A helping paw to our feline friends

Abigail Taylor

The organisation looking our for Uist’s wild living cats are celebrating two years of committed effort from hardworking volunteers.

Uist Cat Rescue aims to control the wild population with an active neutering service and to re-home wild cats in need. The group relies solely on financial donations to pay for vet treatment bills, as well as food and litter donations, blankets, towels, unwanted cat beds and toys, all of which help to care for foster cats and enable as many animals to be cared for as possible. 

Speaking to Am Pàipear, Cathy Braim, a member of the Uist Cat Rescue committee, said: “We were immediately challenged by the pandemic which prevented us from fundraising. Although we have been amazed by the support we have received from far and wide, which has enabled us to follow our dreams of helping the wild living cats in Uist.”

She added: “We are also grateful to Western Isles Support for Cats and Kittens in Stornoway, which originally provided encouragement and advice in setting up Uist Cat Rescue following the withdrawal of Cats Protection in Uist. Our Stornoway colleagues share their trapping licence with us and are still very much a guiding light and support to us.”

The team looking fostering cats in their own homes is small, with limited capacity, but as Cathy says: “They are all dedicated to caring, loving, and finding the best homes for our charges.”

Cathy added: “I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us in so many ways to help the cats and kittens, and those who have provided loving homes in the short time we have been in existence.”

All adult cats and those kittens over six months are neutered or spayed before rehoming, and all potential adopters of all kittens are asked to sign an agreement to vaccinate, neuter or spay their new pet once they are old enough. 

“We’d like to thank those who have taken pity on strays in their areas, and have been happy to allow them back to the wild and feed them once we have taken away the worry of an exploding population by neutering/spaying. We are sure there has been more than one adult cat gradually trusting those feeding them who has gone on to make the transition into family life! And thanks also to those who have found vulnerable wild cats or kittens and handed them in to us,” Cathy added.

Cathy expressed her gratitude to the Southern Isles Veterinary Practice for fitting in neutering and spaying operations into their very busy schedule.” 

Apart from the limited accommodation for fosters, the size of the area covered provides a challenge.

A group of volunteers has made the task easier, but anyone who would like to volunteer is being encouraged to do so. Cathy said: “With so few of us, and most of us working and with other responsibilities, we are unable to monitor traps and refresh food any distance away from us. We have depended on a few kind people to do this for us.”

In 2020, their first year of operation, 44 kittens were brought into care, 22 kittens were born in care to pregnant mothers, 8 males were neutered and 17 females were spayed. In 2021, 47 kittens were brought into care, 13 kittens were born in care to pregnant mothers, 11 males were neutered, and 15 females were spayed.

Cats and kittens come from across the islands even reaching Barra. Cathy said: “We took care of one rescued kitten diagnosed with meningitis until he was well enough to go back to Barra. We also took in Jojo from Barra who had been found with a damaged jaw after going into a car engine – he was fostered during his treatment by one of our group who actually ended up keeping him. We also fostered two females who had already been spayed but never claimed and ended up happily rehomed.”

Cathy concluded: “We do have to stress to people that we are only volunteers doing our best for the wild-living cats. We are often stretched and overwhelmed, and have very limited facilities in our own homes. But we do the very best we can in the circumstances. If anyone would like to help us with fostering, we provide all the necessary equipment, food and litter. We would also appreciate it if anyone would like to do a fundraiser for us.”