Street Cat Rescue

24/07/2024

Bonnie is a little girl rescued from a colony. She is what is called a CH cat, which is a condition called Cerebellar Hypoplasia. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/cerebellar-hypoplasia-in-cats In the several recent weeks past, Bonnie became sick and her rescuer took her to our vet for investigation. Bonnie had bloods done, xrays, a test for Cryptococcus, a test for Toxoplasmosis, a urinalysis.

As Bonnie's owner is on sickness benefits the costs were mounting. Having known Fiona for some years over her work in rescue as a sole rescuer we offered to help when she got to the part where none of the medications were helping much and she was told she needed to take Bonnie to a specialist. There was no way she could afford that and neither could we.

We consulted the specialist we know who does not charge for advice. All of the records were dutifully sent to him and his opinion was that this is very likely Feline Infectious Peritonitis of the spinal cord. (FIP). https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/feline-infectious-peritonitis

Until fairly recently this disease was fatal. We lost one of our own to this disease some years back which was called Dry Fip.

The problem was the expense of the medication but we were compelled to try. He told us that we should know within the first week or two if it was working.

For Bonnie
, a small cat with fairly low weight (she's 2.8 kg) the medication cost us around $800.00 for for the first thirteen days.
And it started to make a difference!

This week we were obliged to buy another lot for twice that amount of time and yesterday Bonnie had a checkup at our vet where it was confirmed things are progressing well.

Thankfully after this lot we are able to step down to a much cheaper version of medication under our specialists advice.

If anyone would like to donate to help our costs we would be extremely grateful.
Please use the name Bonnie as reference if donating.
Bonnie's owner is also helping as much as she can.

https://www.catmintcottagestreetcatrescue.com.au/donate.html

19/07/2024

After only being in our care for less than a week, this boofy boy is starting to feel more like a 5kg-ish cat than the 4kg cat he was... hehehe

Piccolo is doing well in recovery and has proven to be very fast on his 3 paws. He'll still need dental done and a few weeks recovery.

We're hoping to have a furrever home waiting for him as soon as he's ready to go. Please share to help us find him a home or PM us if you can't imagine your life without this snuggly boy.

M/C 991003001350290

p.s. Extra photos in the comments

18/07/2024

Add in two more to the previous girls. These two were on heat and desexed yesterday. Vaccinated on our account.. So happy, so happy!! when we circumvent more kittens being born 'before' being pregnant. Phew!

17/07/2024

Some weeks back we became involved with another rescuer on the network who was doing it really tough. We came away feeling so despondent on her situation and I posted for funds to vaccinate a group of kittens she had taken on while we worked with the 'other' rescuer, a friend of hers. He had taken on four stray cats, three females and a male, parents of the several kittens. We sourced AWL vouchers and facilitated the desexings and vaccinations of those four and they now have a home with him and his wife. They also paid for those costs.

Of the eight kittens, some of you sent very generous donations for those vaccinations, enough to cover what was needed. Vaccination availability was also going up and down and the prices had risen due to vaccine scarcity. A few complications added in the mix were language difficulties, the timing of messages, a person working seven days a week and feeding and rescuing colony cats on top of that.

Back home here I had other complications with cats in our care but we did persevere through our network and members to resolve what was going on. At the point where communication got sorted I was told she had several females in need of desexing. It became a group project with a transporter who also offered to pay for vaccinations so we could focus on the desexing costs with the money raised. I'm so happy to say we are off to a good start to help and at this point are using those previous funds to desex, desex, desex and to help take some of the financial stress off her. Here are the first two of several who have had the snip. Thank you so very much for your loyalty and trust. We could never do any of this without you.
Margaretx

16/07/2024

Pepe here is estimated to be between 12-14 years young. She's been cared for by a lovely lady who we help from time to time and also has supported us too.

Pepe had been looking rather thin lately and started getting diarrhoea. So we offered to help get her assessed and treated - with the lady making repayments to help cover the vet bill.

This sweet girl ended up needing dental work, benign growth removed from her throat, we had in-house blood tests, urine test and faecal tests performed. As you can imagine, her vet bill is over $1k.

Fortunately, the dental work helped Pepe to eat and put on weight whilst her p**p issues have cleared up. Aside from that, she's in great health for a 14yo kitty and has a long life ahead.

If you would like to contribute to PEPE vet bill, please put reference PEPE in your payment.

Your donation is hard at work. Thank you all for your ongoing support.

> Purrs <

Tu

15/07/2024

Last week was a bit of a scramble. A colony carer in the area contacted us about one of her kitties looking injured. On initial glance, it looked like he may have been hit by a car as he was struggling to walk and 2 legs looked badly damaged.

All our members are already at capacity with current cats in care, but we didn't want to leave him in pain. He was taken to the vets for assessment and treatment.

We have decided to rename him Piccolo. He's a boofy boy with an adorable meow.

And only 2 weeks in to the new financial year, I can say he's made quite a dent to the dollar-matched funds raised. If you would like to contribute towards his vet bill please put in reference "Piccolo".

In addition, he will need a furrever home once he's recovered. PM us if interested or SHARE this post.

12/07/2024

The new laws for pet ownership are what I would call a draconian disincentive to be a responsible pet parent and one which will cause more people not to chip and register than already do.

https://www.miragenews.com/changes-to-nsw-government-pet-ownership-rules-1273450/

Which means less money for the government. Which means a worsening situation for companion animals and rescuers alike.

We highly recommend microchipping and registration of all companion animals but after reading what these new laws mean
I honestly have no idea where to now.

As our followers would already know we as well as other charities and Re Homing Organisations pull cats primarily from the streets, desex, medicate, recover and when possible put them up for adoption. Otherwise they stay with us as sanctuary cats.
The majority are adults.

The combination of individual rescuers, groups, charities and Re Homing organisations appear to be doing all the heavy lifting to make a difference with street cats. We do it with our own money, with public donations, with our own time, with our own lives.

I have to ask where to now?

We have to register our feelings of injustice to the correct authorities in the hope that they see reason.
I will come back with the email addresses where that can be done.
Margaretx

The new changes to NSW Government pet ownership regulations came into effect across the state on Monday 1 July 2024, with important changes that will

11/07/2024

Bonnie is a cat we are currently trying to help. She has started on a product called GS44 which is used for Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP).
Bonnie's owner is off work at present due to a knee problem and this medication is expensive, $760.00 for what will be a two week supply.
GS44 is the top range treatment for FIP. After that we will need to substitute Molnupiravir which is also very effective, just not the top gun that GS44 is and much less expensive.

We have been fortunate to be guided by an amazing specialist.
Please continue to support the many people and cats that we are working on. There are quite a number needing help right now. More on that later.

If you have not previously considered setting up a small monthly donation please look into doing that now.
We have been assisting Fiona by paying for blood tests and X-rays, other tests also to find out what is going on but finally last week our vet told Fiona that Bonnie needs a specialist because the previous treatments were not working.
All of the records, bloods, tests and xrays were emailed to our specialist for a consult.
Margaretx

https://www.catmintcottagestreetcatrescue.com.au/donate.html
Bank numbers can also be provided by sending us a pm.

11/07/2024

Hello fellow supporters!

If you made donations directly into our Bank account this past financial year (July 2023 - June 2024), then you should have received your tax receipt in your email box.

If you didn't, it means we probably don't have your email address. So please msg us so we can send them through.

Thank you for continuing to support our work.

> Apppurreciated <

Catmint team

04/07/2024

Indie's story broke my heart when I heard it. Indie, her sister and Indie's own kittens were eking out a living in an Industrial area lining a very busy road where those large industrial bins afforded shelter and food scraps.

Indie's only surviving kitten disappeared along with her sister and other colony cats at which point Indie was hastily rescued by our member Nora.

Since Nora had no capacity to house Indie we looked for a foster carer. Indie has made great progress in the company of a very intuitive lady and is now at the stage she can be offered for adoption.
Indie's profile follows and is about to go on PetRescue :)
Microchip number 991003002664727

"Beautiful Indie was rescued earlier this year from living in a dumpster on the street.
Only 1 1/2 years old Indie has been thriving in foster care. She has slowly gained confidence and is happy and at ease living an indoor cosy lifestyle.
Her Abyssinian side definitely shows as her foster carer says Indie has worked out how to open the cupboards where her dry food is kept (an Abyssinian perky trait ! )
Indie is comfortable with other friendly cats and dogs as she is currently living with 2 resident cats and a dog.
Indie has come a long way and is ready for her forever home, she loves to play with her cat toys, watch cat TV on the iPad and relax on her hammock watching the birds outside.
Indie still needs time to trust new people, with patience she will be a loving companion."
Margaret

Indie's profile on PetRescue is here: https://www.petrescue.com.au/listings/1053530

02/07/2024

A big THANK YOU to everyone who donated and shared our posts this tax time!

In the last 3 days of EOFY, $6,632 was donated and matched by a very special supporter of ours to make it $13,264!

We are very grateful for your support so we can help more street cats, give them a second chance and show them the POSSIBLE, especially in these tough times 🥰

Linda xo 😽

P.S Although donations made over the weekend have been included in the dollar matching, any donated directly into our bank account will receive tax receipts for it next financial year due to them coming through as July 1st.

27/06/2024

** A supporter of ours has generously offered to dollar match donations up to a total value of $10,000 made from today until 30 JUNE! **

This past year has been an especially challenging one in rescue and we desperately need your help to pay for the increasing costs of medication, food, desexing and vet treatment for the street cats in our community and those rescued in care, waiting for homes. We are only a small group of volunteers but work hard to do all we can for them with the little funds we have.

Looking back and seeing how we and our supporters have given them a second chance makes us feel proud. The BEFORE and AFTER pictures say it all (pics in comments). So much goes on behind the scenes to make it happen. We don't give up on them. We fight along side them. We believe:

"The only way to achieve the IMPOSSIBLE is to believe in the POSSIBLE" - Alice in Wonderland

As the countdown to 30 June is only a few days away, please donate to help us achieve the POSSIBLE and SAVE DOUBLE the lives with the dollar matching on offer.

Keeping our fingers and paws crossed we hit the $ target!

** All donations over $2 are tax deductible **

25/06/2024

This is a bit of a late post, but we wanted to thank UNSW Cat Appreciation Society - CatSoc group who held a Morning Coffee event in April to help raise funds for our rescue.

It's so inspiring to see a new generation of ppl supporting our cause and finding fun creative ways to do so.

Also, love that they've formed a social group to chat about cats and love of cats. 😻😻😻😻😻

For our supporters out there, never too late to create your own Cat Social club. 👍

Thanks UNSW Cat Soc team!

> Purrs <
Tu

25/06/2024

More photos of Captain Cat over the years.

25/06/2024

Life in the fast lane of cat rescue is often fraught with more than one problem at a time. Captain was recently observed to be spending time on his own away from the other cats, which I have come to notice is what they do when their health is an issue.

His breath was bad and I knew he needed a dental but then Fiona got sick and we cancelled his appointment to sort her out and she became my focus until she passed away weeks later. After that it was Paddy and finally we did get Captain in last week only to find he needed all his teeth out and the pads on his feet were swollen. So he is on Doxy and has a checkup next week.

Captain is our resident blind cat who came in as a neonate with flu and bulging eyes, one ruptured and the other on its way.

With treatment for his flu he improved and I bottle fed him while I figured out whether he wanted to live or if I was doing him an injustice and we both decided he wanted to stay.
As time wore on we learned along with Captain how a sightless cat adjusts to his world.
Adjustment is probably the wrong word because he never had vision to begin with and he got along just fine.

Captain was later discovered to have undescended tentacles so his neutering was a bit more complicated than the usual. As he matured he also began to spray. I have joked a few times that Captain scopes out his surroundings that way and I might be correct in that. He lives in the courtyard enclosure with four others but we are bringing him in and crating at night right now.

This boy is very affectionate and he always knows when I am in the vicinity. I guess it is the old story 'I smell the blood of an English woman' but I haven't seen any golden harps, or giants for that matter :)

I love Captain and he loves me and I am making a plan to spend more time with him. Captain is now seven and a half which is kind of middle aged for a cat.

So that was the week that was but then Angel, now seventeen and half ,also decided to cause me grief the night we brought Captain back from surgery. Angel cried and stressed, ate some food, then cried some more so that I gave her Temvet and we were back at surgery next day because I was certain she was dying from my neglect. Donna couldn't find much wrong with her so we did a blood test and that was much the same as six months ago. She had some fluids done since she is renal but not too bad and we came home and just thought about it all and asked ourselves what does it all mean? I think it means we are in the fast lane and this is our life.
Margaretx

25/06/2024

HELP WANTED!
Maybe you can’t make biscuits but you can still help us by eating them! 😹😻🐾🍪
Do your weekly shop at Ritchies Supermarkets & Liquor. We’ve joined the Community Benefits Program.
1. Download or update your Ritchies Card app.
2. Select ‘CATMINT COTTAGE SYDNEY RESCUE’ when prompted to nominate a benefit recipient.
3. Scan your Ritchies card every time you shop.
🐾 😻🍪🐾😻🍪🐾😻🍪🐾🍪😻
Credit to the inimitable Scott Metzger Cartoons

24/06/2024

YOU CAN NOW SUPPORT US JUST BY DOING YOUR WEEKLY SHOPPING! 😻🐾
We have joined the Ritchies Supermarkets & Liquor IGA Community Benefits Program.
1. Download or update your Ritchies Card app.
2. Select ‘CATMINT COTTAGE SYDNEY RESCUE’ when prompted to nominate a benefit recipient.
3. Scan your Ritchies card every time you shop.

Will donate 0.5% of each customer’s spend once $2000 is spent in one month between all the customers who nominate the organisation.
So please share this with your friends and family and ask them to nominate Catmint Cottage Sydney Rescue on their
🐾 😻🐾😻🐾😻🐾😻🐾😻🐾😻🐾😻

13/06/2024

We lost our little boy Paddy a week ago. We knew it was coming but it was still so hard to see him go and sometimes one of us forgets and momentarily looks for him. Or we catch a glimpse of ginger that is not him. The last weeks have been hard, like standing on a knife edge waiting, watching to make sure we don’t let him suffer.

This funny little chap gave us so much pleasure in our lives. The way he trotted around with his head on one side due to having lost the sight in one eye, the way he was a total addict to dry food and how, even toothless, he could rip open a bag that was not locked up or hidden in a bin. We did keep him on minute rations for the past months to reduce the load on his kidneys, much to his disgust.

One of my last memories is of seeing him out in the enclosure, eyes shut in ecstasy soaking up the sun’s warmth and that was only weeks ago.

Paddy was diagnosed with Renal Failure at the beginning of this year. The fact that he kept going this long was more than we could have hoped for.

The day before he died we could see the end was coming. After sub cut fluids and pain relief he settled in to a carrier with a hot water bottle and blankets and slept all afternoon. When he woke I offered him some food and was surprised at how he ate it. That night he did not eat but once again, he never failed to surprise us by getting up and climbing into the washing basket with the others and that’s where I found him next morning. We had already planned to take him in for euthanasia but he died soon after, again with a hot water bottle and pain relief.
…story continued in comments.

13/06/2024

Being as it is tax time again, I thought a timely thank you was in order, not that we ever forget what you do for us. I, in particular, am humble in the face of your loyalty and I know how hard our other members work with the street cats and the chronic sufferers in their care.

I wanted to explain something else. Pictured are three of the last cats that I have taken on. That's Wolverine in the first photo looking back to say 'I'm going out to play now Mum'. What he means is he is going out to the enclosure off the verandah. Wolverine came in as a very angry cat, hence his name. He has turned into a beautiful loving and affectionate cat who makes us smile when he rushes up to us for a pat.

Next is Gracie, a nervous girl who still does laps of the verandah before she can approach for any petting after which she has to do more laps. :)

Thirdly is Figaro, the boy who came in after having his back legs badly broken from what we assume was a car.
Yes that's a love heart on his nose :)

At some point I will need to face putting these three up for adoption. When I say 'face it' I have to say it has become harder for me each year because I have been through the traumas, the disappointments and the nail biting finishes so many times! the successes have not always been successes straight off; there have been some scary settling in periods. There have been some wonderful people whose instincts kicked in from the start but I still suffered for what the cat must have thought of me and why did you give me away?

Anyhow, that wasn't what I started out to tell you all. It is that many people contact me for help and I can't take on any more, neither can the other members. After the critical period of Covid came to an end, there has been an even worse cat crisis. Adoptions came to a standstill for a long time and are still at an all time low.
So the fact that we do still ask for and need donations needs to be explained.

We are working non stop on the street cats as well as having our own numbers in care. We each have our own responsibilities and we each net work day in and day out as well as with each other.
Myself, I have lost count of the number of people I have helped to facilitate desexings and vaccinations in the past months alone. I'm a kind of go between ha ha but most of those people pay for that themselves. I just show them the way if they don't know how and connect them up to AWL for those amazing low cost vouchers.
At the other end though are the suffering cats and the suffering people that we work with that we try to help.
Quite recently I asked for donations to pay for vaccinations of kittens. We have been advised that there are a number of females needing desexing and we are trying to find out best way to help because it obviously needs funds.

So please be assured that any donation you have made or make to us is used in the most practical and useful manner we can make it work.
Many thanks, Margaretx
Donations can be made here: https://www.catmintcottagestreetcatrescue.com.au/donate.html

13/06/2024

We lost our little boy Paddy a week ago. We knew it was coming but it was still so hard to see him go and sometimes one of us forgets and momentarily looks for him. Or we catch a glimpse of ginger that is not him but overall I think we really want to forget. The last weeks have been hard, like standing on a knife edge waiting, watching to make sure we don't let him suffer.

This funny little chap gave us so much pleasure in our lives. The way he trotted around with his head on one side due to having lost the sight in one eye, the way he was a total addict to dry food and how, even toothless, he could rip open a bag that was not locked up or hidden in a bin. We did keep him on minute rations for the past months to reduce the load on his kidneys, much to his disgust.

One of my last memories is of seeing him out in the enclosure, eyes shut in ecstasy soaking up the sun's warmth and that was only weeks ago.

Paddy was diagnosed with Renal Failure at the beginning of this year. The fact that he kept going this long was more than we could have hoped for.

The day before he died we could see the end was coming. After sub cut fluids and pain relief he settled in to a carrier with a hot water bottle and blankets and slept all afternoon. When he woke I offered him some food and was surprised at how he ate it. That night he did not eat but once again, he never failed to surprise us by getting up and climbing into the washing basket with the others and that's where I found him next morning. We had already planned to take him in for euthanasia but he died soon after, again with a hot water bottle and pain relief.

Nearly eight years ago Paddy was trapped from a colony living at an empty house. He had been desexed and vaccinated but had tested positive to FIV. So that put paid to our plan of getting him into Cat Protection.
The first photo is of Paddy at Fairfield Road vets after he became very ill. The first vet suggested it was kinder to put him to sleep.
Donna became involved and did what she could but she also doubted he 'was staying.' Her words.

If there is any comfort now it is that he did pull through and had the best years of his life with the buddies he made here. His last weeks were spent cuddled up to a pile of cats in a washing basket while they groomed him and looked after him sharing their body heat. Even on his last night on Earth. We estimate Paddy to have been at least ten if not more but still too short a life.
Margaretx

07/06/2024

Stray cat visiting people for food and attention in Fairfield East. May be someone's lost cat. Please contact us if you know of anyone this cat belongs to or if it is your long lost cat.
Margaret

06/06/2024

All you need is love, a blanket and someone to hold you close :)

05/06/2024

Happy Update, The girl in the photo is not pregnant, in fact she has been desexed some time ago as have the other cats living there. The owner comes several times a week to look after things and to feed as do others in the community. :)

* * * * *

Like so many others, our rescue is full and cannot help this girl. A local man who rescues has found her at an empty house with several males that appear to have been there for some time.
He is arranging to have her assessed and desexed if she isn’t already (because he thinks she is showing signs of pregnancy.)

However, he has no room to quarantine her before hand nor to recover her afterwards before she goes back to the house as that is the only option right now.

Very friendly and attractive girl. Can anyone foster her before and afterwards who lives in the Fairfield, Canley Vale area?
Or conversely, if any rescue group can take her on please contact me in pm or comment on the thread.

03/06/2024

Happy Update, The girl in the photo is not pregnant, in fact she has been desexed some time ago as have the other cats living there. The owner comes several times a week to look after things and to feed as do others in the community. :)

* * * * *

Like so many others, our rescue is full and cannot help this girl. A local man who rescues has found her at an empty house with several males that appear to have been there for some time.
He is arranging to have her assessed and desexed if she isn't already (because he thinks she is showing signs of pregnancy.)

However, he has no room to quarantine her before hand nor to recover her afterwards before she goes back to the house as that is the only option right now.

Very friendly and attractive girl. Can anyone foster her before and afterwards who lives in the Fairfield, Canley Vale area?
Or conversely, if any rescue group can take her on please contact me in pm or comment on the thread.

20/05/2024

https://www.facebook.com/ShortyandKodi/videos/1597786764096313/?rdid=HBfOaoFyNgP6Az6C