'Watching a baby animal fade away is one of the hardest parts of animal rescue'
‘All of this suffering and pain will only be stopped if people step in and break the cycle of cats overbreeding’
Kittens are undeniably cute, but they are also very fragile.
Approximately 300,000 kittens are born in Ireland every year and 180,000 of them will die before they reach 4 months of age. That’s a 60% mortality rate.
Most will die from sickness, starvation, birth defects, injury, predators or deliberately by human hand.
This is why neutering cats is important. All of this suffering and pain will only be stopped if people step in and break the cycle of cats overbreeding.
Watching a baby animal fade away, despite doing everything possible to save them, is one of the hardest parts of animal rescue.
The volunteers at Animals In Need (AIN) were heartbroken when little kitten Marco passed away this week.
Marco was the sole survivor of his family. His mother died shortly after being rescued, and his siblings succumbed to the same stomach virus shortly afterwards.
Tiny Marco did his best to fight for life, despite only being around a third of the size he should have been at six weeks old. In the end, it all got too much for his frail body and he sadly died.
There was further sadness when the rescue of an abandoned newborn kitten also had an unhappy ending.
The kitten had been rescued when his feral mother abandoned him at birth. By the time the kitten reached AIN, he was freezing cold and covered in fly eggs.
The kitten went to a cat wet nurse called Bell, who had three nine-day-old kittens of her own.
Bell accepted the newcomer immediately, but the kitten was having difficulty feeding and so his fosterer also bottle-fed him with colostrum, as he had missed out on this vital first food when his mother left him.
Unfortunately, despite Bell and his foster carer's best efforts, the kitten passed away.
In better news, a six-week-old kitten called Dobby is doing well following surgery.
Ginger kitten Dobby was found in a garden in Donegal Town with a ruptured eyeball. He had major surgery to remove the eyeball as it had fallen out of the eye socket (proptosis), which is an extremely painful condition.
Following surgery, Dobby was soon sitting up and eating and should feel better soon.
Dobby also had a badly infected paw and has had a very painful and tough start to life in his first six weeks.
Several kittens were found during the week, including eight-week-old Breeze, who was suffering from cat flu in Bundoran and is now doing well.
Kitten Cashew was found dumped at a house near the border. He is a very happy, playful, and lively kitten but has neurological issues, including a head tilt.
Cashew also has microphthalmia in both eyes, a congenital condition where cats are born with abnormally small, often underdeveloped eyeballs.
Although there is no cure, these special-needs cats typically adapt remarkably well and can live long, happy lives with proper veterinary care.
The vet discovered that Cashew has no vision but he compensates with hearing and touch to such an extent that it appears as if he can see.
Cashew will need to have both eyes removed when he is older and more stable.
AIN’s private dog rehoming scheme is working well.
Under the scheme, AIN will advertise dogs for rehoming, while the dog remains in their original home. All dogs in the scheme are vaccinated, microchipped and neutered if old enough.
Recently, AIN helped with the rescue of an elderly little dog from Sligo Dog Pound.
The old dogs who end up in a Pound, for whatever reason, are always the saddest and it is hard to understand how anyone can leave them there.
This old fellow is now safely in a foster home, where he will receive plenty of TLC.
AIN’s young volunteer JJ has been busy, collecting return bottles and cans at the Abbey Vocational School in Donegal Town and at home, the funds from which he has donated to AIN for the animals. A huge thanks goes to JJ.
AIN would also like to thank the wonderful staff and customers at Jollyes Londonderry - The Pet People, who have once again donated a generous amount of food for the animals.
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