Giving a cat a better life
The Paul O’Grady Show’s Marc Abraham asks us to consider the longer-life cats that are often left on the shelf
Are you a cat-lover? Do you live in Sussex? If so, there’s a place you simply must visit – that’s if you haven’t already.
Pic: CP Library
Cats Protection’s National Cat Centre, near Haywards Heath, is incredible, and must be seen to be believed. This modern purpose-built feline facility acts as temporary housing for hundreds of cats, and is so wellorganised by its devoted, caring and sensitive team, that I’m blown away every time I visit. Surrounded by the Ashdown Forest, unwanted cats arrive here from all over Britain and begin a sometimes agonizingly long wait for re-homing.
But these are the lucky ones. Ex-owners, unable to look after their cats for varying reasons, drop them off at this adoption centre, where many are cruelly and conveniently dumped on the doorstep.
On arrival, every poor, confused cat is given a thorough health check, treated for fleas and worms (some for the first time ever), and even microchipped. They are also blood-tested for infectious viruses (feline AIDS and leukaemia), vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and if necessary will receive state-of-the-art dental treatment.
“Older cats waiting for re-homing are frequently overlooked by owners choosing a new pet”
The upsetting news is that older cats waiting for re-homing are frequently overlooked by owners choosing a new pet. Advances in veterinary care and medicine have dramatically raised life expectancy and quality of life for thousands of cats, and as a result, cats, like humans, are now living longer than ever. The homeless feline senior citizen takes around twice as long to home than a younger cat or kitten.
While ten years ago your household moggie would have been expected to live to 13-years-old, today’s life expectancy is much higher, with countless cats surviving to late teens and early 20s in good health.
It is such a shame, because older cats have so much to offer, tending to be lap-cats with more settled natures. Cats with problems such as diabetes or arthritis, and even black cats, are also seldom chosen. Though the charity does its very best to care for these cats, life in a cat pen is no substitute for a home, so I would urge people to consider adopting an older cat, or one requiring daily medication.
If you would like to adopt an older cat, make a donation, help, or fancy a day out to see the cats at Cats Protection’s National Cat Centre (there’s even a souvenir shop and café), please call the charity’s national helpline on 08702 099 099 or visit www.cats.org.uk
