Update on our Re-homed Rescue Cats

If you regularly receive our newsletter then you will have heard all about little Peggy Sue who was rescued from the streets in San Antonio with a broken leg. Unfortunately she had to have it amputated but we managed to find her a 'forever' home with Jack Yap in Portinatx...so a wonderful end to what could have been an unhappy story.
Jacky keeps us up to date with Peggys progress (which you can follow on our Care4cats facebook page) and we're delighted to say she's doing wonderfully. She's been adopted by one of Jacky's older cats who makes it his job to look after her, plus she now has a young playmate too.
Take look on our Facebook page where you can see a video of her playing and photos of her trying to catch her first lizard!

Our other successful story concerned 'Bertha' a black cat that had been abandoned in San Antonio when her owners had moved out of the house and simply left her behind. Spotted by Debs and Tracey whilst on holiday she then went on the list for re-homing. She was such a lovable cat and living in the centre of San Antonio on the busiest road, we feared for her safety.
She was eventually re-homed by one of our volunteers, who regularly fed her, when she arrived one day to find the house being bulldozed. So Bertha, now called Sweetie, was taken to join the other 5 cats owned by our volunteer.
Interestingly enough, Sweetie always had a breathing problem. Originally we'd thought it was rhinitis and tried to give her a regular dose of anti-biotic. Almost impossible with a street cat. Once she was re-homed she was taken to Toni at Puig d'en Valls for a thorough investigation and it was discovered that she had a de-formed ribcage. Obviously this was from birth, but it meant her ribcage couldn't expand enough to take in the breath needed, hence her breathing difficulties. Oddly for a cat she has adapted to breath through her mouth (cats breath through their nose) so she copes well. She is now truly happy in her new home and feasting on sausages and cheese which are her favourite treats!

Do you remember Gerald? He starred in our last newsletter and was taken off the streets hungry, weak and with terribly matted fur. He was such a gentleman that he couldn’t survive on the streets of San Antonio and was constantly being chased off by the Tom's and not allowed to eat.
Sissy, who has been rescuing kittens on Ibiza for many many years, came to our rescue by taking him in with the aim to build him back up to full health (and fur!) and then re home him to Germany. The good news is that Gerald is now enjoying an idyllic life in the countryside of Bonn.
If you travel to Ibiza from Germany we are always looking for flight partners to take cats and kittens back to Germany were we re home them. It is a wonderful way of giving these cats a chance. If you think you can help then get in touch at care4cats1@aol.com

Preparations for next trapping visit

Although the October trapping visit is a fair distance away flights are already being booked by our fantastic volunteers. Care4cats just couldn't exist without these animal lovers who give up their holidays and pay their own flights to come here and work all hours in all weathers to trap and neuter the cats we know about.

Our announcement about the visit will hit the press and veterinary clinics in September as we hope to get calls in advance of the trip. There is nothing more frustrating than having to tell someone they've called too late and we can fit no more jobs in. We then carry them forward to February when hopefully we have money to afford a follow up trip.
Many of the volunteers are regulars but only 2 of them are actually from Ibiza. It would be so much easier if we had more local volunteers as the work does often continue throughout the year.
Visiting from South Wales we have Sue and her son Steve. Both work for the Cats Protection there, with Sue having many many years experience. She has been volunteering for Ibiza trips since the beginning 10+ years ago! Now she has roped in Steve along with his work colleague Katie, and Jill...another die hard volunteer who again has many years of working with C4Cs under her belt. Finally Simon comes from London where he works as a full time trapper for Celia Hammond Trust. He's happy to work alone in the more difficult environments and, like the others, he's now been over to Ibiza several times. Together they make up several teams who cover all the jobs along the East coast of the island, and inland.
From the North West will come Tracey, Debs and Sue. They work full time but also run a small charity that rescues all types of animals. Since Debs brought Tracey on holiday 3 years ago and got her involved in trapping here, she's never looked back and is now on a mission, along with Sue, to trap as many cats as can be afforded. They work the West coast and inland, including San Antonio which has a huge amount of stray and feral cats.
In Ibiza we have Kerry, Jaki and Gina who help throughout the year when they can. Kerry and Jaki set up the trapping trips; dealing with callers needing help, organising supplies and acting as liaison whilst also trapping. Gina keep us all on track financially and manages the income we get from the donations made through the charity boxes we have out around the island, plus deals with the vet bills (our biggest expense.)
We'd love more Ibiza volunteers so if you or a friend do have th etime, just get in touch with Angela. If you know anyone who is feeding feral colonies, or needs help in trapping cats for neutering then please email us. We have to work on a first come, first served basis because at the end of the day we always run out of money!