Internet Resource on Animal Shelter Management

The University of California Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program site is mainly intended for their own veterinary students, but is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in learning more about proper animal care in rescue conditions.

The site includes downloadable copies of their class lecture notes and links to videos and "webinars" where animal shelter professionals can discuss shared problems and solutions online. UK readers do need to bear in mind that US conditions are sometimes different from ours — some diseases found here don't occur over there and vice versa, for example. However many of the issues (trapping and neutering feral cats; behaviour assessment and temperament tests; assessing prospective animal adopters and so on) are relevant to both sides of the Atlantic.

Some interesting comparisons of the organisational structure of the RSPCA in this country compared to the US in one of the introductory lectures:

Questions from Shelter Medicine Overview Lecture, 04/04/2008
Kate F. Hurley
UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program
Questions generally about shelter standards and regulation:

"I didn't realize that local SPCAs were not affiliated with each other. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing--I can see that it would be good to retain some regional individuality, and it probably creates less paperwork/bureaucracy that needs to be worked through. It's probably easier to implement changes, and easier to tailor what the shelter offers to the community. On the other hand, I wonder if it would be easier to get funding, and better for research purposes (easier to access a large amount of "herd health" data) if the shelters were associated."

"Good point about the up and down sides of having all shelters linked. I was recently in England, where the vast majority of shelters are under one of their major charitable umbrella organizations. (Unlike here, all RSPCAs really are part of the same group, for instance.) The power of a large organization gave them broad recognition, seemingly lots of fundraising clout, the opportunity to collect and compare data between numerous shelters, and the ability to implement a set of standards that were generally impressively high in terms of animal housing, health and adoptions. On the down side, chatting with people it sounded like the organizations can be unwieldy to change, there are layers of bureaucracy, and it could be that it’s harder to respond to specific regional issues – likely more of an issue in the U.S. since we are such a large and varied country. Just as we’ve seen many individual veterinary practices absorbed into corporate chains or groups, it does seem possible that we will eventual see something like a large non-profit group operating multiple shelters on a franchise-type model – there are a few groups, such as the Massachusetts SPCA that do operate multiple shelters within a single state. However, I think it’s unlikely that we will ever see the kind of cohesive arrangement that exists in the United Kingdom, just because of the fractured and independent way that shelters sprang up on this side of the ocean. "

Continuing the ringworm theme from yesterday, there's an online presentation on ringworm control in animal shelters with useful pictures of infections (and other conditions which can look similar). It's interesting to see that the cat cages in the shelter they show wouldn't be acceptable in our units except for cats needing to be closely confined for medical reasons, such as fractures or heart problems.

The really striking difference between us and the States is cats — we don't declaw and we do expect they'll normally have more or less free access to the outdoors. Most US animal welfare agencies deprecate declawing, but are absolutely vehemently opposed to letting cats roam freely outside.

Madison's test results are back!

Madison is a very pretty long-haired black cat who was picked up as an injured stray on 14th September after being hit by a car. She had a lot of soreness and bruising which has almost healed, except that she still can't hold her tail completely upright, but she also had dreadful skin trouble, with bald patches which we originally thought were grazes from the accident. After initial first aid at Vet24 and admission to the Vet School hospital it became obvious that the sores were skin disease, rather than injuries. She was infested with fleas, so the most probable underlying source of the problem was flea allergy, but (especially in a long-haired cat) another possibility would have been ringworm.

Ringworm is very bad news indeed for any animal rescue. University of California Davis' Shelter Medicine Program has some detailed information which explains just why we are so paranoid about it. A rescue facility which has had an outbreak will be out of action for a minimum of four months while all animals are treated (twice weekly medicated baths for all cats!).

Anyway, Madison's culture results came back today and she has NOT got ringworm — just very nasty flea allergy, which is responding nicely to treatment. Relief all round.

Training day

The Cambridgeshire branches (Cambridge, Peterborough and Hunts & March) are planning to hold a training day for new volunteer home visitors within the next few months. If you might be interested in this, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Home visitors play an essential part in helping to achieve a successful match between our animals and prospective new homes. They're not trying to catch people out, or pry into their domestic circumstances, but they make simple checks to ensure new owners have suitable conditions to keep the type of animal they want to adopt (as an example we do insist on a secure fenced exercise area for dogs). They also have a general informal chat to satisfy themselves that the new adopters appreciate the work and responsibility involved in caring for a pet and answer any questions about the process of adopting from the RSPCA.

Vomiting dogs again

Yet another owner with two young, recently-acquired puppies with vomiting and diarrhoea with blood in it. It is enormously expensive to treat puppies like this effectively, because the vets have to set up barrier nursing if they admit them as inpatients. She's been quoted £300 per day, which in fact isn't unreasonable of the vet when you consider the cost of a veterinary nurse's salary; vet's salary and of completely disinfecting their isolation facilities (plus the initial costs of building an isolation unit at the practice).

These two puppies aren't insured or vaccinated and they're not registered either with the PDSA (for help with treatment at a local private vet) or with our own clinic in Cambridge — and in fact we wouldn't be able to have them admitted to the University Vet School who provide our hospital facilities because of the risk to their private patients.

I've agreed that we could help with the cost of giving the puppies intravenous fluids at the private vet, followed by home nursing by the owner, which will at least give them a chance.

Sadly, this is the situation we see over and over again. If you buy a puppy, ask for proof that the mother's vaccinations were up to date, and ensure that the puppy is vaccinated at 8 weeks (preferably by the breeder before leaving the mother) with a follow-up booster according to your vet's advice. Never, ever buy from an establishment where puppies are brought in from multiple sources — mixing different groups of puppies means spreading any infection. Make sure any adult dogs who will be in contact with the new puppy are up to date with their vaccinations. Take out pet insurance to cover vet bills, (or register the puppy with the PDSA, RSPCA or Blue Cross if you are on benefits and can't afford insurance).

Rescued: Life-changing Stories of Saving Animals from Disaster

Rescued is the story of the individuals and organisations who took part in the evacuation of pets and livestock in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.

It may be a little over-sentimental for British tastes, but the practical "lessons learned" and sections on what individual pet owners can do in the way of preparation to give their animals the best possible chance of surviving an emergency situation are of real importance.

We're fortunate in this country that large-scale disasters like Katrina are very unlikely, and we're also lucky not to have rabies (so we can handle animals of unknown health status with a degree of confidence the Katrina rescuers didn't enjoy). That doesn't mean we can't learn from this very large-scale animal emergency — for example the importance of micro-chipping to enable pets to be reunited with their owners; the value of having pre-existing teams of trained volunteers for essential roles such as assessing emergency foster homes (and what went wrong for groups who weren't able to do these checks).

Just to get the weekend off to a good start...

Thirteen dogs signed over from an address in Newmarket. RSPCA West Suffolk have kindly offered to take the mother staffie bitch and her puppies as they have a suitable foster home where the pups will get proper socialisation rather than being in kennel conditions. We're taking four adult dogs (all friendly, young adult females) — a Belgian Shepherd, Husky cross, Rhodesian Ridgeback and an Akita.

If you might be interested in adopting any of these dogs, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Cat saga continues

The ACO's managed to find the tortie's owner, but it's now a probable neglect case as the owner was aware the cat was ill, but hadn't tried to get any treatment for her (in fact hadn't even tried any over the counter treatment to get rid of her fleas).

Lack of money is not an acceptable excuse for neglecting to seek treatment for a sick or injured animal. Anyone who is genuinely on a very low income can get help with the cost of treatment by contacting the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999 or the PDSA on 0800 731 2502 or the Blue Cross on 0300 123 9933

Anyone on means-tested state benefits in the Cambridge area can bring their animals to our clinic on Whitehill Road (next to the Abbey Swimming Pool).

Another stray cat

She's an elderly tortoiseshell and was collected by one of our ACOs from Milton road, Cambridge, after a caller reported that she'd been hanging around for several days and looked ill. She's been admitted to Cambridge Veterinary Group for assessment and treatment and at this stage it looks as though she's got heart failure and dehydration (plus loads of fleas!).

We always need more foster homes to provide more TLC for animals like this than is possible in boarding kennels. If you might be able to help, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Cocoa is back!

This is not another microchip success story, as she's returned under her own steam and I've no idea where she's been for the past two days or what she's been up to. I'm hugely relieved however as she's on medication for epilepsy and I was begining to fear that she'd gone off to die somewhere.

Cocoa's history illustrates why some perfectly responsible owners end up having to give up pets after trying everything they can to solve the problem. Her epilepsy means that her house-training is sometimes erratic — this was something her previous owners could deal with until they had small children and the resulting hygiene worries became too much.

We always need caring homes willing to take "imperfect" animals who either have ongoing medical problems or are simply getting on in life. Where we know a medical condition will need continuing treatment we can usually help with the cost of this. If you might be able to offer a home to an animal like this; or if you might be able to help with temporary foster care for a recovering animal, please email rspcacambridge@aol.com

Working on it

Still trying to open a deposit account. Latest hurdle is that all the people listed as signatories for the current account need to prove who they are again by providing photo-identification and a recent utility bill showing their name and address. This in spite of the fact that the current account's been open since at least the 1950s and all the signatories have been on the account for the past three years.

Also working on the lease of 61 Burleigh street - the shop premises we hope to move into so we can expand our charity shop. Landlord is reluctant to accept that we're willing to pay either a premium or consider a rent rise, but not both (and certainly not in the current economic climate when they should think themselves lucky to have a potential tenant at all).

Animal Clinic figures for September

In September, our Animal Clinic treated 209 dogs, 129 cats, five rabbits and three miscellaneous other animals.

Dog Flea Treatments and Cats again

Yet another owner with a £300+ bill from the emergency vet after treating her two cats with over the counter anti-flea "spot-on" insecticide intended for dogs. She's on income support, so we're helping with £100 towards the total and she's borrowed £200 from her family.

Never give a cat any kind of medication intended for another species except on specific advice from a vet. Because they are specialist carnivores, cats are much less able to detoxify chemicals than most other animals.

Living with a House Rabbit

Living with a House Rabbit is written by Linda Dykes and Helen Flack, respectively the former and current chairmen of the Rabbit Welfare Association, and is an excellent introduction to keeping rabbits as indoor domestic pets. It provides realistic advice about the amount of potential damage event the best-behaved rabbits are likely to do, and ways to "bunny-proof" your home to strike a successful balance between freedom for the rabbits and preservation of reasonable domestic standards.

When successful, house-rabbits probably have better quality of life than pet rabbits kept under any other system, but all too often owners either become disillusioned and give their pets up for rehoming, or they end up condemning them to long periods confined to indoor cages which are very little better than outdoor hutches. If everyone thinking of having a rabbit as an indoor pet read this book before acquiring a rabbit we would have fewer requests to rehome the relationship failures and more rabbits would have better-quality lives.

Just one example of the kind of inspired tip the authors include is the suggestion that solid plastic dog beds make splendid litter trays for rabbits (particularly older ones whose joints may be getting a little stiff). The raised back and sides help prevent hay and litter scattering around, while the low front is easy for the rabbit to step over.

Update on Fenella

Took Fenella to the clinic for a re-check yesterday and was delighted to find she's gained a kilo - up from 2.1 kg to 3.1 kg - which is probably now about the right weight for her general build and age. She's still got her third eyelids partially up and the vets think this is probably permanent and due to having had untreated cat flu when she was tiny, but we're trying a course of eye ointment to see if there's any improvement.

"RSPCA Inspected"

We're periodically criticised by animal rights groups who believe that we "approve" circuses and, as an animal circus is touring locally, it may be worth explaining once more that this is not the case. An adjudication by the Advertising Standards Authority explains:

"A leaflet, for Great British Circus, stated "THIS CIRCUS HAS BEEN RSPCA INSPECTED". The RSPCA complained that the leaflet misleadingly implied they had approved the circus.

Adjudication

Complaint upheld

THIS ADJUDICATION REPLACES THAT PUBLISHED ON 24TH MAY 2006. THE COMPLAINT REMAINS UPHELD BUT THE WORDING HAS BEEN CHANGED.

Great British Circus (GBC) said their leaflet neither stated nor implied that the circus was 'approved' by the RSPCA. They said they had been visited by the RSPCA and submitted photocopies of two pages from their visitors' book and a copy of an RSPCA animal welfare assessment form to show that. GBC believed that, because they had granted access to the RSPCA in the past, it was fair to inform the public of that.

The ASA noted GBC had, in the past, granted permission for the RSPCA to visit their circus to check the way in which they looked after their animals. Nevertheless, we considered that the presentation of the leaflet, showing two circus performers giving a 'thumbs-up' beside the text "THIS CIRCUS HAS BEEN RSPCA INSPECTED", implied approval by the RSPCA of the circus and the use of animals as performers in the circus. We concluded that the claim was misleading and told them to delete it."

If you see a circus including animal acts which claims to have been "RSPCA inspected" in its advertising materials, it would be helpful to let our Headquarters have copies of any leaflets or posters with details of when and where the circus visited. The address to send them to is RSPCA, Wilberforce way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9RS

There is more information about the RSPCA's position on circus animals on the national website.

Vicious circles and Virtuous ones

One reason why some people take on more than they can cope with is fear that the animals may be put down if they are handed over to an animal welfare organisation. Conversely, some welfare organisations argue that "limited access" animal shelters, where animals are never put down to make space for more admissions, may mean more euthanasia in the long run if owners decide to have their animals put down rather than wait until space is available. By US standards the RSPCA would be entitled to call itself a "no-kill" organisation — one which does not put down animals capable of rehabilitation.

Once things have got out of control, owners may be deterred from seeking veterinary help by lack of money and fear that approaching the RSPCA or PDSA might lead to prosecution instead. This is actually most unlikely — in about 20 years I can only think of two cases where our clinic reported an owner to the Inspectorate as a result of them bringing an animal for treatment. One was a case where the owner's boyfriend had deliberately broken their dog's leg and the other was a dog whose collar had been put on when he was a puppy and left until it had grown into his neck over a period of months. Someone who seeks help reasonably quickly would never be reported even if the vet might privately feel they'd been irresponsible or inefficient. Most of the time, someone who phones the RSPCA for help with veterinary treatment (rather than visiting a clinic) won't actually meet anyone from the organisation in person, but will be given help with the cost of going to a private vet.

Stocktake

Maddison has been rehomed (a big thank-you to her adopter for a generous donation in addition to her adoption fee) and Ben and Wee Man have been reserved. Poor little Ghost is still looking. Many thanks to dogsblog for organising national dog adoption month. Without their support it's very doubtful whether we would have easily found good homes for the two older ones. One Syrian hamster and two of the kittens (Lynx and Tiger) have also been rehomed.

The little dog in the photo is Titch, an elderly chihuahua, whose owner was a client of our animal clinic and sadly could no longer care for Titch because his own ill-health meant lengthy periods in hospital.

File on Four last night

If anyone is concerned that we are all going round madly reporting innocent people for child abuse, I suggest they read the whole of the London Safeguarding Children Board's draft (repeat, draft) protocol for exchanging reports of suspected ill-treatment between animal- and child-protection professionals. Virtually always, child neglect reports by RSPCA inspectors relate to situations where they're called to investigate animals being kept in squalor and find that the family also has children living in the same conditions.

The program editors also didn't seem convinced of the truth of animal hoarding as a welfare problem. To put it in perspective, I suggest taking a look at the pet-abuse.com database of animal cruelty reports (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain). Select "hoarding" as type of abuse to view news reports of cases. (Their database seems to be most current for US cases and to have trouble resetting between searches of different countries unless you restart your browser).

The trouble with this sort of program is that it discourages people who do realise they need help with their animals from contacting animal welfare organisations.

Internet Resource

Continuing on the theme of things where we can learn from the US, there is a fantastic resource at the Office of the State Veterinarian of the State of Virginia which allows you to compare statistics from all state-registered animal shelters. Accurate data to find what is actually going on is at least a first step towards ending the euthanasia of healthy animals.

Update on Grace

Grace had her check-up at our clinic on Saturday and her heart rate's down from over 200 to 150 - almost normal. Her weight's up from 1.7 kg to 1.8, which is excellent progress after just a week on her thyroid hormone reducing tablets. Nothing at all wrong with her sight, but she seems to be almost completely deaf - which is why I can't get her to look nicely towards the camera by making squeaky sounds. However, the photo does show the unusual squiggly mark down the centre of her face.

Lost and found animals

The experimental form for notifying us about missing cats has turned out to be a useful way to collect the information in one place, so I've now added two others: 

www.rspca-cambridge.org.uk/reportfinding.html which is intended for non-urgent information about animals which may be strays (or are probably strays, but can't be caught). 

PLEASE DO NOT use this form for animals which are injured or in distress. If an animal appears ill or injured you should phone our control centre on 0300 1234 999. 

We will normally only check the database containing information collected from this form if someone contacts us to say they've lost an animal. It is not intended as a way to ask for help.

www.rspca-cambridge.org.uk/otherlost.html is intended to notify us if you've lost an animal. It's important that you also phone round local vets and animal shelters and contact our control centre (0300 1234 999) as injured animals will usually be taken to the closest available private vet if they need first aid.

We take in large numbers of injured and sick stray cats and very rarely manage to re-unite them with their owners. One probable reason is that people whose cats go missing do not appreciate that animals picked up injured may have to be moved quite large distances to arrange for their treatment and follow-on care. If an animal is injured during the night or at weekends it will be taken to one of the vets who provide out of hours cover; so it's important to ask your local vet who provides cover when they are closed and check with them as well.

Pet Food Politics - just out

Just finished reading Pet Food Politics: the Chihuahua in the Coal Mine - rather horribly topical in view of the current tragedy in China over babies dying of kidney failure due to adulteration of milk formula with the chemical melamine.

Pet Food Politics is a serious documentary which really does read like a thriller and explains how a combination of greed, dishonesty, incompetence and sheer inability to trace the complexity of global markets in food products led to the death of pets in Canada and the US. The villains of the piece used the same adulterating chemicals that caused the deaths of babies in 2008.

Fortunately pet food companies in the UK were either more careful, or just luckier.

Evidently it was "luckier" (update 5th Oct. 2008).

One very interesting observation which Marion Nestle makes is the potential value of the animal health data which pet insurance companies collect as a side effect of their business. One of the first pieces of real evidence that there was a problem with US pet food was the observation of one insurance company that claims for treatment of kidney disease in cats had soared in March 2007. Clearly there are all kinds of other posible ways similar information collecting could benefit pets - for example we could get unbiased evidence of the real extent of the problem with pedigree dogs.

Marion Nestle has her own blog at whattoeatbook.com.

Farm Animal Welfare Week 22-28 September

Calculate your Farm Animal Welfare Footprint here.

Hoarding re-visited

There's a very interesting explanation of how animal "hoarding" cases are dealt with in the US just out, which is worth quoting in full:

"If we receive a hoarding case that shows no intent.. that means the individual has mental health difficulties, then we're likely going to go with City Ordinance violation charges," said Director of Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control Belinda Lewis.

Those are mostly fine-based, and can limit that person's future legal animal ownership. Intent to harm, however, is more severe, and means the person wanted to abuse and neglect animals.

"We're going to look at criminal charges. It's not the most common direction because we rarely see intent with animal hoarding cases," Lewis said.

She says animal hoarding cases are usually the result of mental health issues.
Psychiatrist Dr. Jay Fawver explains that can stem from one of three things.

"A recent loss, such as a job loss, or a child moved away. Secondly, if there's a profound grieve from a death in the family," said Dr. Fawver.

The third involves neglect dating back to that person's childhood.

"You're trying to reverse that whole history by giving a lot of love and compassion to animals. They're well meaning when they start out, but the problem is they aren't able to keep up," said Fawver.

In Elizabeth Miller's case, they believe she didn't have intent to harm the animals, which is why she's only facing fines. That's the same situation for a case earlier this summer in Leo, where 212 cats were found inside a home. How things get so bad is largely handled in counseling, as is ways to prevent it from happening in the future.

They're apparently achieving this by creative use of a distinction between "criminal" activities and violations of local bye-laws, so it's not obvious that it would be possible to do something similar in the UK without a change in the law.

Tip: The Animal Hoarding Blog (mostly American)

Offer from Waterstones online bookshop

All online purchases made via our webshop or by clicking the link to Waterstones in the image above will earn commission for the branch.

Reserve funds again

Trepidation about the general state of the economy. I think it's unlikely that there's any risk that the funds in our bank account could be lost however bad things get, but it's not looking good for our charity shop income if customers aren't spending because they're worried about the safety of their jobs. The CEO of the national RSPCA (as opposed to the local branches) must be feeling pretty glum about invested funds as those do go up and down in value along with the Stock Market (and in this case, down). 

We are extremely fortunate to have received legacy income this year and without it things would be looking very bleak indeed.

Things are already looking very serious for the Rabbit Residence Rescue where most of our branch rescue rabbits are fostered. Please consider sponsoring a rescue rabbit, or adopting a pair of rabbits who are suitable for rehoming (not all of the rabbits featured on the web page came to Rabbit Residence from the RSPCA).

Rabbits Teeth!

Another request to our rehoming co-ordinator for us to take in a rabbit needing repeated dental treatment which the owner can't afford to pay for.

We get asked to do this almost every month and, sadly, it's most unlikely that we'll ever be in a position to do anything more than offer some help with the veterinary costs because there are always enormous numbers of unwanted rabbits needing homes and one who is going to need expensive treatment on a regular basis is just not going to be adoptable.

This is another situation where prevention is far better than cure. Some rabbits (particularly the very dwarf and lop-eared breeds) have inherited dental problems, but the majority of rabbit dental disease is due to incorrect diet.

Rabbits evolved to live mainly on grass, which is extremely abrasive. All of a rabbit's teeth grow continuously and if they are not subjected to constant wear they will become too long or misaligned and make it difficult for the rabbit to eat. Once a rabbit has tooth problems he may become reluctant to chew, thus setting up a vicious circle. Because of this it is crucial that the major part of any rabbit's diet is either grass or good quality hay (which is simply dried grass). 

The Rabbit Welfare Foundation has helpful leaflets on rabbit dental disease and on the proper diet for pet rabbits.

Because of the hereditary element any rabbit which suffers from dental problems should not be allowed to breed.

Dog breeding

Bleary-eyed after being woken at 2.30 am by a caller needing emergency help because her little yorkie bitch was suffering whelping complications I am reflecting on the question of charity help for owners who are intentionally breeding animals. More specifically, I am very unhappy that this little creature was not spayed after experiencing exactly the same problems in her previous pregnancy. 

Widespread availability of options for low-cost neutering has thankfully made routine euthanasia of unwanted puppies and kittens almost entirely a thing of the past. Less cheerfully, it's meant that puppies and kittens have a monetary value, which is good for the individual pup or kit, but has implications for anyone running a charity clinic providing veterinary services. 

We do refuse to vaccinate litters of kittens or puppies if it's obvious that the owner is intending to sell them for financial gain, but we can't refuse treatment for an animal in distress. Pedigree dogs are in the news at the moment, so here's my two-penn'orth: I would like the Kennel Club to refuse registration to any puppies of a subsequent litter born to a mother who required veterinary treatment in order to survive her previous pregnancy. That wouldn't harm the puppies in any way, but would reduce their financial value and so decrease the incentive to continue breeding from unfit bitches. 

Does anyone recognise this little cat?

She was brought to us as a stray on 7th September and is clearly very old indeed although she's quite bright and perky. We've put her on medication for hyperthyroidism as she's got very high levels of thyroid hormone and treated her ears for mites (which is why her face looks a little bedraggled in the photo). Otherwise there's nothing really wrong with her except old age, and she must have had a home to have survived so long.

Please email rosemary@rspca-cambridge.org.uk if you think she might be your cat.

Sunday evening panic

Modern surgical techniques make some absolutely remarkable repairs possible, even where the main bones of a limb have been broken in several places so that they effectively hang loose. For really bad cases, the vets will usually implant a "surgical fixator" - effectively a metal scaffolding bonded to the pieces of bone to hold them rigidly in position so that they can grow back together. The result looks fearsome, but seems to completely relieve the pain of the break. In the accompanying photo Tiger Lily demonstrates how unworried she is by the fixator holding her upper forelimb together.

The downside is the length of time needed for bone to grow back between the broken sections. This can take several months, and until the natural join is complete it's essential that the animal doesn't put sudden strain on the leg by jumping or falling and the fixator has to stay in place (it's removed by a second operation once X-rays show natural bone growth has filled in the gaps).

This means the animal has to be closely confined and only exercised under strict supervision and various sorts of cages have to be used, none of which are entirely satisfactory. The large plastic cages sold for indoor rabbit-keeping are easy to clean and free of snags on which the fixator can get hooked up, but they are rather hot in sunny weather. Fibre-glass or plastic indoor kennels and dog crates are preferable in many ways but the bars can be a problem - as one of our fosterers discovered on Sunday when his foster-cat managed to slip his fixator through the cage bars, and panic, turn sideways and get completely wedged. It then required two of us to release him, one to rotate the cat and the other to slide the fixator through the bars. Not entirely my idea of a fun Sunday night.

East Regional Conference

The Regional Conference for all branches within the East and East Central areas will be at the Deafblind UK Conference Centre, Cygnet Park, Hampton on 4th October.

Any interested members, supporters or volunteers from the Cambridge branch are welcome to attend. Please email rosemary@rspca-cambridge.org.uk as soon as possible if you would like to come, so that we can let RHQ know the numbers for catering. Lunch will be provided and will be either vegetarian or vegan.

There is a very interesting program this year, including a talk by Mark Evans (Head of Companion Animals Department), whom you may have seen recently on TV in connection with the program about the problems of inbreeding of pedigree dogs.

• 10.30 coffee
• 11.00 Welcome by Chairman Bob Baylis, Regional Council Representative
• 11.10 Regional overview - Suzie Graham, Regional Manager
• 11.20 Awards
• 12.05 Presentation by East Winch Wildlife Centre
• 12.30 Open Forum
• 13.00 Lunch
• 14.00 Update on the Society - Nigel Yeo, Director Animal Welfare Services
• 14.15 Urban Search and Rescue Dog Teams - Chris Pritchard (fire rescue service)
• 15.00 Positives of the Animal Welfare Act - Inspectorate
• 16.00 Chairman's closing summary
  

We hope for a good attendance as this is the one opportunity most branch volunteers get each year to meet up with their "opposite numbers" in neighbouring branches. Also, we have an ulterior motive: there is a prize of 60 free microchips for the branch with the largest number of attendees.

Map showing the location of the Deafblind UK Conference centre. The centre is in the region between the Serpentine and Fletton Parkway (click view larger map to zoom in to locate it). We will be meeting in the Bradbury Suite

View Larger Map

We need your old towels!

If you're throwing out any old towels and can get to our shop at 188 Mill Road reasonably easily, we'd be very grateful for any you can donate as our fosterers and volunteer drivers are currently getting through large quantities of old toweling which we use as temporary animal bedding. Towels are ideal as a soft lining for cat and dog carriers and as bedding for sick animals who may be more likely than usual to have little "accidents" because of difficulty in getting to the litter tray on time.

Hedgehogs

Starting to get calls from people concerned about small hedgehogs in their gardens. Hedgehogs of any size who are seen wandering during the day are very likely to be unwell in some way. In this case, the best thing to do is to capture the hedgehog (use gloves to avoid being scratched by its spines) and confine it in a box before telephoning the RSPCA control centre 0300 1234 999. They will do their best to arrange for the hedgehog to be collected and taken to the closest RSPCA wildlife centre. (In our case, this is East Winch, in Norfolk).  I suggest you put the box somewhere where any insect life will not be a problem, such as a garden shed.

Very small hedgehogs who appear in the garden after dusk are probably not yet at risk because there is lots of wild food about still (the slugs in my garden are so fit they scare my cats!). If you want to improve their chances of surviving their first hibernation by providing extra rations (or just want to encourage them closer), you can get dried food made specially for hedgehogs from most pet shops. Being mammals, hedgehogs can produce their own body heat, so the unusually chilly summer isn't a problem for them in the way it is for cold blooded hibernators like tortoises, or really tiny mammals, such as bats. That means that, for the moment, they're really best left where they are rather than taking up space in a wildlife hospital that may be needed by another animal. 

Dog flea treatments and cats

Don't! is the short answer.

Late last night I had a call from the emergency vet to say they had a client in the surgery with no money at all and two kittens both suffering seizures from permethrin poisoning after being dabbed with dog flea treatment from the supermarket. We agreed the branch would cover the cost of first aid over night and that the owner would pay for further care at our own clinic in the morning when she could borrow money from her family. 

Even with the help from us, the kittens' owner will be spending quite a lot more than it would have cost her to take them to our clinic and buy treatment that is safe and effective for young cats. 

Using "over the counter" flea remedies is understandably tempting to pet owners who are on a very low budget. Some of these are actually reasonably effective, but there are three recurring ways in which things can go pear-shaped.

1. If the treatment reduces the number of fleas but doesn't get rid of them (or if the owner doesn't realise there is another reason for their pet's skin trouble) the animal can wind up almost bald or covered in itching sores. If a skin condition doesn't improve within a week or so, always seek qualified help.
2. Flea collars can cause terrible injuries.
3. If the owner doesn't read the label and uses dog flea treatment on a cat, the cat may be very seriously ill, or even die. Always read the instructions for any medication or insecticide (including chemicals for treating carpets, pet bedding etc.).

No wonder there's a credit crunch

Opening a bank account (to invest the funds we don't need to spend right away) is much more difficult than you might think. Just setting up a second interest-bearing account with the bank we already use for the current account involves two personal visits, a form covering 6 sides of A4 and signatures of two trustees. Creating a completely new deposit account with a bank that doesn't have any track record with us means a 24 page form, providing personal banking details and addresses of three trustees, signatures of three trustees and giving the names of all the other trustees.

I suppose it does make money-laundering more difficult, but I am beginning to feel that a sock under the bed would be less time-consuming. 

Newmarket shop refurbishment

Our shop at 156 High Street, Newmarket will be closed on Friday and Saturday this week (12th and 13th September) for refurbishment and will re-open again the following Monday, 15th September. Many thanks to Lorna, Sharon and their team for all the hard work they've put into making the shop such a success. We hope that the improvements will lead to even better sales in the future.

So far this year the shop has made a net profit of £5,500 towards the work of the branch.

More and more cats

Elderly all-black female with probable thyroid trouble handed in from Tennison  Road area; very thin dark tortoiseshell with suspected kidney failure in via Vet24. Plus a returnee originally rehomed in June who didn't get on with the existing resident cat.

On the upside, one of the vets got so fond of the kitten with the ruptured diaphragm and fractured leg that he's going to adopt her, and the cat with two broken hind legs is being fostered with a view to adoption if he gets on with the pair of resident cats.

August Figures

A very slow month for rehoming: only three cats and one bird. We provided veterinary treatment for 227 dogs, 122 cats, 8 rabbits and 12 miscellaneous animals and neutered 15 dogs and 8 cats.

Total outgoings were £12,409 and we raised £8,411 with shop takings still rather depressed although total sales at the Cambridge shops were up £800 compared with July.

RSPCA Rescue dog of the Year Show

You can vote for Rescue dog of the year on the RSPCA website from Monday 8th September.

Due to various mishaps and shortage of helpers we didn't manage to run a heat in 2008 and we need to be starting our planning now if we're going to run one in 2009. If you might be able to help, please email either of the two Rosemarys. There's some further information about what's involved on the branch website. You don't need any special training or experience - except that if you have any experience of judging and would be willing to volunteer to judge "fun" classes we would love to hear from you. Helpers are needed to serve on stalls, make and serve refreshments, act as judge's runners, book in dogs etc. etc. We'd like to get together a small team who would be prepared to get together for monthly planning meetings. Previously we've tried to make arrangements during our normal branch committee meetings and it's never been a success because it just means we don't have enough time for either the show or the committee business to be discussed properly.

Myxomatosis

Spring and Autumn are high-risk periods for myxomatosis in the UK. Rabbits who are not regularly vaccinated (most vets recommend vaccination at 6 monthly intervals) are at high risk of contracting the disease and dying. This is the case even if your rabbit does not normally go outside and you live in an urban area, because the virus is spread by biting insects, such as mosquitos and midges.

Breeding like... Rabbits!

Most of our intake of unwanted rabbits are fostered with the rabbit residence rescue who have suitable facilities to keep rabbits long-term with a good quality of life until they are adopted. They've just had an influx of 21 unwanted bunnies - mainly the result of people allowing a pair to breed, then not separating the babies so they all breed... until the result is a nightmare of over-crowding, fighting and stress.

If you are thinking of getting a pet rabbit please do not buy one from a pet shop. In fact don't get one rabbit - they are highly social animals who will not be happy alone. (The slightly sinister-sounding reference to "bonding" in Rabbit Residence's introduction refers to the process of pairing up two neutered rabbits so that they become good friends).

If you already have rabbits and urgently need to get them neutered to prevent further population growth and are on benefits: we can help with the cost. If you live within reasonable traveling distance of Cambridge, the most economical choice is to use our clinic (see the article on neutering below this one). If you cannot get to the clinic, or if you need to get your rabbits neutered immediately rather than going on a waiting list, then we can send a voucher for part of the cost of having the operation done at a private vet. You need to be resident within our branch area (see the map on the side-bar). To ask for a neutering voucher email neuter@rspca-cambridge.org.uk - giving your name, address to send the voucher and the name of the vet you want to use.

Low cost pet neutering

If you are on state benefits (including working tax credit and pension credit, but not child tax credit on its own) and live within our branch area, you are eligible to have your pets neutered via our animal clinic in Cambridge. This is not free, but is significantly cheaper than the cost a private vet would have to charge.

The Wednesday morning session (9 am - 10.30 am) is reserved for pre-neutering checks and vaccinations, so is the best time to bring your animal along to be booked onto the waiting list. Charges are £55 for a bitch, £40 for a dog, £35 for a female cat, £20 for a male cat. We can also neuter rabbits and ferrets at the same charge as for a cat. Payment must be made in advance, and your pet will be given a health check to see that they are fit enough to have the operation. Once this has been done, your pet will be added to the waiting list and called in when they reach the top of the list (currently this is a few weeks).

Dogs and cats should be at least 4 months old before they can be checked to go on the waiting list for neutering. If a bitch is in season or just finishing a season she can not be put on the waiting list, but should  come back for a vet check to be put on the list in about 2 months. 

Ideally bitches should be neutered 3 months after their last season.

Neutering will prevent the birth of unwanted offspring who may not find good homes and it also has important health benefits for your pet - particularly in the case of bitches and female ferrets and male cats. Another great benefit in the case of rabbits is that it enables a male and female to be kept together as a pair which will make them much happier and more contented.

Experimental Lost Cat Notification Form

There's now an experimental form to enable us to receive information about missing cats on our branch website at http://www.rspca-cambridge.org.uk/testlost.html

This is only useful for missing cats within our own branch area (see the sidebar), and I strongly recommend that you also contact other local animal welfare organisations and vets by telephone. The main aim is to give us a sensible list of missing animals instead of lots of scrappy notes on pieces of paper that get lost or are unavailable because they're in the wrong jacket pocket!

Kittens!

Having been inundated with adults throughout the summer we now have kittens as well. If you could spread the word we'd be grateful as the sooner we find homes the better whilst they're still young.

Details are as follows:

Lynx (silver tabby) and Tiger (black) - about 7 weeks old. Were quite nervous but now coming on well but could do with getting into a home for more socialisation ASAP.

Bubble, Squeak, Fleck and Speck - 3 black and whites and one black kitten - about 11 weeks - not sure of sexes of them. Very friendly and good with stefs children. Could be homed in pairs. (pics attached)

We also have 4 black/dark tortie kittens who are about 6 weeks are also at a cattery in Peterborough (because our local cattery was full).

If you would be interested in adopting any of them, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Two more cats

One with both hind legs broken, but a reasonable prognosis that they can be operated on with an implant screwed across the broken sections to hold them together (The implant is basically a titanium plate, not too different from the "mending plates" carpenters use to join pieces of wood). The other is more problematic because she has a ruptured diaphragm which will need surgical repair.

Many thanks to the nurses at Arbury Road vets, who brought her down to our clinic themselves when time was too short to organise a volunteer driver.

Hamster of the day

This is Hammy, who is a fairly young Syrian hamster. He does nip!

If you might be interested in adopting him, please email rosemary@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

July statistics

Just got the records for July collated. During the month, our branch:

Provided low-cost veterinary treatment for 205 dogs, 115 cats, 11 rabbits and 14 miscellaneous small animals.

Rehomed 4 dogs, 3 cats and 2 birds.

Microchipped 11 dogs and 10 cats

Neutered 13 dogs, 12 cats and a rabbit

Our total outgoings were £16,904 (this amount also covers wages for our three shop staff, rent for the charity shop in Newmarket and our annual audit fee). We raised £7,811, mostly from sales at the charity shops and clinic fees.

Protecting animals from suffering

Call last night from the daughter of an gentleman in great distress because his elderly jack russell was in great pain to the extent that he wasn't able to pick the dog up. These situations always seem to happen at weekends and, quite apart from the increased financial cost of getting out of hours treatment, very few vets are now able to make home visits. Sadly this is a reflection of the times we live in, and the potential liability of their employers if staff members are attacked or injured during a call-out. We were fortunate that Royston Veterinary Centre is one of the few local vets who still do call-outs in their area and that they don't use another veterinary practice for their out of hours cover.

We keep statistics of the numbers of animals which are put to sleep at branch expense and these are reported annually in the combined Annual Report of the society, together with the numbers of animals rehomed or given veterinary treatment. Euthanasia tends to be seen as a situation where the RSPCA has failed to help an animal and I believe we need to challenge this. It certainly is a failure of animal welfare if healthy animals who should have their lives ahead of them are put to sleep. We have not failed when we ensure that animals who have reached the end of their natural lives are released from suffering and indignity instead of dying in pain and fear.

Investments

The RSPCA has an ethical investment policy - basically that society funds shouldn't be invested in anything which causes harm to animals (as that would negate the point of having them, anyway). Putting this into practice isn't exactly as straightforward as it might seem, as I've been finding out.

If you have large amounts of money that you can tie up for several years, there's no problem getting a tailor-made investment package where your funds are invested in companies which fit whatever criteria you specify. For smaller amounts (where "small" means less than about £500,000) it's only really feasible to put your money into existing schemes, and in our case it appears that the only really viable choice is between building societies (you know the funds are invested in property) and the Co-operative Bank (they have a pre-existing list of sectors where they won't invest depositors' money). It's looking as though the Co-op is going to be the right "home" for the money we know we won't need to touch for at least a year.

Unfortunately this doen't completely solve our problems as the Co-op doesn't have many branches where our shops and volunteers can bank cash takings, so it wouldn't be practical to transfer our current account there. We probably also need to maintain some cash on short-term deposit at our current bank because we need to be able to transfer money quickly into the current account when necessary.

I sometimes get asked rather aggressively "what companies do you invest your funds in?" - with the implication that we're probably funding smoking beagles and cosmetics testing. It always sounds rather evasive to say "that's not how banking works", but I'm afraid that's the actual truth. We're not big enough or rich enough to be investing in individual share holdings.

Fleas!

Another two cats — and a first for one of our inspectors, who wound up so covered in fleas that she had to bin her outer clothes and spray herself with insecticide before heading home for a complete shower and change. I wonder if Frontline is licensed for use on humans? Goodness knows what state the poor cats must be in after being shut in with that number of blood-sucking parasites.

This is one health issue where completely feral (free-living) cats are actually better-off than very poorly-kept domestic ones, as they are able to keep down their parasite burden to some extent by changing their sleeping places so that fleas can't build up. When we choose to keep cats inside we take on the responsibility of flea control. There are various veterinary preparations which will kill fleas on the cat, but it's also important to clean the surroundings (and if necessary spray with an approved product).

Elderly Tabby/tortie?

Has anyone in the Cambridge area lost an elderly dark tabby/tortie cat? She was brought in just over a week ago suffering from severe dehydration as well as being very thin, so may have been living rough for some time. She seems to have had an infection at some point which has left her third eyelids permanently partially raised, but this may have happened after she got lost. She initially had to be put on a drip and we thought we were going to be forced to put her to sleep, but she's picked up after being rehydrated and put on a renal diet and she's now maintaining reasonable body condition without artificial fluids.

Fenella's story illustrates the problem of unidentifiable older cats. She's so friendly that she must have had a home at some time, but without a micro-chip it's unlikely that we can re-unite her with her original owners. While she's reasonably well we can ensure her a good quality of life with one of our fosterers, but with so many cats it's not possible to give older ones the same kind of nursing care they would be able to expect in a home of their own.

If you might be interested in fostering animals for our branch, please email rspcacambridge@aol.com with subject: fostering

Stocktake

The caesarian cat came through the operation, but the kittens didn't survive - she had a malformation of the uterus, so she's been spayed.

O'Malley's gone out to his new home (that's him in the picture).

Four abandoned kittens in - booked into the Peterborough kennels for the moment as the ones we normally use are still full-to-bursting.

If you might be interested in adopting a kitten, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Caesarian

Call from one of our local vets to say someone's brought in a stray cat who needs a caesarian. They're being very good about keeping the cost to us to an absolute minimum, but (assuming mum and babies all survive) it means yet another intake of cats into our already-stretched facilities. Fortunately we're still at least in a situation where there's no doubt about reasonably quickly finding homes for kittens - it's the adult cats who stick in kennels.

Have my doubts about whether the cat is a genuine stray - but even if this is a "story" to avoid paying for the operation at least someone cared enough about her welfare to get her to a vet.

Pet Insurance woes

Pet insurance is a life-saver, but owners can be lulled into a false sense of security if they don't make sure their policy is the right one for their financial circumstances. Many policies have an excess - a fixed amount of money which the animal's owner is expected to cover themselves - and will only pay out if the cost of treatment is more than the excess amount. It can be as much as eighty pounds - a sum which an owner on a really low income may not be able to lay their hands on in an emergency. Some policies only pay out once the owner has settled the vet's bill in full - again potentially something that an owner who doesn't have a credit card will find completely impossible.

Aggravatingly, this is just what's happened to a caller who's adopted a dog from a local rescue centre (not RSPCA) recently. The centre rehomes all its dogs with 30 day health insurance cover, and she'd delayed registering her dog at our clinic until after the bank holiday as a result.

Getting stung by jellyfish on an August bank holiday, will set you back £100+ at a private vet if you are a labrador. Unfortunately her policy has an excess of £80 which she doesn't have - and she doesn't have access to her savings because they are in a Post Office account.

Moral - always read the small print and never put off until tomorrow what you need to do today.

Running round in circles

Most of the people we deal with mean well, but they can create complicated situations. Phoned last night by an elderly lady who takes her dogs to our clinic. Her grandson's looking after his parent's home while they're away and taken in an unwanted kitten. This would have been fine, until kitty managed to get caught in a door - now has a leg swelling to twice its natural size, and, of course, being a bank holiday weekend, only the 24 hour emergency vet is open. At 7 weeks, the kitten's not old enough to have been registered at our clinic for their emergency cover.

Managed to get kitty into Vet24. They think his leg's probably broken, so they'll keep him on pain relief until Tuesday when we can transfer him to our clinic. If the leg is broken, we're looking at around £200 to get it pinned, even with our RSPCA discount, so I think the owner may have to sign the kitten over for rehoming. Sad, as he's a nice lad and very concerned about it.

Parvo yet again

Another puppy with parvovirus. Treated with fluids at the clinic on Thursday and Saturday and again this morning as an emergency.

Honey

Honey is a lovely, friendly girl, one of the eight cats we took in after their owners were evicted. Ideally she would like to be adopted together with one of her friends as she is very sociable.

If you might be interested in adopting Honey, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Today's dog - Ben

Ben is playful and energetic in spite of being thirteen years old and a little chubby. We think he's not a pure-bred golden retriever, although that's obviously a major part of his ancestry. He's very healthy considering his age, but has had some problems with irritation of his ears and may need regular ear-drops to keep this under control.

If you might be interested in adopting Ben, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Update on Emily

Emily's now had her stitches out and looks more normal except for a bald patch. She was originally found in Burwell.

Latest stray

This little cat was brought in from the Cambridge area with quite severe mastitis, which presumably means she had kittens but they died.

Today's dog - Maddison

Maddison is a lovely, friendly longhaired German Shepherd who came into our care as the result of a cruelty case (she wasn't severely neglected, but a second dog was).

She's about four years old and needs an experienced owner willing to make sure she gets the training, mental stimulation and exercise she needs.

If you think she might be the dog for you, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

61 Burleigh Street

This is the unit we're hoping to lease to set up a new charity shop in Burleigh street. We're in the early stages of negotiation with the landlords, so nothing is definite yet, but it would be very nice if we could be open for the run-up to Christmas.

The rent would be an eye-watering step-up from the old shop at 184 Mill Road, but we would have more than twice the current sales area and be in a location with more people walking by and hopefully making purchases.

Spent an hour yesterday counting passers-by and recorded 486 - or roughly eight per minute. I'll do another count at the weekend to get an idea of the difference between weekdays and Saturdays.

We're not planning to move the bookshop at 188 Mill Road as that is doing well and still increasing sales. 

We need volunteer helpers at all three shops. If you might be interested, please email camshop@rspcabookshop.co.uk (for the two Cambridge shops) or newmarket@rspcabookshop.co.uk (for the shop in Newmarket)

Pedigree dogs?

Controversy this evening on the BBC with a documentary on the health problems of pedigree dogs. I can certainly go along with the comment about the problems some Westie's have with allergies and how awful it can be to have an otherwise perfect dog but be considering euthanasia because he's in permanent misery with itching skin that won't heal whatever the vets try.

Ironically, the despised Staffie must come out pretty well in the health stakes. I don't think I've ever seen one with health problems which had an underlying genetic basis. They're a normal "doggy shape" with no exaggerations and they're probably reasonably out-bred because most of them seem to be the result of ordinary pet owners deciding to let their dog have a litter. Most of the ones we see at our clinic have infections, accidents and so on, but are basically normal dogs.

The dog in the picture is poor old Ghost, still looking for a home. If you would like to visit him to see if he would suit you, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

National Dog Adoption Month

August is National Dog Adoption Month, so this week I'm going to feature the dogs we have waiting for new homes. This is Wee Man, a funny-looking chap with rather short legs, who is rather shy, but good with cats and other dogs. He would like a quiet home, but would be happy to fit in with other pets.

If you would like to visit him in our kennels, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Depressed-looking fence

This was once a fence and gate to the area behind our animal clinic, but there's not a lot left of it.

Irritatingly, the smaller building just off the picture to the left, is a bicycle shed, which we had to have constructed as a condition of getting planning permission to build the clinic. When the fencing was intact we didn't use it because it was a major operation to unlock the padlocks and open the gate. Now, we don't use it because no-one fancies sharing a bike shed with various undesirable objects left there by other people. 

As you can see, the windows are heftily reinforced. The state of the fence has fairly well proved to us that there's no point simply repairing it and we're probably going to have to replace it with metal palings and a metal gate. Ultimately, this is where we'd like to build a sluice room for improved disinfection and cleaning, filling in the gap and making another gate into the bike shed so that it might actually become useable.

Wilkinsons store in Ely

Wilkinsons have very kindly offered RSPCA branches the chance to collect outside their stores over the weekend 27/28 September. As the stores are on public thoroughfares we would also need to get permission from the local authority, so if we are to do a collection in the Cambridge branch area, we need to know whether we have enough volunteers within the next week. The only Wilkinsons store in our branch area is the one in Ely (see map below this post), and unfortunately the majority of our current volunteers live further South, or in Newmarket.

If you live in Ely and would be interested in collecting for the RSPCA local branch that weekend, please email rosemary@rspca-cambridge.org.uk as soon as possible. Our spring collections outside Tesco stores are usually very successful (although we've never had enough volunteers to collect at the Ely Tesco). It would be very nice to be able to run an additional autumn collection to raise funds at the other end of the year.

View Larger Map

Millicent needs a home

This pretty girl is Millicent, another one of the group of eight. If you might be interested in adopting her, please email rehoming@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Healthy animals

A dear old lady with six cats of her own had been feeding a scruffy-looking stray and periodically trying to confine him to get him neutered. Finally he disappeared for several weeks and she assumed he'd gone off and died, but he turned up again last night, looking even more the worse for wear and blind in one eye. Claire drove over and took him to Vet24. 

Sadly it turned out that he was a perfect example of why a "no-kill" shelter policy is not as simple as it may sound. If he'd had an owner able to give him tablets and a special renal diet there might well have been some point in having him castrated (so he'd no longer want to wander and fight younger, fitter cats), operating to remove the ruined eye and treating the eye with some remaining sight. As things were, it would have been simple cruelty to confine a cat like him in cattery conditions (most of the earlier to-ing and fro-ing on the old lady's part had been because she couldn't bear to shut him in her shed because he cried). She was in her eighties and wouldn't have been able to organise tablets and special diet. Euthanasia was really the only responsible option to avoid causing him more distress.

Anyone in Soham interested in volunteering?

We have an offer of rent-free, short-term use of a unit on Soham High Street which might be suitable for selling charity items to raise funds in the run-up to Christmas. However, to make it viable we would need a nucleus of committed volunteers - at least 10 to give adequate cover.

If you might be interested and live in or near Soham, please email me - rosemary@rspca-cambridge.org.uk

Branch Reserves Policy

Now that we actually have some reserves (the result of a generous legacy, which pulled us back from a very dicey hand-to-mouth situation) we need to have a policy about the way we manage them, and at our committee meeting this week we agreed the formula below.

“Owing to the nature of our activities and supporter base, branch income is composed of a fairly regular component from fundraising activities and clinic fees and an unpredictable legacy component. This means that we receive occasional very large amounts which need to be used gradually to support the regular income rather than being spent during the year in which we receive them. We aim to keep our free reserves between an upper limit set at twice our annual operating costs and a lower limit fixed at the amount which would permit 12 months continued activity at current levels of regular earned income. 

At any point when free reserves dip below this 12 month safety limit we will have to begin cutting back the level of service which we provide.

At current income and expenditure rates the lower reserve limit is £41,000 and the upper limit is £260,000.”

In other words, if our steady income from the shops, clinic fees, collection tins etc. is £3,000 a month short of what we currently spend, we can calculate how long it would take before our saved funds ran dry. If the remaining time drops to 12 months we need to make emergency cuts until spending is in balance with the steady income. 

Our free reserves at the moment (after allowing for outgoings which we know will take place at the year end) amount to £120,000. This would sustain our current expenditure for three years provided our regular income stays at its existing levels. It means our work is reasonably secure, but there isn't much scope for "capital" projects (such as building an extension to our clinic for a "sluice room", which is one of the things we'd like to do).

And again

Swayne & Partners phoned again this morning to say the last dog owned by the family with the original parvovirus infected puppy has started vomiting, and the one they saw yesterday has died.

Arguably the family have committed some kind of offence under the Animal Welfare Act by failing to provide adequate care for those five dogs, but frankly nothing we could do to them would punish them more than the consequences of their failure to get any of them vaccinated.

More Parvo

Vet phones in to say another dog belonging to the family with two parvo-infected puppies is vomiting. They've got no money, so I've agreed to cover basic supportive treatment - given in their surgery car park as they daren't have something that infectious brought into their building to put the paying clients' animals at risk.

Foster Homes Needed

We are looking for people who would be willing to help with short-term care of animals before they're fit enough to be transferred to the kennels. This would usually be injured cats needing "cage rest" - basically time spent confined in a fairly small pen in order to prevent them doing damage to broken bones or wounds that have been stitched.

Fosterers need somewhere indoors suitable to put up one of our pens (tiles or vinyl flooring are ideal because they are easily cleaned).  We provide suitable pens and pay for food and cat litter. Most injured cats would need to attend the RSPCA clinic for several check-ups before being passed as fit for rehoming. We can organise transport if the fosterer doesn't have a car (or isn't available at the right times). Ideally pens should be in a room where they can be shut away from your own cats in order to reduce the risk of disease being spread.

Because of the need to return to the clinic in Cambridge, we are particularly looking for fosterers in or close to Cambridge, but would also be interested in helpers further afield.

If you are interested in fostering for us, please email rspcacambridge@aol.com 

Raffle

Anyone who fancies winning this rather alarming creature (I think he's meant to be some kind of baboon) can buy a ticket at our charity shop at 188 Mill Road, Cambridge. Hurry, ends on Friday 15th August

Gratitude

To Haidee Barker of Arbury road vets for very kindly offering to look after the stray with the bad head abscess over the weekend while he still needed daily dressing changes - a really enormous help for us.

Also to Stone Lane vets who took in another stray tom late on Saturday morning, when it would have been virtually impossible to move him anywhere, and helpfully agreed to hold him over until Monday and neuter him before we try to get him into cattery or foster care. It will be much easier for our fosterers to cope with him if he's starting to lose that pungent tom-cat smell.

He's yet another tom who almost certainly had a home originally, but started to wander in search of females, and then was picked up as an injured stray because of a bite abscess. This is one reason why we offer low-cost neutering and neutering vouchers to anyone on state benefits. It not only reduces the production of unwanted kittens, but it also helps to decrease the number of adult males who are handed in to us as injured strays.