Cats Protection

Below I have detailed some of the ways you can help Cats Protection

Please feel free to email us for further details of any of the 'hands on' work mentioned.

Don't forget you can help in other ways too, sponsoring a Cat, or becoming a Member helps us to help those Cats who so urgently need us.

We urgently need Fosterer's in the Newcastle and North Tyneside area, so if you think you would like to foster Cats and, or Kittens, then please read on.

Firstly I'm not going to lie to you and say its all a bed of roses, it most certainly is not.  But fostering can bring its own rewards. Seeing a Cat or Kitten who arrived at your door, malnourished, ill, near to death, now glowing with health and fondly gazing into the eyes of their new Mum, brings tears to the eyes of the most hardened fosterer. Not that all Cats or Kittens who arrive at Cats Protection are sick and near death, indeed that is not the case, the majority of them are bouncing when they come in, and still bouncing when they leave.

Many prospective fosterers think its hard to part with a Cat or Kitten, and yes, it can be, but, you look at the new family, look at the Cat, and say to yourself, these people can offer the quality time I cannot, and hard though this may sound, in time, when a photo arrives, sent by the loving new family, you have to search your memory to even remember which one it was.

Fostering can be done at many levels, you may just decide to take one Cat, or one litter of Kittens a year, thats fine, its one more Cat we can help, so never feel you are of little use to us should that be the case.

Fostering is something that the whole family can get involved in, as I believe children learn to respect animals. Also, it can help us identify which Cats or Kittens don't interact well with children, so we will know not to rehome them into a household where there are young children.

What You Need In Order To Foster

If you intend to only foster one cat or one litter of kittens, then having a spare room is required. We ask our fosterers, if they have Cats of their own, not to mix a CP Cat, with their own. This is done for reasons of cross infections. When a Cat is accepted into CP care, it has to be taken firstly to one of our Vets. The Vet will initially test the Cat for FIV (Feline Aids) and FeLV (Feline Leukemia) once the Cat has be designated clear of these virus's the Cat is then given a full health check, neutered, or booked in for neutering.

But at this stage we don't know if the Cat is carrying any other virus, this can only be determined after a waiting period of around 14 days, it takes up to that time for any virus to show itself.

If the Cat is still with you after that time, and your own Cats are fully vaccinated, then allowing them to see or smell each other, ( see, Introducing a New Cat, in the Rehoming a Cat Section) with a hope of allowing them to mingle, is fine.

CP Cats shouldn't be allowed to go outside, when rehoming a Cat we advise potential owners that they must keep the Cat indoors for a period of 4 weeks in order for the Cat to get used to their new surroundings, the same applies to foster cats.

Cat Protection, will supply or pay for litter trays, cat carriers, feeding bowls etc. We also give you a monthly allowance to cover food and litter costs. All Veterinary bills are paid for by Cats Protection, but you must use one of our own Veterinary surgeries. Currently, we have Vets in the following areas, Crawcrook, Prudhoe, Forest Hall, Heaton and North Shields.

You will also need access to a car in order to transport the Cats to and from the Vets, remember emergencies do happen.

Not all fosterer's relish the thought of rehoming, and if you don't want to meet prospective owners, it need not be a problem.  We can under those circumstances, transfer the Cat or Kittens to another fosterer when they are ready for their new homes.  However, it is better for the Cat or Kittens to not have to endure another change of surroundings, so if you can face Rehoming, its better for the Cat.

When you have been fostering for a little while, and enjoying it, and want to do more, then if you have a secure garden, we could place Outdoor Pens in the garden, where you would be able to keep a maximum of 3 Cats from one household in each pen.  Please look at our Headquarters site, there will be information there regarding our Outdoor Pens.

We Need Your Help Now !

Cats Protection Newcastle branch raises all the money we use to care for and treat the cats and kittens we bring into our care, with the generosity of people like you.

Donations, Memberships, Sponsorships and our Shop in Wallsend.

But this shop is now in serious need of people like you. People who have a few hours to spare every week on a regular basis, we simply cannot man the shop and take care of the animals at the same time, so more time in the shop automatically means less animals helped.

We need people to serve behind the counter, to sort clothing when donations are brought in, to steam clean the garments before they are put out on the rails, to price and keep the rails fully stocked.  But all this isn’t just down to us poor women…oh no, all you men out there who have a little spare time, how about coming along and helping us girls shift all the heavier stuff !  We do our sorting away from the shop so we need you burly guys to carry it all.

Seriously though, we do need your help urgently.

Our Shop is based on High Street East in Wallsend, near the Library, and we do pay all out of pocket expenses, and if you are really good we will even make you a cuppa !

Trapping can be a highly satisfying role. Our current trapper has been doing the job for over 12 years, holding down a full time job at the same time, and won't consider doing anything else.

You visit a colony of Cats for the first time, see the kittens, too old to be found nice new homes, and it feels overwhelming. But, with some careful planning and help from the public, which sometimes you need to insist upon, in a very short time, you see the colony under control. You know the poor Queen who has had litter after litter, will now be free to live her life without the burden of certain death through exhaustion after feeding countless kittens, will live a healthy normal life.

It's a proven fact that feral cats who are not neutered live very short lives, 3 years being a lengthy lifespan, but with careful monitoring they can live long happy lives.

Part of this job involves informing the public about ferals and the benefits of neutering. You are CP's point of contact, so patience is a valuable asset to have in this job.

You will need your own transport, and ideally a place to hold the cats in a trap overnight till you drop them off at the Vet the following day. A garage would be ideal.

Training is needed for this job, but don't worry about that, our current trapper would be delighted to take you with her and teach you the tricks of the trade till you feel confident enough to go solo.

I do advise that if you are female, you take someone with you when trapping, we don't like any of our girls doing this job without a companion for obvious reasons.