A pen-ful of thanks!
n the last edition of this newsletter we told you of the difficulty we were having in getting new accommodation for our feral lodgers, with our new pens incomplete and needing power supply before they could be used year-round.
We were bowled over by the response both of our supporters – who immediately stepped up with extremely generous donations to fund the outstanding work – and of local contractor Chris, aka The Wire Guy, who slashed his prices so we could afford to go ahead.
The result, as you see, is a pair of safe and hygienic outdoor pens at the homes of committee members, complete with heat and light. We and the cats say thank you very much!
When it’s all about the fundraising….
Everyone at WISCK is cat-crazy – that goes without saying – but we also have to tear ourselves away from cuddles, feeding and changing poo-trays to work out how we raise the money to keep going with our all-important work. Luckily for us we have some imaginative, talented and dedicated volunteers who not only have ideas, but are prepared to put them into practice. Catherine (pictured below left) and Mairi (below centre) have both done fundraising runs for us – Mairi completed a virtual London Marathon for us this summer.
Tina (top right) makes fabulous jewellery and craft items which she sells on our behalf, and the team on the left (including pen-cleaner Gil Wagner and our vice-chair Karen Cowan) were in Stornoway in August doing our first street collection, which raised over £600 for our funds.
A raffle in October raised almost £400, and below you’ll find details of our 2022 calendars and Christmas cards, designed and printed by our chair, Cat, in the hope of raising more funds to continue next year’s essential cat care. We’re sure you agree that cat care is important, but the money has to be there, too!
Fill your life with cats!
We have some great features on our new website at www.wisck.co.uk – including our first online shop, where we plan to stock items made by our supporters for sale to support our funds. We’ve kicked off that section with our own exclusive products, designed to give you a head start on planning for Christmas and New Year greetings.
Send furry festive wishes across the miles – or just next door – with our pack of five Christmas cards (two pictured above), each featuring some of the many cats and kittens we have had in care this year. The pack contains one each of five designs, comes with envelopes and costs just £4.50.
And get 2022 planned, for yourself or a fellow cat-lover, with next year’s calendar, showcasing some of the best cat-snaps taken in 2021 by our foster carers and volunteers. In an improved A4 landscape format, the calendar folds flat open and is ring-bound, with a wall-hanging hook, and it’s keenly-priced at £12.
If you or someone you know makes items suitable for sale to raise funds for us, please do email wisck2020@gmail.com and tell us how you can help.
And keep an eye on our website for news updates and additional info about what we do, too...
In October 2021 we admitted 30 cats, arranged for 28 adoptions and returned five neutered cats to feral colonies or barn homes. We booked and paid for neutering of 15 cats – six females and nine males. We have 35 cats currently in care – 26 at the homes of volunteer carers and nine in pens being cared for with the help of our volunteers
Meet the Kitty Committee
This may seem confusing, but our chair is called Cat and our chaircat is called Archie Lad.
Archie Lad is a big boy, about nine years old, but came to us as a rescue cat two years ago.
He had been a pet but was by then a stray, so he was taken into care and then wound his way into the affections of Cat, to the extent that she had to bring him home.
As befits a cat in such a senior and responsible position, Archie has an extremely relaxed attitude to responsibility. He spends most of his time asleep and, in the few hours that he is awake, has no hobbies other than purring, rolling about looking cute and ‘making biscuits’ with his happy front paws.
Archie’s only really active phases are brief periods winding up his sibling, a dog, and causing chaos if he isn’t given Dreamies, NOW!
Getting to know you
One of the lovely things about fostering is that, just by giving kittens love and care, you prepare them for a new life in their forever home. Hearing washing machines, the TV, vacuum cleaners and all the noises of family life helps them to get used to what their future might hold – and for most of them this is the first time someone has offered them a lap.
They need to learn how to receive love and, for some, that’s tough. So the breakthrough moment when you get a purr, or the first time a young cat comes up and asks for a cuddle gives foster carers a real high.
Everyone helps with this job – kids, partners, other pets – and although we are always sad when they go away to their new homes, we get an extra reward when adopters send us their snaps of newcomers settling down with their families.
So enjoy these pictures of special moments and new friends. If you don’t say ‘Ahhh’ you’re probably reading the wrong newsletter!
There’s a tiger in the house!
Some people call them tabby cats, some call them tigers and others just say ‘the stripey cat’ – we even see the occasional one that looks like a leopard. But whatever you call them, these striped, speckled and spotted kitties are always full of personality.
Even though it’s been a bit of a year for white cats and gingers, we’ve had our fair share of wee tigers – some of which need taming before they can be invited to tea. Here they are in all their moods: cats and kittens of many stripes