Welfare & Rescue

 

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If you are genuinely interested in offering a Somali a new home,

please read ALL of this page.

 

We have 1 Somali waiting for new loving home - details below.

Please contact Alison Lyall for more information

Email:- a_lyall@uk2.net

 

 

 

Jack

 

Jack needs a new home.

He is a 2yr old Sorrel male neuter.

 

We are looking for a single cat home for Jack.

 

Please contact Alison for more details.

a_lyall@uk2.net

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT WELFARE & RESCUE.

1. WHAT IS IT?

The Somali Cat Club Welfare & Rescue exists to help Somalis who, for whatever reason, need to find a new home. We keep a list of those people who would like to offer a home & when a cat becomes available that may be suitable for their circumstances, we make contact. Fortunately, not many Somalis need rehoming, so patience is required – you may have to wait for some time! We are also here to help with any queries you may have about your Somali.

2. ARE THERE ANY CONDITIONS ATTACHED?

We like to arrange a home visit to meet you & see the environment offered & if you adopt a cat, you will be required to sign a form indicating that you will keep up vaccinations & provide veterinary treatment as necessary. To adopt a Somali, a donation will be required towards our Welfare fund & we like to hear of the cat’s progress from time to time. 

3. MUST I HAVE EXPERIENCE OF RESCUING A CAT?

Not necessarily, just a vast fund of patience, some experience of cat ownership & the time to give the attention & affection that all Somalis need.

4. HAVE THE CATS UP FOR ADOPTION BEEN MALTREATED?

Very rarely! Most are in good health & need rehoming for social reasons – marriage breakdown, not getting on with other cats in the household, moving abroad etc.

5. MUST I KEEP MY CAT IN?

We try to home adult cats to households that are as similar as possible to the original home. Thus, if the cat is used to going out, we look for a rescue home that can safely offer access to the outdoors. All cats that have been rehomed need to be kept in for a least four weeks to enable them to bond with their new owners & become familiar with their new surroundings. All cats MUST be kept in at night & a litter tray provided. A cat that has been kept in may enjoy some limited outside access, but a cat who is used to going out will rarely adapt to being kept in unless there is plenty of human company & stimulation available.

6. WHERE ARE THE CATS FOR REHOMING LOCATED?

We try to re-home our cats from their existing homes direct to their new owners. Thus, our cats can be located all over the country – our Welfare & Rescue Co-ordinator does not run a cattery for them. When you contact her, it is always helpful to give your name, address, landline telephone number and a few details of your circumstances & what you can offer – eg. other animals kept, safe outside access, proximity to busy roads, children, whether there is someone home during the day & any experience with re-homing cats.

 

WELFARE AND RESCUE REPORT AGM 2009.

 

Twelve Somalis have been rehomed since the last AGM and three young female neuters have recently come on to the list, so the numbers are slightly up on last year. Sadly, Cleo, the young blue female found living rough in the Maidstone area who was rehomed early last year to a home near Birmingham had to be euthanased recently because of acute kidney failure. This is a tragedy for her loving owners as she was a young & apparently healthy cat but probably the deprivations of living wild for who knows how long contributed to her condition. They are going to take two of the females mentioned earlier because, in common with us all, they find a home without a Somali in it lacks an essential something!

 

Gypsy went to her new home in Sussex in August & continues to thrive, ruling her new & besotted owners with a firm paw! We are fortunate in being able to find the right environment for all our rescues as I now hold a pool of potential new owners & I am happy & grateful that so many people are prepared to go that extra mile to give a home to a needy cat. During this year, two of the cats I have rehomed have been elderly & all credit is due to their new owners, because almost inevitably they take on a financial burden as well as a cat!

 

I was contacted after Christmas by Jenny Floate with the sad tale of a female neuter, 16 years & 10 months of age, who’s owner had died 5 months previously & was being fed by a neighbour while living alone. She had become de-socialised, her coat was very matted but other than needing a kidney diet, she was healthy. A lovely family drove down from London two days after I told them about her – they had no qualms about her age, having owned old Somalis previously, & she is now happily living out her days surrounded by affection.

 

Once again, many thanks go to Emma, (web supremo extraordinaire & all round computer genius) without whom I simply could not function! 90% of the Welfare communications are conducted via e-mail & it is an essential part of the service we offer that we can put cats up for re-homing onto the web site with their photos. I always get a flood of applications when that happens & even though they may not be suitable for the cat in question, at least 30% will stay on the list for future rescues.

 

Alison Lyall.

 

A TALE ABOUT A TAIL!

 

During late Spring & Summer of 2008, anyone who has attended the AGM or a show where there has been a Somali Table will have been aware that our usual  fundraising efforts have been concentrating on Gypsy. Emma made some lovely badges to sell, Rachel & I have been sweating over hot stoves baking cakes, Di’s customers at Brizlincoat Farm have had a collecting box rattled in front of their noses, & large stuffed toys have had names chosen for them at £1 per go! We’re always collecting for Welfare, so what was all the fuss about, & why was Gypsy any more special than all the others??

 

In the Spring of 2008 I was contacted by a lady wishing to re home a Somali. Gypsy, a 6 year old sorrel female neuter, had been with her since she was a kitten & was much loved but used to a country life of considerable freedom. She was also a cat with ‘attitude’ who was very loving to her people but with a dominant personality who would not tolerate another cat in the household. Circumstances had dictated that her owner was forced to move to a tiny rented cottage on a very busy road & with a toddler & another baby on the way, she found it impossible to keep Gypsy contained & was anxious for her safety. I promised to try to find the perfect new home for Gypsy & 6 weeks later found the ideal new owners – arrangements were made for them to meet Gypsy & then disaster! The very thing her owner had been fearing happened, & Gypsy arrived home two days prior to rehoming dragging her tail.

 

 

Gypsy was taken to vet where the prognosis was guarded in the extreme – the tail was broken close to the base & on initial examination she had no bladder or bowel function. The lines were buzzing as the emails & phone calls flew between the committee that weekend & it was decided that if her owner would sign her over to us, the Somali Cat Club would fund & Di would care for & attempt to rehabilitate her until a suitable new owner could be found. I headed up to the Midlands to collect her from the vet & was greeted by a very sad, rather damp looking cat & the news that it was highly unlikely that she would ever regain bladder control. There was no option – she had to be given a chance as the alternative was unthinkable. She protested loudly throughout the two hour drive to Birmingham & was obviously as relieved as I was to arrive at Brizlincoat Farm & be settled comfortably into Di’s Special Care unit.

 

Once accustomed to her new surroundings, Gypsy became increasingly confident – Di sorted the bowel problems by judicial administration of tuna in oil but we were still very doubtful of success with what can be a very intractable problem – there was no way of knowing whether the damage she had sustained to the bladder was just severe bruising or whether nerves had been harmed irretrievably. After several visits to the vet, a plan was made to watch & care for Gypsy in the hopes that she would regain some control & her tail could be amputated slightly lower down rather than right at the base. By June, she had full bladder function & the operation was carried out successfully. She was moved to a pen where she could see everything going on & she made a complete recovery from the operation & her scut of tail started to grow new fur.

 

We had all become so involved with & attached to Gypsy that when the time came to find a new home, it had to be perfect – without any input from her original owner, we knew there had to be no mistakes. It was obvious that this was a cat who would be desperately unhappy if she was contained – she really needed her freedom, but safely! I have been dealing with rehoming for many years & it is quite uncanny how the right person for the right cat turns up time after time. I had been talking to a couple who were about to move to an old house they had been refurbishing – it was an ideal country situation backing onto farmland, they had no other cats & were very keen to have Gypsy – they seemed heaven sent. They collected her from Di in mid August and as is the way with Somalis, she took them over completely. She lives in rural bliss, with a flock of chickens for company of whom she is apparently very fond (though she treats the cockerel with due respect), delivers a constant stream of small rodents for her people to play with & rules the roost. She is very talkative & no one is ever in any doubt when she needs food – which is often – has full run of the house & her freedom during the day. To quote her new owners ‘Gypsy has been such a wonderful addition to our lives.’

 

So to all of you who contributed so generously to Gypsy’s care, financially & in kind, thank you! She deserved it!

Photo's by kind permission of J Sharples

WOULD YOU LIKE TO OFFER A HOME?

In that case, we would be delighted to hear from you!

Contact the Rescue & Welfare Co-ordinator, Alison Lyall, at: 

a_lyall@uk2.net

Her New Address is

 

PORTERS HOUSE,

PEBBLE HILL,

TOOT BALDON,

OXON

OX44 9ND

We look forward to hearing from you.