Beki's kittie dream comes true ...
15 January 2019
Erdington couple Beki and Mike Thackwray longed for a cat of their own but realised it wasn’t fair as they lived in a two-bed apartment with no outside space.
Then they saw an appeal on Facebook for indoor fosterers - and Beki's 'kittie dream' came true.
A very happy and fulfilling year of caring short-term for cats and kittens for North Birmingham Cats Protection followed – and they’re more than happy to continue throughout 2019 and beyond.
Erdington couple Beki and Mike have lovingly cared for and waved goodbye to three pairs of kittens during 2018 plus several solo cats. Here Mike is pictured with Panda, and Beki gets kitten Grey to wave a paw! Grey has now gone off to his forever home, Panda is reserved, so new arrivals are expected any day soon.
Says 33-year old Beki, who works in child and adolescent mental health: “Volunteering for charity is of course always worthwhile, but coming home to our foster kitties really is my dream voluntary role. We worried we might want to keep them, but needn’t have. Instead, we love to socialise and stimulate our little charges, have fun with them, and then see them off to wonderful adopters who will give them a happy home for life. It couldn’t be more rewarding.”
Just now Beki and husband Mike, a park ranger, are fostering an FIV-positive 10-year-old puss named Panda in the spare room of their Short Heath home. He was dropped off at Lydons vets for neutering on Mike’s way to work early in January, and collected on his way home – ‘all done’! And already Panda has an indoor-home adopter lined up.
Although Mike initially thought Beki would be ‘more involved in the fostering and day-to-day care than he would’ it hasn’t turned out that way.
Says Mike: “Beki and I have both completed the relevant on-line courses and had lots of help and encouragement from Shaki, the welfare officer, and we probably share the role equally. Sometimes Beki will greet the viewers and potential adopters, and I’ll get the adoption paperwork completed and register the microchip so everyone can go off smiling and purring. We both work full time, but Lydons vets have been great in giving us after work appointments – and we are both glad to be involved with helping needy cats and kittens. We can have breaks whenever we want, volunteer fostering is at no cost to ourselves, and we love it.”
** Anyone interested in fostering can contact the Cats Protection helpline on 0345 260 1503 and a member of the welfare team will get in touch. Volunteers are needed in a variety of roles besides fostering, so the charity would always welcome enquiries.