Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Indys Mamma on March 14, 2009, 22:28:26 PM
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Ugh I don't know what to do! have had, over the last 3 months, 3 separate death threats to Mabel by various neighbours...
1) A guy up the road has racing pigeons, if they stop to feed on our seedlings in the veg garden then Mabel will happily have one, despite bird scarers (which they ignore mostly) she has eaten 3... goodness knows how many other cats in the village have had... but this guy claims that Mabel has cost him £7,000-£12,000!!! Now he has said if he sees her again he is gonna shoot her!
2) a Chav-Mum a couple streets over (I went to school with her older sister) has threatened to get her brothers to set fire to Mabel as her 3 year old kid tried to pick Mabel up and got scratched. This scratch is *maybe* a half inch long and not deep, but Chav-Mum decided that Mabel had rabies (what the? :Crazy: ) and took all 5 kids to hospital!!! :shocked: I find it scary she has 5 kids at 22 but hey... Anyway we ended up having a row in middle of the street as she came round threatening Mabel for hurting her 'angel'... note this, the family is banned from owning animals due to cruelty charges.
3) my next door neighbour-but-one has threatened to hurt her for sitting on top of his beloved classic-mercedes to sun herself. It is black so gets warm very easily. This is the same guy who calls the dog warden every week, several times a week too, to complain about Max barking, that poor lady once sat outside our house for 2 hours before coming up to say she had been listening and not heard anything, only to find out Max was on holiday with my mum and me in Scotland, and had been for 3 days!!
Anyway, I am really worried that Mabel is gonna get hurt but there is nothing I can do! she wouldn't be happy inside and she doesn't overly like the dogs beyond the odd truce to share a patch of sunlight in the garden. She is technically only my foster, not *my* cat, but we have had no luck finding a safe home for a feral, and as I am out of work I can't afford to cat-proof the garden yet and confine her to an 800 square foot area that way.
:'( >:( I hate my village
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So sorry you having all these probs.....I hate neighbours!
I would report the guy who threaten to shoot Mabel to the police and get a report number from them so you know they have recorded it :hug: :hug:
Poor Mabel, I do hope she will be Ok.
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Thats awful - i would do as Gill suggests and try and watch where she goes and if you can try and always keep her in sight .
That would worry me sick !
I used to have one really horrible old couple who lived a couple of doors away -thankfully they moved last year- but Winston who is the only one that goes round the front of the houses never went in his garden. ( i live on a old RAF camp so no through traffic and not a very busy road.)
I was looking for Winston one day a while back ( i always watch where he goes -as i know he is only going to the loo and then comes back , and after 10 mins i shout him back as i am walking to where he went ) and i saw the old man , it was dusk and he said to me " if that ----- cat is under my car it will be dead " ( he also was always drunk and loved to pick arguments ) .
I said very politely that if he layed one finger on my cat i would personally put him 6 ft under without any hesitastion !
Luckily they went not too long after and i used to follow Winston then every time he went out .
I hate people like you have round you -why dont you move -i would .
Really hope Mabel is okay -but i wouldn''t bet on it with those sort of people around.
Try and find a way of sectioning part of the garden off somehow.
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OMG how awful .... I agree with Gill ... you need to report this threat to the police. No-one should be allowed to make death threats to animals or humans ... and if he is threatening to shoot her ... they may want to investigate if he has any unlicensed firearms on the premises!
Not sure what to suggest with regards to keeping Mabel safe apart from keeping her indoors but as you say, this isn't really an option :( .
As for the Chavs down the street ... why were was the brat trying to pick her up in the first place >:( ... N wonder he got scratched - totally normal behaviour in my opinion .... I know for a fact if anyone tried to pickany of my lot up they'd get ripped to shreds .... especially if it was Zephyr ... my big soft cuddle bum does not allow anyone ... except his mummy .... to pick him up!
Take care and keep your babies safe.
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Oh this is really scarey! :scared:
How awful for you knowing that the neighbours a considering such harsh paybacks! :( >:(
......I like pigeons but they are not the brightest! The child picking the cat up....dosnt their mum warn them not to touch other peoples pets? :Crazy:
I would be very worried about this situ....but "Titt for tatt, its all about the cat".....what does Mabel do when she is kept indoors? If she goes seriously bonkers then "fair one" but otherwise I myself have gone through some tough times turning some of my cats (the ones that were used to being outside) indoor only! :hug: :hug: :hug:
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The last time we kept Mabel indoors she stopped eating for 5 straight days and was already in poor condition, she also shredded the dogs face when he said hello through the kiddy gate. We can't shut him out of a room without lots of barking and even if a bit harsh, my 13 year old dog comes first in house-rights. Poor girl hates being confined and if I catproof her into the yard I will have to hope she is happy without next doors (the ones with cats) pair as she is quite close to them both, the shameless hussy lol
I am desperately saving up to catproof the garden, need to replace half the fence then buy the netting + brackets.
Thanks for the advice, will def contact the police, but I know the guy has a license for the gun... at least they can warn him about threatening harm I suppose.
Bunglycat - if I could move I would, but due to my health probs I am having no luck finding work and my mum is caring for me on my bad days, though most of the time I can look after myself fine I have the odd day (every couple of weeks on average) where I literally cannot get out of bed or cope with coordination and memory problems... and we can't afford to move the whole family for Mabel, which I feel really bad about.
Will just have to hope she stays safe until I can afford to do the garden, may see if I can get any help off local CP (they are covering any vets bills for Mabel in return for us fostering her) see if they can supply an outdoor pen or help with catproofing and me pay them back over time. Also need to get her FIV tested before mixing with the boys...
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after having 3 cats killed (deliberately) by next doors dog i now have a zero tolerance policy towards anybody who threatens to harm my cats. if somebody threatens to harm them then i threaten to harm them right back. it doesnt matter whether i would actually follow through, just as long as they think i will.
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I would also report the chav woman - legally a cat is property and she is threatening to damage your property which is an offence. They have no right to pick Mabel up - like Sam, my Kylie only allows me to pick her up - OH wouldn't even dare to :evillaugh:. Cats are classed as "Free Roaming". Do you have a community police officer who could have a word with them? - It's a shame abourt the birds being killed but I would be telling him you are fed up with his birds damaging your property and it is his responsibility to keep them away from you garden!
I think if someone had a word with them and told them that if any harm copmes to Mabel, they will be in trouble, it might do the trick - although I know thesedays, people have no fear of the law etc.
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Will just have to hope she stays safe until I can afford to do the garden, may see if I can get any help off local CP (they are covering any vets bills for Mabel in return for us fostering her) see if they can supply an outdoor pen or help with catproofing and me pay them back over time. Also need to get her FIV tested before mixing with the boys...
Honey, I'm so sad you're having these problems. Both threats need reporting to the police in my book. A threat is a threat, to animal or human. If Mable is a CP foster cat, they NEED to know what's going on and if they are a good branch, they will support you. They should be able to get an outdoor pen for her although wouldn't she find that even worse than indoors as less space? Either way, I am sure they will find a solution.
Another suggestion, do you have a spare room? If so, could Mabel live in there until she has got used to the indoors and then give her access to the rest of the house once she's more chilled? I am not sure a feral would ever be happy as an indoor cat though but not an expert so not sure. I think police and CP are your best bet.
:hug:
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sadly we don't have a spare room that she could stay in, is a fairly small 3 bed house. Am calling CP tomorrow as the line is only open 7-9pm mon-fri
had a word with pigeon guy's wife and she has offered to have a word with him and I have offered to compromise by keeping an eye out for the birds and chase them out if I see them. I hate those birds, they are so noisy and messy! hopefully that will cut down on the number of birds she is responsible for but our village has around 30+ ferals so Mabel isn't the only culprit
Chav-Mum isn't scared of the police but maybe a quick word with council/benefits people about her 'massage' business (she is claiming unemployment but is *very* popular with the men going for 'treatment' around here) will get her off my case??
I know from experience the other neighbour won't compromise or give up so gonna have to just keep an eye out there.
With CP it is tricky, Mabel was never actually in their care but they paid for her jabs, neutering and worm/flea treatments for the first 4 months as they had no room to take her in, they have told us to call if we need advice or if she needs more medical treatment, but officially Mabel is still only on her books as a 'found' cat not in their direct care.
Got some good news though, one of my my brothers (who is in the army) is gonna do a collection round his squad to pay towards catproofing the garden. In return they want Mabel to be their mascot and I have to get loads of pictures for them :) apparently their nickname is 'The Alley-Cats' as they are in REME and whilst in Iraq last year they had to do a lot of scavenging to get the parts needed for vehicle repairs.
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You poor thing, bloody neighbours, we have a cat hater 3 doors up but luckily inbetween us our cat lovers.
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What a horrible thing to have to put up with :hug: I can't believe Chav woman took all her kids to A&E in case they had rabies! That would be funny if it wasn't so sad for you :(
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I would really keep her in for her own safety, wether its just a threat or if they are going to actually do anything its not worth thinking about. Im afraid the police wont do much about your pleas if the cat is killed, it would be very hard proving who has done it.
So please keep her in for her own safety and in the mean time get her another foster sorted out.
Did Mable come from Desley? If so maybe she would take her back, well I think she would actually after hearing this!
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Mabel didn't come from anybody, as I said she never actually went into care, she just moved in to our garage and gave birth to Indy within a week of a road accident (vet thinks she was thrown from a car from the injuries)
If you keep her in the house she gets very distressed and will destroy anything breakable (including a door she shredded about 1cm through) and attacks us and the dogs if she gets chance, she even stopped eating for 5 solid days she was that upset so I think it would be cruel to confine her like that, as well as upsetting for the boys and the dogs (one of which is diabetic and emotional upset can cause her blood sugar to plummet)
We are still on the waiting list with CP for either a new fosterer or a permenant home for Mabes but nothing suitable has shown up, the only fosterer willing to take on a feral says she can't take on any more at the moment. I will ask again tomorrow, though I don't want to lose Mabel since I have made so much progress with her trust wise I need to make sure she is safe.
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Ahhh bless your brother and the other "Alley Cats" .... Hopefully they will raise enough (and might even build) your outdoor run. Tell them you'll do a swap ... lots of pics of Mabel for lots of pics of them ;) (you need to keep your purrs friends happy and I for one never tire of looking at fit young men in uniform! :innocent: )
glad you've got Mrs Bird on side ... hopefully she will be able to placate her hubby.
Chav mum sounds a delight .... NOT!!!
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just been B&Q and we can catproof the entire garden for approx £200 including new fence panels where needed and the mesh + brackets to do the catproof top, unfortunately that is using a heavy garden mesh rather than the recommended 'salmon netting' so not as durable but would last 18-24 months allowing saving time for getting the longer lasting netting.
Will update again when I know more.
Mrs Bird is really nice and her hubby used to be too, I suppose I can understand him lashing out if he is losing thousands of pounds worth of birds, but threatening to shoot a cat?! just wrong, Mabel rarely leaves a 5-6 garden area (we all have roughly 800 square foot back yards, give or take) so doesn't actually go into his pigeon loft.
Am tempted to alert the benefits people about Chav-Mum anyway, she's upset enough people to not automatically know it was me...
And as for Mr Mercedes I think he is distracted from complaining about our animals for a little while... someone keyed his precious car last night so he is busy complaining about them... couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke :innocent: (before you ask it was his other neighbour who he complains about all the time.
Here are some pics of my bro and his mates.
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Poor Mabel, she's only doing what comes naturally to her with those pesky pigeons. Chav-Mum sounds like a right lowlife scumbag >:( Just had a thought... there's no way any of them might come accross Purrs is there? If so it might be an idea to move this to the members only bit!
Do you have 'instructions' for DIY catproofing? Before I won the Secur-a-cat kit in the auction I was looking at DIY cat proofing in a magazine, I scanned the article so if it's any use to you I can email it to you.
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Making threats is an offence under the Public Order Act.
Someone repeatedly making threats can also be dealt with under the Harrassment Act
These are criminal offences and you should arrange for the Police to call and see you as soon as possible.
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Fingers crossed for your cat proofing :hug: if you could keep her shut in the garage over night it might help her stay a bit safer, the cover of darkness encourages people to get upto things.
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Grrrrr thanks for the pics hun ... what a bunch of handsome chappies :Luv2: (And cat lovers as well .... what more could we ask for).
Oh dar what a shame poor Mr Merc getting his precious car damanged :evillaugh: :evillaugh: :evillaugh: I think they call that Karma!
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Oh dar what a shame poor Mr Merc getting his precious car damanged :evillaugh: :evillaugh: :evillaugh: I think they call that Karma!
Karma, CARma - its deserved - and I bet Mr Merc isnt feeling calmer!!! :evillaugh:
Fingers crossed for the cat proofing :)
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Wow how horrible to have one person threatening, never mind three! :hug: Poor Mabel.
I agree with Mark - how can Mr Bird ( :evillaugh: ) say that he wants to shoot Mabel for killing birds that came into your garden! Maybe he should keep his birds out of your garden then as you have every right to let your pets on your own property. You could tell him that they are a nuisance eating your seeds. We used to have a neighbour with a large pigeon loft (actually it was as big as a house!) round the back of our garden. I used to always wake up with cooing noises because they always sat on my bedroom windowsill - it was such a pain! They ate all my mum's seeds too, she was always building contraptions from twine and foil to keep them away.
That is so lovely of your Brother and the 'alley cats' - Its nice to know there are such lovely people (and cat lovers!) out there.
Hope Mabel is safe while you get the cat proofing sorted out :hug:
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Mr Bird is my neighbour 2 doors away and he is a nice man - he has just adopted a cat :evillaugh:
http://www.jonbirdpix.co.uk/biography.htm
Anyway, back to business - I think all 3 of these neighbours need their heads knocking together >:(
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Ok, maybe Mr Pigeon instead to avoid confusion :evillaugh:
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I can actually understand points one and three.
Point 1) The birds are his property. They are entering your garden and being killed by your cat .. how would you feel if your cat entered another garden and got killed by a dog :'( It's no different in my mind - both are equally as bad as each other. It would definitely be best to try and stop her getting to the birds - or try to persuade the birds not to land in the garden.
Point 3) Again a property thing - your property is sat on his property. He's probably worried she is going to scratch the paintwork .. which would cost him money to fix. I don't think I'd be pleased to find a cat not belonging to me on my [future car].
What I don't agree with is their attitudes and the way they are handling things. They really are out of order with all the threats.
I'm in no way trying to be argumentative but I can see why they'd be mad.
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what annoys me is the fact that our veg garden is covered in bits of foil, CDs on string, a scarecrow... and every single species of bird *except* these blummin Pigeons stay away... the only time they stay away is if we have a bonfire... which I can't keep going every day... Mrs Pigeon was very nice about it, after all I doubt Mabel is the only cat after his birds, it's only the fact he saw the ad we put up about finding her that he knows we have her, and he saw her eating one of his birds (by looking over our fence from the garden behind, which is the Doctors car park) I understand him being upset but she won't wear a collar, safety ones are off her in minutes and I wouldn't put a buckle one on her...
and as for neighbour number 3, we have told him to feel free chasing her off but how are we supposed to stop her sitting on his car? she is a cat, and feral at that, so what am I supposed to do? give her a lecture on respecting other peoples property and that it is rude to sit on someones car? what *really* ticks me off about this particular neighbour is he is always complaining about our dogs (and now cat) yet he merrily uses power tools at *6 :censored: AM*!!! and will have a bonfire or BBQ without giving us a heads up to take the washing in (his BBQ area is 5ft from our rotary dryer)
maybe I should try teach the pigeons to :censored: on his car?
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Maybe I am a sad person (or its the fact I don't own a Merc...!) but I used to love seeing our neighbours gorgeous red tabby sat on either mine or Phil's cars - even when she left muddy pawprints on my windscreen :Luv:
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I can actually understand points one and three.
Point 1) The birds are his property. They are entering your garden and being killed by your cat .. how would you feel if your cat entered another garden and got killed by a dog :'( It's no different in my mind - both are equally as bad as each other. It would definitely be best to try and stop her getting to the birds - or try to persuade the birds not to land in the garden.
Point 3) Again a property thing - your property is sat on his property. He's probably worried she is going to scratch the paintwork .. which would cost him money to fix. I don't think I'd be pleased to find a cat not belonging to me on my [future car].
What I don't agree with is their attitudes and the way they are handling things. They really are out of order with all the threats.
I'm in no way trying to be argumentative but I can see why they'd be mad.
I agree with everything that you have said. The silly 'chav' mum should be telling her kids not to pick up Mabel or any other cat.......in fact, any other animal that doesn't belong to them.
However, the way that they have went about it all is unnecessary.
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right, stuck an advert on Freecycle and am sticking artwork up on eBay to sell to help raise funds
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=110364554879
hopefully some will sell, as Tesco says, Every Little Helps
am raking through books and old cuddly toys to post for sale too
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How awful :(
I hope you get things sorted soon, and good luck with the catproofing, i'd love to do that but I dont own the property
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Maybe I am a sad person (or its the fact I don't own a Merc...!) but I used to love seeing our neighbours gorgeous red tabby sat on either mine or Phil's cars - even when she left muddy pawprints on my windscreen :Luv:
Ditto Dawn with my neighbours gingers :).
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Well i own a reasonably nice car although its 6 years old its in good condition - i dont mind a bit when Winston sits on mine and i take photos of him too - although i did fetch him back when i saw him sliding down the front screen of a neighbours car - luckily they didn''t see him- but they are ok .
Your neighbours are the ones from hell - glad i don''t live there - i feel very sorry for you -it must be a real worry :hug: :hug:
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right, it is official
I am raising money for the catproofing of our garden, have permission from both neighbours to change fences/add proofing to existing suitable fences. Mum is replacing the gates as they need doing anyway.
Local CP very sorry but they can't help, they can give me a small pen but haven't enough cash to even lend out. So far not having much luck selling artwork but only been a couple of days... am phoning timber yards etc for posts and giving them the story in hope of a discount :innocent: worth a try.
But it is going ahead!
Question though, how high can a cat jump? we have a caravan next to the fence and garage and don't know if this is a problem? We have already just decided to fence off the oil tank rather than try proof around it...
A few views of our garden as it is at the moment
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r49/CityKittyFish/animals/catpenplans/garden.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r49/CityKittyFish/animals/catpenplans/garden2.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r49/CityKittyFish/animals/catpenplans/garden3.jpg)
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Poor Mabel, she is only doing what cats do. First off I, too, would report the neighbour who threatened to shoot her. The stupid mother should control her children and not allow them to pick up strange cats at will. The pigeon guy - what does he expect if his pigeons are loose? Tell him to keep them confined and pigeonproof his garden. I am not joking about these things they are wearing and stress making and neighbours can, sometimes, be hateful. I hope you can raise the funds to catproof and keep her safe. I would be worried sick all the time too if I was you. Best of luck
:hug:
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they will test the catproofing intially anyway - once you've seen the weak spots you can deal with them
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they will test the catproofing intially anyway - once you've seen the weak spots you can deal with them
Yes you will know were to give it a tweak! ;D
We done our own cat proofing as had to put the fence up also! It looks abit like a concentration camp but atleast my mob is safe! ;)
[attachment deleted by admin]
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wehay! bargain of the century :D
just got 150 meters x 2 meters catproof nylon netting for....
£200????.....no...
£150????.....no...
£75?????.....no...
£50!!!! that's right! Fifty Pounds and no pence :faint:
I love my local garden centre :cheer:
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Well done im really pleased for you :hug:
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hey
Another update :)
Mabel came home the other day hurt and smelling horrible like burnt fur... gave me a heart attack! but I can only see light frizzling on her back/ribs so I think she had just run under a car with a hot exhaust, but after the chav threats... :shocked:
Found a nice Timber Merchant who will sell me 7ft 10inch wooden fence posts at £4.17 each :) and maybe free delivery since we are only half a mile away, basically if van is free, or we can collect easy enough.
And finally a photo of the girl herself, still looking a bit off colour since whatever she was up too, she has barely left the garden since whatever happened, other than to go next door.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r49/CityKittyFish/animals/Mabel-1.jpg)
btw can anyone hazard a guess at her age from this pic?
oh and on a delightful note, I chopped down our bramble patch today and found 5 lager cans and several *ahem* 'rubber protectives' and loads of their wrappers
:sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick:
I am assuming they are from my neighbours 16ish year old daughter and her boyfriend
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What a treasure trove you found...... :-:
I'd say Mabel is a dignified older lady. Not entirely sure how old though!
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vets guess May last year was a very rough 7-8 which would place her about 8-9 now
she has so much scarring though :(
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She's loved now and that's the bit that she knows. :hug:
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Mabel is sweet, age is just a number and lots of luck with the building project and Mabels safety :hug:
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Mabel is lovely :Luv:
I dont think she is that old but it seems she has been through a lot and its great that she has you now to love her and keep her safe.
:hug: :hug: For you and Mabel.
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Awwwwwww :Luv: what a beauty :Luv2:
Bloody chavs - can they not be boarded in ther house - FOREVER.
Good luck with the building project, poor Mabel having to go through this because of some nasty chavs >:(
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Work have blocked the pic so I can't see Mabel but I bet she's gorgeous.
:censored: :censored: at what you found, some people are just :censored: :censored:
Good luck with your cat proofing
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Ew, that's disgusting what you found. :sick:
Good luck with the cat-proofing!
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Awww ... Mabel's a honey! :Luv2: :Luv2: :Luv2:
Chav-wise, well I suppose we should be grateful that the little :censored: are actually using rubber thingies instead of spawning! Lovely find :shify: