We care for a growing colony of stray and abandoned cats in Azinheiro, near Estói in the Algarve, Portugal.

Cats seem to find their way to us. Some arrive simply looking for food and somewhere safe, while others are injured, sick, pregnant or in need of medical attention. We do what we can to help every one of them.

We work with the Canil Municipal de Faro, which normally provides neutering and spaying for the colony free of charge. We are extremely grateful for this support. Once the cats have recovered, they are free to return to their familiar surroundings but many continue coming back because this has become their safe place and reliable source of food.

Although neutering helps control the size of the colony, virtually everything else has to be paid for by us. The cost of feeding the cats every day and providing treatment when they become sick or injured is becoming increasingly difficult for us to cover alone.

Donations will help pay for:

Some cats need considerably more than food and neutering. When a cat arrives injured or seriously ill, we face an unexpected veterinary bill while still needing to feed and care for the rest of the colony.

Every donation, no matter how small, will go directly towards caring for the cats. Whenever possible, we will share photographs, updates and information about how the donations have been used.

Neutering helps control the colony, but it does not cover the lifelong responsibility of keeping its cats fed, healthy and safe.

If you cannot donate, sharing this fundraiser would still be an enormous help.

Thank you from us and from all the cats of Azinheiro.

A storybook way to help

I'm also the author of The Purrfect Rescue, a children's picture book about a family who welcome a stray kitten into their home. Every copy sold helps the real cats too: all my author royalties go straight to the colony's food and vaccinations.

Paperback and Kindle, on Amazon.es (best for Portugal/Europe): or Amazon.com