Protecting Cats

Meet Luna and Louis, the very photogenic mother-and-son duo who came into our care last November via the Cats Protection League in South Croydon. We regularly work with other charities like Cats Protection to make sure we are sharing our resources as best we can to house and rehome animals that come into our care.

In this case we received Luna and Louis who had been found living in a garden and fed by a lady living there. Luna was only around 1 year old when she was collected, but Louis was actually from her second litter. Did you know that female cats can become pregnant from around 4 months of age and can become pregnant again straight after having the first litter? We believe this is what happened in this case where Luna was roaming free and unneutered from a young age.

Unfortunately it is unknown what happened to the rest of Louis’ siblings, but it was very evident upon their arrival into one of the catteries we use that they were very well bonded! 

Typically mothers will get a bit fed up with their kittens once they have grown up, but this pair really loved being around each other, and Louis would even groom Luna which she must have loved!

When our Animal Welfare Officer first saw them in November, she knew she wouldn’t get many chances to say hello because they were certainly going to be adopted very quickly. We had all their procedures done, and they were adopted less than a month later! Their new names are Gabby and Pippin, and they have settled in beautifully with their new owners who have generously written a few words for our blog:

“We sadly lost our 13 year old cat last year and were looking to rescue some new cats, as the house seemed empty without them. We knew we wanted a pair of cats and so I used the ‘Can live with other cats’ filter on the search to more easily find the pairs. The personality section helped me get a sense of which cats would be a good match for us, especially as we wanted more relaxed and loving cats to cuddle with. While we don’t have any kids in the house, my nieces visit a lot and we needed cats who were comfortable with older children. But it was the picture of Gabby and Pippin with their matching nose smudges that made them my instant favourite.

I heard back very quickly from the South London branch after making my enquiry and spoke at length with Teresa at the cattery about the possibility of adopting Gabby and Pippin. She was very helpful and answered all my queries about the adoption.

Gabby and Pippin settled in immediately. Pippin was purring loudly as soon as he stepped out of the cat box and Gabby was boldly exploring her new home. We have some bird feeders in the garden and they love to watch the birds from the windowsill. Pippin likes lots of cuddles, even in the middle of the night! Gabby is such a sweet girl and brings her toys to me, presenting them like a gift. We were worried how they would react to my nieces and our friends coming to visit, but they are so friendly with everyone who comes over. We’re so lucky to have such beautiful and loving cats and couldn’t be any happier!”

Many people think that choosing not to neuter your cat is just to prevent future litters, but there are a whole range of issues and complications that can be prevented.

Did you know that neutering your female cat reduces the risk of cervical and mammary cancer, and eliminates the risk of ovarian cancer? And neutering your male cat will eliminate the risk of testicular cancer and will actually reduce the risk that they will contract feline leukaemia and feline AIDS from getting into fights with other males that is usually fuelled by their hormones.

Male cats will also stop or reduce the amount that they spray in and around the house, and any spray will be much less pungent. If you’ve kept a unneutered male before you will know what we mean!

Both male and female cats will also roam further when they are unneutered, as their hormones will be driving them to find a mate. As expected, the more your cat roams, the more likely they are to get into harms way or become lost. 

If the main reason for not neutering your pet is due to finances, many charities have schemes which will help in this area. We too have our own scheme which you can find on our website on our financial assistance page.