What we do
Our main aim is quite simple – to improve the health and welfare of all cats and kittens who are brought to our notice by members of the public in our local area (our full name is “Sleaford and District Cats’ Protection” and we look after NG34, parts of LN4 and parts of NG32). We look after the full range of felines from pregnant mummies, tiny kittens, lost tomcats who go off looking for girls then can’t remember where they did live months before… feral colonies, found and dumped strays in all shapes, sizes and health. In short, if it is a domestic cat, we should be able to offer help and advice. We can’t take in every cat we would like to due to space restraints, so the homeless have priority and unwanted owned cats have to join their place in the queue. We also keep a lost and found log and offer vouchers towards neutering costs for those on low income.
We can be looking after cute little kittens early one day and trapping very angry feral toms by the evening! All of us here at local level are unpaid volunteers and in a little branch like this we might have a designated role but we all have to muck in and do a bit of everything at times.
We currently have five fosterers (4 with outdoor pens, one indoor) but are always looking for a new fosterer or two. Outdoor pens can be standard single, large single or double and we have one large “family pen” to take either four adults from the same house or several mummies and kittens from the same house. We have a coordinator, treasurer, fundraising coordinator, web mistress, neutering officer and homing officer, several regular helpers for fundraising but also spouses, mothers and children are rounded up when all hands on deck are needed! So if you love cats and want to get involved, there is always work to be done. Some people can only spare a few hours a month but we do need people to be reliable and only major excuses are acceptable!
The majority of our cats are kept in pens as this means they cannot pass disease to our cats or vice-versa and also cannot escape, most importantly. The pens, bases, electricity, food and vet costs are all paid by the branch, so a volunteer provides lots of TLC (and a lot of scrubbing, washing and poo picking – hygiene is paramount).
Each year we rehome over 200 cats and kittens. There is always more neutering to do and more sick babies to look after – so we are trying hard and we could do even better with more volunteers!