Feed, Care for and Find Homes for a Cat Colony

Hi, my name is Mary.

I am passionate about responsible pet ownership while recognising that in low income areas desexing is a huge problem. Port Lincoln has no discounted desexing programs.

I was part of a committee that set up and ran the Port Lincoln RSPCA Shelter for over 10 years in the noughties.

Now that the RSPCA no longer has a presence in Port Lincoln the un-desexed neighborhood cats that I had been trying to capture and tame for homing multipled. Four mothers has 4 kittens each within five weeks!!

Now that the local shelter has closed I am faced with trying to feed, worm, flea, desex and microchip a colony of up to 20 cats and kittens that have discovered that I'm an easy mark! (I have 6 of my own + 2 boarders + a Husky x Kelpie who are all desexed, microchipped and contained.)

I have been in touch with Making A Difference Cat Rescue but they have been overrun with kittens.

Adelaide has a food bank of sorts for cat food but it's not logistically feasible to access from here.

I have personally paid to desex the oldest female who was breeding several times a year. And a friend from Adelaide paid to desex a young cat that had already had 4 kittens and was pregnant with 2 more (we discovered later).

Any funds raised will go to ongoing colony care as listed below and paying the debts I have accrued in providing that care since October last year.

Any money left over will be donated to Making A Difference Cat Rescue in Port Lincoln.

By the way, there are 5 happy, healthy kittens ready to go and 2 who are a bit shy!

20 cats in the colony (assuming the girls don't breed before I can catch them all)

Cost breakdown over 30 previous weeks:

Dry food in bulk - $25 per week = $750

Can food 14 cans per week at $1.80 = $756

Kitty litter 1 per week at $4.50 per pack = $135

Worm and Flea treatment 4 six-packs x $96 = $384

Vet treatment of injured kitten = $170

Ongoing feeding and ideally desex prior to rehoming.

Weekly food & litter $55 x 20 weeks = $1100

Weekly cost of flea and worm treatment $32 = $640

7 female desex @ $300 minimum - $2100

13 male desex @ $200 minimum - $2600

Vaccination 20 x $80 - $1600

TOTAL ESTIMATE TO RAISE AND REHOME 20 CATS AND KITTENS OVER A 12 MONTH PERIOD IS = $10,235

Any help will be greatly appreciated.