Family of sick kittens rescued in Letterkenny

As ‘Kitten Season’ continues, the Animals In Need (AIN) volunteers are rescuing an increasing number of sick felines, many with cat flu or stomach bugs.

AIN were called out to an emergency rescue in Letterkenny during the week, when a mother cat was spotted with five very sick kittens, all of which were suffering from cat flu and eye infections and one kitten had a ruptured eyeball.

Following an appeal on AIN’s Facebook page, a number of local people joined AIN’s volunteers to catch the kittens.

The kittens were in a bad way when they arrived at their foster home, particularly little Sia, who had a ruptured eyeball.

Sia’s eye had to be removed by a vet as it was beyond saving and she is now feeling more comfortable as she would have been in pain for some time.

Her siblings all have cat flu but they are responding well to treatment.

The kittens are feral and are quite frightened and confused by what has happened, as they have never interacted with humans before, but they are beginning to settle in their foster home and are appreciating all the good food that is on offer.

Sia is making great progress at socialisation and loves having her head scratched, so she should soon be tame.

A sixth kitten from the litter was caught on Monday and has joined their siblings at AIN.

Mum cat was humanely trapped and neutered.

AIN would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along to help catch this cat family. Without your help, it would not have been possible.

Sadly, there is heart-breaking news too, when a fluffy ginger kitten called Oliver passed away at the weekend.

He had been found starving, weak, and all alone in Burt just over a week ago.

Oliver had seemed to be improving but he suddenly went downhill on Sunday and passed away. RIP little Oliver.

Rodney, a sick ginger tom cat, found on Friday night also did not survive.

He was emaciated with an abscess on his nose and tested positive for both Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukaemia Virus (FelV) at the vets and was beyond help.

JJ the French Bulldog was homed with an airline pilot 

Meanwhile, AIN’s dog rescuers were delighted to have an update on JJ, a French Bulldog they recently rehomed.

He was adopted by an airline pilot and his family, who have sent news and pictures of JJ in his fabulous new home.

Judging by the photos, JJ may have found a new career path too!

Two collie sisters, Lily and Betty, have found a forever home together.

The pups were 4 months old when they arrived at AIN; seriously underweight, suffering from mange and on top of their physical problems, they were completely unsocialised and terrified of everything.

Thanks to the care and patience that they received from their fosterer, they gradually came out of their shells and, after a couple of months in their foster home, they would run to their fosterer with their tails wagging, wanting to be stroked.

We wish Lily and Betty long and happy lives with their new family.

Unfortunately, there is no sign of improvement in regard to the never-ending stream of unwanted collies in the county.

This is a stressful situation all round, especially for the volunteers when there are no foster places left in which to put them.

AIN will continue to do their best but as soon as a foster place is freed up, more dogs are coming in immediately and there is no end in sight.

To help AIN’s animals, please donate €2 to AIN’s ‘Help Us To Help Them’ fundraising appeal via your phone by texting the word ‘KITTEN’ to 50300. Every last cent goes directly to the rescued animals for their food, bedding, vet bills, worming treatment and vaccinations.

For further information on adoption, fostering, volunteering etc, please contact the main helpline on 087 1356188. For cat/kitten enquiries please call 087 7644420. Animals In Need Donegal is also on Facebook and has a website at http://www.animalsinneeddonegal.com.