Geralds Story

In October the trappers were in San Antonio on numerous occasions and kept spotting a long-haired ginger and white cat that looked quite thin. They never managed to pin him down to a colony and because we can't take cats off the streets without authorisation he was left. This trip he was spotted again but was much thinner with matted hair and sad eyes. Maria was consulted (the lady who feeds many colonies in the San Antonio streets) she knew him and agreed he was not part of any colony and was often chased off by the other, more stronger tomcats. He rarely ate as Maria can not leave lots of food on the streets (complaints about it attracting rats from residents are common) so the cats have to eat what she puts down there and then. It was clear this cat had no way of getting regular food and was plainly ill. The girls where able to pick him up and he lay down with his head on Sue's lap, as if saying 'I can't cope anymore'. He was whipped off to the vet for a health check.

Gerald stayed at Toni's (our vets) for nearly 2 weeks, gradually building up his weight. We had him checked for deceases and he was clear. So it was simply a case that this cat had no survival skills for the streets. We were desperate not to put him back. Toni neutered him and took out clumps of his matted hair. We cleaned him up and his eyes started to shine again...he loved to play and even be groomed! However he was an adult cat with long hair...almost impossible to find a home for. Time was running out as he would have to leave Toni's soon. Jaki launched an appeal on Facebook and thankfully Sissi got in touch and said she would take him. Sissi has helped to re-home kittens to Germany for many years yet now is scaling back as she is leaving the island. Thankfully she has taken on Gerald and will nurse him back to full health so she can re-home him. I can't tell you how thankful for her help Jaki, Tracey and Sue are. He is such a sweet-tempered cat and very very gentle. If you know anyone in Ibiza that will give him a chance – do let us know! Poor Gerald. Contact us through email.

Trapping again!

The care4cats trapping volunteers were out last November when they did a fantastic job. This weekend the first of the 2 teams arrive to do a 'mop up' on the calls we had to do that through one thing and another couldn't be finished. Often it's because kittens are too young to be neutered, or females cats have just given birth...so a few months on the volunteers make a return visit.
In years gone by the charity has been able to advertise its visit and take on new calls from residents needing help. Sadly this time money is so tight that we fear we may not be able to do the cats already on our long list.
The assisted neutering programme we run is helping to alleviete things somewhat. This is where we offer to pass on our discount to people who are out of work of who simply can not afford to neuter cats they have taken in off the street. This is an area that is growing, especially with the economic crisis and thankfully we have great support from a number of vets on the island who are happy to help us in our endeavours. We feel it is better if someone can receive assistance rather than being faced with having to abandon the cat or kittens when they come along and then can't cope. So we hope, in some small way, this is helping to prevent abandoned cats.
So this weekend, arriving to this cold weather we're currently having, is a team from South Wales headed up by Sue who's been a regularly volunteer for many years, Simon who works with the Celia Hammond Trust in London city and of course Kerry who is an island resident. Kerry is also the co-ordinator for the trip and has the unenviable task of trying to get as many of the jobs done in the week as can be afforded.
The West side of the island has a team of two arriving on 7th February. Sue and Tracey from Wigan, who are now regulars, have been hampered somewhat by the lack of flights but will be able to make it for 5 days. They'll be supported by Lara and Jaki (who will also co-ordinate the jobs).
Lets hope the recent  rain stays away and that the temperature rises a little!

Happy New Year! And a Happy Story too.

2011 has arrived and the year has started with a heart-warming story sent to us from our friends Michael and Susan who feed the River Cats in Sta Eularia. Here's Susan's story:
Jack the lad, arrived by the river a few months ago  looking so sad. He was very timid of anyone going near him to feed him and we also noticed he'd lost an eye - probably through fighting, as Tom often do. The lovely Maggie and Peter, who visit the cats regularly when they're over here, fell in love with him but all attempts to catch him failed.
So imagine our surprise when yesterday we learned from Elena, the receptionist at a vet clinic in Sta Eularia, that a very kind man had trapped Jack and taken him there for treatment. Elena said if he cannot be found a home then he'll continue to live out the rest of his life at the vets surgery as the resident cat. So lucky Jack Sparrow!
We went to visit him and, expecting to see him in a cage, we were most surprised to see him sat on a pile of clean towels like a king! He gave us a big yawn then a hiss as if to say "I am not going back to that river".
So a happy ending for Jack Sparrow - who actually looks a lot better now than in the photo. He may have only one eye but still seems to be saying "who's looking at you babe"!
We still don't know who the mystery man is that managed to catch him but we'd like to offer our thanks to him all the same.
So a fab ending for Jack. It really is heart warming when we continually hear about people all over the island doing their best to care for cats.
We'd like to wish you all the best for 2011 and thank you for your continued support.
Don't forget donations can be made online at the website...so it's easy peasy. ALL money donated goes towards the welfare of the cats.

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)