Little kittens dumped in Donegal forests in two separate incidents - Animals in Need

In what turned out to be a busy week for Animals In Need’s (AIN) cat rescuers, not one but two litters of kittens were found abandoned in separate forests in Inishowen at the weekend.

The first report AIN received concerned a mother cat with three kittens, left in a forest in Culdaff. A local man contacted AIN and then collected the cat family and brought them to safety.

Many thanks to him and also to the kind couple who drove the cats to a foster home in Donegal Town.

This little cat family are extremely malnourished, mum cat is poorly and receiving treatment and one kitten had a broken tail.

Mum cat and 3 kittens dumped in a forest in Culdaff

The cats are all very tame and would have been pets before they were cruelly dumped in the forest by their heartless owner.

Mum cat and the three kittens are settled in at the cattery and are enjoying the heat lamp and having full food bowls.

No sooner had these cats been brought to the cattery, when another call came in from Inishowen.

This time four kittens had been found alone in a forest in Moville.

Mia is living a fantastic new life in the UK

Unfortunately, the Moville kittens were not as healthy as those from Culdaff, as they had cat flu and the worst ear-mite infestation their AIN fosterer has ever seen.

At only nine-weeks-old, these kittens would have had no chance of survival if they had not been found, being far too young to fend for themselves. Thankfully, they have perked up in their foster home and are recovering.

Several more cats were rescued from around the county this week, including two cats whose owner sadly passed away.

However, there was good news too, when a tortoiseshell cat was reunited with her owners after being missing for over six months. The cat was very sick when she was found on the doorstep of an AIN volunteer in Mountcharles.

The cat was taken straight to the vet who found that she was seriously malnourished, weighing under 2kg when the average cat weights 3.5 to 4kg.

However, once the cat appeared on AIN’s Facebook page, her owner got in touch and revealed she had been missing for over six months.

The cat had a habit of climbing into car engines and it seems that she hitched a ride from her home in Ballyshannon to Inver, where she has been struggling to live as a stray ever since.

Both cat and owner were delighted to be reunited and the cat will need some time to recuperate from her exploits.

AIN rescues hundreds of animals every year and every one of them is important, which is why the volunteers are always delighted to receive updates on dogs and cats who have been adopted.

This week, AIN was contacted by the owner of a beautiful collie called Mia, who AIN rescued from the Letterkenny Pound back in January 2017 and later transported her to the Border Collie Spot in the UK where she was found a new home.

The four sick kittens that were found in a Moville forest

Fast forward five years, and Mia has put her past behind her and is living a fantastic life with her new owners, who assured AIN that Mia is a happy girl who could not be loved more and they are so grateful that Mia was rescued from the Pound.

It is updates like this that keep the volunteers going through the tough times and the situation that has emerged this year, with the huge number of ‘Pandemic Pups’ who are now being surrendered or abandoned as people have returned to work, is presenting one of the biggest challenges in years to animal rescues all around the country.

It is a great worry as to what will happen to all these dogs. Every Rescue is at bursting point and the crisis is still escalating. There simply are not enough homes for this amount of dogs.

AIN would appeal to anyone thinking of getting a dog – don’t shop. Adopt.

Finally, AIN’s Charity Shop in Donegal Town is having a €1 sale on everything all this week for Black Friday, with bargains galore on offer.

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.