New Year, New Me

Hello friends,

Welcome to 2015!  Apologies for the delay in posting, I actually have some news for you all.  My avid fans and visitors to the centre will know of my long term eye issue, having had my "dry eye" treated with drops for a few years now.  We all knew the drops would only work for so long and I recently developed an eye infection and an ulcer formed. Thankfully my staff here at the Centre booked me in for an operation and I no longer have that eye to worry about!  Yes, it has been removed, hurrah!  Honestly, I look even more macho without it, even if I do say so myself. All my beautiful ginger fur has grown back and I feel fabulous!  My staff are thrilled to see me looking so good, I even reward them with head bumps and purrs when they are working because I can't thank them enough for making me better. I love them all but don't tell them that, I still give the odd nip here and there if they are loving me too much, after all, it's my reputation at stake...  

2014 was a great year for us here at the Wrexham Adoption Centre. We homed a fantastic total of 351 cats, some of whom were reunited with their original owners, which is always great to see.  Thank you to everyone who has adopted a cat from us, every cat we home means another one is helped.  We would also like to thank all those who supported our Mince Pies and Moggies Open Day before Christmas, when over £600 was raised for the cats, and everyone who has sent cards and made donations over the Christmas period - our lucky cats now have plenty of food to keep them going!  I just hope I get a cut of the spoils, pretty sure I deserve it after my recent ordeal!!

Catherine and Dexter Foulkes making their Christmas donation to the cats!

While I am on the subject of donations and fundraising we have also been very grateful to receive your Felix tokens - these can be found on both tins and boxes and can be sent off to claim donations for our Adoption Centre - so please keep them coming. We are expecting to be sent £160 for something that would normally end up in the bin! Likewise we are expecting to receive £11 for a batch of donated used stamps, which may seem a relatively small amount but every little definitely does help!  On a larger scale, Petplan have once again made us an amazing donation of £4,870.76.  This is because each time a new adopter takes out their first full policy with Petplan we receive 10% of the total premium plus a further 10% every year the policy is renewed.  The money is donated from Petplan and doesn't cost you a penny!  We also owe thanks to the staff and customers of our local Pets at Home stores at Border Retail Park and Plas Coch for all the donations we have collected recently.
 
I hope my regular blog followers remember beautiful Neva who I featured in my previous post?  Well she did indeed finally find her dream home on a livery yard.  Unfortunately she managed to get into a bit of trouble not long after leaving our care.  She decided to take herself for an adventure which didn't end too well.  She was found, injured, by a kind family who took her to the vets, where she was scanned for a microchip and her chip we had implanted meant she could be reunited with her owner. Yet another example of why microchipping is so important!  All our cats and kittens are microchipped before adoption and we would urge everyone to have their pets chipped so they can be reunited if they are ever lost and to then ensure you keep your contact details up to date if you move house or change your phone number. Microchipping will in fact be compulsory for dogs in Wales from March 2015. 

My next special cat to mention has to be my friend Alfred, not only because he has a first class name but because he really is in need of a loving and understanding home. Since joining us in November he has spent an awful lot of time hiding in his Feline Fort but thankfully is finally starting to come round.  I do feel sorry for cats with shy personalities coming into the centre.  I'm sure being in a building surrounded by lots of other cats and strange people isn't really his idea of relaxation!  With lots of patience the Cat Care Assistants and Volunteers at the Centre have helped his confidence and he will now come out purring for fuss!  He has come from a rural area so is not used to busy roads and would suit a quiet home with an older person or couple.  If you feel you can offer Alfred the time and love he needs to be able to settle in to a new home, please look at his page on our website or call the Centre on 01978 313574.

Alfred

Just a few things to finish off...  Rita has stepped down from the position of Branch Treasurer.  She has done so much to help the Centre over the years, her hard work and dedication will always be appreciated and we will all miss her!  Our Facebook page currently has 1,894 Likes and we are aiming to reach 2000! Please share our page and tell your friends.  The better our networking and publicity the more cats we can home and the more we can help so thanks in advance! 

We would like to wish everyone all the best for 2015.  If your new year resolutions have already slipped why not aim to support us by holding a fundraising event? You can download a fundraising pack from the main Cats Protection website. 

My final point is a date for your diaries - the Wrexham Cats Protection Charity Shop is holding a Spring Fashion Show on Thursday 26th March at the War Memorial Hall (by Tesco) in Wrexham.  Watch this space for further details and you can Like their Facebook page for updates.  

That's all for now everyone.  I'm going back to sit on someone's paperwork (they love it really) ...

Love and purrs,

Fred x