Ibiza Heroes #1

Care4cats has come across a number of people on Ibiza who take the considerable time and trouble to feed colonies of stray cats and offer affection to those looking for love. Without these wonderful people it would be difficult for these cats to survive, and, as it's always hard to re-home stray cats, it allows them to have a decent life in the wild.

To start us off through on our recognition of these caring people is this lovely story of how 2 holidaymakers got involved with Ibiza cats.

n.b. we haven't mentioned the location to ensure the cats are safe...but if you'd like to know more please get in touch with Jaki who will explain how you can meet everyone.

Our Furry Friends in Sta Eularia

In November 1997 we were on holiday in Santa Eulalia and came across a beautiful white cat, obviously homeless. So we went back each day to feed him and another little grey cat we came across. I'm sure you'll understand we worried about going home and how the two cats would be.
On our last day it was pouring with rain, but off we went armed with four tins of cat food.
On our arrival there was a lady completely covered in a mackintosh feeding the white cat. I said “Excuse me do you speak English” she replied “yes I do, this white cat I call Arthur is going to a home in Germany along with the other cat” She was paying for both of them to travel over. She told us her name was Michele. We gave her the cat food. It was such a relief to know they were both going to good homes
Twice every year we returned to Santa Eulalia for a holiday and to the 'spot' where we discovered even more cats had been abandoned, including two beautiful tortoiseshell kittens. They were quite happy living by the river getting regular feeds from Michele and another lady who took it in turn each day to make sure they were looked after. Sadly they were also brought more cats, one found in a dustbin, one in the boot of a car...etc
4 yrs ago we moved to Ibiza. By then Michele was leaving Ibiza so we took over feeding the cats. At one point we had 12. Sadly this year 3 of the old ones have died so we're now down to nine, all have been neutered or castrated thanks to Angela from “Care 4 Cats” who also helped Clarence with his cancer of the ears. Angela caught him and the vet who solved the problem, he is now very happy and even though he's lost the tips of his ears he looks adorable. Josephine is our eldest girl at twelve (see photo)
We also have 4 living with us from this spot. We took Lulu, a little black kitten left there, then last year a kitten in a very poor state that we didn't think would survive but he has and is now a big healthy boy, we adore him he's called Ricardo. Later last year somebody left a lovely grey she cat by the river and in December a kitten was left too. Both were so affectionate we could tell they had lived in a home. We told care4cats about them, who said to take them to be micro-chiped and have the rabies injection and they could go to Germany to be re-homed. Unfortunately the kitten was too sick to travel and we feared the other one may be infected so we kept them in our spare room for several weeks waiting to see if anyone could accompany them to Germany. As time went on, we fell in love - so here they stay.
4 days a week we go down to 'our spot' and feed our little family, the other three days another person goes. We live quite a distance from it and it takes a half hour to get there. When we do we shout a cats name and they all come running to us. In the summer we get asked a lot of questions about the cats by holidaymakers who love to watch us feed them.
“Are these cats wild?” They will be if they don’t get something to eat!
“What’s the matter with that cats ears?” Poor Clarence is so proud of his new appearance, he thinks he is so handsome, and so he is.
We never take holidays together, Michael and me. It is impossible as we have our 4 at home to look after and our 'stray' cats, who wait for us at 3’oclock each day - they are very good time keepers!
The last young cat to be left by the river, is about seven months old a little ginger girl. She has been neutered by Care 4 Cats. She is very affection and loves to sit on your knee and be tickled. In August she is going to Germany to be re-homed, she will be accompanied by the daughter of Michael who runs the Care 4 cats in Hamburg. We would love to take her home with us but our four keep us busy.
Some days especially in the full heat of summer we think what a long walk as we get so hot, but when we arrive we know it’s worth it to see them all running up to us. We spend 100 euros each month on food for them. Christmas Day they have turkey and roast beef...and No they don’t wear party hats!
So if you'd like to take a stroll and meet our furry friends get in contact.

care4cats says: There are many loving stray cats just desperate for homes...so if you can re-home one of these loving cats please get in touch or leave a comment with your email address.

A holidaymakers view

I visited Ibiza in May and thought i would have a nice relaxing break in the sun. Well I was mistaken, I was overwhelmed by the suffering of many, many cats and kittens. I was unable to walk on by, like so many people do. So it started off first with a trip to the local supermarket, purchasing loads of cat food. We would go all around San Antonio feeding the numerous cats. But then came the next dilema, how could we leave the cats/kittens who were in a bad way physically. Numerous had flea allergies - missing fur, bleeding from sores. Others had the tips of their ears missing and were black at points and bleeding - showing the signs of skin cancer. Then there were the tiny kittens living on the streets, some as young as 6 weeks. As if this was not bad enough, they were not healthy bundles, they looked extremely poorly with cat flu - 2 tabbies looked like they were going to loose one or both their eyes. And the others were weak and sneezing. So that was it the holiday was over and the work started. We got some cat baskets and 2 traps, and with the help of Jaki, set about catching some of the cats and kittens.They were taken to the vets and treated and if old enough they were neutered. Some were fostered by people on the island others were returned. But at least they could not have any more babies and continue the cycle of misery.We were so overwhelmed with the misery of the cats that we have arranged to go back out with the charity in July to get more cats neutered, hopefully this will help to reduce the suffering.

note from care4cats: we try to do everything we can to care for the street cats of Ibiza...please help us continue and reach our goal of never having to say no by donating online whatever you can...thank you for your concern.
Also, if you'd like to work with our friendly dedicated team of volunteers - then get in touch. We'd love to welcome new faces!

Kitten rescued from a drain - San Jose. Ibiza

We received an emergency call from some friends of ours who had discovered a kitten trapped in a drain near the post office in San Jose village. Stephen rushed round with a cat box and towel to house the little chap (who turned out to be a boy) when the kitten was successfully freed.

Thankfully Judy and Warren said they'd keep him and he is now sharing a home with their other rescue cat Sunny Jim who is getting used to having a new playmate.
A very happy ending to a story that could have easily had a sadder outcome.

After much debate about a name that suits him...he's now been christened 'Nobby' after Nobby Stiles!
He's a beautifully marked tabby with blue grey eyes...so he's definitely goning to be a looker!

If you think you can re-home a kitten or cat then do get in touch with Jaki at care4cats as we're always looking for loving homes for loving cats.

Update on June Visit to Ibiza

Care 4 Cats visit Ibiza twice a year in February and November to humanely control the large numbers of cats on the streets.

In June there was an unscheduled visit by 5 Care 4 Cats team, who, ostensibly on a short holiday, decided they could not ignore a lot of female cats that would shortly be pregnant, so Sue and Dave John, and Deborah and Tracey and Angela, although not all in Ibiza at the same time, decided to do some trapping and neutering with the local Ibiza vets. It was nice to think that another 30 cats were not going to produce offspring as a result.

One sour note was that Angela, going to collect €124 from Penny in Es Cana who had held a sale for us in May, found out that a con woman had already approached Penny saying that she was from Care 4 Cats and had to collect the money raised. Penny gave it to her and that obviously paid for her groceries that week. We suspect this is at least the second time she has done it, and would like to warn people not to give money to a tall, thin, German woman, that rides a bicycle! Please give all monies for Care 4 Cats only to Angela.

To learn more of Care 4 Cats work, they now have a website http://www.care4cats.co.uk/. In about one month’s time there will be a section on it for Donations on line for anyone that would like to contribute to the work. If you’re an animal lover who cares about Ibiza’s cats you can help by becoming a member. Your annual donation will help towards neutering 1 cat – see website for details.

Donations are so important to keep this valuable work going on Ibiza – Can you help?
Do you have a business (bar, hotel, shop) or perhaps a holiday villa you rent out where you could host a care4cats collection tin? It would be a great help in raising money! Please contact Jaki on 625997009
Do you know anyone who travels to Hamburg regularly and could help by taking cats to be re-homed as part of their luggage allowance? No involvement is necessary – care4cats organise it all and the cats are met in Hamburg. If you do please contact Wendy on 971 335226
Can you help as a volunteer on care4cats next trip we need drivers, administrators etc? Or provide old towels or curtains? Just call Jaki on the number above for a chat about how you can help

Next visit is November 9th for 1 week. Calls can be made to me from Sunday 8th in Ibiza on 660 187 591. Please don’t leave a message, as Angela may not have time to call you, so please call again.