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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

A family of stray cats are in a garden on Allison Road (Green Lanes end). I have counted a small black mother cat who seems thin and in poor condition plus 4 kittens who follow her around (see pic). I'd guess they are 5 or 6 weeks old. There are 3 black ones and a grey/white one. This garden has a history of stray kittens which has not been addressed and I suspect these are descendants of other strays.

I have 2 rescue cats of my own so can't home these but feel the following needs to happen:

- all of these cats to be spayed

- the mother's health to be addressed. 

- the kittens to be homed ASAP if possible

Does anyone know anything about these animals or own them? if not I'll try and arrange for them to be spayed. Is anyone looking for kittens? I understand if they are homed when young enough they should become good pets...but not if it's left too late and they grow up unfamiliar with people. I'd need help to catch them - I think the charities have cages to trap them with food.

I'm not sure if the mother cat can be helped much - I think the shelters are full and the RSPCA prefer to leave strays where they are unless in distress. However if someone on Allison Road can agree to feed her in the garden maybe that might help - I don't live on the road myself but have access whilst the tenants are away.

Thanks for any help or advice you can give!

Tags for Forum Posts: RSPCA, animals, cats, kittens, shelters, stray, strays, volunteer

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Well done Laura for taking in a feral cat. Shame she is lost, hope she was microchipped and you find her again. You're right, it is possible to home a feral cat. We took in a feral cat a few years ago. He started off living outside in a cat shelter, but we gradually coaxed him in and he's now living inside and part of our normal cat household!

It's great to see homes being offered for the kittens. I hope someone out there will be able to offer a home to the mother cat, whether or not she is feral or a lost stray cat. She may well be only a young cat herself. Everyone deserves a little chance in life!

We would love house one of the kittens and of course will help with any costs incurred etc. Please let us know what help you need. This is incredibly kind of you and so thoughtful - it's lovely to know there are such great people around!

Hi Sophie, we can take a kitten, and reimburse for spaying/vet fees when the time comes, if you're still looking for a home.  Been looking for a second rescue cat for a while now...

Dear Sophie

Our cat, Calgary, died earlier this year after 16 years with us, and we are looking to adopt a cat/kitten that needs a home. We might well be able to give a home to one of these kittens. I think you say in one of the posts that it will be about 4-5 weeks before they might be ready for a new home. If so, that would work well for us. We would of course help with costs. 

Thanks - Chris

UPDATE on this

We've managed to catch all but one of the kittens and hoping to get the rest tonight. The Celia Hammond trust is now involved and I'm taking them there to get jabs etc. Sally has kindly offered to foster until they are ready for new homes. I'm hoping this will be last week in Sept. If they are still too young then I'll look after them myself for another week or so.

Please note the CH trust may want to vet people before they home the kittens and may ask for a contribution to costs. I think there's more info on their website.

Thanks so much to everyone who's helped me with this - the kittens are absolutely gorgeous and I'm so glad they will have a safe future now.

Sophie

You've done very well! Have you managed to catch the mother cat too so that hopefully she can be rehomed as well?

Very unlikely that they'll be able to rehome her unfortunately, but she's coming along until they are weaned. Then she'll be released back outside. Not ideal but the shelters are so full it's the only way. I'm going to ask the tenants if they will feed the strays in the garden where possible. There were 3 adult cats in total which we've now caught and will neuter then release. Sad consequence of too many stray cats in London and not enough homes.

Maybe one of the people out there who want a kitten could offer a home to the mother cat or another cat as well?

This post is headed up stray kittens, maybe you could post separately details of the adult cats needing homes as well. It seems a real shame to release them back to live on the street where they'll struggle for food, no medical treatment and freezing in winter. I know kittens are popular, but adult cats are great too. I've never had a kitten, but I've rescued 6 adult street cats and it's very rewarding. So someone out there, please give a home to any of the three adult cats! They deserve a chance in life. You've been brilliant Sophie and Sally for all you've done!

Hiya Justine

I am with you on this and agree that these poor mum cats deserve a home but the reality is that there are just no homes for them. Its is so sad for them to go back out to fend for themselves but I don't see any solutions. Cat rescue centres are full to bursting (Celia Hammond says she has 7 cat boxes of cats and kittens in her reception area because all her kennels and foster homes are full) of adorable, tame cats which can't find home and are waiting. Unfortunately, semi feral mum cats don't get a look in and people don't offer them homes 99 times out of 100.

I will do my best to get the mum cat used to humans while I look after her and try to tame her. You never know, maybe she will gain enough confidence to trust humans, make a good pet and then someone will offer her a home. That is the ideal I have in my mind. We will see how it goes. If she seems like she will make a good pet then we could put an advert on here to see if anyone wants her.

I can't offer her anymore than a temporary foster home because I already have 2 boy cats that were rescued from a bin 2 years ago.

Thanks for all your words of encouragement. Its nice to know others share the same protective feelings towards these poor cats as I do.

I agree that's so nice that you've caught them all. One of my three rescue cats is a street tom that we managed to catch and neuter. The vet said he was too wild and his brain was too addled by testosterone to be a good pet, but two years later he's our tamest cat who loves to be brushed and wants a cuddle every evening. 

Sophie,

What fantastic work and am so pleased that you've been successful in catching them and all of your hard work in this.  I can understand how hard it is to find people to take the adult cats as well.  I would be fine taking an older cat but with a 2 year old the cat would need to be able to deal with young very friendly children and I suspect that this may be the problem that the shelters have a well.   It's so hard to see all of this especially when the charities do help people neuter cats if they struggle financially to do so.

UPDATE

Thanks to everyone that's offered to give these kittens a home. We're currently getting them used to human contact and optimistic they will become good house pets.

I'm going to speak to the vet about innoculations, worming and neutering. I am willing to arrange this but I'm going to have to ask for you to cover the costs of this. I'll get a quote but hoping it'll be under £50 per kitten.

Assuming they are going to be able to go to their new homes in about 3 weeks, we'll also pop round and do a home visit if that's ok.

If you are able to offer a home to more than one animal, I think they will be happier in pairs. There's also the possibility someone could take Mum and a kitten together. Let me know how you feel about this.

I'll post again once I've spoken to the vet.

Sophie

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