Dear Cat Lovers,

When people were wishing me a Happy New Year a few weeks ago, my reply was:  “What’s with Happy New Year?  At the rate that time goes, we will soon be wishing each other a Merry Christmas once again!”

And so, the January newsletter is now being sent out at the end of February…..  We hit the road running this year, with possibly the worst avalanche of kittens that we have ever experienced. We were completely overwhelmed with calls from people telling us the usual story:  they had started feeding a cat a while ago, and now the single cat had multiplied into dozens of cats and they had kittens coming out of their ears.

For the last few months we have all been in crisis mode, and I am speechless with admiration to our volunteers for the amount of time and effort they have put into dealing with the incredible number of emergencies. A huge thank you to Janine and Keshnie who seem to be everywhere; to Rodney who had to be hospitalised when a car fell on him while he was rescuing a kitten from the car engine; and Maryna who trapped a suffering cat in the city centre – that poor kitty was in such bad shape that the vet had no option but humane euthenasia. We do not lightly endorse euthenasia, but this poor cat was in such a bad way that we had no option.

The most remarkable thing about our volunteers – which always makes me so proud to know them – is just how far they will go to assist a cat, despite the fact that they get abuse and insult far more often than they get acknowledgement and thanks. Almost always, this is time taken from their work, and expenses taken from their dwindling incomes. When it all threatens to become too much, we use our support networks to let off steam, we pick ourselves up, and we carry on.

For the time being, we can only continue doing what we can do:  our steri clinics as before, and we can only hope that we get the funding this year to increase the number of cats we sterilize. Our annual target is 1 500 cats, but often we exceed that. Our numbers, unfortunately, are restricted by our funding.

We appeal to everyone – if you have not yet got your Cats of Durban diary or notebook, please get in touch. We still have some copies left, and we depend on this income for our operating costs this year. If you buy a book from us, you are not just buying a diary or notebook, you are supporting our work and saving hundreds of kittens from a miserable unwanted existence.

The good news is that we have upgraded and updated our website… please visit us here www.catsofdurban.co.za.   The website now has a better focus and more relevant information. It is clean and clear and up to date. We hope that you will give it a good read, let us know what you think.

With February being the month of love, now is the best time to concentrate on love for animals, those who cannot speak for themselves. But it is not only about love… a healthy and stable stray cat population in a city is a sign of environmental health.  They get rid of the rats and mice and cockroaches, keep snakes away, and give people like us a reason to get up in the morning.

Yours in purrs,

Niki