Sunday, February 14, 2010

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.

Friday, February 5, 2010

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

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

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!