Sick kittens found dumped in a sealed carrier bag in Letterkenny

The shocking discovery of a sealed carrier bag containing six sick little kittens was made at Mountain Top in Letterkenny at the weekend.

Thankfully, their finder contacted Animals In Need (AIN) and the kittens were brought to the charity.The kittens are under four weeks old and all have a bad dose of cat flu. Being so young, they should still be with their mother as they are not weaned. Their fosterer is giving them supplementary bottle feeds with special kitten milk formula to hopefully build them up.

The kittens have been named Velvet, Monty, Binx, Penguin, Pumpkin and Goose.

AIN is concerned for the welfare of their mother. As her kittens were so sick, it is likely she is suffering too. 

It is only six weeks since a dumped turf bag was found in Carrigart that contained 11 newborn collie puppies. Sadly, only three of the pups survived, with pups Briana, Shelby, and Arwen now thriving.

All this cruelty and animal suffering could be avoided if people simply took their pet to be neutered.

The week has been increasingly challenging for the AIN volunteers, with 24 cats and kittens needing to be rescued this week alone. The cats are aged from eight days old to seven years old, with the circumstances ranging from their owner being ill to kittens being dumped or thrown out of car windows.

In the latter case, witnesses saw a little black kitten being thrown from a car, leaving the kitten with a broken leg. Luckily, she was taken straight to a vet for treatment and is now safely in AIN’s cattery to recover.

The latest arrival is a kitten who was found late at night on Sunday. The kitten has an infected eye but is also missing most of his toes on both front paws, which is probably a birth defect. He will be thoroughly checked by a vet.

Meanwhile, the dog rescuers have their hands full, with all the foster homes filled and the phoneline ringing constantly with people who want to surrender their pet dog.

The three surviving dumped collie pups from Carrigart are doing very well. 

They have reached six weeks old and although they mean hard work for their fosterer they are also a lot of fun as she watches them develop and their personalities form. The sisters will be ready to go to their forever homes in a few weeks' time.

Meanwhile, the fundraising dog walk organised by ATU Letterkenny was a great success on Monday. A huge thank you goes to the organisers. The weather stayed dry and there was a good turnout, including a trainee Guide Dog who took part in the walk.

Finally, the main part of AIN’s cattery renovation is now complete and the rescued cats have moved into it. AIN would like to say a huge thank you to Pattons Windows, who donated a new door to the project. This will make the cattery much brighter and secure.

Thank you to everyone who donated towards the refurbishment costs. Your support is much appreciated and the cats are enjoying their new spacious, airy kennels.

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 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

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