01/02/2023
After weeks of putting it off I finally sat down and calculated last years numbers. In total we took in 88 cats and kittens in need. When I saw this number I was shocked. Shocked that we managed to rescue so many lives but also I understood why I was so overwhelmed the whole kitten season.
From those 88, only 58 were homed. Others either are still with me or unfortunately passed away.
Last year was one of loss for us, we lost a lot of cats and kittens who we fought for endlessly, however, unfortunately they didn’t make it. We lost Snowy to cancer, Tigger to blood poisoning, Delilah to Kidney failure, Gaia who we fought so much for due to eye problems to FIP and the list just goes on … Verity, Sunshine, Lilibet, Chip, Rose and some that didn’t even give us time to name them 😞
I didn’t have time to grieve the cats that left us. I smiled and carried on for those who I still needed to take care of but also just for day to day life, family, friends and my degree.
It helps to look at all the 58 kittens that were homed during the year, who otherwise would probably be dead from the streets but it’s draining to see so many kittens dying. We had some miracles, Fritz was already dying when we picked him up and now he’s in a loving home! We managed to treat 6 kittens with flesh eating bacteria who are now cured and homed! Daffie who is battling chronic cat flu and currently FIP is doing amazingly! Neve kicked cancer in the butt! And Spiru, to vets’ surprise, managed to fully recover from his pelvis break.
These miracles kept me going, however, after 3 tough years of fighting for these animals, I’ve now learnt my limits. Unfortunately, this year we will not be taking in any kittens from the street but rather we will focus our efforts on neutering the strays in our community and taking care of the cats which we still have under our care. We will never be able to save every kitten off the street, nor neuter every cat. However, with each one we do neuter we will prevent many kittens from being born and suffering a horrible death and hard life.
Until the government steps in to help NGOs and fosterers like us, this will never stop. And I’ve learnt this the hard way.