Fred's Blog: Happy New Year
07 January 2014
Hi all, Fred here and a very Happy New Year to all my loyal blog readers! I hope everybody had a suitably indulgent Christmas and that you’re now raring to get back to work! Personally, I can’t think of anything worse but I need to earn my keep somehow so have my scribe on paw to take down my thoughts as we enter 2014.
Firstly I would like to thank everyone who attended or helped out at our Christmas Cat and Craft Open Day in December. The Centre was so busy I couldn’t keep up with all the people I had to usher around the place! I nearly wore my little legs out showing them to all the stalls. I had lots of fuss from all the stall ladies, including Joanne Dodd (woodburning), Jackie (jewellery), Laura Shutt (handmade cards), Gwyneth Marshman (printed cards) and Audrey (from Love Handbags) – it was probably my charm that persuaded them to make such kind donations to us on the day! There were some lovely cakes on offer baked by our volunteers and staff members (thanks to Ann, Tia, Dawn, Jonathan, Lynn, Carol and Claire) – sadly they were just out of my reach or I would have tried to swipe a couple myself! We had so many visitors that all the cats were exhausted and fast asleep by 3 o’clock and I wasn’t far behind. We made over £360 on the day so a great success!
Our volunteers were also very much appreciated on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Many paws make light work, so they say, and it was lovely to get all the work done and see them having a nice morning with a few Christmas treats here and there! I did my best to catch the crumbs as usual…
Another round of thanks goes to all those who have donated to the Centre over Christmas and throughout 2013. I know we have received a number of cheques of varying sizes and the cats want you to know that they really do appreciate every donation you send! The Amazon Wishlist has also been very successful and the cats love to receive the toys, scratching posts and puzzle feeders, some of which have been donated from as far away as New York! We have also been inundated with donations of adult food, which has been fantastic but we do have a lot of cheeky kittens and old codgers (like me) to feed too so we would very much appreciate donations of kitten and senior food – we like to eat Felix or Whiskas in particular!
Looking forward to 2014, our shop in Wrexham town centre will be reopening as soon as possible at its new location – I have heard it is on Lord Street, near Gerards bakery (ooh imagine all those cream cakes!) – so please watch this space! We homed 293 cats from our Adoption Centre in 2013 and we would like to see that number increase to over 300 in 2014 so please spread the word about us to friends, family, acquaintances, people on the bus, anyone you can! We always like to hear about the cats once they have gone home too. I see them in the pens dreaming of going home – yes, they are comfy and safe but there’s nothing like seeing them with their new families! Ah, it is so lovely to know they are as happy and loved as I am! Please send in your stories via email or on our Facebook page (please “Like” our page!) and some success stories may feature in our Member’s Newsletter, in which I have had my very own blog post published! (You can call the Centre to find out how to become a member)
I know it is only just January but as spring approaches we urge you to have your cats and kittens neutered. Many vets will now neuter male and female kittens from 4 months of age and can be found on the Early Neutering Register, which lists participating vets in your area (http://www.cats.org.uk/early-neutering). In my opinion, there are enough pesky kittens around as it is! It is also very important to limit the spread of diseases like FIV and FeLV and to reduce the temptation of wandering off to find a date... Unneutered cats can make quite a mess too if they decide to spray so surely it’s a no-brainer to neuter! If you are in receipt of any form of benefits or on a low income then we can help with the cost, just call and speak to my staff!
Well I think that’s all for now. We have had a great start to 2014 with almost all of our cats and kittens being reserved already so let’s hope it continues! I’m sure I will see you all soon, either at the Centre or through my next post.
Love and purrs,
Fred x