|
If you are genuinely
interested in offering a Somali a new home,
please read ALL
of this page. |
|
At the moment we have two Somalis
waiting for new homes.
|
|
Torrin
|
Torrin
is a 3 year old Fawn Silver male neuter.
Torrin is an indoor cat
but has had access to the outside in a secured environment.
He
is used to other cats.
If you feel you can offer
Torrin a loving home please contact
Contact
the Rescue & Welfare Co-ordinator, Alison Lyall, at:
a_lyall@uk2.net
|
|
Akira
 |
Akira is looking for a new
home due to his owners emigrating.
He is a fawn neutered boy
& is 7 yrs old.
He is micro-chipped &
vaccinated.
Ideally he needs a rural
home with access to the outside but not near any roads.
He does not like dogs, he
has lived with children but is a bit cautious around them.
If you feel you can offer
Akira a loving home please contact
Contact
the Rescue & Welfare Co-ordinator, Alison Lyall, at:
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
cats 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, whos 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
Gypsy was taken to vet where the prognosis
was guarded in the
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 Gypsys 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,
We
look forward to hearing from you. |
