Seeing Pink Swans

A genuine picture from the East Winch Wildlife Centre's Annual Report to local branches. The swan was from Brundall, Norfolk. The contaminant was never identified, but was incredibly difficult to wash off. Fortunately the treatment was successful, but the swan was in care for much longer than usual before it could be released back into the wild.

The Wildlife Centre's Open day this year will be Sunday 5 July, from 10 am to 4 pm. We visited the Centre a few years ago as a "works outing" for RSPCA Cambridge branch volunteers and it is very well worth seeing. They always need old towels as absorbent disposable bedding for animals, so if you are coming, it would be very helpful if you could collect up your unwanted old towels, flannels and blankets and bring them to donate. This saves the petrol which would be used if towels were donated elsewhere and had to be specially transported to the centre.

First kitten of the season

Our Chairman, Claire, collected this morning a 9 months old mother cat and her baby which was born this morning. At the moment mum is very shocked and not paying much attention to the baby. So Claire is having to give the kit a top up with climicat (artificial cat milk).

They were handed to the vet in Cambourne with 3 other kittens which were all dead. Mummy is beautiful and doesn’t mind people touching her and latching baby on.

Make mine chocolate - but not if you are a cat or a dog!

As Easter approaches, please remember that ordinary chocolate is poisonous to dogs, because it contains a stimulant called theobromine, which we can detoxify safely, but carnivores like dogs and cats cannot. Special dog chocolate is safe for pets because it contains little or no actual cocoa bean extracts.

You also need to be careful about using cocoa bean husks as garden mulch if your dog likes to pick up stuff and chew it.

Myxomatosis reminder

Please don't forget that mosquitos and biting midges will become active about a month from now as the weather gets warmer. Now is the time to make sure that your rabbits are up to date with their myxomatosis vaccinations so they are protected from this dreadful disease, which is spread by biting insects.

If you are on benefits, you can get your rabbits boosters done at our clinic for only £7.