Holly's Merry Moggies cat shelter Nottingham

22/09/2025

A while back, we invested in a thermal camera to help us find missing cats hiding in bushes and such.

The first pic is a normal cat (Honeybun) as viewed through the thermal cam. And the second is, of course, Smol Paul somehow managing to be iconically himself as always 😅

16/09/2025

Last week, we asked for your help finding the family of a little old lady cat called Ziggy, who'd been handed in at a vets, then brought to us when the information on her microchip led nowhere.

I am so, so delighted to say that thanks to people sharing the post in Nottingham and Bath, Ziggy has just been collected by her family and is on her way home.

We knew from writing to the address on her chip that Ziggy's original owner had passed away during the covid pandemic, but that she had a daughter here in Nottingham which would explain why Ziggy was so far from the chip address. Lots of you tried to help in some really amazingly inventive ways, and before long her daughter was found. She does indeed live in Nottingham, near where Ziggy was wandering.

We now know that her owner went away on holiday earlier this year, leaving Ziggy in the care of her neighbour. Unfortunately, she disappeared from the garden during this time and neither the neighbour nor owner could find her. Being that Ziggy is the equivalent of 84 in human years, they reluctantly concluded she had headed off somewhere quiet to go for her eternal nap, as old cats sometimes do.

A bit of a shock, therefore, given that they'd mourned her passing, to be told this week that some mad pink-haired lady on Facebook was looking for her family! But they emailed us straight away and arranged to collect her as soon as possible.

Ziggy still needs some vet treatment so we're working with her family to get that done safely (at her advanced age!) and we can't wait to hear how she reacts to coming out of her carrier to find she's somehow teleported back home. 🥰

Thank you all so, so much for your help finding Ziggy's family, and especially to the people who kindly offered a home if hers didn't emerge. We have more wonderful older kitties, so please do message if you might like to help one of those find a loving home too. Thank you ❤️

14/09/2025

An amazing thing happened!

My brilliant friend Nicole from Changing Lives At Carrington up in Manchester is having fancy swankypants built-in pens created, and no longer needed the 16 modular pens she's been using up to now. So she offered them to the rescue people group chat I'm in, at an enormous discount -- they originally cost her around £7,000!

Luckily, I happened to be online (yes okay I'm always online) and jumped at the chance, and one delivery lorry later, we now have proper vet pens!!!!

This is an absolute godsend not only because we have never been able to afford this type of equipment before (due to aforementioned £7k!) but also because we've been trying to design our own for Colin to build, and now we don't have to. The pens are absolutely amazing: if you arrange them together in rows, you can create multi-pen units by removing the covers over the little portholes in-between. So for example if you take two covers out, you can have a three-pen unit, with litter in one 'room,' food and water in another, and a nice cosy bed in between. They're also really easy to clean, which in this job is no small thing!

The pens have only been here a week and they've already made life SO much easier. We now have two dedicated cat rooms on the second floor of our house (poor longsuffering Colin has moved his office downstairs to give us another one, because he is an angel) and while we originally planned to split the pens between the two, we're now thinking we'll have pens in one room, and a lovely meet-a-mog room in the other, because historically people who've come to Moggy Manor to meet cats have had to encounter them anywhere from a room with no chairs to my actual bedroom, complete with floor pyjamas. Not ideal!

We're so grateful to Nicole and are already spinning up mad ideas for the decor of the two cat rooms. The meet-and-greet room was supposed to be my office (as if you have any other job but cats, Holly you wally) so that already has a bit of a 90s theme going, and we're thinking some kind of dopamine-boosting rainbow theme for the other. And I've been busy making little magnetic noticeboards so we can display who's in each pen and exactly what kind of catnip and Dreamies they require. Honestly we feel so lucky to have this equipment, now we just have to get the rooms all set up and no one will ever have to look at my PJs again 😅

12/09/2025

A big day today: four new cat arrivals all at once!

We have:

- Kronk, a gorgeously chonky orange and white boy who was living on the streets.
- Paulina, a possibly pregnant tuxie lady with THUMBS on her paws! We love a polydactyl cat.
- Nelson, a handsome brown and white boy who was hit by a car. His owners left him limping on a very injured paw for FIVE MONTHS before trying to have him put to sleep. Thankfully the vets convinced them to sign him over so he could get the medical treatment he badly needed.
- Beatrice, a little tabby kitten who reminds me so much of Bertie, not least because she has major eye issues (one very sunken, one with a giant hole all the way back to her pupil -- argh!) and will likely need both eyes removed. I've been calling a LOT of vets trying to find a way for this to happen because we currently just don't have the money (around £2k!).

They're all settling brilliantly and we can't wait to see their progress. Welcome, newbies -- life is about to get a lot better!

10/09/2025

Do you know this cat?

Beautiful, bedraggled Ziggy came to us from a vet practice, where she was handed in as a stray. She had been wandering the streets, cold and hungry, at the age of 17 -- in human terms, that's like walking past an 84-year-old homeless woman begging for food. It just shouldn't happen.

Ziggy has a microchip, which is how we know her name and age. However, the landline number on it had been disconnected, and the address was in Bath -- not exactly local!

We sent a letter and received a reply stating that Ziggy's owner had passed away during the coronavirus pandemic. The new occupants believe she had a daughter who lived in Nottingham, but they don't know the daughter's name.

If any of this sounds familiar, or you know someone whose mother was Mrs Milnthorpe (unfortunately the chip didn't give her first name) or who had a family cat called Ziggy, please get in touch. We're hoping Mrs Milnthorpe's daughter brought Ziggy here to give her a safe and happy retirement, and is now wondering where she is.

We have looked at missing cat notices around Nottingham but haven't found any looking for Ziggy, although we do know there are lots of pages and groups, so it would be easy to miss one. Also, we have no idea how long poor Ziggy was roaming the streets, so the missing notices could have been a while back.

While we try to find her family, we're feeding and taking care of Ziggy so she'll never be cold and hungry again. We're also getting her tested for a thyroid condition -- she's incredibly thin and hungry, which may be starvation but she also has the look of a hyperthyroid cat to us -- and it looks like she might also need a dental.

People around Nottingham and Bath especially, please share this post and spread the word. We would really love to find that there's someone out there hoping to be reunited with this gorgeous girl, and not that someone intentionally left her outside to fend for herself. Thank you.

08/09/2025

We've had all of Smol Paul's results back now and while they don't show anything bad, they also don't provide any answers about why his mobility has declined. While we're trying to figure that out, we've started physiotherapy with the brilliant Fraser Veterinary Physiotherapy here in Nottingham.

Paul had his first session last week and as you can see, he was absolutely over it before he'd even started 😅 have you ever seen anyone SO furious about a free massage?!

He also had some laser therapy to reduce pain and promote healing in the part of his back that's sore. His reaction to this was to yeet onto the floor, grab a catnip cactus and get wasted.

Despite his lack of gratitude, it does seem to have helped with the pain, and unfortunately for Paul there will be more sessions to come until he's better. Medicinal catnip will also be provided, of course.

07/09/2025

Friday was a day I've been anxious about for a while -- taking our most beautiful, perfect boy with Diprosopus to DWR Veterinary Specialists in Cambridge to be neutered.

Bertles is 3 years old but until now we've been using Suprelorin implants (similar to the human contraceptive implant) because with the giant hole in his heart and the unknowns about his brain, it just wasn't safe to do a normal neuter.

We would have stuck with the implants forever, but for reasons we, our vets and the manufacturers can't work out, this year they've stopped working for him. We tried replacements but he was spraying and fighting with our other male cats, including poor Smol Paul who's having a hard time as it is, so we really had no choice.

The night before surgery, I was absolutely beside myself and wondering if we were doing the right thing. Dick White Referrals are the absolute gold-standard experts -- they did his heart scan earlier this year -- but all anaesthetics come with risks, and even moreso for our special boy.

However, that night, Bertles really went for Paul, which was kind of a blessing because it reminded me why we're doing this. Not because I'm sick of him spraying wee on everything we own (though I am!) but because it's not safe for him or our other boy cats to be having hormone-fuelled fights.

This is one of the reasons vets, rescue people and cat lovers are always banging on about neutering -- if you don't get it done, besides the stinky wee and spraying, your male cat will also constantly start fights, injuring himself and others.

Getting a cat neutered usually costs in the region of £100, but because Bertie needed specialist care, it was about £1100 for us. But I am DELIGHTED and SO RELIEVED to say that it was 100% worth it, because Bertie's operation went perfectly and we brought him home on Saturday with a noticeably smaller coin purse. Sorry buddy 😅🍒

Of course everyone at DWR loved him and he got shown off all round the hospital, not only for his incredibly rare condition but also just for being the sweetest boy and belly rub fan. Thank you to Stella and Jaz for the photos and videos -- he's never looked more handsome!

Congratulations, Bertles -- no more scrapping, no more yearly implants, just as long and happy a life as your condition will allow us. We love you so much 💕

03/09/2025

We have a humongonormous list of really needy cats waiting to come in and receive vet care, proper nutrition and loving cuddles. But we have to keep delaying them because adoptions have slowed down for everyone this year and we've got cats staying for six months or more.

We now have a page on our website for available cats (although they probably won't ever all be on there, because 1) I am only one person, 2) things move quickly and 3) I can't advertise certain cats for certain reasons!) -- please take a look and send it to anyone you know who might love a moggy with a difference. Thank you!

Dusty Friendly, playful Dusty is only young and was found on the streets in a terrible state. He’s never had a home before, and has a bad flea allergy so it’s very important his forever…

02/09/2025

Two things arrived today.

A large delivery of food intended for a wobbly kitten that we lost our battle to save yesterday.

And a "Letter Before Court Claim" from the woman who is still, despite having absolutely no case whatsoever, threatening to sue us over the fostered kitten she's refusing to give back.

Withholding a kitten and threatening to sue a small shelter for disabled cats. How do people like this exist? How do they get out of bed in the morning and conduct their lives without feeling even a tiny bit ashamed that after I've finished crying my eyes out for the little one we lost and putting away food he should be here to enjoy, I have to waste yet more time on her vexatious legal nonsense?

We thankfully have a brilliant barrister working on our behalf, I just don't understand humans sometimes. Or at all.*

*Said barrister wrote my last 3 emails to her, which she doesn't realise. She replied saying I didn't understand the law. Nearly sent a photo of him in his wig and gown.

01/09/2025

May I present... Smol Paul's brain scan.

How is it possible that EVEN IN 2D he is this much himself?!

27/08/2025

Folks, I need to be honest because I've got an inbox full of people wondering why I'm not getting back to them.

I'm really not well at the moment, partly physically but I'm also going through some horrible family stuff and I've also got some members of the public making things really difficult.

One of our kittens went to a home last month as a foster-to-adopt, potential owner signed our foster-to-adopt agreement which clearly states the cat isn't yours until and unless you complete the adoption. We ask for half the fee upfront (£75) when you take them home, and the other half when you complete the adoption. The fee is higher than our standard £100 adoption fee because it's quite a lot more work to organise a foster-to-adopt.

This person told us £75 would cause hardship so I waived it. They then went and vaccinated the cat without our consent, and demanded reimbursement. Obviously, this doesn't fit with what they'd previously said about hardship, and we also don't cover treatment you decided to get without our agreement.

We tried to come to an agreement with them but they continued to refuse to pay the fee, while demanding free neutering (he's not even old enough yet), microchip and vaccinations. They also haven't actually provided any proof of vaccination, just a photo of the vet's price list.

They're now refusing to give the kitten back, and have reported us to Trading Standards (!!!) and various other places which I'm now having to defend myself to, taking up time that should be spent on our cats. We are also obviously having to deal with the police to try to get our kitten back, while this person sends me giant emails of copied-and-pasted consumer laws she thinks we've broken (she's wrong, he's legally our cat and refusing to return him is theft, but even when it's this clear-cut, repossessing a kitten from someone's house is not exactly straightforward and the police are pretty busy with less ridiculous crimes than kitten theft).

So there's that, my health, a million very very needy cats (including Squiggle the wobbly kitten, two hyperthyroid old lady strays, a cat with no ears due to untreated skin cancer and a sweet former stray with big patches of fur missing due to a severe flea allergy), zero days off ever, family sadness and poor Smol Paul who still can't walk properly and is breaking my heart.

I will reply to messages as soon as I'm able, and I am trying, I just feel like crawling into a hole and staying there sometimes!

Pic of Squiggle in her little flower cave because it cheers me up.

22/08/2025

Clever orange cat of the day: Sprout, who has just gone through the cat flap all by himself! So proud of how far this little wobbler has come, he's not even 1 yet!

Naughty orange cat of the day: Bumble, who went up to the top of the media unit to steal Scooter's food, fell off, hung there by his front leggies while STILL TRYING TO EAT, at which point I sprinted across the room to save him and he FOUGHT ME because he wanted the food 😅 he knocked the whole bowl of wet food down onto my head. Thanks pal, love my new meaty hair.