Leaves are falling, autumn's calling...

Hello everyone, well there's definitely an autumn chill today but at least it resulted in some beautiful sunshine!  So let's get comfy and have a catch up...

Firstly, I will update you about the success of the Fashion Show we held last month in aid of our Wrexham Branch.  Our staff and volunteers from both our charity shop and adoption centre were thrilled to receive such a fantastic turnout, filling the Wrexham War Memorial Hall with a great atmosphere! Attendants enjoyed browsing the stalls, watching our fabulous models work the catwalk and then bagging those bargains.  We would like to thank everybody who helped to host and those who bought tickets to come to the evening, contributing to the overwhelming grand total raised of £1,150!! Couldn't make it on the night?  Catch the video here - Fashion show video

Our Volunteer Co-ordinator, Emma, looking comfortable on the catwalk!

From my last few posts, we are still looking for volunteers to help with educational talks in schools.  This role would be perfect for retired teachers, group leaders or anyone with an interest in education and cats!  Some talks are held at our adoption centre but others would be held in schools or local group meetings (e.g. brownies, cubs etc.).  Please do get in touch with our Community Education Officer to find out more!

All across Cats Protection we are celebrating National Black Cat Day on Thursday 30th October.  These stunning monochrome moggies often end up overlooked in favour of more colourful cats so we want to raise awareness of their plight and believe they make just as attractive and loving pets as the apparently more interesting individuals.  Black Cat Day promotes the adoption of black and black-and-white cats as, due to their coat colour and related superstition, they are the least likely to be adopted.  Our beautiful Onyx knows of that problem far too well and after months at our adoption centre is still waiting for someone who will understand her and offer her the love and independence she needs. We also have Bruno and Mia ready for homing and plenty more coming along soon - see our website for details.  We have decorated the adoption centre with little black cats in the hope that our potential adopters will see their beauty!  They will have a job to compete with my fabulous fur but their characters are still as fantastic!  Two pairs of our long-stay black and white cats (Holly and Jess, Rocky and Ellie-May) have been homed recently after long waits but they have finally found their happy endings.  If you would like to get involved the National Cats Protection are running a competition on their Facebook page to enter your #BlackCatSelfie for a chance for your rescue cat to be their National Black Cat Day Champion!

Now autumn is upon us it is so important to bring your cats in at night. I know how much I love my cosy bed on these cold evenings and it's just not safe out there for us as chasing mice can lead to us dicing with cars and it doesn't end well...  There are two cats in our care at the moment who have lost legs thanks to being hit by cars, what a horrible thought! We cats are so easily spooked and so many end up running into the path of cars whilst we are focused on something else or even just making our way home.  Also, before we know it there will be fireworks going off left, right and centre!  Look after your furry friend this Bonfire Night (and up to New Year) by using Feliway in your home.  Feliway can help calm your kitties by mimicking the feline facial pheromone, which us cats use to mark areas we feel happy and safe in.  Read more about it on the Feliway website. It is often handy to keep the radio or television on and the curtains closed whilst any fireworks are banging, although most of us don't mind them as much as dogs do...  they have their own product to help, find out more on the Adaptil website! 

And as if it doesn't already feel like 2014 is running away from us, it really isn't all that long until Christmas! We have some lovely Christmas cards and wrapping paper for sale at the adoption centre so go on, don't be in a rush this year and get them now while stocks last!  I myself am not a big fan of the festive season; decorations going up, loud music playing and strange smells of visitors and candles! I reckon that Feliway would come in handy right through the season.  The only thing us moggies do look forward to is the presents, all that paper to rip up and boxes to explore!!  

I will leave you all with some great news from our centre.  We have been awarded a Pets at Home gift card for selling the most Cats Protection Lottery tickets across the Wrexham District during the summer.  This is a fantastic result as it means we can treat our cats to plenty of goodies this autumn, using both the gift card and the money raised from those tickets so we owe huge thanks to everyone who has bought one through us!  You can still join up to play through the main Cats Protection website. I hope they don't forget me when they are shopping, I wouldn't say no to a catnip toy, or maybe some of those tasty Dreamies...

That's all for now folks.  Catch me again next month for more news and views! 

Love and Purrs,

Fred x