Flat-faced Persians bought for social media 'likes' are being abandoned

The title comes from The Telegraph which I can't read because you have to subscribe nowadays to this online newspaper. This, by the way, is a growing trend. The online newspapers simply aren't making enough money through advertising but I don't think people will subscribe to them in sufficient numbers.

Anyway, I digress because I know what The Telegraph is talking about even though I cannot read their article. It's a well-known phenomenon actually.

RSPCA campaign against the flat-faced Persian in which they tell the truth about the breed. Image: RSPCA.

The RSPCA can provide some information. They say that there has been a rise in Persian cats being abandoned to them between 2018 and 2022. 

On Facebook, the RSPCA state that: "Worryingly, there's been a 92% increase in Persian cats coming into our care in the last four years as the popularity of this flat-faced breed continues to rise. These cats are often seen as being cute because of their features, but in reality, they can suffer from: breathing difficulties, eye problems, difficulty sleeping."

They actually suffer from more problems than that such as PKD - polycystic kidney disease (35% of the Persian cats apparently suffer from this disease). And they have tear duct overflow which means the tear ducts are distorted and so tears do not drain away from the eyes but the liquid spills over down the front of the face where they face become stained.

It's a well-known problem that you have to clean the face of a Persian cat regularly. A number of celebrities in the UK have adopted Persian cats. Also, in India you will find that high-profile female celebrities like the Persian cat. In fact, in India, the Persian cat is perhaps the most popular cat breed together with the Siamese. These are very long-standing cat breeds and India has a young, emerging cat fancy and therefore they prefer the old breeds.

Punch-face Persian.

Indians living in India call the flat-based Persian a "punch-face Persian" in recognition of the fact that it looks as though somebody has punched in the face. It is an objectionable label sadly.

For example, in the UK, Kate Beckinsale, is obsessed with her Persian cats, Clive and Willow. They accompany her on her Instagram pages. Taylor Swift has not adopted a Persian cat.

In September 2012, Kim Kardashian adopted a Persian kitten. Although Taylor Swift has not adopted a Persian cat, preferring to select the Ragdoll and Scottish fold, she has promoted the concept of buying exotic domestic cat breeds which I think has encouraged others to do likewise to help create successful social media accounts such as on TikTok and Instagram.

Taylor Swift has, I believe, the highest number of followers on social media of anybody on the planet.

RELATED: Flat-faced Persian cat can’t eat conventionally because the food goes all over their face.

But when a person adopts a flat faced Persian in order to post pictures of them on social media, they will find out about the responsibility that they've taken on in looking after Persian cat which is at a slightly added level to normal. 

They will also find out that it is very hard to acquire lots of followers on social media and have a successful social media webpage. Nearly all of them fail.

So, when they have failed in their attempt to become social media stars, the Persian that they acquired no longer serves their purpose so they abandon the cat to the RSPCA. That, I believe, is the story. It is a great shame because the Persian cat is being used as a means to try and generate social media fame which a lot of people crave. It doesn't work actually unless you are Taylor Swift but then people follow her because of her love because of cats.

Separately, you will find that other well-known cat breeds are also used to try and generate fame for their owner, vicariously. The Maine Coon is a typical example. This is currently a very popular cat breed and because of their size they look very impressive in photographs. 

You will see many TikTok and Instagram accounts in which the account holder shows off her Maine Coon cat and how they develop from kittens to giants. The same objective is being followed for the owner of these cats: to achieve social media fame through their cat.

-----------

Please forgive any typos. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I can't spend long on them as they are not seen by a lot of people nowadays! Sad but true.

Did the cost-of-living crisis and the pandemic cause "an animal welfare crisis"?

NEWS AND VIEWS - UK: Online news media, today, is blaming the cost-of-living crisis in the UK combined with the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath for "creating an animal welfare crisis with vital services [which] are stretched to the limit".

Picture by the RSPCA.

Before I go into the details of two reports from different sources about this animal welfare crisis in different parts of the UK, I would like to add immediately that it is a very poor excuse that animal welfare becomes a crisis because people have less money in their pocket or it is after the pandemic.

The RSPCA reports that there were 1072 cat cruelty reports in 2022 in Wales, UK and out of these complaints, 600 were calls concerning neglect and 89 regarded intentional harm. The RSPCA received three reports every minute.

This, in my opinion, has nothing to do with the pandemic or money. When you adopt a cat - and it does not matter whether you adopt that cat during the pandemic, before it or after it - you do so with a commitment to care for that cat for the cat's lifetime. 

And if an emergency happens or a catastrophe occurs to you which affects your finances and you feel that you must release your cat to somebody else, you commit to rehoming the cat yourself with care and concern or you take your cat to a shelter and asked them to do it. 

The RSPCA run shelters. Also, in the UK Cats Protection run shelters via foster homes.

Running out of money because of the cost-of-living crisis or because it is post-Covid is not a reason for harming your cat or abandoning your cat or being neglectful of your cat. This is very poor reporting and thinking. It is not critical enough.

Everybody goes through difficult times but you can surmount them and you don't have to give up your cat in the process. I would bet my bottom dollar that all the cat cruelty reports reported to the RSPCA had no connection whatsoever, if you analysed it properly, to the cost-of-living crisis or the pandemic.

It'll be about carelessness, wanton neglect, callousness, hating cats, immoral behaviour; all these things about more likely to be behind cat cruelty.

Separately, the BBC reports also about the RSPCA cat cruelty reports regarding 2022. The BBC reports on the county of Lincolnshire in the UK. They say that hundreds of cats were intentionally harmed, neglected or abandoned in 2022.

Apparently, it is the RSPCA who think that the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis is to blame. Are they guessing? Are they just going along with the general flow because I see a lot of news media reports on the cost-of-living crisis and how it impacts people's finances. You don't make a presumption because people are short of money that they have to be cruel to their cat. That is not an equation which adds up automatically.

Nationally, the BBC reports, that almost 18,000 cat cruelty complaints were reported to the RSPCA in 2022 and they include abandonments, neglect and intentional harm. There were 1726 intentional harm incidents which included killings, beatings, poisonings and "improper killings". This represents a 25% increase from the year before.

The RSPCA pick up the pieces. They see an awful lot of cat cruelty but this cat cruelty is perpetrated by immoral, miscreants; people who are bad and who have no sensitivity towards animal sentience. Let's not pass the buck onto something which doesn't really exist.

It's the kitten dumping season. A minority are cruel to cats through their ignorance

The kitten season, as they call it, is upon us. This is the time when negligent and frankly ignorant people which represent a tiny minority of the whole allow adult cats to breed because they have failed to sterilise them.  This is my rant.

And so, thousands of kittens are brought into the world when they should not have been. Often, they are dumped at shelters or anywhere considered convenient to these ignorant people. As long as the can remain anonymous. Hidden from the eyes of the public.

Abandoned cat outside RSPCA Wirral branch. Image: RSPCA

RSPCA announce kitten season

The RSPCA have said that the kitten season is upon us. The RSPCA in Bedfordshire say that many people do not have their cats neutered and they are seeing kittens of 6-7 months of age having kittens. And in these homes where they don't spay and neuter their cats, they can go from a couple of cats to 10 in a matter of months.

We've seen horror visions of cat hoarders where they have failed to spay or neuter their cats and you can see the parents and the offspring, all with similar coats, huge families drowning the cat hoarder to the point where they are highly negligent of the cats' welfare causing ill-health and often death.

Dumping season

But this is the season of dumping cats as well. The photograph on this page comes from the RSPCA Wirral branch. An 11-year-old cat was left outside the branch offices. A classic picture of cat abandonment through carelessness and stupidity. Yes, I am angry; that's why I am calling these people stupid and ignorant.

That is the truth of it. There is no need for it. It just takes a little bit of common sense and thought. It requires a person to be a little more self-disciplined and a little less self-indulgent. Often, they fancy having a cat but they know nothing about cats or what to do in order to be a good cat caregiver. That is being self-indulgent.

For example, the RSPCA Wirral branch was called to reports of abandon cats at a Liverpool property. They found 40 cats there in very poor conditions. Just another typical story.

Importance of spay and neuter

Caroline Allen, the Chief Petty Officer at the RSPCA said:

"We have long been highlighting the importance of neutering for cat welfare. Getting your cat neutered protects them from certain diseases, and prevents unexpected and costly litters of kittens being born."

All common sense again. Why does the RSPCA have to lecture the public about this? You don't have to be a brain surgeon to understand that you have to neuter and spay domestic cats if you have a male and female living with you.

Surge

Caroline Allen confirmed what we already know namely that during kitten season they see a surge in abandon kittens sometimes found in cardboard boxes or dumped by the roadside because their owners can no longer care for them. They did not budget. They did not project into the future as to what was required. 

They just self-indulgently grabbed a cat or two because they thought they'd have a cat. Rescue charities like the RSPCA come under intense pressure during kitten season and over the summer months. And in the UK people are facing financial pressure at the moment because of the cost-of-living crisis. There is likely to be even more kitten abandonments than usual.

People should realise that abandoning their cat by the side of the road or even at the RSPCA is an act of animal cruelty.

'Chaos' this year 2023

The Wirral Animal Samaritans' co-founder Corrie Plumpton urges people to look inside carrier bags in case there is a kitten in there that's been dumped. She says that many people throw away unwanted litters. 

Just throw them away as if they are rubbish. Ms Plumpton told the Liverpool Echo that they are seeing a rise in injured, dead and pregnant cats. And they see this every year but this year, 2023, "is chaos" she said.

Corrie urges people to think about the veterinary bills when they adopt a cat. And the cost of cat food in every other cost. It is not cheap.

She added:

"People need to take more responsibility for their pets. We are seeing a lot of cats fighting, cats with abscesses, injured cats, heavily pregnant cats. There's pressure from all sides. We are having to turn away non-urgent cases; we try to keep one space free for a major need."

Yes, that's my little rant for the day. It needs around because people aren't listening. It is just a tiny minority but it is significant because it amounts to hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who simply do not take responsible attitude towards cat ownership. It's time they change their ways.

Picture of a grossly obese and grossly matted abandoned cat is shocking

NEWS AND COMMENT: The RSPCA have named her Big Bertha. She is a young two years old tabby cat. The past owner appears to have grossly overfed her and then abandoned her. She was dumped in Calthorpe Park, Birmingham, UK and weighed 11.8 kg in pounds (26 pounds). The average domestic cat might way around 8-10 pounds.

Picture of a grossly obese and grossly matted abandoned cat is shocking. Image: RSPCA.

The Birmingham Animal Center's supervisor, Emma Finnimore was shocked. She said that "This is the largest cat I have seen in my 22 years working for the RSPCA".

They found her in this bag:

The bag in which Bertha was found. Picture: RSPCA.

So, what did they do? The only thing they could do was to clip off all her matted fur and put her on a gradual weight, reduction diet. The clipped off fur weighed 0.3 of a kilogram incidentally. Dieting of this sort needs to be gradual to avoid fatty liver disease.

She was too large to go through a cat flap and the RSPCA had to adapt a cat run for her until she went to a foster home.

Foster carer Emma Cureton, said:

 "The weight has gradually come off and she's already lost an amazing 3.82kg - which is a third of her body weight. She's still got a little way to go but she'll get there and will soon be ready to find a new home. She was in such a sorry state when she arrived at the rescue centre with her matting pulling on her skin. We don't know how she got so large as she is only a young cat. We think maybe someone had been constantly feeding her as she was so large, she was left unable to groom herself."

Pretty well everybody knows that this kind of obesity is a major health problem leading to high blood pressure, diabetes, problems with the liver, skin and heat tolerance and damaging the joints.

Separately, the RSPCA said that there has been a 25% rise in the number of abandonment incidents. In 2021 there were 10,519 abandonments of pets while in the year up to October 2022 there has been 13,159.

The report does not say why, but I think I know and other reports have confirmed this namely that there were too many self-indulgent pet adoptions during Covid-19 in order to keep people company and to entertain them during those long lockdowns. 

Many of these adoptions have now gone wrong and the owners are either abandoning their cats and dogs or selling them on the Internet through social media.

Incidentally, there has been a worrying upward trend in harassment of farm animals by badly trained dogs in the countryside. This, too, has been put down to the same root cause namely adoptions by people who do not have sufficient knowledge about dog welfare and behaviour during the pandemic.

So, we are, in the UK, feeling the effects in a very major way, not only in respect of pet ownership but in many other areas of Covid-19 and its legacy.

2 cats in RSPCA shelter fall in love

The RSPCA say this about 'Lord and Lady Sugar', two rescue cats in their care who've fallen in love: "A beautiful love story so far for Lord and Lady Sugar. Will you be part of their next chapter?"

Link to the RSPCA on TikTok: rspca_official. For this video and others.

Is there someone out there, ready to adopt them as a pair? You know what they say about adopting rescue cats in pairs it makes life much easier for the human caregiver because they can entertain themselves. 

It takes some of the pressure away from ensuring that your cats are happy and content and entertained. It becomes a shared responsibility which I think is beautiful. If you have a ready-made relationship like this one where two cats get along so well, I think it should be taken with both arms.

RELATED: Should I adopt one or two kittens?

UK cost of living crisis pushes up cat and dog abandonment sometimes callously and cruelly

The newspapers are reporting on an aspect of the cost of living crisis in the UK which is troubling to me and other animal advocates. People are giving up cats and dogs in greater numbers than normal and the RSPCA as a shelter and sanctuary is running out of space. They are going on waiting lists. I suspect that this problem is compounded by the end of Covid during which people adopted more cats and dogs than usual to keep themselves company. These were arguably irresponsible adoptions without concern for the long-term consequences and responsibilities.

One of 11 puppies thrown away like rubbish in Norfolk, UK. Photo: RSPCA. See story below.

And on their Facebook page, the RSPCA illustrate the callousness with which some British citizens throw away their pets. They don't bother to contact the RSPCA or any other shelter to offer them their companion animal but they simply put them in plastic bags and leave them next to the rubbish.

July 25, 2022

The RSPCA have an appeal for information on a female tabby kitten found by a dog walker. The kitten had been tied up in a plastic bag and dumped like rubbish in Broad Grove, Norfolk. They say that thankfully she was uninjured and is in generally good health. I suspect that is because she was found quickly. But for the person who found her she would have died of suffocation or starvation or perhaps being crushed when thrown into the back of a rubbish lorry.

Kitten thrown away in a plastic bag because of the cost of living crisis in the UK. Image: RSPCA.

13 hours ago

This is a more serious abandonment. It couldn't be more callous, heartless and cruel. Fortunately, once again, a kind person spotted this problem. Somebody had dumped 11 puppies in a rubbish bag in Halifax, UK. They were left to die. The person took the puppies to the RSPCA where their dedicated animal rescuers and animal centre staff are now hand rearing them. At least it produced a wonderful picture as you can see at the head of this page.

Of course it is disgusting to me that someone can do this. I won't be the only person. Margaret commented saying: "Some people have no feelings for animals. It's disgusting the amount of cruelty that goes on in the UK and around the world."

That's true. Of course, there are lots of great people, sensitive and gentle people who want to help animals. It isn't all bad. Although sometimes it looks like that. Sadly, it is the good people who have to tidy up the mess of the bad people. It is a good people who have to rescue and rehabilitate companion animals thrown away like rubbish by the bad people.

Man allegedly steals cats from street and hoards them. Police and RSPCA disinterested.

NEWS AND VIEWS: This is a disturbing story from Gainsborough, UK, which is in the Midlands. The locals living in the area allege that an unnamed man (update: he calls himself Ian Catmando and he is 56 years old) steals cats that happen to be in the street, puts them into a trolley and takes them home. His home appears to be in very poor condition, surrounded by a chicken wire and barbed wire fence with cat poop in the garden and apparently fleas all over the windows on the inside of the home. 

Man with cat on lead. This is the man. To be frank he looks and sounds as if he is bonkers. Image: Mirror.co.uk.

That's the picture which has been painted, which translates to one man stealing someone else's cat and then hoarding them. He claims that he is training cats to be therapy cats! On one occasion a photo was taken of him with four young cats all harnessed together outside the home. It looks bizarre and it is bizarre.

This is what it looks like inside this man's home. We don't know who provided the photo:

Man allegedly steals cats from street and hoards them. Police and RSPCA disinterested. Inside his home. Photo: ?

Protests have been mounted by locals:

Protestors demand that the cats be released. Photo: Michelle Page.

What is most bizarre and troubling, however, is that citizens have reported the matter to the RSPCA and the police and they appear to be disinterested. On the face of it, on the reports that I have read, this is a straight case of theft (Theft Act) combined with potential animal welfare issues which could be animal abuse or animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This is alleged criminal behaviour.

Man steals cats from street and hoards them. Police and RSPCA allegedly disinterested. Picture: The Mirror.

We are looking at potentially more than one crime here so why is the RSPCA and the police apparently disinterested? The neighbours say that it has been going on for about four years (but see below)! Apparently, there are up to 50 cats or more inside the home (he claims he has 87). The problem has been highlighted by Michelle Page of Page's Pet Rescue. Michelle says that what she has seen is horrendous. She has also said that the alleged thief and cat hoarder has been known to walk to the village of Blyton, over 5 miles away with a trolley full of cats!

She said:

"I could see one of the cats looked like it had a big abscess and called the RSPCA but nothing has been done. He tells people the cats have cat flu and FIV."

Apparently, this bizarre behavior has been going on for about 18 months. Melanie Barker of Gainsborough Feral Rescue has spoken to the man who said that the RSPCA gave him the cats because they couldn't be rehomed as they had cat flu. Comment: that sounds highly unlikely, in fact ridiculous, and I cannot see how it can be true.

Update Sept 14th 2021: 12 cats were released from the house and one died. They were in a very poor state with the usual neglect health issues such as fleas and URIs. The protest continues as there are many more cats to be released for medical treatment and ultimately rehoming.

Update Sept 17th: Here's Ian who says "I’m a professional cat carer and have been since 1992". He walks up to 15 cats at a time in leads!

Ian. Photo: Metro.co.uk.

Melanie Barker said that she has contacted the police, Environmental Health and the RSPCA. Concerned people are waiting for action. Come on RSPCA pull your digit out.

Source: Mirror.co.uk

Domestic cat recovered from nine stab wounds and was happily rehomed

NEWS AND COMMENT-WIGAN, UK: I am very reluctant to write about the story because nowadays I shy away from writing about cat abuse stories of this nature. There's too many of them and it's been overdone. Unfortunately, the news media do tend to rely upon cat stories which involve abuse. I suppose all news is bad news and it applies to cats like any other topic.

Jasmine Dickinson and Katie. Photo: Jam Press/RSPCA.

But I also think that the news media should not have picked up on this story. They say that the cat was stabbed nine times and survived. The cat's name incidentally is Katie and she is a black and white cat as you can see. But, in truth, if this cat had been stabbed nine times she would not have survived. These were not genuine stab wounds but slashing wounds which cut the skin but they weren't very deep. That is why Katie survived. So, the news media have exaggerated this with their title which I have adopted in order to emphasise the point that it is actually misleading.

Another thing about the story which I don't like is that the person who slashed at Katie was mentally ill. He or she didn't know what they were doing. We can't blame them, can we? Perhaps we shouldn't write about people who are mentally ill because it is using their mental illness to make money. The news media are using the mental health problems of this individual, indirectly, to write a story which helps to support their newspaper. I don't think that is ethically correct. I am probably being a little bit picky but I think you have to be if you want to analyse the sorts of things accurately.

Another aspect of the story which is perhaps interesting rather than troublesome is that they say that Katie recovered and was rehabilitated. In other words, she appears not to have been affected mentally and does not suffer from PTSD. Can cats suffer from PTSD? In my view, domestic cats do forget these sorts of incidents if they are adult cats and Katie is seven years of age.

If this sort of trauma had happened when Katie was within her formative first seven weeks of life it would have traumatised her in my opinion. But the news media story focuses on whether she is traumatised by saying that she is a bit scared when strangers come to the home. But this is entirely normal and it will happen to most cats including those who have not been through any trauma. So that aspect of the story is, in my opinion, slightly misleading.

But the good part of the story is that Katie survived and is doing well. She was rescued by the RSPCA and rehabilitated at the charity's Oldham and Bury branch. After two months she was fully recovered and adopted by Jasmine Dickinson, 28, an attractive young woman. Before adoption, Jasmine said that she enjoyed the company of a cat when she was younger and was looking forward to adopt Katie. She applied to the RSPCA and was told about Katie's traumatic story. This made her even keener to adopt her. The adoption was finalised in March and, as mentioned, Katie is now settled into her new home in Wigan.

Jasmine says that Katie is sweet-natured and likes to be near her. Katie is a lap cat and very affectionate. She likes to be petted. All is well, it seems to me.

We don't know the circumstances of the stabbing. Sometimes cat owners become mentally ill. And sometimes people who are mentally ill are able to adopt cats or acquire them. In a better world, in an ideal world, mentally ill patients should not be able to adopt a domestic cat unless they've been cleared by a specialist as not being a danger to animals. 

Domestic cats can probably help a mentally ill person as can domestic dogs. There are many therapy dogs for instance. But I don't believe you can put a mentally ill person with a cat or dog unless you have assessed that form of mental illness carefully and decided that it will not result in animal abuse of any kind.

Source: Metro.co.uk.

An opportunity to adopt blind rescue cat brothers Arthur and Gabriel

Brothers Arthur and Gabriel are both blind and they are going to make somebody very happy. There are a lot of advantages to a cat caregiver in adopting a couple of blind cats who are best buddies. That may sound strange but I have a strong feeling that it is true.

Arthur on the left and Gabriel. Photo: RSPCA

Firstly, you will have to keep Arthur and Gabriel inside all the time. That's a great relief to a lot of people. You won't need to trouble yourself about letting your cat outside to live a full life while being tormented about the dangers that there are outside the home. That decision is off the table. They will be full-time indoor cats and they will be happy because they can entertain each other.

A great problem with full-time indoor cats is ensuring that they are fully stimulated but being blind they have challenges which they cope with very well. But these challenges stimulate the brain and because they come as a twosome, they can also stimulate each other. I would expect them to live really nice lives; contented lives. Their human caregiver can feel relaxed about what they're doing. And blind cats cope incredibly well as mentioned. They almost act as if they have eyes once they have settled into their new home and know where everything is. Ideally objects in the home should not be moved once they are familiar with their locations.

CLICK FOR SOME PAGES ON BLIND CATS

Gabriel is the timider of the two. He is a ginger tabby and Arthur is a ginger tabby-and-white. He is the more adventurous. He is very affectionate and loves to be petted and close to his human caregiver. Ginger tabbies are known have nice characters. They almost always males because their coat type is sex-linked.

They are both at the RSPCA. Arthur gets into trouble whereas Gabriel tends to be more cautious and sleeps or snoozes more. They will need a good and experienced caregiver who appreciates the advantages of looking after a couple of blind cats.

They were both rescued last Christmas from a building site in Peterlee, UK by the RSPCA. They weren't born blind but they got cat flu which appears to have developed into a secondary bacterial infection in their eyes which can often destroy the eyes. This is what appears to have happened.

If you are interested you can click on this link which takes you to the relevant RSPCA cat rehoming hub page. That link will eventually stop working as and when the brothers have been adopted.

Reading to cats helps to socialise them

There is an interesting story in the news media (Kent Online) today about RSPCA employees reading to adult cats who had been neglected and therefore had lost some of their socialisation. Thirteen cats had been rescued from a house in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK. The cats had to fend for themselves because they had been abandoned. They were temporarily looked after at the Bluebell Ridge Cat Rehoming Centre in Hastings, East Sussex.

RSPCA employee reads to a rescue cat Babs who  is the black and white long-haired cat. Photo: RSPCA.

They are described as "scaredy cats" for obvious reasons. They were nervous and five of them, Lily, Babs, Pickle, Nutmeg and Basil have been treated to a rare form of feline therapy although I have seen it before once, namely, being read to. So why does this work?

There are two aspects to reading to a fearful cat, one of which is that you are present with that cat. You are quite close to the cat. This is a very gentle form of passive socialisation. In addition, the sound of your voice projected towards a cat is also a form of socialisation. If a cat has been neglected, living alone for quite a long time they lose trust with humans; they revert to their solitary, independent nature and you have to reintroduce humans to them. Reading to them, I think, is a very good idea in achieving that goal because it is gentle.

I suspect that it was the beginning of a process of reintroducing people to the lives of these nervous cats. Myra Grove the Centre Manager at the Hastings branch of the RSPCA said that the owner of the cats had gone into hospital and nobody had looked after them for several weeks and so, "They've had a tough start in life. We been working hard to socialise these cats and had taken a hands-off approach which means we been sitting with them and reading to them so they can start to get used to human company."

She said that they have seen some fantastic improvements with the cats gaining confidence and starting to accept interacting with people. Appropriately, the staff read books from the Warrior Cats series written by Erin Hunter which is a pseudonym for a group of three writers as I recall.

Apparently Basil needs more time to learn to trust people. He has shown his gradual rehabilitation by settling down to sleep while an RSPCA employee gently sits with him. Nutmeg is also still a bit nervous and it will take time for her to learn to trust. She is a calico cat around four years old. Basil is a black-and-white male cat about one year old. Babs, Lily and Pickle are between two and four years old.

Babs appears to be progressing faster than the others as she enjoys being fussed over. The RSPCA say that if you are interested in adopting the new have to be patient and kind with them and you should contact the RSPCA Sussex East and Hastings Branch on 01424 752121.

Putney Animal Hospital Closing for Good on September 30

The RSPCA is engaging in a cost-cutting exercise of enormous magnitude. I have read that they are closing four facilities including two hospitals and one of which is the world famous Putney Animal Hospital. This hospital is in prime London real estate country. It is a very valuable site which is why, no doubt, it is being sold to help raise £47 million which they need to plug a gaping hole in their finances.

Putney Animal Hospital will close Sept 30th

I walk past Putney Hospital quite frequently as it's quite near my girlfriend's home. It is in West Putney. It is surrounded by expensive residential homes and opposite a school. It is a short walk from Putney High Street. Rolf Harris, the now disgraced entertainer and presenter, presented an animal television programme from this hospital. In addition other television programmes had been made there. These were high profile television productions. The place is that famous.

They provide a discount service and do an awful lot of good. It is questionable whether the animals who have been treated at the hospital will be able to find an alternative anywhere near as good or as convenient. Twenty percent of all of the RSPCA’s frontline work is takes place at Putney.

The RSPCA say they spend nearly £2 million a year running the hospital together with Southall cattery clinic. They say that their spending is outstripping their income and they have to reduce costs. They're very sorry for the closure and they realise that it will be highly upsetting. There have been protests. And the staff are devastated. They had believed at one time that the hospital might be taken over by another charity but that has not come to fruition. It's come as a big shock to them and it is now sinking in that they will be without jobs in an incredibly difficult job market.

Protest. Photo: Mask off.

This has little to do with the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on many charities but this is not the case in respect of the RSPCA's difficulties. In my honest opinion, this is about poor management. There has been a long history of making bad decisions which I think has affected donations. The RSPCA is perhaps the UK's most high-profile animal welfare charity and perhaps the largest. I just don't think they have managed it properly by focusing on their core business which is animal rescue and welfare. For example, there have been problems in prosecuting people who should not have been prosecuted for animal cruelty. At that time the then chief executive thought that high-profile prosecutions would improve animal welfare but it didn't. That person left but there is a legacy of inadequate management I would argue.

The RSPCA are redirecting clients who would have used Putney Animal Hospital to other facilities such as The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons "Find a Vet Service". Surprisingly, they are redirecting people away from their charity. They are saying go away, go somewhere else and don't use us. It's a rather feeble announcement on their website which makes depressing reading.

Apparently two of the facilities that they are closing - one of which is an equine centre in Goldaming -  were bequeathed in wills not long ago. I'm sure that relatives of the deceased person who bequeathed the centres will be upset by this news. It's cashing in on bequethed gifts rather than running them as was almost certainly the objective of the gift.

They are also cutting back on middle and senior management. I understand that the cutbacks represent about 20% of the costs of the charity. In all there will be around 300 redundancies. The plans include the moving of RSPCA Wimbledon, Wandsworth and Sutton district branches. They feel that they have too many hospitals in London and that they need to rebalance their services going forward.

The bottom line is that they have run out of money and that the RSPCA is shrinking. It's about a drying up of donations and the pandemic has had an effect but at the root of the matter is a failure in management.

What value a rescue cat with FIV?

In a world where there are too many unwanted cats at rescue centres, the FIV positive cat has less value than other adult cats. In just the same way that black cats have less value than a calico cat, for instance, and kittens have more value than adult cats. Decisions about life and death at shelters are made upon these issues.

The reason why I have mention this is because I have just written a story about a rescue cat in Britain who fell into a canal in Blackburn. He was stuck on a log in the canal for two days before firefighters turned up. They did a great job. It was quite an effort to rescue him.

They handed the cat over to the RSPCA who evaluated the cat. They decided he was FIV positive. It should be said that the test to decide whether a cat is FIV positive can be inaccurate and misleading. Nonetheless, because of this test they decided that he had to be killed.

An RSPCA spokesman said that he was unable to live outside amongst feral cats because he might infect other feral cats. The chance of that happening are quite small because FIV is transmitted by a cat bite. In addition this cat appears to have been a domestic, stray cat.

However, the RSPCA said that he was unfit to live as a domestic cat in a home. He was unsuited they said. Therefore he was unsuited to live outside and unsuited for domestic cat life. He had to die on their reckoning. I disagree with the reckoning.

I think the real reason why he had to die is because there are quite a large number of unwanted cats in the UK and as mentioned in the first paragraph each has a value and when that value is low and when you have to make a decision about euthanasia, the low value cats are killed. It shouldn't be this way quite obviously. It's a sign that domestication of the cat has gone wrong.

FIV positive cats can live good, happy lives in the right home. You have to care for them carefully to prevent infections and illnesses developing but if you do that they are normal cats and they look normal. In an ideal world this cat should have been rehomed and it could have happened. No doubt the firefighters were disheartened by the fact that all their efforts came to naught.

The point really is that the reasons why the cat was euthanised, as explained by the RSPCA, must be incorrect because this cat could have been rehomed and therefore they are making excuses.

Without wishing to be overly critical, I don't think the RSPCA should make this kind of decision because it presents to the world the wrong public relations image for their organisation. They are there to save lives and they shouldn't make excuses like this which subtly indicates a lack of commitment to that task.

It is almost impossible to catch cat abusers and murders

To a loving cat caretaker/guardian the death of your cat at the hands of brutal abusers is like murder. But when this happens it is all but impossible to find the murderer because outdoor cats wander sufficiently and at dusk or in the night. There are no witnesses. Even when the cat survives it is no good because cats can't be a witness.

Tabitha

I am indirectly referring to a cat decapitation in the UK. A vet certified that two knives were used to cut off the head of a 13-year-old calico cat whose name was Tabitha.

She was found outside in a puddle without her head. The head has not been retrieved. She was much loved. Tom Whitfield, the owner, feels it was a trophy killing. It may be. It may also be some sort black magic coven. Witchcraft is hidden in the UK but that does not mean it is rare.

The RSPCA are investigating, as usual. The vet who made clear that the killing was deliberate and by humans rather than another animal has cleared the way for the RSPCA to try and find the perpetrators.

Such macabre acts of brutality against companion animals are rare in the UK and often it is not a person but another predator who is the killer.

Condolences

Tabitha was well-known and loved in the community.

Tom said:

"We have just all got so many happy memories of Tabby that it is horrible to think of her going this way. People should have have to go through what we have been through."

The people who did this are heartless, callous thugs because to decapitate a living cat is impossible for any decent, human with an ounce of sensitivity.

Thirty-one Pound Australian Cat

Sumo from Brisbane, Australia is not only a large, big boned cat, he is also very overweight and as a result he weighs 31 pounds or just over 14 kg. The average cat weight is around 10 pounds or it should be.

They say that domestic cats in the West, especially the UK and USA are becoming more and more obese in line with their owners (I regret to say) but it appears something similar may be happening in Australia judging by the size and shape of Sumo.

Sumo is the largest cat that the RSPCA have looked after over the preceding four decades and I can well believe that. I think that his exceptional weight is, as mentioned, in part due to his physical size.  This is a big grey tabby and white cat.

Sumo was brought to RSPCA because his owners were moving home and they couldn't take Sumo with them. I regret to say that I have heard that excuse before and it may be a genuine reason but very often it is a rather glib excuse to abandon a domestic cat which it is clear they were unable to look after properly. I don't wish to be overly critical but anyone who lets their cat reach the weight of 31 pounds is doing something wrong like overfeeding their cat (on the basis that the cat is not a large Maine Coon or wild cat hybrid).

The RSPCA have put him on a strict diet but unfortunately it is a dry food diet which is high in carbohydrates. Dry cat food is exceptionally high in carbohydrates at about 30% carbohydrates when the figure should be 3% carbohydrates in cat food. Many obese cats have become obese free feeding on dry cat food. Fortunately in this instance the amounts he is allowed to eat is tightly regulated but I would certainly take him off a dry food diet as soon as possible.

A cat losing weight should lose it gently over a period of about 6 months. Obese cats are subject to health conditions that wouldn't exist but for the obesity such as heart and kidney disease, diabetes and arthritis.

Note: the photo is by Tanya Boland who works for the RSPCA.

 

UK - Cat Tied Up By Neck - Call 0300 123 8018 if You Can Help

I am sorry to say that cat news is often bad news or it is about cat celebrities.  That is the nature of the world today.

In this instance I am simply spreading the word in the low expectation that somebody might pick up this post and call the RSPCA on the number in the title to pass on useful information which may lead to the prosecution and conviction of the person who did this act of cat cruelty.

This is a cat that was tied up to a railing at a building site by the neck with a nylon cord.  It's about as straightforward as that.  The cat's name is Archie and he went missing for 8 days so it is entirely possible that he was tied up for 8 days and as you can see from the photograph it very nearly killed him. In fact, I'm surprised that it didn't because often cats restrained under these circumstances struggle and end up strangling themselves.

One of the workers on the building site discovered him and Archie's caretakers had distributed a leaflet in their search for him.

The location is Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, UK.

Ringworm At Animal Shelter

Ringworm in cats is a bit of a nightmare to be honest. I know a bit about it myself because I got it from my cat. He keeps giving it to me when he rubs my legs before I feed him in the morning. He appears not to have ringworm himself but he must have it somewhere. His veterinarian did not diagnose ringworm in my cat but I think he's got it although you can't see it. Perhaps he has not got it and I got it from somewhere else but it is very transmittable from domestic cat to cat owner.

Photo by Christine Myaskovsky

What got me thinking about the difficulty of dealing with ringworm (and it can be hard to get rid of) is a recent story in the Essex Chronicle in which they report a ringworm outbreak in an RSPCA animal shelter. The shelter is near Braintree. This had to close the shelter down and treat every animal in the shelter causing massive disruption.

As mentioned, perhaps the greatest difficulty in dealing with ringworm is that it is highly contagious. You may well know that it is caused by a fungus and not a worm! The reason why it is called ringworm is because it often causes circular ring-like red blisters on the skin. The skin peels off around the edges of the inflamed skin. The inflamed skin is not always circular like a doughnut. It could be a semicircle or a straight line. When a person's immune system is a bit suppressed it can take hold more easily. Conversely, if a person's immune system is in good shape then it will deal with the infection by itself.

Apparently veterinarians test hair samples of the infected cats and dogs. Ringworm was confirmed in this shelter. We are told in the Essex Chronicle that in general the treatment is a 6 week course of a twice-daily lime sulphur dip. It smells awful apparently and it turns cats and dogs yellow.

Did I mention that ringworm can be hard to get rid of in dogs and cats! I think it is one reason why it's hardly worth dealing with because the course of treatment is almost worse than having ringworm in the first place.

You can't be careful enough when you are trying to get rid of ringworm. Even when a hair sample proves negative you have to bathe everything all over again and then wait a week to retest and to make sure that all the symptoms have gone. It is obviously a struggle and as I said in my opening sentence, a bit of a nightmare.

Ringworm outbreaks are quite rare but not that rare to be honest. I recall a similar outbreak in America in the cat shelter there.

If my cat has ringworm he probably got it from a stray cat when he was living with my mother because I do recall her taking-on a stray cat who used to sleep quite close to my cat (I adopted my cat from my mother's estate after she died about 2 and a half years ago.

Are Your Living Conditions Unsuitable for Cat Welfare?

Are your living conditions suitable for your cat? Are your living conditions good enough for you but not good enough for your cat so that you could end up being prosecuted as a criminal in the United Kingdom under the Animal Welfare Act 2006? You might think that this is some sort of joke or spoof article but it is not because it actually happened to an amateur folksinger who lives in Hull, England.

Apparently, in the UK it is possible for a person to decide that their living conditions are suitable for them, although they might be poor living conditions in terms of clutter and lack of cleanliness, but aren't suitable and substandard for their cat if the RSPCA and the police say so.

The story concerns a lady whose name is Ms Nadian. I won't go into the full details but you can read about her story on this page. She was prosecuted for several things concerning her cats, one of which, incidentally, was failing to take a veterinarian's advice in euthanising one of her cats. As it happens, all the prosecutions were dropped due to a lack of sufficient evidence. In reality, it was the gradual dawning upon the prosecution (The Crown Prosecution Service) that this was a misguided prosecution.

Apparently, the RSPCA called the police requesting that they enter the lady's home to take her cats. We are told that the police failed to obtain a warrant to enter her home. The police forced the front door down claiming to exercise powers under section 17 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, a provision which covers emergencies such as capturing fugitives. It was clearly inappropriate in this instance.

On entering her home both the RSPCA and the police state in witness statements that the living conditions for Ms Nadian were suitable in respect of cat welfare. They refer to strong smells clutter and filth. As I understand it, Ms Nadian would readily admit that she has difficulty in keeping her home tidy and clean for various reasons. She has been described as a vulnerable person but I would also describe her as a cat loving person and somebody who has a decent knowledge about the domestic cat.

I find it a little bit disturbing that the police and the authorities generally can decide that her living accommodation is suitable for a person but unsuitable for a cat. This, on my reading of this situation, is what has happened in this instance.

This whole matter has been badly handled, in my opinion. What this lady required was some help to perhaps tidy up her home and that simple matter would have resolved the whole thing. Ms Nadian's new veterinarian has undertaken to monitor her cats while this lady's bungalow has been cleaned and tidied. Problem solved.

Neither this lady nor her cats should not have been put through this highly stressful situation by an overzealous RSPCA and unthinking police. The whole matter was kick-started by a rather nasty veterinarian who disliked the fact that this lady disagreed with her regarding the euthanasia of one of her cats. The veterinarian reported her to the RSPCA for something which the lady was entitled to do, as it happens.

In any case, it would seem that quite possibly hundreds of thousands of people living in the UK who look after a cat or cats are open to a charge of failing to provide a suitable environment for their domestic cats to live in under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Do you find that rather shocking? I do.

A Crime? Failing to Take Vet's Advice On Euthanising Your Cat

A woman in the UK was prosecuted for declining to take the advice of a veterinarian who had advised her to euthanise her cat, Ziggy, who was in a poor state because of old age. This was a decision about when to euthanise a cat at the end of his life. This ultimately is a decision for the cat's caretaker on the advice of a vet but the buck stops at the cat owner (the cat's caretaker).

A very old cat soon to be euthanised

What is shocking about this case is that the RSPCA decided to prosecute this woman simply because she had a different idea about when to euthanise her elderly cat, Ziggy. The woman's name is Ms Julie Nadian. The veterinarian who advised her to put down her cat worked for the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals.

Although the prosecution was stopped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) the lady had all her cats taken from her and they have since been in RSPCA care. She continues to be prosecuted for failing to provide a suitable environment for her pets.

However, the big issue really is that she was prosecuted because she failed to agree to euthanise a very old cat at the time that her veterinarian deemed to be correct. The prosecution was clearly incorrect because it is a personal decision of the cat's owner and it is an emotional decision.

However, it does highlight this very tricky decision because if it is delayed it can cause unnecessary suffering and when you do that to a companion animal, under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 you are committing a crime.

The prosecution was misconceived as it happens and the case highlights the overzealous approach of the RSPCA to prosecute people perhaps as a way to publicise its services and to try and take proactive steps to prevent people from mistreating their companion animals by frightening them into believing that they could be prosecuted over day-to-day decisions.

Nobody really knows when it is right to put down a pet due to very old age. A veterinarian will provide a cold, objective and scientific assessment while the cat's owner will also be as objective as possible but his or her decision must be affected by her emotional connection with her companion animal which should and indeed must be in the equation when she makes a decision.

It is also almost impossible even for veterinarian to judge exactly how much discomfort or pain a cat is suffering in old age and if he thinks the cat is suffering he can prescribe medication to ease it. That I argue would have been a better decision.

My conclusion is that no one should ever be prosecuted for making an incorrect decision about when to euthanise her cat due to very advanced old age.

Update:  Having received a lot of detail from Julie, I was able to compose another article, which can be seen here. I'm not sure whether Ziggy is in fact an old cat. That does not matter because the basic principles that I discuss here still apply.