Travelling Donegal cats reunited with owners - Animals in Need weekly round up

Thanks to the power of social media, two cats that had travelled long distances from their homes, were reunited with their owners this week.

A few weeks ago, Animals in Need (AIN) were contacted about a ginger cat who had appeared in the garden of a house in Newtowncunningham.

AIN posted the cat as found, the post was widely shared by AIN’s followers, and much to the volunteers’ surprise, they were contacted by a lady in Louth who recognised the picture of the sad faced cat as her missing pet, Vitali.

This big, friendly cat had been missing for five weeks and it turned out that his family’s neighbours had been on holiday in Donegal and so Vitali must have travelled with them.

Vitali’s delighted owner drove up to Donegal to collect him and had him checked over by a vet.

Thankfully, Vitali is none the worse for his adventure and is happy to be back home in Louth.

Several more collies will be rescued from the Pound this week

A couple of days later, another cat was reunited with her owners after being posted on AIN’s Facebook page.

The tabby cat had been missing from Ballyraine since the 10th of August and was found on the other side of Letterkenny when an eagle-eyed follower of AIN’s page spotted her and the cat is now safely back home.

Both cases also highlight the importance of checking your car before you set off, especially now that the nights are getting cooler.

Cats and kittens are drawn to the warmth and shelter of a car engine and will sleep in there.

Consequently, AIN frequently rescue felines who have fallen from car engines or have escaped when the car has stopped, but they are then lost in a strange place, far from home.

AIN ask people to rap on their car bonnets or check the engine before driving, to give a sleeping cat time to escape.

The volunteers have been carrying out Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) this week and amongst the cats caught was a white cat called Snowy.

Unfortunately, when he was taken to the vets to be neutered, it emerged that he had a retained testicle and so he will have to stay in foster care for a while to see if it will descend naturally.

Vitali had travelled from Louth

AIN were called out to rescue a black cat in seriously bad condition this week. He was emaciated, dirty, had grey gums and gave off a horrendous smell.

Sadly, this poor cat tested positive for FeLV (Feline Leukaemia Virus) and FIV (Feline ‘Aids’) and was so sick that he was beyond help. All that could be done was for the vet to end his suffering and put him to sleep.

The dog rescuers are also extremely busy. The number of calls to the helpline from people wishing to give up their dogs is at a level never encountered before.

AIN’s priority has to be the dogs that are left in the Letterkenny Pound as once they have completed their mandatory five days in there, if they have not been rehomed or reclaimed, they could be at risk if more dogs are arriving and there is not enough space for the dogs that are already in there.

The charity will be taking several dogs from the Letterkenny Pound this week.

Rehoming of dogs has ground to a virtual standstill, not just in Donegal but throughout the country, yet there is a flood of unwanted dogs and nowhere for them to go to.

AIN currently has 17 dogs, mostly collies, in foster homes.

Once again, AIN are appealing to people to neuter their dogs and for farmers to stop breeding more collies as the demand for pets is at an all time low.

Finally, AIN would like to thank everyone for their continued support in these exceptionally difficult times, whether that be by volunteering, donating, fundraising or sharing posts. Your help is vital to the unwanted animals of Donegal.

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.