Despite the majority of my feline patients coming to the clinic with an owner attached, a veterinary surgeon never seems to have trouble finding a new pet. The real test is not taking in every waif, stray, and homeless medical nightmare home. During my time working in England, avoiding filling my house to the brim with cats was especially a challenge.
Everyday my colleagues and I will examine a slew of adoptable animals from the local rescue charities. The charities caring for these animals represented the wide variety of rescue organizations in existence. We worked closely with the county’s dog warden, the local branch of the RSPCA, a volunteer run shelter/hospice and a volunteer home foster rescue. Each of these facilities were heavily over burdened with animals looking for new homes. The need for homes was clearly out stripping the number of places available for these pets. Pet overpopulation was an every growing problem and these homeless cats and dogs were bearing the brunt of this problem.
At times it was heartbreaking not to be able to take these poor animals home with me. I suppose luckily my partner was tough and kept me in line and our house remained dominated by a respectable two cats.
That is until I met Jelly. She wasn’t booked into see me, and our paths might not have crossed at all if I hadn’t been checking out the inpatients before I went home. But being nosey, I did and in the last kennel I found a sad looking cat. She was elderly, emaciated and barely able to stand. The kennel nurse said she had been found in the cat trap of one of the local rescues, the North Lincolnshire Animal Rescue (http://www.nelar.org/). She had obviously been living rough for some time. Though by the state of her, it was clear to see that she hadn’t been very successful surviving as a stray.
Lucky for her, the cat trap she had stumbled into belonged to NELAR, a great local feline rescue group. The charity is composed of volunteers who open their houses and hearts to stray cats. They are completely supported by donations and volunteer dedication. And in my experience treating their cats, I had found the organization to be well run by sensible people. They love animals and provide the best care for those that needed their help. They work closely with their veterinary surgeons to make sure their cats are maintained with good husbandry and care.
NELAR took Jelly under their wing and we did our best to get her back into good health. When we found that she was carrying an infectious disease, she wasn’t in a fit to move into one of NELAR’s foster homes. They didn’t write her off, rather they opted to keep her at the clinic. They were practical in protecting the health of their other foster cats, but they didn’t deprive Jelly treatment just because of her diagnosis.
Despite having a genuine reason to remain hospitalised, I sometimes wonder if it was part of her sinister plan to lure me into adopting her. Yet whatever her motive, I fell for the little wobbly cat. And when we found that the damage she had sustained from stray life would make her a difficult cat to rehome, I adopted her from NELAR.
Since then Jelly has been ruling the roost and bossing around the other cats. She is happy as can be, and we have NELAR to thank for the opportunity for her to find her way into our home.
If you would life further information about the North Lincolnshire Animal Rescue, head over to http://www.nelar.org/
Also check them out on www.easyfundraising.com. I registered there with NELAR as my named charity and this site allows them to get funding whenever I buy things online. Every bit helps, and helps cats like Jelly.