Rosa

Yes we have tried vets4pets and the vet is lovely, he is Spanish and very gentle natured. He had to pts our beloved gerbil, Walter and he even offered us a cup of tea afterwards! He and the nurse and receptionist made the whole experience so much easier. So we would thoroughly recommend this vets.

4littlepaws in Rotherham are really good.

Glad to hear that the rescue has received enough funds to keep going.

Yes i guess they might get the money back, but it will take a while and in the meantime they are penniless.

Hi all, We have just had an email from this rescue and they have had their account card cloned and all their funds for the rescue taken out! So shocking. They are now down to just having £1.36 only for the rescue. Shame on the thieves that stole that from them.

Thank you Midgecat. Hope your cat's biopsy results brought good news for you. Wilbert is crossing his paws for you too. x

Thank you moomooland. Walter leaves behind his brother Wilbert who has just realised Walter is not returning.

Today was really sad for us because we had to have one of our much loved Gerbils, Walter, put to sleep. We went to Vets4pets on Moorgate Rd in Rotherham and they were fantastic from the minute we rung them to the minute we left. The receptionist, Abby was really kind and helpful and the male vet, who is Spanish was fantastic with poor Walter and very reassuring with him and us. They even offered us a cup of tea while waited for our taxi home. Can't recommend or thank them enough.

Species of animal to be rehomed: Fancy mice Rehome or Sale? Sale Reason for Rehome / Sale Sale Amount: £10 Location: Kimberworth, Rotherham Has the Pet been in Rescue Previously? No Can the animal be picked up and put into a basket without the risk of scratching or biting? Yes Age & Sex 10 weeks, female Breed/ Mix? N/A Colour/coat type: 1 is ginger and the other is ginger and white Can the animal be groomed/handled without biting or scratching? Yes Live in / out in Neutered/spayed/ N/A Chipped. N/A Any Current or Historical Health or Psychological Issues: No Temperament: They are quiet and gentle but fast Vaccinated & Wormed, N/A Any special knowledge needed: General understanding of the needs of fancy mice. General Information you can share They are lovely girls and come with a small mouse cage and some food, accessories and toys. Ideal for older children or adults.

I am assuming then that SheffDon would kindly oblige with all those tasks then if he is not working and on benefits?? Hmm Im sure! What most conservatives et al fail to realise is that punishing people on benefits never gets people back to work. It's incentives people need and proper support. Also how does anyone know that the person who is able bodied and on benefits is not a full time carer for a partner or parent etc.

Happy Birthday SF.

So prejudiced and lovely people can be in Nether Edge hey!

Hope the OP ends up in one then. He has no idea.

All I ever hear is Toby Foster encouraging people to ring in to trash people on benefits. It gets quite boring to be honest.

Hi Katkin, I don't think it is in dispute that cats that are already bonded might be best to be rehomed together, although in some cases this is not always right to keep them together as they may have fought at home. For cats to be able to escape when they have disputes there must be adequate space. Not all rescues home check either. So someone in a flat might have say 5 cats already and this would cause lots of issues for the cats. When you say "we" do you mean you and Cats protection? Thats what i read from your blog. I don't think I have seen CP's website lately but VWKittie said it was sheffield cat shelter that made her take 2 kittens and that does seem to be quite likely having seen their website at the moment. It says about one cat that it has to be rehomed with another "pet". Well who is to say what pet that is? Take a look. I say this so that The shelters can rehome more cats by just being more aware of how it seems to potential adopters.

That does sound really not fair on you VWKittie and the cats mentioned. I have noticed that their website doesn't show many cats that can be rehomed singularly but to be fair that is the trend with many rescue websites now. I can't say how it is when you go in person to the rescues though. Times are hard for rescues and there must be a lot of pressure from all angles. Without them and all other good rescues there would be so many desperately ill and homeless animals and they are so valuable.

Sounds heartbreaking Fabcakes. But like you say you had no choice but to make that decision. You must have felt so torn. I remember my mum having 2 cats that were rescued and they hated each other and one of them started spraying all over the house and nearly set it on fire. She rang a national rescue and asked what the best thing to do was and they said it is either the cat or your sanity and it was kind of suggested she had to rehome the cat that was spraying but instead my mum took the spraying cat to the vets and he gave diazepam to the cat and it did calm him down. But I know my mum was at her wits end. Sadly the poor cat died from a road accident a couple of years later. So awful. But after this my mum said she would never get 2 male cats again.

This story is so awful for the poor dog but so believable in these times. It is shocking how people can dump their pets and like Rain Rescue says I have no idea how any rescue survives in this climate. Long may rescues have the resources to continue.

I know what you mean if a cat comes into a rescue with another and they are clearly happy together but I think the worrying trend I have noticed is kittens going in twos when there is no evidence they would not cope alone and are advertised on certain rescue websites, without knowing who they will go to, as needing to go with another kitten as it seems cute to do so.

awwww, we can hear the violins and pussy cat wedding bells as we write. :-)

Some nice stories there. :-) Yeah of course in that situation I don't think anyone would have had the heart to have left the poor insecure cat behind alone. But as you say a 24 cat household is quite rediculous and hard to cope with. I think what we had been worried about was that some shelters were advocating that people take 2 cats or more when there possibly is no need if the consequences for the cats would be that ultimately the less dedicated owners take them back to the shelter is problems occurred. It's so lovely to hear people's stories on here and interesting to have the conversation as we feel it is food for thought.

Awww Poor Stanley. Good luck for him. We will definitely let you know if we find out anything possibly new info wise. I can well believe that adopters often have their last loved furry loved one in mind when they approach rescues for a new pet. It's almost like being on the rebound from your ex partner! haha Hope your comment about this makes people think about their motivation for adopting as it's so unfair for an animal to yo yo back and forth. Hope people dig deep in their pockets for rainrescue and other rescues as we know times are hard. Sleep well.

Welcome to the pet thread :-) Awwww This sounds like a wonderful partnership. It's something I had considered a while back for me and my social anxiety. Bertie sounds so lovely and it's great that you can take him to work with you. Is Bertie a rescue or from a breeder? I can well imagine that your anxiety must have been lessened by Bertie.

It's good to hear different experiences of what works and what doesn't. Always willing to learn. My concern is that the rescues might not get the permanent homes for the cats they devote so much time and money to if potential adopters feel too intimidated to say they would rather take on just one cat and even worse that people take on multiple cats because they haven't thought it through. Good to see we are not the only ones that can't sleep! :-) Insomniacs unite.

Interesting points raised. The thing about wild cat colonies is that the territories are much larger, as in Scottish wild cats, which contrast greatly with urban environments where cats are made to share territories much smaller than they would naturally choose. This can obviously compound stress levels. Of course as I say, some cats are really happy to live together and in terms of young kittens this is an essential part of their learning.