Joey

Hi all. Further to the above, I've now had the black cat brought to me by the people at the top of the road who have been feeding her. She is definitely a girl, and I'm not sure if she is pregnant, but her tummy is hard and a little bit round. She certainly isn't heavily pregnant. Due to the cat I already have here plus my three who won't tolerate intruders in their space, I really have nowhere to put her and just can't keep her inside. She's eaten like a horse since she got here with that urgency that strays have when they think they may not get another meal very soon. She is super friendly to humans, not so to other cats. She doesn't seem to belong to anyone as she has definitely been living rough for the last few weeks. Is there anyone who would be able to look after her until we can find who she belongs to or find her another home? Pictures: Stray Stray

Fortunately I won't have to worry about that as the RSPCA sort the new home out. I was just concerned that he would get as better as he's going to get and then go back to the shelter to stay for months until someone picked him, if they ever did. Fingers crossed there will be someone just like you all that will walk into the shelter before that point and see him as their perfect cat.

Thanks for your replies, that's quite reassuring. One of the things I dislike about fostering is when my charges go back to the RSPCA to be found a home and then appear on the website - sometimes they're gone within a couple of days but there are always those who linger. I feel so bad for them that the freedom they had romping all over my house is now cut down to a small pen at the shelter for weeks or even months. I'm happy to keep Thomas here as long as he needs me, but my cats would never accept him on a permanent basis - I keep them well and truly apart as Thomas has no way of defending himself if they went for him. I hope when his time comes there is someone who will fall in love with him just like I have

I'm looking after Thomas the foster cat who is very broken at the moment. He may lose his front leg due to nerve damage, although I'm hoping it will not come to that, and his back leg is badly broken. He really is the most adorable cat despite the fact that he must be really uncomfortable most of the time. Eventually he'll be well enough to go up for adoption, and I just wondered if his possibly long term disabilities will make people feel sorry for him and want to mother him or if they would make people back off because he's not the "perfect" cat. What do you think?

There has been a young black cat with no collar hanging around for the past few weeks. I thought it belonged to someone on my road, but today someone from the top of my road knocked on my door. They had heard I fostered cats and wondered if this one was one of mine, or if I'd be able to take it in. She has apparently been feeding it for quite some time, but isn't able to keep it as it is petrified of her dog. She says she's noticed that it's stomach is quite fat but the rest of it is really thin, so is wondering if it is a pregnant queen. It could be that it just has a fat tummy though as we aren't even sure it is female. Unfortunately I'm full with Thomas the "broken" cat staying in my only spare room. Even if I had room, it won't actually let me approach it at all as it is very nervous. And obviously it may actually have a home but just prefers to wander the streets. So is anyone missing a young black cat from the Cookson Road area? He/ she is a lovely looking thing and I hope she has somewhere she calls home

Oh brilliant. It's so cold outside, I couldn't have borne it thinking he was out there all night and in pain.

Is he still outside? If you both aren't too far away I don't mind coming over with a cat basket to get him and bringing him to you Medusa. Can't bear the thought of him outside all night if he's that poorly.

I also would recommend Richardsons at Firth Park - really helpful and have something of everything.

If you use the ones on the forum I mentioned previously, you know they are the real thing as everyone posts on there about their experiences. I was signed up with about 10 of them and they all paid up.

Maybe, I was meaning mainly to ask for advice though.

Penny, might this help? Reptile Vet Thread

He is, although I'm having to keep things fair - 2 of my cats are absolutely terrified of the fireworks and are cowering behind my sofa. I'm trying to divide my time between sitting with Thomas on the floor in the dining room and comforting my cats behind the sofa in the living room. What a way to spend a Saturday night!!

You sign up to loads of different companies - try http://www.moneysavingexpert.com for a list - and if they accept you then you can start accepting jobs from their websites. You get detailed instructions of what they want you to look for, if you have to buy something, and when exactly the job has to be done. Once you have done the job you report back and if the report is okay and the job was done properly they pay you the agreed amount. Doubtful you'll ever make enough money to live on, but it made me some spending money for my holiday this year. Good luck Edit - and to answer your question, which I forgot to do, they usually will tell you how much you are allowed to spend and will refund it, and you often get to keep the item.

Just thought I'd introduce you to Thomas - he was found by an RSPCA inspector dragging his back leg along. He now has a fixator on his back leg to hold it together and nerve damage in his front leg. So he's practically down to two legs out of four! Not that that stops him trying to run round like a mad cat - I've never seen anything so funny as this morning when he was having his mad half hour. In between mad hop abouts, he collapses into a heap of fur and purrs like a tractor when you give him any attention. Yet again I'm falling madly in love!! Here are some pics Thomas Thomas 2 Please tickle my tum!

Mmmm, when can we start?

See Ruby - you have 2 offers already. Do you make nice cakes

Lol, you're more than welcome to!

I didn't realise you had a shop Ruby. You should have a tidy up party - provide some buns and a cup of tea and I'm sure a few people on here would come and help you do a bit of tidying for an hour or two - I certainly would. I find it quite therapeutic tidying up!

teabag. He wants another teabag.

Ha ha, sounds like you needed a fourth bag to me. I must admit, I do sometimes wonder why they post on here when they could type a much shorter version of the question into Google and get the answer. But then the Forum would be a much quieter place and you wouldn't have given me a giggle tonight

On here it says it's David Morrissey who I think was in Doctor Who last year. I thought it sounded a bit like Kevin Whately myself, but without the accent. It's similar to a Rolf Harris "poem" where you keep repeating a line but adding a bit on - Starts with "Now the ladies of the harem of the court of King Catactacus were just passing by" and gets to "Now the fascinating witches who put the scintilating stiches in the britches of the boys who put the powder on the noses on the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Catactacus, were just passing by" Got that from here

I had to have a home check before I could start fostering and I was very nervous about it. But I looked at it as a small sacrifice to make in order to do something I really wanted to do. Now when the RSPCA take the cats I've fostered back to be adopted, I can be confident that they have thoroughly checked out their new home and the chances are that they are going to have long and happy lives. No-one wants to see them back as foster cats again. Some of these poor creatures have been to hell and back and anything that can be done to make sure they never go through that again is okay with me. In this situation I think the cat's welfare has to come above anyone's feelings of having their privacy intruded upon. If people aren't happy with it, they have the choice to go elsewhere, the cat doesn't get any choice.

Baby ones you do have to bathe every day, at the least every other day.

Is that a problem? Mine are a lot smaller than yours will be and I was advised to bathe them every day.

Yes, you should bathe them - just luke warm water up to where their neck joins the bottom part of the shell so they can keep their head out of the water. They drink it, wee in it and poop in it - multipurpose!