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