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Villa Kitty was established in March 2011 BUT our beginnings were a small section in a local dog shelter as their 'Cats and Kittens section' which I opened after I was approached to care for three tiny kittens who needed 24 hour hand feeding, in December 2009. Bali's feline population weren't getting much support back then so I ask
ed a good friend in Australia, Robert Elliot, who agreed to pay the wages of two young men to care for the tiny kittens that started to arrive when it became known that we were taking care of them. Robert agreed to pay, not only the wages, but all food, equipment, medical supplies and cleaning products. My niece, Selena Steiner, and her husband, Seungho Kim, both vets supported our work. Our first vet assistants worked tirelessly but, before we knew it, three kittens became sixty and two staff became two vets, five vet assistants and a cook. In October 2010, a generous Melbourne lady and fellow cat lover, Rosemary Fry, saw the work we were doing and, as we were already too big for the shelter, Rosemary agreed to pay for the building of Villa Kitty on a beautiful block of land in Lodtunduh near Ubud. Friends of SCARS, the Sunshine Coast Animal Refuge Society, in Australia, visited as we were setting up and paid for all our white goods, computer and printer, and so much more. Robert covered the lease of the land for ten years and pledged to continue his support. On March 17, 2011, when we picked up our ever-growing family and relocated to this beautiful house, purpose built to shelter and care for Bali’s abandoned cats and kittens. In December, 2011, Robert again paid the lease of the land adjacent to Villa Kitty, this time to build a separate quarantine wing and hospital. The hospital would be divided into two sides one for cats with respiratory problems such as catflu and the other side to care for our cats with intestinal illnesses. With a generous donation from the Parr family, and Robert, we built a truly functional quarantine building. And for our hospital we held our first ever fund raiser in March 2012 at Janet DeNeefe’s INDUS restaurant where we raised half what we needed to build the hospital and Robert paid the remaining costs. From two vet assistants in 2009 and myself, we now have twenty three full time staff and nine part time, including 6 children who come after school to help socialise our kittens and to groom them. Our vet team includes Drh Eka who manages Villa Kitty, Drh Karnata who is our consulting vet and who does all our sterilising, and two junior vets who are still in training. Our nine vet assistants care for our cats and kittens 24 hours a day. Our other staff, includes, our famous cook, Ibu Eka, and her offsider, Bu Jero, six cleaners, a litter tray cleaner, who needs a medal for this tough job, and our two smiley security guards who also do part time work in our garden. One of the nicest parts of the day is when six of the local school children come in, after school, to cuddle our cats and groom them. It is such an important job to socialise the cats so they are ready for adoption. We always hope people will choose the most needy kittens and cats but this is not too often so we believe these young children are worth their weight in gold and are on our payroll. Villa Kitty's staff is dedicated to making a difference to the lives of Bali’s own cats but we need your support to continue to do the good work that we are doing. And don't forget our Sunday lunches under the Mango Tree 12.30pm. We'd love you to join us and your payment.... cuddle our Villa Kitty cats and kittens. Please email [email protected] for further information on how you can help. Thank you again
Elizabeth Henzell
Founder & Director
Villa Kitty Bali
