually remembered how to use a corrugated cardboard scratching box. We are thrilled with her and she seems to have taken to both of us. She has already featured on my Facebook page and has had so many compliments. We have more adult cats waiting for their special homes see our cats for adoption feature.

3 Welcome to the Summer 2015 Issue of Felines After the slow start to the year reported in our last issue, things have picked up somewhat! Between 1 st January and 31 st July 2015, we have homed 74 cats in total, including 29 transferred to Cats Protection Adoption Centres, where all of them found homes very quickly. We have had a steady supply of kittens coming in for various reasons, including five litters that have been hand reared. The youngest were less than 24 hours old, having been deserted by their feral mother in a garden. Mum was subsequently trapped, spayed, and went off to live a very different life on a farm. It is hard to believe that our shop has now been open for almost six months. It continues to be very popular, with a steady stream of regular customers, and attracts very high quality donations. The turnover of stock is very quick, and we always welcome donations of clothing for men and women. We are, however, unable to accept electrical items and large items of furniture. If in doubt, please call the shop on Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 9.30 to If you haven t yet made a visit, do go you will receive a very warm welcome from our Manager Julie and Assistant Manager Lesley, and the volunteers who work there. Our new foster pen unit has also been a big success this year, and you can read more about it elsewhere in the Newsletter. Our Facebook and Twitter pages continue to be popular, with a growing number of followers, many of whom are dedicated supporters of Wilfred and his blogs, which continue to amuse and entertain. He will be a year old in September, and has a few things to tell you in this issue about some of the kittens that have come into our care this year. We apologise for this issue being published later than we would have liked. Cats, and the five litters of hand reared kittens, have got in the way. As always, they must take precedence, which we hope our readers will understand. Ann and David Our two cover girls are Jessie and Susie, born on 8 May in our shelter and now enjoying their new home. Their mum Suzi is still waiting to find hers.

4 Why not Volunteer for Taunton & Wellington Branch? We are very fortunate to have attracted a team of excellent volunteers, who regularly carry out the many and varied aspects of cat welfare and care, including vet visits, home visits, trapping, daily care of cats in our foster pens, and the shop. The Branch has expanded considerably this year, and we always need more help. Please call or tandwcats@gmail.com In particular, we are looking for an editor for our Felines Newsletter. This comes out four times a year and would involve gathering articles, photographs, news items etc and preparing the copy ready for publication. Support and guidance would always be available. If you have suitable experience and are IT literate, please get in touch. Shop volunteers do you have two or three hours to spare each week? If you would like to work as part of our happy shop team, and enjoy meeting people, please call for an informal chat. Trap/Neuter/release volunteers this is real hands on work, requiring patience and a good knowledge of how cats think! Full training and supervision is given. You must be able to drive. This is sporadic and unpredictable work, often involving evenings. Cat Care volunteers for our foster units if you would like to be involved as part of a first class team with cleaning, feeding and playing with cats and kittens, get in touch. Times to suit you normally two hour sessions lunchtime or teatime throughout the week. Many of our cat care volunteers have full time jobs, but still enjoy the opportunity for some real quality cat time. If the cleaning and feeding is not for you, how about just volunteering for cat cuddling? Cats in our foster care really appreciate the time spent with them, and you could make a real difference in socialising and rehabilitating them. Vet visits taking cats to the vets by appointment, usually at a time to suit you. Or collecting them and returning to their foster pens.

5 Biscuit When we bought him home we went to the park for an hour or so to give him a little quiet time to settle in, and when we returned he was tucked away under the stairs playing with some toys. He stayed there most of the evening, and when we came downstairs this morning he was nowhere to be found! After a lot of searching (and following his little meow) he was snuggled in behind a cushion on the sofa, lovely and warm! He has been using his litter tray wonderfully, and has been eating his Whiskas kitten biscuits. I've attached a couple of photos of him with the children. They're thick as thieves already!

6 The Blackadders! Originally called Edmund, Percy, Baldrick and Melchett. Here they are with their new names. One thing their new owners are all agreed on is that they are VERY lively! They were just one of this year s hand reared litters Bertie (Percy) Freddie (Edmund) Mac (Baldrick) Monty (Melchett)

7 Sponsorship You may recall that in May last year, Ann and David flew the zipline at the Holmenkollen Olympic Ski Jump in Oslo, raising over 530 for Branch funds. Well, we are at it again! In September this year we are due to fly SkyWire, the longest zipline in England, at The Eden Project in Cornwall. Follow the link: if you would like to see what it looks like. We can t wait. We would again be delighted to receive sponsorship for this. You can do this either by cheque to the address on the back page of this Newsletter, by delivering your donation to the shop at 19 South Street, Wellington TA21 8NR, or by visiting All donations made by the latter route will also be directed to Taunton & Wellington Branch funds. The wire is 660 metres long and passes over the now famous biomes, achieving speeds of up to 60mph!!

8 North Curry Primary School Education is one of the strategic policy aspects of Cats Protection work nationally, and therefore it was a pleasure to be given the opportunity to visit the reception class at North Curry Primary School. The following text was published in the Somerset County Gazette. A PURRRFECT party was held for Katie, the North Curry Post Office cat last week as she celebrated her eighth birthday in human years. The Minnow Class at North Curry Primary School held a special cat birthday picnic in Queen's Square Gardens with parents and governors with plenty of feline themed treats. And the children had plenty to enjoy too with free ice-cream from Granny Gothards and a party bag made up by Katie and her cat chums from Alison, Katie's owner. The Minnow Class celebrate Katie's birthday every year and they were given a talk all about cats and their crafty ways by David from Cats Protection. They mastered the "slow blink" to see if cats are ready to be cuddled and other cat body language tricks. The children also found out about foods and plants that are poisonous to cats and things cats need to stay healthy and happy. Evie said: "I loved singing happy birthday to Katie because we miaowed it."

9 The children had great fun colouring cat masks and had collected food, toys and a cash donation for our Branch. THANK YOU!

10 I LOVE CATS Our street is full of cats Why I do not know Seems to be the place to be Say Hi and say hello Kittens in the spring All colours and odd hues There s even lovely big black Tom In four white walking shoes Cats come in and out my house They know they will be fed Whenever it is raining There s always a warm bed Singing in the garden Howling cries on by Kittens and cats a like Don t know the reason why Must be the good people Crosslands must attract We re good and kind to people And we always love our cats We share em and we care For the ones we love the best If you look inside your garden shed There s a kitty catty nest Why do the cats all love us down Upon the raging Tone I guess it s just because they know It s their purrrfect home By Ian Vickery Please send us your stories, poems and photos for future editions. contributions to:- tandwcats@gmail.com

11 A Huge Thank You... to Julia Clewes, who regularly donates goods to our shop. Not only that, but to mark a special birthday she held a Ladies Tea Party, and asked all her guests for a donation to our branch instead of a present. Since then, she had a sales table at her village summer fete, raising more funds, and then donated her unsold goods to the shop as well. We are truly grateful to you Julia, for your continued support. A Few Words from Wilfred Hello I just wanted to tell you about some of the hand reared kittens that have been fostered at my home this year. As you know, I was hand reared myself in 2014, and now I m nearly one! The humans who adopted me say that hand reared kittens are very special, but they are a huge amount of hard work. If you have ever thought that you would like to try it, call for an informal chat on Meanwhile, enjoy The Rat Pack. You have already met The Blackadders. Love, Wilfred x Frank and Sammy Dino with his feather

12 The Three Mouseketeers This beautiful threesome were once feral They have wisely decided that life is far more comfortable indoors New Foster Pens at Halse After many months of planning and building, the new five pen foster unit at Halse finally opened early this year. Located in the grounds of a commercial boarding cattery, our vision was to have a volunteer run facility where we could care for mums and litters of kittens and this dream has been achieved! With five pens (one, a larger family sized pen) we are able to foster quite a number of cats and this has to date been very much the case - and as the unit has its own working area with sink, washing machine, microwave, fridge, lockable medicine cabinet, storage facilities and a mobile examination unit, everything is in place to provide the best care we can envisage for those cats and kittens. Some pens have a CP Feline Fort which provides sitting and lounging space for the inmates as well as cosy sleeping cabins with hiding places for the more initially timid new arrivals.

13 Our vision was to have a team of volunteers to handle the day to day running of the unit and this has really worked well. One volunteer manages the week by week rota for the two main sessions one at lunchtime and one at teatime and she also does some cat cuddling at one of our other fostering locations. Everyone has attended our in-house training sessions at the unit and most have now also attended the CP training information days run by staff from National Cat Centre so we are confident that the care provided follows the minimum veterinary standards to which we are obliged to operate. It seems that we have created a bit of a stir within CP with this unit, with visiting staff expressing how impressed they are with it and we expect further visits from members of the Operations team at HQ. The following item is from one of the volunteer team.

14 Halse foster pens: Each visit a new experience Volunteering at the new foster pens in Halse is exciting. You never know who will be in situ. Part of you wants those that have been around for a while to have been rehomed, the other part it is lovely to see them again, as you do get attached. In fact so much so, it is tempting to take them all home with you. However having been read the riot act, one must say goodbye each week, and hope someone somewhere has had their heart moved by their stories and you will hear that they have moved on to a forever home. The comings and goings recently have hotted up kittens and mums galore. No sooner than one family shipped out then two more mothers and families moved in. You can arrive to clean, feed and cuddle with just three of the five pens occupied and by the time you leave all are full and you are ankle deep in kittens. Callie, a longer time resident, had a brief respite from one adjacently housed family, before another three mischievous babies moved in next door the neighbours from hell! Three kittens rampaging, tearing the place apart with particular concentration on a cardboard box that had housed food pouches. Nothing compares to the noise a kitten or two can make chasing a cardboard box around a concrete floor. Callie would sit up on her shelf and stare at them, an elderly lady, wondering at the behaviour of the younger generation. Their mother meanwhile getting some respite from their attentions by lying on her shelf, with only half an eye on what was going on below. There is an obvious need for the kittens to get used to being handled, but the longer time residents need their contact time as well. So once pens have been swept out, litter trays cleaned up and any changes in behaviour noted, it is time to chat to each and provide a lap to sit on or crawl over. Hand in hand with visiting the foster pens has been a training day organised by Cats Protection recently. We were told however much you think you know cats, you will learn something new after one of these days so true. It was fascinating. From information about the early cats of Africa to how cats learn in a domestic environment today. One of our cats taps me on the back of a leg when he wants to let me know he is there and isn t it tea time? To stop him doing this I give him some

15 food who is training whom? Another having done the leg rubbing routine to alert you that he s about, goes to sit beside the fridge not difficult to work out why. They certainly have us well trained. Volunteering to support those cats whose lives have been disrupted, for whatever reason, is so worthwhile hopefully it will help them settle the sooner in their new home. Four individuals who hunt as a group. Which ever of our four cats finds a mouse, the other three then offer support. Especially if the mouse in question has got away, found either a wood pile or dense bush to hide in. Then it is surrounded until it comes out, or they get bored and wander off. As they don t hunt because they are hungry, rodents are playthings. But at times have more gumption than the cats. Providing they remain still inside the bush or don t come out of the wood pile, there is a fair chance the various cats involved in the stake out, will give up and go off to seek something more receptive to chase. As the saying goes it takes two to tango, no fun at all if the other half won t join in the game.

16 More Recent Adoptions It s wonderful to see cats go off to their new homes, and to receive such positive feedback from their owners -. Especially three-legged Elvis, who was snapped up really quickly Beautiful Sparkle with her stunning amber eyes Ruben, left, and Morris, below, both of whom made a huge impression on our cat care volunteers and are much missed

17 Cats Ready for Adoption As well as the success stories, there are of course still cats awaiting adoption, including - Fluffy, aged 10, who has had mixed fortunes and would now love an understanding home where she is treated with consistent kindness Pretty Brie (about a year) who had done a great job as a stray, rearing her two fluffy black kittens Feta and Yarg. We would like to home the kittens together

18 Cats Ready for Adoption Suzi is about two years old, and the mother of our two cover girls. She is now seeking her own home. She is a very calm and gentle cat Georgia (left) and Arna (right) are related and well bonded. They are definitely people cats, who love to interact with humans All our cats for adoption are neutered, fully vaccinated and microchipped and have had a full vet check before leaving us. They also come with four weeks free pet insurance.

19 Toys for the boys (and girls!) We received a very kind and generous donation in memory of the late mother of a supporter. Imagine our surprise when two big boxes filled with super quality cat activity toys to use for the enrichment of cats and kittens in foster care were handed to us! The important thing with such items is that we need to be able to thoroughly clean and sterilise them between cats so these lovely activity items have been put to use for several pens full of cats and kittens over the past months and will continue to provide much needed entertainment and activity for future inmates. Thank you so much for thinking of us we really do appreciate it! Just testing!...

20 Your Local Contacts Call or visit The area we cover :- The Taunton & Wellington Branch can offer help in the following area only: TA1, TA2, TA3, TA4, and TA21. FRIENDS OF THE BRANCH Friends of the Branch is available to anyone who cares about cat welfare in our area. If you choose to become a Friend of the Branch your membership will include four annual issues of Felines by post. (Felines can be sent by if you prefer please see below) Minimum membership is 7.50 a year. Please make cheques or postal orders payable to ;- Cats Protection T&W Friends of the Branch and send to :- Friends of the Branch Taunton & Wellington CP c/o 6 Roundoak Gardens Nynehead, Wellington Somerset, TA21 0BX Please enrol/re-enrol me as a Friend of the Branch (One year membership) I enclose a cheque/postal order for. ( 7.50 minimum). To qualify for Gift Aid, what you pay in income tax or capital gains tax must equal at least the amount that all charities you donate to will reclaim in the tax year (6th April to 5th April). Please tick the box to enable us to treat all your donations in the last 4 years, and all your future donations, until further notice, as Gift Aid. OR If you are not a UK Tax Payer please tick this box. NAME ADDRESS POST CODE.. TEL:. If you would prefer to receive Felines by , please tick this box