I have just found out more about the little RTA, apparently it had been roaming around for a while and people were just feeding it. The cat was chipped and when the vet contacted the owner in Bletchley, (that’s in Bucks isn’t it?) they said they signed the cat over to Cats Protection 4 years ago, not our branch obviously. So how it got to Chesterfield I don’t know. This should be a reminder to people to always remember to amend chip details if a cat is re-homed. It is also another reason we say if you think a cat is either lost, abandoned, the owner has moved and left it behind DO NOT ASSUME IT HAS NO OWNER (OR ASSUME IT HAS), PLEASE REPORT IT TO US IMMEDIATELY, whatever state it may be in. It may simply be lost and could have been lost months previously. It is not unknown for cats to get into cars, removal vans, and so on, and be transported miles from their homes.. Most of the cats who go missing must be out there somewhere and, although we do manage to reunite quite a few with their owners, most of them are taken in or being fed by well meaning people, but are never actually reported, depending on the condition of the cat and the safety of the location we can decide what course of action to take to ensure the cat receives all the help it needs. (Where this cat it would certainly have been sooner rather than later) E.G. if the cat is well please ring our lost & found xxxxxxxxxx take the cat to a vet to see if has been micro chipped, alternatively if you live near some of our fosterers (5 have microchip readers) they will do it for you. If there is no record perhaps you could on a long thin piece of paper write do I belong to you and your telephone number then attach the paper to a cat collar by wrapping sellotape round and round then put the collar on the cat if after 3 days you have received no reply take the collar off as they are considered dangerous and many cats have lost their life to them, ring us and we will put the cat on the list waiting to come in. If you ring Elaine xxxxxxxxxxs he will supply you with a paper collar which is very safe. PLEASE OFFER THE CAT SHELTER & FEED IT, I KNOW SOME ORGANIZATIONS SAY DON'T AND THEY IT WILL MOVE ON, HOWEVER IN OUR VIEW THAT IS CALLOUS, I AM SURE IF YOU LOST A PET IT WOULD BE NICE TO THINK SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE WAS CARING FOR IT. ALSO THE CAT HAS A GREATER CHANCE OF FINDING ITS OWNER OR COMING INTO CARE AS IT IS NOT ROAMING FROM STREET TO STREET LOOKING FOR ITS NEXT MEAL AND ENDANGERING ITS LIFE (exactly what happened in this case) .f the cat appears below par PLEASE contact us immediately and we will pay for the cat to be seen by a vet and if possible bring the cat in.
