Good home offered for 2 kitties - looking!

Dear Forum,



We are In Basse Normandie and looking for a couple of kittens, pref litter trained, to patrol a particularly mousy area between Gace and Vimoutiers on Orne/Calvados border, and to share plenty of love from the family.



We can offer a forever home, with a large house, a glorious 3.5 hectares of meadow and stream, and outbuildings serving as a kitty version of McDonalds.



We have 2 adult cats already, so kittens preferred - we don’t mind their provenance or taking care of vaccinations, just so long as they are reasonably healthy, we can collect. Pics would be a plus but not essential.



Please post to forum and we will get in touch. Unbelievably we’ve been looking and asking round for a few months now, so kitties ready now would be perfect.



Thanks for looking out for us!



Sally

Am a little paranoid at the moment, a friend down the road had four kittens, in a plastic bag, dumped over the wall a couple of days ago. OH is sent on a search of all of the outbuildings everytime I hear a meow (unluckily for him our littlest one has a very small voice and leads him a merry dance) - would hate to find little bodies in a corner somewhere. Justine took the kittens to the local cat charity and was charged for it - the cost of chipping ect. which I would imagine leads to more cats being left to either go feral or die (one and the same really). On the whole we take in the animals found but everyone who is sympathetic to cats has a full quota, and it really is not fair on the existing feline residents (or local wildlife).

Thinking about your comments I do agree that the UK has major issues - I am a little blinkered beacuse everyone I know is responsible when it comes to pet ownership. It is very easy to forget that all is not rosy on the otherside of the Channel. However I have never come across a situation where every other house in a village has had a kitten thrown over the wall in one day. It happens here on a regular basis - possibly because our commune has a reputation for taking the animals in. The only way forward is to encourage sterlisation, I know some very wealthy people here who will not do this - the argument being "the cat has kittens but they disappear". Would love to name and shame but will not leave SF in a legal minefield. No easy answer, but we will continue to do our best when any animal arrives. Little by little attitudes change.

Unfortunately this kind of problem crosses all nationalities Bernadette, as a Cat Charity we see many many problems creates by ex-pats, with 95% of our adoptions going to french families who adore their cats!

If us brits are so responsible the animal charities in the UK would have no work to do, whereas their situation is more sad in my mind. Literally billions have been spent in educating about animal welfare in the Uk over the last century, yet their problem is just as great as any other country. The UK charities are multi-million pound organisations who are able to pick up the pieces, whereas here in France it is more fragmented, with charities often working to shoe string budgets.

So glad that you found two little bundles. They will bring you much joy.

We have two cats, both flung over the wall when babies. It seems that the 'English' are the only people here who take cats to the vet for any reason. On the last visit for vaccinations wre were told that if there was a rabies scare in the area 90% of domestic animals would be shot I know that there have been no cases for a very long time but still worry about my two being out if something were to flare up. Our vet is a lovely man who has concerns about the welfare of animals in this area - he seems to be fighting a losing battle! It is now four years since the last kitten was left with us, am fully expecting a new arrival at any time now (they seem to target us and other houses in the commune on a four year rota). I just wish that the donors would have the cats neutered and not leave sorry little bundles in our courtyard (the last one was very small). I could have a real rant about this but..............

Well done for adopting 2 kitties.... hope they settle in well ! Love to see some pics !

That is superbe Sally, looking forward to the photos and perhaps postings on the Cat Chat group?

Give them a big hug from us all,

Lynn

Hi Sally,

There is a very good animal rescue centre in Sarthe.It's calles "la ligue de la defense des animaux de la sarthe".They've got several kittens (and lots of adults) for adoption.There web site is ""ldas 72.fr" .If you google it,you should find it no problem.On the website there are photos and details of the cat, history character etc.

The people who run it are very serious, friendly etc

Hope this helps

Suzie

Hello Sally,

Just thought I would reply as we have a couple of newish arrivals here and one is an EXCELLENT mouser. We have 3 one year old neutered cats that are semi-domestic. They live in the workshop - but would rather live in the house (I have to keep chucking them out). We are leaving France so have to home all our cats - I'm having to rehome most in the UK as I can't find space for them here. These 3 will be hard to home as they are 80% domestic - but knowing the other cats here they will be 100% domestic soon. they adore other cats and seem to walk around purring most of the time. I've enclosed a picture (this is one of the kittens with 2 other cats we acquired). If you are interested please tell me - they need to be homes as I don't think they are suitable to go back to being feral ...

Hi sally,

Why not do an internet search for 'association chat' in your department, you will certainly come accross many charities that are eager to place abandonned cats and kittens. Here is a start for you

http://chats-errants.com/adresses/bassenormandie/

One word of advice, please don't take kittens where the mother is unneutered, this just means that the problem of cat overpopulation continues and that the poor mother cat will just continue having 3 or 4 litters every year!
It is a legal requirement in France for kittens and cats to be microchipped before finding new homes too.

Lastly, and then I'll get off my soap box!! Please, please get the kittens neutered before their 5th month. Cats can start to reproduce from as young as 4 months of age, and the recommendation is now to think about neutering from 3 months, so please don't be caught out.

Best of luck, and we'll look forward to seeing photos of your new additions soon!!