With animal welfare being our sole reason for existing, we endeavour to help any animal that needs it in our branch area. This can include assisting owners in need of financial assistance to provide treatment for their special friends.
Tiggles was just such a case recently. He needed costly urgent dental treatment, which his owner was just not able to afford. We were happy to step in to help and Tiggles is in tip top condition once more.
You can read the whole story written by our Animal Welfare Officer below, and if you would like to help us to provide such aid for other animals like Tiggles in the future, please hit the donate button below. Thank you so much on behalf of needy pets in South London.
A couple of months ago we got a call from the RSPCA Inspectorate team to see if we could help them
transport a cat to a vet appointment on behalf of his owner, who is a wonderful woman living in
sheltered accommodation. The love this woman and the other residents have for this cat – Tiggles – is
unmatched and I immediately warmed to them and their elderly cat.
Tiggles is very much an old man cat and just wanted to be left to sleep in the kitchen, however the
reason he needed to see the vet is because he appeared to have something wrong with his jaw.
Once a vet got eyes inside his mouth, we found that he was in desperate need for some dental work.
His jaw, although larger than normal, ended up not being something to worry about but we were
glad it brought attention to his teeth! The rest of the physical went really well, and he was soon
happily back with his doting owner.
We showed the owner how to give Tiggles his medication in the lead up to his appointment, and she did very well despite how complicated it was to pair the two medications.
Unfortunately, as the owner lives in sheltered accommodation, she couldn’t afford more than the
consultation fees, and the cost of a dental procedure is high even for those with a steadier income.
We knew as a branch that all Tiggles needed to get back to great health was to have this dental, so
we discussed this with our compassionate Trustees who agreed it was important for us to pay for
the procedure. A couple of weeks later Tiggles had his dental procedure and it was an absolute
delight taking him back home knowing he was all done!
There are so many parts of my job that I love, but being a part of this lovely lady’s life is definitely a
highlight and it’s so wonderful and rewarding to get phone calls from her and the other residents to
let me know how Tiggles is doing. I strive to be the kind of Animal Welfare Officer that is
approachable in this way, and this is one of those stories that proves that I’m heading in the right
direction.
As Tiggles lives in sheltered accommodation, I wanted to be careful when taking photos, however on
the last day I asked if it would be alright and to my delight the lady was happy for me to snap a quick
photo of Tiggles!
RSPCA South London - For Every Kind Of Creature 