Monday 29 February 2016

Choci meets the Supervet

I, like many people in the UK love watching The Supervet and I am a massive fan of Noel Fitzpatrick - what an amazing, talented, generous and dedicated man!  Not only are his skills and talents as a vet completely mind-boggling but his understanding of pet owners love for their babies is truly beautiful to watch - can you tell I am a massive fan?

Anyway, enough about my personal thoughts on Noel....I thought I would share this great story, written by our Neutering Officer, Kay, which tells the tale of one of our beautiful rescue cats and how he met Noel over 10 years ago... 

Some of you may have watched the recent television series on C4 about Super Vet Noel Fitzpatrick and I would like to tell you about my own experience with him.

About 10 years ago Cats Protection Camberley & District were approached by a vet about a stray (we named Choci) who’d being hit by a car. Xrays showed fractures to both of his hips.

Usually this would be too difficult to repair but the vet had spoken to Noel who agreed to do the work at cost price to Cats Protection.

So the decision was made to give Choci a second chance at life and he was taken along to Fitzpatrick Referrals.

I was impressed when Noel phoned at 10.30pm to say the operation had gone smoothly and everything looked OK.  At this time not a lot of people knew about Noel’s work, including me, and two days later when I went to collect Choci I was totally and completely unprepared for the vision that met my eyes and even less prepared, if that was possible, as to how on earth to handle him or care for him.

Choci's "scaffolding"




I needn’t have worried, Choci was totally non-plussed by the metal scaffolding that had become his rear end. It was in place to hold his hips, and the pins inside his hips were in place whilst the bones fused and healed.

To watch him use a litter tray was indeed a sight to behold and he never once got so much as a drop on his bedding, he turned out to be the sweetest most adorable youngster and I never regretted the fact we had been able to give him a second chance.

Our next big milestone was allowing him out of his cage, first for a few minutes then for longer and longer as his muscles got stronger. Again we thought this might be a problem for him but the problem was ours, he wasn’t allowed to jump, unfortunately for me he always became conveniently deaf when I told him this and I had to watch him like a hawk.

The scaffolding came off after about seven weeks, he hardly seemed to notice, and in fact the only thing that ever seemed to bother him about his accident was the blue tape he had on one of his injured legs for a couple of weeks. He would spend all night pulling it off only for me to put it back on in the morning, perhaps blue just wasn’t his colour.

It wasn’t long before his fur was growing back, and he was behaving just like a normal healthy cat.



The collar of shame
He was with us for about four to five months before being re-homed to a lovely family who had just lost their elderly black cat to old age and were desperate for a young black cat.



It was love at first sight! 

I do just very occasionally bump into the lady when I’m shopping in her area and the last I heard, which was a couple of years ago, he was still doing just fine.

We have so much to thank Noel for, without his amazing talent and generosity, Choci would never have had a second chance at a wonderful new life.

Choci proved what I’ve always believed and why I’ve been involved in cat rescue for so many years ‘Give a cat half a chance and it will grab it with all four paws.’

Blog written by Kay Middlemiss, Voluntary Neutering Officer, Cats Protection Camberley & District


 

Friday 26 February 2016

Mothers Day for Cat Lovers and Cat Mums


I have been busy searching for a Mothers Day present for my mum and wanted to share some of these great finds with you all;
This is a great card to buy your Mum if she is a cat lover! Available from Veronica Dearly via Not on the High Street




I am so getting this one for my Mum.  From Do You Punctuate?  Via Not on the High Street



Such a cute card if you are buying a card from the cat and it can be personalised.  From Claire Sowden Design via Not on the High Street


I love this simple cat necklace and would be very happy if MellyBoy wanted to spend his pocket/Dreamies money on this for me!  Ernest Hemingway Cat Lover Necklace from Literary Emporium via Not on the High Street


Cats Protection gift shop has some great gifts – lots of cat stuff and some none-cat stuff but it is all really fab!  I love this make-up and wash bag set.