Merry Christmas from Care4cats!

We are all are in the hectic run up to Christmas and at Care4cats the work continues. The trapping trips in November and October went well with over 250 cats trapped and neutered - thanks to the fantastic volunteers. You can read all about our adventures in our Autumn newsletter...if you don't receive a copy then just email Jaki here who will be more than happy to send you a copy and add you to our list.
Don't forget - for only a small amount you can become a member, or treat someone you know to a pressie that gives a cat a chance of a better life.
Yesterday we had a call from Cathy, a lady who feeds a large colony of cats in Port d'es Torrent. A small black and white tom cat had turned up a few weeks ago who had obviously been dumped. He was very nervous and took to sitting away from the rest of the cats. Yesterday Cathy noticed he had a very bad paw. It looked like it had been crushed...poor thing. Whilst she was trying to see what the problem was a young couple strolled past who lived near by. They stopped to chat and the cat was quite happy being stroked by them. Cathy explained about the paw and told them she was going to contact care4cats to see if they could help. The couple offered to take him in for the night whilst she organised things. Of course we told Cathy to take him straight to the vet and the charity would pay. Toni, the vet, is hopeful that he may only have to amputate the toes. Sadly it looks like a car ran over his foot and crushed it. He must be in such pain.
However the good news for this little chap is that the couple have offered to give him a home...so when he recovers from the operation he will be showered with love and comfort! We're thrilled, as he would definitely have had difficulty surviving if his foot couldn't be saved. What a fabulous end to a tragic situation!
And on that happy note we'd like to take the chance to wish you all a Merry Christmas and thank you for your support this year. Don't forget - if you feel like buying an extra present for an unloved cat living on the streets you can do so by donating on our website. £30 will pay for 1 cat to be neutered.
Thank You.
To keep you smiling through the cold weather many of you are experiencing take a look at this very funny cartoon of Simon's Cat! All cat lovers will instantly be able to sympathise with him! Enjoy!
http://www.simonscat.com/santaclaws.html
Have a very happy Christmas and all the best for 2011!

T - for Trapping

Our team of volunteers who trapped all jobs on the West of the island have been and gone. Tracey and Sue, who volunteered in February, came back to help again (thank you, thank you, thank you!)...they also dragged Nikki along (a veterinary nurse) and Debs who has been helping cats on Ibiza long before Angela started care4cats. To complete the team we had 2 more new volunteers: Sasha and Lorraine who run the Cats Protection in Glasgow. A better group of trappers you couldn't have asked for: organised, passionate and dedicated to catching every last cat!
Phone calls started to be made to schedule the weeks jobs. Some had already been set up for Sunday enabling the new volunteers to work alongside the old hands and get used to the paperwork, traps and locations.
Toni, our vet for the week at Clinica Kans in Puig d'en Vals, helped us get a head start by kindly opening up on Sunday evening to take in the cats trapped that day.

So - the sun was shining, the cats were hungry and the trapping began! 2 of the teams worked together for the first few days doing the larger numbers whilst Sasha and Lorraine did the smaller jobs plus working alongside Vera in Club Cala Vadella who was helping to trap a very large colony there.

Early mornings and late nights were the order of the day for everyone.
All was going according to plan until Sue, Nikki, Tracey and Debs headed off to a call from a lady called Evalina. She'd originally phoned asking for help re-homing as she felt she couldn't cope with the large number of feral cats now in her garden from when she'd started to feed a few ferals alongside her own 3 cats. I explained C4Cs couldn't do that but would neuter them so the group didn't expand. She felt relieved and explained there were about 20-30 cats. Being used to people over-exagerating I conservedly thought it might be about 25. However when I finally walked up the dirt track to her tiny house I was amazed at the numbers of cats that shot out from every concievable bush! A call went out to the other team to come quickly so that all traps and cages available could be used. Evalina had done what had been asked and not fed them, so they were ravenous...and thankfully easier to catch. We think Sue now holds the record for the number of cats caught by a dropper in one go...3!
Most were feral but one little snow white kitten was clearly her favourite, she had been dropped at her front door by the mother cat and so Evalina had hand fed her. She was such a sweetie.
In total the number trapped there was 41 cats. When I rang Toni to let him know we were bringing in a large number of cats I had to repeat the number 3 times! He thought I said 13 not 30! The girls caught the rest the following morning before the others were released - so a job well done. We left Evalina with all the food we had as it was clear she couldn't afford to feed them...though the piece of land she lived on in her small wooden house was idyllic and totally safe for all the cats once released.

In the end there was only 1 female cat not trapped, as she was spotted as the team was driving away, and some kittens that were too young. When the charity visits in February then of course we will make sure they are all trapped and neutered. Then Evalina can relax in the knowledge that no more kittens will be born. I can't tell you the relief she felt knowing that the Care4cats voluteers were there to help her out of the nightmare she'd found herself in.

Anyone who has worked in a trapping team will know it's all about deadlines and logistics; getting appointments made in advance then making sure you have enough cages for the jobs you're doing. Many jobs on the list were small numbers of cats. Trapping 3 jobs of 3/4 each is more time-consuming than one colony of 20. Even on the Saturday, before leaving for their flight, they had 35 cats to release. This just shows the dedication of our volunteer trappers - they work up to the last possible minute. To the amazement of all during the week our fab teams managed to trap over 160 cats from all the jobs phoned in.
Naturally there were one or two cats that failed to be trapped, always frustrating, but they will be the first on the list for the next visit. The positive thing is that several colonies are now completely neutered thanks to the charities volunteers.

Stay tuned for more stories from the trapping expeditions...because as I type the 2nd Team is now out and working all the jobs on the East side of the island. The hard work goes on!

PHOTOS: 1 - trapping volunteers before the work starts! 2 - Nikki with Snowball  3 - cats being released

Time to Trap!

The annual trapping visit is currently being organised. An announcement has been in the local press now for 2 weeks and we are taking calls from people who need help with neutering feral cats. The first team are due to arrive on Saturday (16th October) with a second team due out on the 30th October. Both teams are here for 1 week and will endeavour to trap and neuter as many cats as can be afforded.
The budget is tight this year but we now ask people to donate a minimum amount and anyone who is going direct to the vet is asked to pay 40 euros. This helps to keep the bill under control.
So...the cages and traps have all been checked, cat food has been bought and the paperwork is about to be organised...then it is full steam ahead!
Of course now that we have our new system in place with the approval form, this means that we can continue year round to help people who can take the cat/s direct to the vet themselves...as long as the budget lasts.
We hope to concentrate on San Antonio this time as there are many cats living there in colonies and kittens just keep being born; many to die, sadly, in awful circumstances.
All the volunteers desperately want to make a difference to the lives of these poor cats and they give up their holidays to do so...and pay for flights. Thankfully we have benefactors on the island who offer accommmodation so that saves money for the important tasks ahead. Every cent goes towards the cats.
Check back with us Mid November when we'll have news and stories on how the volunteers got on.

Ibiza Heros #3

Two years ago when we went down to the river to feed the cats, we saw two people already feeding them. We got chatting and they told us they were from Glasgow in Scotland. and that Peter works in Oman for 5 weeks then has 5 weeks holiday. For 3 of those weeks they come to Ibiza as they have such a great love of the Island and the cats of Ibiza.
From then on they started to help us feed the river cats and sometimes, even though they're on holiday, they go twice; if one of the cats doesn't turn up for the afternoon feed they go back at night with more food.
We can't believe it is only 2 years since we met as we've become firm friends with them both. They've given so much money to help the charity care4cats, to us to help pay for cat food and to another helper of the charity to treat other cats on the Island.They're now members of the charity so receive the news letter with regular updates of the care4cats work on Ibiza plus we always let them know what is going on with the river cats when they are not here.
They were last here in July when one of the old river cats seemed to be having trouble with his mouth. They were worried as he couldn't eat or drink, so contacted Monika (one of the care4cats team) who got a cat trapper box to trap him so he could be taken to the vet.
Off we all went, Michael, myself and Monika, down to the river. Maggie and Peter were already there and met us with the news that old cat "Tetu" was fine. It turned out he'd been stung in his mouth by a wasp but had managed to cope with it himself (clever cat who needs human help?).
Maggie and Peter will back on Ibiza soon and we always tell the river cats so they can look forward to the lovely kind hearted people who will give them lots of sardines, pichards and tuna...but no haggis they say!!!
Love
Susan and Michael (year round feeders)

Little Lucy!

Little Lucy is a beautiful cat that Luke (one of our trappers) rescued last November. She was found lying by the side of the road, half dead with all her intestines pushed upwards. We had no idea what had happened to her but she was within hours of dying. During a touch and go operation Toni (the vet) was able to put them back where they should be. She was very young and because we couldn't find a foster home for her we placed her with Wendy who runs the cattery on the island. She grew stronger and fitter enabling us to also have her neutered.
She was due to be re homed to Hamburg where she had a home waiting for her, but during the health check, needed before travelling, the vet discovered a swelling on one side of her stomach. Apparently it was the result of her accident, or deliberate kick, we don’t know and the vet decided that we could not fairly re-home her as it's possible she'd need veterinary treatment later, so Lucy was classed as 'disabled'. This was a great problem – what do we do with her? Re-homing on Ibiza is hard enough...but with a kitten that might need care all its life the problem was naturally greater.

Wendy had grown very fond of her, as she has looked after her since last November, and said that if Care4Cats paid for her bed, board and vet bills she would keep her. So that is what we're doing. She sleeps in a wonderful cattery every night after she's had dinner, but in the daytime she roams around the cattery and woods with 25 other cats that Wendy has rescued over the years. She is completely happy.
We're now looking for some sponsors to 'adopt' her and we hope that we can find maybe 8 people willing to care for her.
Could you pay a small annual amount? With 8 sponsors paying £50 it will add up to her annual  fees. She is worth it. Here are some photos of her for you to see for yourselves (she loves to roll about!). When she first arrived after her operation, she was scared of humans and had never been stroked in her life, but Wendy has quietly socialised her and she now sits on Wendy’s lap of her own accord! A real spoiled cat now and happy with her life! Please help her just contact Jaki by email and she can give you more information about what to do. Thank You!

Busy, busy, busy

The island is now in full swing. All the tourism businesses are open and holidaymakers have arrived. In cat-world it is kitten time.
This is a difficult time for Care4cats because we get many calls asking for help with kittens that have been found half-starved or that have just turned up in gardens...alone and looking for food.
Care4cats isn't a re-homing charity as such, but we do our best and help when we can. Working with people like Sissy and Agnes who have been rescuing cats for years and re-homing them to Germany we can at least manage to help those most in need.
Only last week a call came in from someone who had climbed over a wall of a neighbouring house to rescue a tiny kitten that the children there had been throwing stones at. They were unable to give it a home and thankfully Agnes could take it. So the kitten is now in a safe environment and being cared for until a place can be found on a flight.
Neutering as many feral cats as we can afford is of course the answer to this kitten explosion and that is why we need donations to keep going. That still goes on and calls come in throughout the year for this support.
A month ago Simon from San Juan called us about 6 kittens born to a cat living on a colony on a farm in San Juan. Unfortunately the farmer doesn't care for the cats there already and they often go hungry. Plus none of the females are neutered. Naturally Simon was concerned that these kittens would not survive.
He re-homed 1 kitten and the remainder, with donations, he helped fund to be re-homed in Germany. Monika, who works with Care4cats in many areas, managed to find a flight partner and the kittens are now safely arrived in Germany at the charity we work with there. Once they get used to their new surroundings Michael and Carmen (who run the charity) will set about finding them loving homes. You can see them in the photo waiting for their passports at the vets!
Simon has also made an appointment at the vets to get all the 3 females neutered, with our help, so no more kittens!
So summer is here...and the ever-important work goes on!

Poor Rosie - an appeal

Poor Rosie hasn't had the best life so far. No doubt abandoned she turned up at an apartment complex hungry and pregnant and desperate for care and attention. Thankfully she found an animal lover who took pity on her and started to feed her regularly and build up her confidence with people again.
Now her 'carer' is heading back to the UK mid May and we're desperate to find little Rosie a home as the residents on the complex have made it plain that they do not want cats around.
If you can't re-home her could you help to foster her short-term? We can get her to Germany to a charity that helps re-home our stray cats but we have to wait for a flight partner to come along. It may be only be a matter of weeks but if we can get her off the complex in Cala de Bou where we fear she'll come to halm and into safe hands we'd all exhale a sigh of relief.
Contact me on 625997009 or by email
Thank you!

Happy Luna!

Anyone involved in re-homing cat or kittens to Germany will tell you how hard it is to see them go. Even though they're going to the wonderful Carmen and Michael in Hamburg who work hard to find them loving 'forever' homes you still miss them. This was most definitely the case with little 'Luna', as I'd built up such a bond with this lively black kitten whilst fostering her that it was hard to take her to the airport and leave her with Monika who was accompanying her to Hamburg. See the story here.
Michael and Carmen found her a home very quickly...though anyone seeing Luna would have had their heart captured immedietely, such was her personality. One of the reasons why this sweet kitten just couldn't live her life on the street...she needed someone to love.
It was fantastic to get Michaels email a couple of days after she'd gone telling me she'd found a home with a young couple and that the woman had always had black cats from being small...so knew them well. I was thrilled!

When you've fostered you love to find out how the cats or kittens are doing in their new home. Although it doesn't always happen that new owners send photos to Michael when it does it sort of helps complete the circle.
So imagine my surprise and delight when this morning Michael emailed me some photos of Luna happy in her new home!
I was over the moon to see her and especially loved the photo of her in bed with her owner! Isn't that where every cat should be? Snug and cosy warm?
I just had to share them with you - hope you like them as much as I did!

Kittens Looking for a Loving Home

UPDATE: Wonderful news! We received a phone call from Tricia who wanted to give these 2 lovely kittens a 'forever' home in Ibiza and it must have been fate as she also knew the 'fosterer'! So it was a happy ending all round and they're now settled in to their new home in San Jose and are running around exploring the garden and countryside.
Don't you just love a happy ending?

If you've hit the blog from the Ibiza Sun then you'll know all about our search for a loving home for two adorable kittens.
They were both rescued seperately; the little Black and White one was taken from the streets. He was all alone and in poor condition (but full of health now!). The other, Little Tommy, was rescued from the River in Sta Eularia where he had been dumped with his siblings. One we managed to re-home, the other, sadly, didn't make it and Tommy was taken in to a foster home where he thrived. He was the littlest of the litter and so we were thrilled that he managed to survive against the odds.

Now both are ready for adotption and we dearly want them to go together as they've become firm pals. Even better would be if we could find them a loving home together on the island.

Both are available to view and are living with their foster family in Benimussa. Please email Jaki to find out more or arrange to see them. Click here for email address.

Let's hope they melt someones heart.

Here they are playing with each other in the sun.

The Story of Tina

We were feeding our colony of cats by the river in Santa Eulalia when peeping from the bushes was a little ginger kitten, so very frightened. The next thing a young couple came to the river looking in the bushes, we wondered what they were doing?
Time went on and the kitten finally came out of the bushes to eat with the other cats. We named her Tina, she was so affectionate, going up to everybody for a cuddle and and a kiss.
We later learned from Erika a lady who feeds many cat in Santa Eulalia that the couple we had seen had left her by the river.

We contacted Angela (care4cats Ibiza) about her, who got in touch with Michael (care4cats) Hamburg, to see if we could re-home the lovely Tina. Michael and his wife Carmen came over to Ibiza for a holiday (well a bus mans holiday really as they were returning with cats). They took one look at Tina and said she must go home with us as she's in danger because she's so affectionate with everyone.
So Tina came to stay with us for three days, before her journey to Hamburg with Michael and Carmen.

In those three days I must say I did grow so very much attached to her, she would sit at the side of me whilst I was working on the computer with her little paw in my hand. But the day came when Tina had to go on her journey to Hamburg. Ana and Adrian (two volunteers with the charity) came to take her. I put her in the basket and her little eyes looked at me as if to say "what did I do wrong?"

But once again, thanks to the charity, it was a very happy ending as Tina was only in Michael and Carmens house for six days before being re-homed once Michael had made a home check with a family who wanted to give her a 'forever' home.
So a happy ending for my Tina who has settled very well into a very nice family home in Hamburg, they love her very much and she is still called "Tina". They told Michael that Tina now greets any visitors to the house as if to say "Are you going to take my lovely family away from me?" Then she hides behind a door until they decide to go home and leave them all in peace - "please"!

I feel so grateful to Michael and Carmen (care4cats hamburg) who do so much to help the cats from Greece and Spain find a happier life and my Tina is living proof of this. I wish there were more people in the world like Michael and Carmen and also Angela Collins (founder of care4cats in ibiza).

Susan Broomstead

February Visit

We're now in the final stages of the February visit. Only 2 more cats to collect and release on Monday then that's it! Kerry and myself (Jaki) have just finished washing the last cages and stacking them in the 2 storerooms we use and now Kerry is bravely tackling the donation of 'change' weve been given by two young people we helped with feral cats they're feeding (see photo below). It may take some time to count...and she's only got until Tuesday when she returns to the UK!?

So what happened this visit?
We decided to ask people to call us before the volunteers arrived on the island (you can see our happy crew in the photo!) as this meant they weren't having to deal with calls whilst trapping. For 3wks calls had come in and it enabled us to have an idea of numbers before we started.
A meeting was held, as usual, on the Sunday when new paperwork was discussed and explained and the jobs received so far were handed out. We split the island in two as we had done in November when it worked well. Twice as many calls had been received from the San Antonio/San Jose region than the rest of the island so that was designated as an area and the rest of the island as another. We also wanted to concentrate on the many feral colonies in San Antonio Town if we could as that was an area that still needs dealing with.
Overall 91 jobs were called in with more than 200 cats to trap. And the calls are still coming but people are being asked to call back in October.

In the East of the island we had Kelly and Steve (first time volunteers), Sue and Dave (long time volunteers), Lisa and Kerry (1st and 2nd time volunteers) and Simon who traps fulltime in England for the Celia Hammond Trust and came out the last trip. They mixed and matched themselves into teams depending on the jobs visited and had 4 vans at their disposal. This was possible because 2 vans were paid for by Sue and Dave. One was a large van which was perfect for taking large numbers of cages so Dave assisted the team by collecting and delivering cages as required.
On the West of the island we had Tracey and Sue (first time volunteers), and Jill and Kerry (long time volunteer and 1st time volunteer) both teams had vans. We also had Lara, Jaki and Tess who used 2 cars for trapping the first two days but then had to pass on their 6 cages to Tracey and Sue who were dealing with bigger numbers and kept running out.

As usual it was a week of laughs, sadness, frustrations and manic rushing around. We're still waiting to calculate the final numbers of cats trapped and neutered but we did manage to rescue 7 kittens; 3 which have found homes on the island and the others will go to Germany when fly partners can be found. Sadly we also had to deal with 3 incidents of cats being hit by cars. None survived.

This visit we made sure that each person who called us was given a care4cats leaflet in the required language, and many were handed out to passersby. Our consent form was also re-designed to fit more information on and was in both English and Spanish. However the big change was that every job now had a reference number issued. This not only allowed us to know at a glance how many calls we had received but more importantly we were able to track back every cat trapped and neutered. It also stops people walking off the street into vets saying the charity will pay for the neutering of their cat. All vets now know that they must first have an authorisation code on a signed consent form before neutering any cat.

The teams of volunteers met some lovely people over the week, many who are caring for feral colonies as best they can. One German lady, Crystal, feeds over 415 cats around San Jose/San Antonio. Many are neutered but it was great to finally get the chance to put our heads together and identify where cat colonies were in the San Antonio area that still need attention. Unfortuntely the teams ran out of cages throughout the week so weren't able to hit as many spots as we hoped...particularly in San An town.

The lack of cages is quite frustrating for volunteers. We go to colonies that haven't been fed so they can be easily caught. You get most of them but run out of cages so you can't continue. Of course you then can't go back for the others until you pick up cats at the vets and release them thus freeing up cages. However you have to feed the cats because they haven't been fed so can't return the next day. It can become a logistical nightmare!
Having discussed this we now feel the time has come to split the visits in two. 1 set of volunteers could work for one week in the West using all the equipment. Then a second team comes out the following week to work the other side of the island again having access to all the equipment. That way no-one should run out of cages. The other benefit is the vets don't have to work in one concentrated week.
So that is our future plan.
I'll report back in a week or two with the details of the numbers trapped and neutered and photos of the trip! So stay tuned!

The story of Millie

I was having a chat with Sophia Ellington from "The White Island corner Shop" about cats, our main topic of conversation as Sophia and her husband Rod adore cats, they have seven. We both agreed that boy cats are more affectionate than girl cats. Sophia and Rod have all boys (the boys as they call them).

Well that is the exception of our Millie!!!

We were feeding our colony of cats down by the river in Santa Eulalia December 2008. When along came two young girls holding this most adorable kitten who they told us was named Misha, we continued feeding the cats, the next thing they put her on the wall where we feed the cats and walked off.
As nieve as Mike and I are we thought they would come back for this kitten, but alas no.

We contacted Angela Collins (founder of care4cats Ibiza) about this little girl. She said to take her to the vet for micro chip rabies injection, then take her back home with us to await to fly to Hamburg to Carmen and Michael (care4cats Hamburg) who would find her a good home.

She had the necessary treatment at Elena's the vet in Santa Eulalia, then we brought her back to us. Two days later she was very sick. We telephoned Elena the vet, she told us to bring her immediately to the surgery. She was diagnosed as having panluekimia (which is the same as dog distemper) she was in the vet a week, very little hope of her to survive. Angela paid for the treatment.

When she came back to us she looked a sorry state, a bag of bones. Mike slept with her in the spare bedroom for six weeks to keep her warm (he was fine about that except when she decided to use her litter tray at 4. am then sat on his face!! Pooh!).

We waited once she had recovered for someone to take her to Hamburg, we both looked at this sweet little girl. Well you guessed it she never went to Hamburg here she is with us. Millie is her name or (poppet clogs). The illness has left her with a weakness to her back legs, but otherwise she is very well, Boy can she eat! ( if we go into the kitchen she is there - "did someone mention food?").

She likes raspberries blown on her tummy several times each day and a lot of kisses. We love her to bits.

Susan and Mike Broomhead.

The story of Anastasia

This lovely lady was left by the river in Sta Eulalia in November 2008.
It was obvious she'd lived in a loving home and we often wonder what happened to her owners, perhaps they died or maybe couldn't afford to look after her anymore. She was so very thin and wouldn't eat her food with the other cats...naturally we worried about her.

In January 2009 I contacted Angela Collins Founder of the Charity Care4cats and explained all about her. Angela told us to she would re-home her in Germany and be fostered by the wonderful Michael and Carmen (care4cats Hamburg) who have helped so many cats from Ibiza and Greece. So we had to take her to have a micro chip inserted along with the rabies injection and also have a pet passport issued for her...from there she came to stay with us until a flight partner could be found to escort her to Hamburg.

As time went on Mike and myself fell in love with her. She is so very quiet and we think she pines for her lost owner but now with us she's so happy.

I must say a BIG thank you to Angela especially, and Sue, David, Jaki, Ana, Adrian and Wendy....so sorry if I've missed anyone out...for working to give the cats a better life on Ibiza.
The photo is of Ana (or the Duchess) who still can't figure out how to use the remote control!! She likes Abba music on so this look says 'please can you sort it out'. 
Actually - no joking...she does like Abba, especially Dancing Queen!

Susan and Mike Broomhead

Unusual Cat Stories

Anyone who knows and loves cats will tell you what remarkable creatures they are. Even though I live with 5 cats and know their capabilities I was still astounded when I read this unusual snippet in an in-flight magazine lately and wanted to share it with you;

On September 6, 1950, a 4 month-old kitten belonging to Josephine Aufdenblatten of Geneva, Switzerland followed a group of climbers to the top of the 14,691 foot Matterhorn in the Alps.

Who could believe that! Just goes to show how determined a kitten can be. So I decide to google some more interesting stories and came up with these:

A cat who gets on and off a bus at the same stops two or three times a week: http://tinyurl.com/5webce

A cat called Oscar (see photo) who predicts death by comforting those about to die in the hospice where he lives: http://tinyurl.com/ypt7uu

and if you'd like to read some more heartwarming stories then grab a cuppa and settle down to read some wonderful ones on this website: http://tinyurl.com/ykyt4ec

Enjoy!

February Visit

A lot of organisation has been underway for sometime for the February visit to Ibiza. This time the charity has a fab number of volunteers which is fantastic as it means the workload won't be as intense as it usually is.

For this visit we have planned to take the phone calls prior to arrival which should be a help to the trappers and also the callers. Normally the volunteers are trying to take phone calls whilst out trapping and then trying to schedule them in so this way it will enable the team to plan the jobs in advance at the sunday meeting.
Notification has gone in to the local paper and this time we have mentioned that we would like a minimum donation from callers. This is something which was discussed in November because the charity often traps cats for people who can afford to pay something, but pay either nothing or very little and of course that puts pressure on the finances. Every little helps! Particularly as we trap many cats that have no 'feeder'.
This time we want to concentrate on a large number of feral cat colonies that need attention in San Antonio and Lara, a new volunteer who lives in the area, is mapping out the colonies she has found whilst walking around the town. Another hot-bed for cat colonies seems to be Port d'es Torrent as already we have been notified of possible 30+ cats needing neutering; one lot are a colony of 15 living near a house where someone lived (rented) and then moved...but left the cats.
Let's hope the weather improves for the trapping week as so far its been grey, wet and miserable for the past couple of weeks!

How a stray cat can touch your heart...

It all started one day in March 1997. I walked every day to the Rio for exercise when suddenly around a bench was a slim, beautiful female calico cat who mewed and mewed. It suddenly struck me she was begging for food and I felt awful because I had nothing to give her. So the next afternoon, hoping I would see her again, I took a basket full of food and milk: and there she was, waiting for me. I’m sure she understood me when I promised to be back again the next day. After 3 or 4 days I decided to call her Minette and that's how a wonderful and very long love story started.

As the weeks went by I realized she was growing fatter and fatter; by mid April, there couldn't be any doubt: she was pregnant! Two weeks later, to my dismay, she vanished. I had grown attached to her so every day I returned sure she would reappear. Then in early May there she was; my Darling Minette. She was half dead with hunger and ate so fast the food was gone after only a few minutes. For more than a week things went on like that until I realised she’d had her kittens, but where was she hiding them?

Then one day she came along with a lovely white male cat with large blue eyes. Unfortunately I realized he was deaf and dumb. But this didn't stop him being so sweet to Minette and sticking close to her. I named him Arthur! I tried to follow her to find out where the kittens where being hidden, but she was too clever.

One day, she wasn't there as usual, so I started calling her and after a few minutes she came with a kitten in her mouth. How surprised and emotional I was that she now trusted me enough to introduce one of her babies: a teeny tiny little thing. Minette was so proud and that's how I found she was hiding 4 kittens in the gaps in the stone wall: 3 girls and a boy, the girls like the mother, the boy all grey and striped! Little by little they came out to play at the place! Sadly one of the little females vanished after only a few weeks. The 3 others were happily growing up though, coming every day with Mum and Dad. I baptized them: Joséphine, Pupuce, and Tiger.

When the kittens were 3 months old Minette and Arthur were neutered and ‘mum’ decided the kittens were old enough to fend for themselves. In November, getting worried about them spending winter outside, I was able to find, with the help of a German lady, a home for all the family in Germany. Minette and Arthur were more than happy to travel by air to Hamburg and their new home. The kids were something entirely different!After almost losing 3 fingers from my right hand and the left one savagely scratched I decided they just didn't want to leave me, the island or their home! And so they stayed, managing to survive the first winter and all the subsequent ones.
Pupuce died when she was 7 years old, the poor thing had a brain tumour and it really broke my heart when I had to take her to the vet to put her to sleep. Tiger, the little brother, was adopted by a Swiss couple and now lives with them, so this left only Joséphine...the lovely tri-coloured, green eyed, 13 years old Joséphine.

Michele Dussan

The Story of little Luna

Luna and her 3 brothers and sisters were born in my cactus patch to a feral cat I had thought was a male. Silly me! 2 were black, one was a white siamese like mum and the 3rd was calico (or tri-colour as they say here)

Only 3 survived because 'mum' insisted on moving them to the garden next door where there was a pond. We tried twice to move them back to our garden but to no avail. The innevitable happened - one of the kittens drowned. That probably saved the others as she moved them to our neighbours house across the road where his children started to feed and play with them.
All was well.
Children being children they got bored and the kittens were abandoned. So in August I had to start feeding kittens that had never been feral and had no idea how to get food.
The siamese kitten was always the bravest...he was first to the food and very easy to love. The calico (who we named tiny tilly after one of our own cats who was also calico) was quite sweet, but very shy. The little black one always nipped me! So with her it was a love/hate relationship!

Eventually they were old enough to have them neutered - phew, no more kittens! Over the weeks I also noticed the little black one was only nipping me because she wanted me to give her a stroke. Once she was being stroked she was in heaven. Even when I fed them she wanted love first and food second. She used to chase me down the street and only stop once I'd picked her up for a cuddle.
I named her Luna Meaning 'moon' in Spanish.

Her brother (siamese) had managed to be taken in by the neighbours across the road. Well he was the prettiest of them all. Little Luna and Tiny Tilly continued to be fed by me and I was desperate to re-home them both in Ibiza as I have too many cats already. Of course I failed.
Then Angela rang me from care4cats to say there was availability on a flight to Germany for the kittens. I couldn't believe it...they could both go together! Unfortunately it turned out only to be one place and I had the decision to make. I choose Luna because I knew she was deperate for love and attention and life on the street wouldn't suit her personality. So that was it. She was off - thanks to care4cats.

I took her to the vets to get her chipped and her passport arranged and then a month later I took her to the airport to meet her flight partner Monika. I was heartbroken at having to take her as I felt so disloyal, especially when she was sat in her basket en-route looking out at me with her paw on my hand. I nearly turned back from the aiport twice.
However I knew I couldn't give her a home and that this was her only chance.

Fast forward 3 days and she arrived in Germany to the wonderful Michael and Carmen who settled her in to their house and quickly found her a 'forever home'! FANTASTIC! 
So little Luna now has a life full of love and affection in Hamburg thanks to care4cats and their contacts in Hamburg Michael and Carmen.
Her sister, tiny Tilly is sits in my garden waiting and alone - but thanks to care4cats she is due to go in February.
Don't you just love a happy ending?

Brrrr!

Here in Ibiza we hear that the snow is thick on the ground in many places in the UK and across northern Europe too!
The winter has definitely arrived here as well and we're suffering with grey damp weather and it hasn't stopped raining or days!
Today it is 9 degrees and it's tippling it down...the mist has come in and the mountains have all but disappeared!
Tonight its set to be a cold one...so we hope where ever you are you're managing to stay warm and cosy!