Blind and Patially Sighted Cats

Here at Cats Protection Bridgend AC, we have cared for many cats with a variety of special requirements, including cats that are either partially or fully blind. There are many different causes for cat blindness, and while some cats can be born blind, others may lose their sight gradually over a long period of time.



Handsome Popeye was fully blind but was able to get around amazingly using his whiskers.



What signs or symptoms of blindness should cat owners look out for?

-Cats who are losing their sight may be prone to bumping into items of furniture, especially more so at night or when lighting is poor. You may also notice he has trouble judging the height of objects when jumping.

The eye(s) may also change in appearance, and could become enlarged or cloudy looking. You may also notice that the pupils do not dilate with changing light levels.

 

How can I help a blind cat?

Cats are generally a very adaptive species, and are still able to enjoy a good quality of life by compensating with their other senses.  

Try to make the furniture in the home nice and safe, and avoid moving it around too often as the cat will become accustomed to where everything is located, and will have a mental map of the room and furniture. Try to avoid leaving unexpected obstacles on the floor, especially small items that the cat will not be able to detect with his whiskers. 

Scent is incredibly important to all cats, but especially to blind cats. Allow your cat to walk around and get used to his surroundings, and try to avoid picking him up so he can use his scent glands in his paws to lay a scent trail to come back to.

Let your cat know you’re there- use your voice to gently notify him of your presence before picking him up or petting him. Try not to be too loud or make sudden loud noises that might startle him.

If your cat is blind in one eye, try to approach him from his ‘good eye’ side where possible.

Blind cats still love to play, so using squeaky, rattley or crinkly toys will help engage him. You can also engage other senses such as smell or taste with treat toys and catnip.

Avoid letting your blind or partially sighted cat outside unsupervised, as there are too many risks and dangers that he may not be able to navigate.

Cats Protection also recommends that blind cats should be the only pet in the home, to minimise stress.

Most of all, be patient.  Sudden or gradual blindness is a lot to get used to, even for our adaptable feline friends. Your cat may seem a little grumpy or fearful as he gets accustomed to using his new senses. Be kind, quiet and gentle as he adjusts.

Some blind cats will use their paws to swipe in front of them to ascertain what is there. As an owner of a blind cat, you may find yourself receiving the occasional paw to the leg as you walk around! Try to be patient if this happens as the cat is simply trying to find his way about

 

 



Bubba had to have one eye removed as it was damaged when he suffered with cat flu in the home. After healing from his surgery, he found a loving home.

 

Beautiful Bear was found to be fully blind when he came into our care, but it didn’t stop him from being a playful little lovebug who found his forever home as an indoor only cat.

 

Beautiful Serena is only 5 months old but due to severe cat flu as a kitten is now partially sighted. Lucky for her she has found a loving home which she is headed to this week :)

Think you could offer a home to a cat with special requirements? We always have lots of lovely cats for adoption here at our Bridgend Adoption Centre. Pop in and see us at Pant Hirwaun, Bryncethin, Bridgend CF32 9UJ.

Cardiff Homing and Information Centre Update

 
Since we opened our doors on the 16^th of February this year, we have been very successful in our first few months. We have been busy working alongside Pets at Home to organise and deliver charity events, including our Pawsome Afternoon Tea and Support Adoption for Pets fundraising weekend. All our events have been a huge success, raising awareness and funds for our cats in need.
 

 
 
One of our objectives is to educate the public on how to care for cats and their welfare needs. What better way to do this than to teach children the importance of caring for animals? We have had several Kiddy Cat workshops and educational talks on site, where children have been able to get involved and learn the fun way! We always look forward to speaking with our customers, regular and new, who pop in to see the cats and come to us for advice and guidance.
 
 
We’ve been blown away with the rehoming success we’ve had, the turn-over of cats has been brilliant! Since February we have found loving new homes for 89 cats which we are very proud of considering we are such a small centre with only 3 pens.

We have taken on some lovely volunteers who regularly help out here at the HIC, they have been so fabulous as our little centre can get quite busy! However, on those quiet days they have been able to socialise with the cats, this has really helped our nervous ones which need some extra TLC to bring them out of their shells.
 

What are we most proud of? Our success of rehoming long stayers, older cats and black cats. Of which some are all three, sadly black cats and older cats can get over-looked a lot of the time in rescue. We understand the appeal of a cute fluffy kitten but there is a lot to consider as they are hard work. While talking to our customers, we have noticed many are looking for young cats, however what a lot of people don’t realise is that cats can live into their 20’s, so they have lots of love left to give.
 

 

Do you remember Cleo? She was in Bridgend Adoption Centre for over 80 days making her a long stayer, she struggled to find a new home and people continued to pass her by! In August she came down to the HIC giving her more space and she wouldn’t be able to see any other cats, once down here she thrived and her really affectionate personality shone through! It was a happy ending for Cleo her move to the HIC was a success, she found her new home with a dog to call her own. We hope she will live happily with a family that can give her all the attention she needs.
Only having three pens at the HIC allows us to focus the public’s attention to these cats which may have been overlooked, giving the long-stayers a second chance.

 



 

Over the past 7 months we have really enjoyed our new adventure, the Homing and Information Centre has taken off better than we ever could have expected. We appreciate all the support we have received at our fundraising events and people popping in to see us!

We can’t wait to see what the future holds for the HIC, we look forward to continuing our work in the Cardiff area with education talks and finding new homes for the cats in our care.

Thank you once again and we hope to see you soon

Life in a Multi-Cat Household

Neutering is a big part of what we do at the Cats Protection, ensuring every cat/kitten that leaves our care is neutered. Kittens can reach sexual maturity from 4 months old and they can have up to 9/10 kittens per litter.. This gives an insight into just how many kittens one female could have in her lifetime, and how it can escalate and get out of control. Neutering has many health benefits, as well as helping to reduce the amount of unwanted cats. Un neutered cats are more likely to roam away from home in search of a mate, they are more likely to fight and cause injury to themselves and others, and at a higher risk of contracting infectious diseases. Some examples of these are :- FIV – This affects cats in a similar way as would the human HIV virus, making their immune system weaker and more susceptible to illness, FHV (Feline Herpes Virus), FPV (Feline ParvoVirus) which attacks the digestive sickness making them very unwell and can often be fatal.

Diarrhoea and sickness tend to be rife in a multi cat household due to the sheer number of cats all living within close proximity to each other. In some cases these conditions can be quite unsanitary with the cats defecating and urinating around the house due to there not being enough litter trays, or the trays not being cleaned regularly. Cats are very clean animals and if they do not find their toileting site appropriate they will develop toileting issues and could also develop cystitis due to stress.

Many cats that come from multi cat households tend to be malnourished due to the fact that they have to constantly compete for food with so many other cats around. They also tend to have a poor diet due to owners often struggling with the cost of food. They are at high risk of contracting infectious diseases and illnesses from each other. Cat Flu is very contagious and can be fatal for kittens and adult cats and if left untreated it can also cause blindness. One way to protect against this is by regularly vaccinating your cats. Symptoms of this are : - Sneezing, weepy and crusty eyes, lethargy, lack of appetite and a temperature. Fleas and ear mites are also very common within these living conditions.  

In 2017 we visited a multi cat household and collected 13 cats from a home as the owner was struggling to cope. All of the cats who came into our care suffered with some of the issues as stated above. Here are some of their stories :-

USHI and URSA – These two sisters came to us full with flu and both had clouding of their eyes due to cat flu that had been left untreated. They could barely see and were in a lot of pain. They were very scared arriving to the centre as they had not had a lot of socialisation due to having to compete for attention with so many others around. They both underwent surgery and each had one of their eyes removed. After their surgery and lots of TLC from our cat carers, their health rapidly improved and they became very affectionate and confident. They were both rehomed together and have now found their happily ever after :)



XAVIER – Xavier was terrified and very wary of people, more than likely due to lack of socialisation. He also suffered with fluey symptoms which were then treated with medication. Every time we would approach him he would lash out at us out of fear. We tried our best efforts to socialise him but he was still very afraid and aggressive towards us. The decision was made to rehome Xavier to a small holding where he could have the outdoors to explore but still have that option to go near humans if he wanted. We have had an update on him and he is loving his new found freedom and will even let his new owners stroke him occasionally and has become very friendly.

TINY– Tiny was one of the smallest and most malnourished cats who came from this specific household. This could be due to the fact that he was pushed away for food by more dominant cats, or due to interbreeding which can lead to stunted growth. He also suffered with fluey symptoms, gunky eyes and an upset stomach. He had all the medicine he needed and soon regained full health. One of our cat carers, Ceri, fell in love with him whilst caring for him and adopted him. He has now found his happy ever with his new mum and two step brother cats (Toots and Smudge) who all love him dearly.



Cats Protection runs a scheme where we can help you pay for your cat to be neutered and microchipped for just £5.00 if you are on low income or entitled to benefits. This would dramatically change their quality of life making them a lot happier. Just by neutering one cat, you are stopping them have litter after litter of kittens, and situations such as these would become more infrequent and save a lot of suffering for the cats involved. For more information please contact our neutering hotline on 03000 12 12 12

Surviving Against the Odds

Harriet and Harry

Harriet (1 year old) was admitted to us after a member of the public
contacted us because she was a stray which had just given birth in his shed and two of the kittens had passed away, she had one surviving kitten.  Harriet was vet checked at the centre as she had signs of infection post birth, our vet believed she may have a remaining dead kitten inside her, so she was admitted to the vets for emergency treatment.  




Harriet's X-ray

On further vet examination our vet suspected she may have an injured pelvis and she was put under anaesthetic for an x-ray.  The x-ray revealed something totally unexpected, Harriet had a diaphragmatic hernia, this is a hole in the diaphragm between the chest cavity and the abdomen, as a result of this her abdominal organs were in her chest cavity.  Whilst under GA Harriet started to go into respiratory failure, our vet contacted us for permission to perform lifesaving surgery.  The surgery was risky and the odds weren’t in Harriet’s favour but she proved herself to be a fighter and pulled through but she wasn’t out of the woods yet.  She had to spend 48 hours in an oxygen tent
recovering, before being well enough to be reunited with her kitten Harry who was being bottle fed by the vet nurses to give him the best chance for survival too.  

 

 

Happy Mumma.

After a worrying few days, Harriet was well enough to leave the vets and return to our care. She is now happily settled in her pen with Harry, she still has some way to go to full recovery but she is now over the worse. 

We are currently trying to find Harriet’s owner, if you have any information, please call us on 01656 724396 or email bridgend@cats.org.uk
We are trying to raise funds to cover the cost of Harriet’s operation and recovery which is in excess of £500, if you would like to donate you can do so by clicking on https://bit.ly/2Nxeyo6 or texting HHJA72, followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070

 Thank you for your support.

Daisy and Her Kittens - 16 weeks Update.

It has now been almost 8 weeks since Daisy and her kittens left us at Bridgend Adoption Centre for their forever homes and as promised we have a little update on how they are settling in:

From the new owners of Emma and Eira:

"They are just the most delightful little kittens ever. They settled in so well from day one and they have grown so much and full of character and mischief. Emma was much smaller than Eira but she now weighs more as they were at the vets recently for their jabs. I don’t know how, as Eira does not like Emma getting anything and tries to steal her food, and love/attention ha ha. They are both very vocal, in particular Emma as she likes a good old meow when she needs/wants something and I call them our little tractors as they purr so much, in particular, Eira. They follow me around the house and play together so beautifully. Thank you so much for these two beautiful little girls, you guys and Daisy did so well. Myself and my children who are aged 8 and 9 are just so in love with them and they get treated like royalty so they are very happy....as are we. I will try and post some photos of them on your Facebook page, my kiddies have now named them as Lilly and Lollipop 😜

Take good care and thank you for all the wonderful work you all do over at the Cats Protection, you truly are gems."

 

An update on the only boy in the litter Dewi:

"Dewi was renamed Ozzy and he is a fantastic kitten. He is very playful and happy and enjoys sitting in the garden with us. He has started to become more confident and welcomes us when coming home and he always takes a interest at dinner times."

And the star of the blog herself - Daisy!

"Daisy is settling in very slowly, loving the attention and is very affectionate but her nervousness was apparent on bringing her home. Needs a lot of reassurance when we are standing up and she is on the floor, clearly doesn’t trust feet.

But on the whole she is a delight and very clean but will take a long time to undo any traumas she has had."

We are so happy everyone has settled into their new homes and that Daisy can finally relax in peace without having any more kittens!

Daisy was one of the lucky cats who has found her way into our care, sadly every year many cats give birth out doors with no proper shelter and care. Although we all love seeing mums with kittens at the centre, we would always advocate getting cats neutered as this is the only effective way to reduce unwanted cats in the UK. A fact which surprises everyone is that one female cat can be responsible for a staggering 20,000 descendants in just five years! For help with neutering your cat, please click here
 

Kitten Watch Update: Saying Goodbye!

The 4 kittens are now 8-9 weeks old and have all been reserved, microchipped, had their first vaccination, are flea'd and wormed up to date and have been neutered! They have all headed off to their new homes and our duty of looking after them is now passed on to their new families for their bright futures, full of fun! It is always sad for staff to say goodbye to the kittens they have watched and worked with for the vital first 8 weeks of their lives and seeing their individual personalities shine through but it is also a very happy time as we know they will be loved and enjoy their lovely new homes.

Daisy has also now headed off to her forever home, she too has been neutered, ending the cycle of her having multiple litters of kittens, she is also microchipped and fully vaccinated now. Daisy has been such a wonderful mum and now we are so thrilled she gets her happy ending of a forever home to spend her days playing and relaxing.

Daisy going home with her new family.

Our homing process is very simple, we invite the public to look at our opening hours and pop along to the centre between those times. We ask for potential adopters to fill out a short questionnaire in order for us to point them in the right direction of suitable cats to fit in with their lifestyle and home. We urge the public to read all of the stories above the cats pens in order to find out a little more about each cats individual needs and from there one of our knowledgeable cat carers will allow them to meet the cat.

If the potential adopter wishes to take home the cat they have met then we pop a 'reserved' sign above their pen and go through the cats medical history, flea and worm treatments, vaccination records and any relevant previous history (such as if the cat likes to sit on laps, what kind of toys and scratch post they prefer) and explain to the adopter everything they need to know and get ready before taking the cat home.

The adoption fee is £50 and all of our cats in care will be upto date with their flea and worm treatment, neutered (if old enough - if not a full cost neutering voucher will be provided), microchipped to the adopters address and would of had at least their first vaccination.

We want to say a HUGE thankyou to everyone who sponsored Daisy and her kittens during their stay with us. Every penny helps cats and kittens just like them in our care.



Daisy is one of the lucky cats who has found her way into our care, sadly every year many cats give birth out doors with no proper shelter and care. Although we all love seeing mums with kittens at the centre, we would always advocate getting cats neutered as this is the only effective way to reduce unwanted cats in the UK. A fact which surprises everyone is that one female cat can be responsible for a staggering 20,000 descendants in just five years! For help with neutering your cat, please click here

Kitten Watch Part 8: Countdown to 8 weeks!

Daisy’s kittens fast approaching 8 weeks old and are almost ready to begin the next chapter of their lives. Soon the kittens will be ready for their first vaccinations and final health checks. Vaccinations are very important as they will help protect the kittens against cat flu, enteritis and feline leukaemia. They will need a second vaccination three weeks after the first to ensure that they are fully protected.

Today is also a big day for Daisy as she is currently at the vets being spayed. Daisy can now enjoy her future without having to worry about raising anymore kittens!  Now she is neutered she will be at a much lower risk of contracting the feline aids virus and the risk of some cancers will also be reduced.


Daisy has been neutered and is recovering well from her operation

Daisy and her kittens are now split permanently and spend all day and night apart. Daisy does not mind and seems to be enjoying the peace and quiet. Her kittens are getting along great too. They are all fully litter trained and eating meat and biscuits independently. They are really enjoying playing in their outside pen together, spending the majority of the day playing with balls, boxes and furry toy mice! The kittens will zoom around and then fall asleep exhausted in a moment. As tempting as it is to pick up or cuddle a sleeping kitten it is important to leave them when they are asleep as sleep is highly important for growth and development. Just like a baby a kitten will need lots of sleep!

Emma and Dewi relaxing after breakfast

A common reason for play aggression in cats towards people is due to learning at a young age that hands or feet are toys! We encourage everybody who adopts a kitten to never use fingers or toes to play with kittens. Instead we would recommend toys on strings or feathers to discourage your kitten from attacking your hands in play. These toys also help develop a kitten’s balance and eye-paw co-ordination and are lots of fun!

Play Time!

We cannot believe how quickly the last 8 weeks have flown by!  We wish Daisy and her kittens the best of luck for the future and hope they will all be very happy in their new homes.

Daisy and her kittens are likely to be available for adoption next week, if you are interested in adopting Daisy or one of her kittens, please call the centre on 01656 724396 or email bridgend@cats.org.uk the week beginning 30 April. If you would like more information about our adoption process, please visit our website www.bridgend.cats.org.uk Unfortunately cats cannot be reserved over the phone and anyone interested must come to meet the cat in person, and only when the cat / kittens have been declared fit to home by our vets.

Daisy's kittens 8 weeks old

Daisy's kittens - new born

Daisy is currently our sponsor cat and you can help contribute towards the cost of caring for Daisy, her kittens and other unwanted cats by becoming a Cats Protection sponsor, to get started, please visit here 
Alternatively you can make a one off donation to our kitten appeal at http://bit.ly/2GDxM7P or by texting BRKW48 followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070.

Daisy is one of the lucky cats who has found her way into our care, sadly every year many cats give birth out doors with no proper shelter and care. Although we all love seeing mums with kittens at the centre, we would always advocate getting cats neutered as this is the only effective way to reduce unwanted cats in the UK. A fact which surprises everyone is that one female cat can be responsible for a staggering 20,000 descendants in just five years! For help with neutering your cat, please click here