Lost Cat

Missing after a run in with another cat on Friday 13th March 2009 at around 11pm - very friendly and talkative, very pretty sandy grey shorthair tabby female with distinctive stripy markings/swirls with fluffy caramel coloured belly.

She is around 5 years old. She likes to get in small spaces/cupboards and is very curious of garages/sheds

Lost from the Duxford area. Any sightings, please phone +44 (0) 845 497 3718 (work 9-5pm) or
01223 830 702 (home)

Missing sparrow(s)

On Radio 4 last night. It seems to be conclusive that cats are not to blame and that loss of garden shrubbery to "easy-care" decking and concrete is a more likely culprit, because it reduces the number of insects on which sparrows feed their chicks.

Natural England have a database which lets you find garden plants that are particularly helpful for different animal species. There is an entry for house sparrows.  

Stray ferret

Dave Dodds of the local ferret rescue very kindly agreed to take last night's stray ferret, found wandering in Girton. We'll cover seven days boarding with him, plus the cost of neutering. If you've lost a ferret in the Girton area, please email Dave at dave_dodds@hotmail.com

If you're thinking of getting a ferret as a pet, please consider adopting a rescue. Dave nearly always has lots needing good homes, and because he is very knowledgeable he's well placed to give you advice to get you started correctly.

Thank-you!

Thanks to Scaltback School, Newmarket who have raised £150.00 from a Swimming Gala for the RSPCA.

Science books at 188 Mill Road

In honour of Cambridge Science Festival, the RSPCA Bookshop is featuring a display of second-hand science books. We have some excellent bargains, including a copy of the classic Infant Chimpanzee and Human Child.

Another benefit of getting your cat chipped

You can now get cat flaps which detect your cat's chip in order to release the locking mechanism. This ensures that only your own cats can use the flap without the use of uncomfortable and potentially dangerous collars. Cat flaps can sometimes be a bit of a mixed blessing for a timid cat because of the risk that they might allow rivals to invade what should be a secure haven.

There are currently two UK manufacturers, PetPorte and Sureflap. The SureFlap system is nicely appropriate for Cambridge Science Festival fortnight as the technology that powers it was developed by Cambridge Resonant Technologies Ltd of the St John's Innovation Centre

Equine questionnaire

If you own horses, or ride regularly, please complete the questionnaire on planning for your horse's future at http://www.lockwooddonkeycentre.org.uk/questionnaire.htm

Animal welfare statistics for February

During February 2009, we treated 309 owned (199 dogs, 97 cats, 5 rabbits and 8 miscellaneous small animals) and 34 unowned animals (3 dogs and 31 cats) and rehomed six cats and one dog. We neutered 20 dogs 15 cats and 19 rabbits.

Vaccinating against myxomatosis

Spring is just around the corner, and with it will come the first of the two annual peaks of myxomatosis (the second is in the Autumn). If it is more than six months since your rabbit was last vaccinated then you need to be thinking of arranging for a booster.

Every year rabbits are brought to us suffering from myxomatosis because their owners did not realise that urban (even indoor) rabbits are still at risk, because the disease can be spread by biting insects. Vaccination does not provide 100% protection, but a vaccinated rabbit will almost always throw off the disease with no permanent ill effects, while an unvaccinated rabbit will almost always die.

Branch AGM provisional date

The provisional date for Cambridge Branch's Annual General Meeting is 30th June. 7.30 p.m. for 8 p.m. start at the Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge. This the time when branch members have their chance to elect new committee members to run the branch in the following year. 

 
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We need to elect a minimum of seven committee members, and at least ten adult voting members must be present for a valid election. If we fail to achieve this (fairly low) standard, then the meeting fails and we will either be asked to try again or else dissolve the committee and hand control over to the National RSPCA until such time as a valid committee can be elected. 

If you are a branch member, please do try to attend your local branch AGM — apart from other considerations it is very embarrassing, and a waste of time and money, when senior staff from the Region turn out to an AGM and the branch can't even muster ten members to make it worthwhile.

The RSPCA is very dependent on volunteer effort. If you've ever thought "the RSPCA ought to do more about..." this is your chance to make a difference.

Music in charity shops

Bah, humbug! We already have to pay a £70 fee per shop each year to the PRS for permission to listen to the radio and it's now looking as if we will have an additional fee to pay to PPL. I have never downloaded music without paying for it, or made copies of tapes or CDs, but I do resent being forced to hand over the equivalent of the cost of two spay operations for something that has already been paid for by the radio station. I resent it even more when the volunteers are actually listening to the cricket and not playing music at all. 

East Winch Wildlife Hospital seal release

The RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Hospital is our regional facility for treating injured wildlife. It's paid for and run by the national RSPCA.

To view the video properly, scroll it sideways so that it centres on the page, then hit replay.

Bramble clearing working party March 29th

We're going to make a start on clearing the brambles and piles of brush in the area at the back of the animal clinic on Sunday March 29th. Start 9 am (yes - I do know this is the day the clocks go forward), finish around 1 p.m. This is the fire exit route for the rooms to the rear of the building, so we need to keep it free of obstructions.

We could do with more volunteers (turn up any time between 9 and 1). You'll need gardening gloves, and it would be very helpful if you could bring secateurs or loppers.

Another stray rabbit

Found wandering in Caribou Way, Cherry Hinton at about 5 pm on Tuesday, 10th March. He's an un-neutered male, possibly mini-Rex; mainly white with some fawn markings.

Lost Cat - NOW FOUND

He's a tabby and white, neutered male, very recently adopted (not from us!) and got out of the house only a few days afterwards, so may be trying to make his way back to his old home. Please email rosemary@rspca-cambridge.org.uk if a new cat of this description turns up in the Cambridge area. Adopter is an OAP and worried about him.

Update: now found.

Lost cats again

From our inbox:

"Dear RSPCA,

I filled in a form yesterday regarding my cat “Toffee” who had gone missing. I just wanted to let you know that we found him last night. He had been accidentally shut in a garage in a house in an adjoining road to us.

I also wanted to let you know that I found the advice on your website saying that cats normally patrol a territory of up to 7 gardens in all directions particularly helpful. It was this that prompted us to renew our search of that area and to keep calling his name. Eventually we heard him miaowing in reply and were able to track down where he was shut in."

It's worth stressing again that many "lost" cats are actually stuck in some way. Healthy adult cats very rarely get lost in the sense of not knowing where home is unless they have been moved away from familiar surroundings (for example escaping while en route to the vet). Even when a cat has been badly frightened (e.g. by a dog or by fireworks) he or she will normally hide and try to work their way back home once things have settled down. This may not be possible if the cat has crossed some kind of barrier, such as a busy road or a fence that can only be jumped in one direction. Cats who have some kind of illness (e.g. epilepsy) which causes them to become disorientated may stray and need to be confined.  Un-neutered tom cats will wander over great distances and probably do know where home is, but won't "check-in" very regularly. They may be prevented from returning home if a more ferocious male takes over the land where their house is situated. This is one of the reasons why neutering has such a positive effect in prolonging the life of a male cat.

Comparing our site statistics for lost and found cats it's extremely striking that more than half of our incoming injured male strays are entire while less than a third of male cats reported missing are un-neutered (and those are mainly kittens).

Animal shelter management books

Shelter Medicine, by Lila Miller and Stephen Zawistowski, is a comprehensive textbook on the veterinary aspects of running a successful animal shelter and as such it's quite heavy-going and technical. It's organised as stand-alone chapters on various aspects of shelter management and is a book to dip into repeatedly rather than read cover to cover. That said, it's much more than just a textbook for veterinary staff with an interest in animal centres and would benefit anyone working in, or on the management committee of, an animal rescue organisation. In addition to purely veterinary aspects of animal care it also includes chapters on cruelty prosecutions, foster care, spay/neuter clinics, animal behaviour, feral cat control and animal rescue in disaster situations. 

It's written for use in America, so readers need to be aware that the legal situation will often be different in the UK, and there will be differences in the prevalence of some animal diseases (we are extremely fortunate that rabies is not normally a concern over here). If there's a similar book designed for the UK, I've not yet found it, so this is probably the best available text in spite of that drawback. 

Infectious Disease Management in Animal Shelters, by Lila Miller and Kate Hurley is a more narrowly defined book than Shelter Medicine and focuses only on control of disease in shelters. 

More dog accidents

Caution about leaving children and dogs together works both ways. Very young children don't know their own strength relative to small puppies and they can very easily drop them because they're not as co-ordinated as an older child or adult.

Last night's staffie puppy with difficulty breathing turned out to have several broken ribs, probably because he'd either been dropped or helped onto something like a high table and then fallen off. Staffies often don't react to pain by squealing the way other breeds might, and this one's owners only realised there was a problem because the little fellow was gasping for breath because half of his lungs wasn't working any longer.

This sort of thing is also why rats and hamsters aren't really suitable for very young children. Being dropped can badly hurt or kill them, and they will bit really hard if little hands clutch them too tight. Adult cats who like children are probably the best bet with toddlers as they're robust enough not to get hurt (and fast and strong enough to get away from an excessively enthusiastic child).

Vet School family fun day: 21 March 14:00 - 17:00

Come and see a fully functional hospital for four-legged patients. Visit the Imaging Department, Small and Large Animal wards, Intensive Care Unit, theatre suite and much more. Guided tours available. There will be plenty of 'hands-on' displays but remember the patients are sick so you won't be able to play with them! No dogs, please.

Location:
The Queen's Veterinary School Hospital
Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ES

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All ages, no booking required. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

The Vet School provide our clinic's veterinary services, so this is an opportunity to take a look "behind the scenes". The family fun day is part of Cambridge University's Science Festival

The Feral Cat Manual

Published by the Feline Advisory Bureau, The Feral Cat Manual is probably the best and most comprehensive guide to helping feral cats available in the UK. It's used by SNIP International and other groups for their training workshops.