Vicky is a fosterer for Wear Valley and Darlington Cats Protection. She writes the following on her website:
I would not change it for the world, but what I would love to see change is people’s attitudes… towards cruelty, towards neglect, towards abandonment and towards NEUTERING.
Neglect, neutering and abandonment are big issues in the cat world. I have just written about the laws bringing about change to cat ownership in Tasmania (the country where Maggie lives, a former PoCer).
Those laws are about attempts to reduce abandonment and increase neutering and responsible cat ownership.
Vicky’s experiences highlight the problem areas of cat management across the globe. They are the same problems wherever you are.
Vicky has been busy these past two years fostering cats for Cats Protection. She has cared for a good number of cats, indicating the scale of the problem. She has quite a fancy facility at home (I presume she fosters from her home). She has two enclosures, I think you might call them that. Vicky calls them “pens”.
Always of interest to me is how hard it might be to rehome a cat that you have fostered and so it happened to Vicky when she cared for a starving, dehydrated, tabby kitten who was found by the roadside – a bypass. It is probably a busy road.
Marion cared for her the first night….You’ll hear the soothing, friendly, cat-loving voice of Marion in the video…
Then Vicky took over. At first, there was a chance this kitten would not survive. Vicky writes:
She had to be given fluids and nutri cal every few hours and was very scared and tired…
Well, she survived and thrived thanks to Marion and Vicky. When adoption time came around as it inevitably does, Vicky discovered she could not do it. She had lost her heart to this kitten while saving her life and nurturing her to full-health. Vicky named her Saeko.
Associated page: Chester! He’s famous. The link goes to a search results page on the topic of “Chester” who was abuse by kids and saved by Marion at Cats Protection.
oh Saeko is gorgeous, I love the close up one of her little face and little brown nose I’m so glad she found a loving home with you Vicky, I love Cats Protection, I love the way every cat is equal no matter where they come from or what problems they have to face.
I love being a part of this branch, Marion is a fantastic co-ordinator and has taught me a lot. I will get some pics of my newest foster for you all. Mum and four kittens, irresponsible owners again who had help from us on more than one occasion yet this poor girl still ended up pregnant again 🙁
I don’t know Marion but she seems to be an “earth mother”.
This is her the day Marion brought her here wrapped in a towel getting warmth from me, this is my favourite pic of her and the instant I fell in love with her.
What a lovely photo 🙂
Sweet, charming and pretty female cat. Large eyes. Beautiful tabby coat. I can see how you lost your heart. That said you are susceptible to losing your heart to a cat 😉 Because you care.
She is a total sweetheart, BUT still has moments when she remembers her feral roots and acts completely crazy.
Cats are cats and she’ll probably never lose that – perhaps when she is old and tired she will. There always a “degree of separation” between the domestic cat and the human (who is also domestic ;))
Degree of separation = different species. We can never escape that and we should love it actually. It is what makes the relationship interesting and what it is.
Marion thinks that because of where she was found she likely comes from a long generation of ferals, I love that side of her to be honest. I do have a feral that lives in my garden shed, Will Feral, he was relocated her from a feral colony, but after a year of me feeding him and being patient he is now Will not so Feral with me, comes to me for affection now.
Darling little baby girl!
Any tiered feral is the best in my book.
My tiers are semi-feral, feral, true feral.
Nice thought. You like the feral side because it is raw cat, the true cat. I understand that. I am the same.
It is very pleasurable too, to make friends with a feral cat. To gain trust. It is like connecting with the wild.
Saeko is gorgeous! I do admire Marion and Vicky and the other CP fosterers, it’s something Babz and I would have loved to do but haven’t been able to with living in rented property and only on 6 month leases at a time, so we have to content ourselves helping in other ways.
I think I’d find it very hard to part with any cat or kitten though so maybe it’s just as well lol
http://youtu.be/th9hGYrONHg she was hungry ;-0