A Happy Home for Hoppy
Donation protected
Hoppy is now the proud owner of 3 legs!
When we found her scavenging for food by the side of a country road in central Portugal she did have all 4, the problem was that one of her back paws was missing and the stump was dirty and bleeding. She did her best to keep up with the other cats and that's why we immediately gave her the name 'Hoppy'.
It proved remarkably easy to get her into a cat basket and from there she went straight to the vet. Upon arrival we were informed that she was very pregnant which explained the big tummy despite her scrawniness.
'Oh dear' what had we taken on?
Hoppy duly gave birth to 4 beautiful, healthy little kittens. We had managed to feed her up well enough to allow her to suckle them all successfully, she proved to be a marvelous mother. Once they were 6 weeks old and eating solids Hoppy was called into the vets for surgery. A full amputation was recommended and performed, they also took the opportunity to spay her - no more unwanted kittens!
We were able to find homes for 3 of the kittens.
The plan, if you could call it that, was to have all the kittens adopted and for Hoppy to join our small family. Unfortunately the lovely old cat who already lives with us refused to tolerate her presence to the point of them fighting each other every night, they were both showing clear signs of stress. This might have been possible to live with were we in a more suitable situation, however as we are staying in a very small studio apartment, there was no solution other than separating them. Fortunately our very generous landlord let us put her in a storeroom but this can only be a temporary solution as he will need the space back soon.
Once we had reached the decision to have her adopted we, naturally, looked to organisations and shelters here in Portugal. The response was very discouraging to say the least .... the ones that even got back to us told us that they were full to the point of being overwhelmed. One of them told us that they had so many unwanted kittens they were having to keep them in birdcages due to lack of space! On top of that we were told that it would be nigh on impossible to find Hoppy a home because of her 3-legged status.
We are determined to find Hoppy the happy home that she so deserves. She is a sweet, good-natured, loving and playful cat who has had a really difficult life up to now, we would love to change that.
Faced with the difficulties here we looked to the UK and were over-joyed by the simple and positive response from City Cat Shelter in Brighton, if we could get her there, they would take her in and, almost certainly, find her a home. City Cat Shelter does fantastic work in the Brighton area, they advocate neutering, they give advice, they help with micro-chipping and they take in and re-home cats. All their work is done voluntarily and all donations go to helping the cats.
We have already spent over 800 euros on Hoppy's treatment and now need to raise the money to cover the costs involved in getting her to the UK at the end of October. She needs a rabies vaccination, a pet passport, a micro-chip and transportation to Brighton. We estimate this to be around £450, any extra money raised will go to City Cat Shelter.
We realise that Hoppy is just one of thousands of cats that need help and some might ask 'what's the point?' but that is the the point. We can't help all the cats but we can and have helped this one. If we can get her to the UK where she stands a good chance of being re-homed then we believe we will all have done something small but positive.
We will be so grateful for any donations, large or small, that you can make. Even more grateful will be the cat you are helping now and the cats you will help in the future.
Thank-you so much.
When we found her scavenging for food by the side of a country road in central Portugal she did have all 4, the problem was that one of her back paws was missing and the stump was dirty and bleeding. She did her best to keep up with the other cats and that's why we immediately gave her the name 'Hoppy'.
It proved remarkably easy to get her into a cat basket and from there she went straight to the vet. Upon arrival we were informed that she was very pregnant which explained the big tummy despite her scrawniness.
'Oh dear' what had we taken on?
Hoppy duly gave birth to 4 beautiful, healthy little kittens. We had managed to feed her up well enough to allow her to suckle them all successfully, she proved to be a marvelous mother. Once they were 6 weeks old and eating solids Hoppy was called into the vets for surgery. A full amputation was recommended and performed, they also took the opportunity to spay her - no more unwanted kittens!
We were able to find homes for 3 of the kittens.
The plan, if you could call it that, was to have all the kittens adopted and for Hoppy to join our small family. Unfortunately the lovely old cat who already lives with us refused to tolerate her presence to the point of them fighting each other every night, they were both showing clear signs of stress. This might have been possible to live with were we in a more suitable situation, however as we are staying in a very small studio apartment, there was no solution other than separating them. Fortunately our very generous landlord let us put her in a storeroom but this can only be a temporary solution as he will need the space back soon.
Once we had reached the decision to have her adopted we, naturally, looked to organisations and shelters here in Portugal. The response was very discouraging to say the least .... the ones that even got back to us told us that they were full to the point of being overwhelmed. One of them told us that they had so many unwanted kittens they were having to keep them in birdcages due to lack of space! On top of that we were told that it would be nigh on impossible to find Hoppy a home because of her 3-legged status.
We are determined to find Hoppy the happy home that she so deserves. She is a sweet, good-natured, loving and playful cat who has had a really difficult life up to now, we would love to change that.
Faced with the difficulties here we looked to the UK and were over-joyed by the simple and positive response from City Cat Shelter in Brighton, if we could get her there, they would take her in and, almost certainly, find her a home. City Cat Shelter does fantastic work in the Brighton area, they advocate neutering, they give advice, they help with micro-chipping and they take in and re-home cats. All their work is done voluntarily and all donations go to helping the cats.
We have already spent over 800 euros on Hoppy's treatment and now need to raise the money to cover the costs involved in getting her to the UK at the end of October. She needs a rabies vaccination, a pet passport, a micro-chip and transportation to Brighton. We estimate this to be around £450, any extra money raised will go to City Cat Shelter.
We realise that Hoppy is just one of thousands of cats that need help and some might ask 'what's the point?' but that is the the point. We can't help all the cats but we can and have helped this one. If we can get her to the UK where she stands a good chance of being re-homed then we believe we will all have done something small but positive.
We will be so grateful for any donations, large or small, that you can make. Even more grateful will be the cat you are helping now and the cats you will help in the future.
Thank-you so much.
Organizer and beneficiary
Susana Varela
Organizer
Nicholas Gurney
Beneficiary
