How fostering helps our nervous cats

Scrapper's story...

Scrapper came to Axhayes back in August; he was part of a large group of cats that were rescued from a flat in Bristol. Due to the sheer numbers of nervous cats just like him, we appealed for help. We were grateful when someone who had adopted cats from us before came forward. Scrapper packed his bags and went to live in a foster home. Fostering is a great way to seeing how these nervous cats cope in a home or cats who just can’t cope in a pen situation and become depressed. 

Scrapper’s fosterer has been in touch, we thought we’d share her email in the hope this may inspire any future fosterers....

“Just an update on Scrapper who we have now named Bentley. He seems to like his new name and answers to it!

I am pleased to say we are making progress with him although there is still a long way to go. When he first came he squashed himself behind the TV for several days and would only come out to eat and use his litter tray when we had left the room. He advanced to lying in his cat carrier where at least we could see him, now, however he sleeps on his sheepskin blanket on the sofa and is usually waiting at the door to greet me in the morning. 

He has grown much more confident in the house and often comes out of his room and spends time with other cats who after some initial hissing and spitting have accepted him into the fold. He is particularly fond of Nelson and follows him around. Bentley will now come up to me when I call his name and take treats from my hand. Most times he will then accept a stroke and a rub under his chin. He is still a little wary though and occasionally panics and runs behind the sofa.

I have found him to be far more confident and accepting of contact when Nelson is with him and I am hoping that he will learn from him and the other cats that there is nothing to fear from humans. When Nelson is by his side he will happily be stroked and rolls over for his tummy tickling. I have so far been unable to pick him up or even to restrain him to wipe a slightly runny eye. 

Last night for the first time he played – previously he seemed terrified of any toys. It was so lovely to see him having fun batting feather with Jessica and Merlin and kicking a tinkle ball around the floor.” 

If you are interested in fostering any of our cats in need of help and you live in the Exeter area, please contact our centre on 01395 232377. Thank you.

Santa Paws Appeal 2013

Exeter Axhayes Adoption Centre has launched their Santa Paws appeal 2013.

So what is the Santa Paws Appeal?

It is a simple idea. We are asking people to fill and donate a box full of cat goodies. Things that could go in the box could be:

• Cat/kitten food
• Cat treats
• Cat toys
• Cat biscuits
• A Christmas card to the cats
• Maybe a monetary donation
• And let’s not forget the volunteers and staff who look after the cats 365 days a year.. maybe some chocolates, sweets, biscuits.

Fill the box, please remember it is for cats & kittens so please make sure that there is nothing that will pose a choking hazard to any of our furry friends. Once you have filled your box, you can decorate the box, wrap it in Christmas gift wrap, a ribbon or bow would be lovely. Cats and kittens love playing with paper too!

Where can I drop off my box?

You can either drop it off our Adoption centre, or please go to one of our drop off points which are listed below…. The Co-operative Food, 160 Sidwell Street, Exeter, EX4 6RR The Co-operative Food, 61-63 Fore Street, Heavitree, Exeter, EX1 2RJ. The Co-operative Food, Cowick Street, St Thomas, Exeter EX4 1AJ. We would like to thank all those listed for kindly agreeing to support us in the Santa Paws Appeal. Drop off points will be open between 9th December 2013 and 21st December 2013.

In addition we have food donation boxes at the following locations; You are welcome to drop off your Santa Paws box in any of these donation boxes anytime:

Sainsburys Pinhoe

Co-op Heavitree

Co-op Sidwell Street

St Davids Veterinary Hospital

For more details about our Santa Paws Appeal, please visit the Santa Paws website https://sites.google.com/site/santapawsappeal/home Thank you very much for your support and have a Happy Christmas!  

Success Stories - Jake and Simba

Here is another success story. During the summer two gorgeous ginger boys Jake and Simba came to Axhayes when their owner could no longer keep them. They were very hyperactive, loving and very playful. After spending a few weeks with us, they soon found a loving home together. Their owners have kindly emailed us last month to give us an update on how they are doing, they are now renamed  Bubbles and Bob.

Here’s what they said “The boys have settled in very well, as you will see from the attached photos they have grown quite a lot during the past two weeks.

They are lovely natured cats, very affectionate to us and each other. They also manage to have their own versions of the "Ben Hur" chariot races including Gladiator fights too, all without any aggression or damage to each other. In between all this, they snuggle up on the sofa and watch TV, animal and football programmes are the favourites.

 

We hope to let them out into the garden this weekend which they have been eyeing from our conservatory. We are very grateful that these two cats were available at a time when we were looking for cats.” We would like to thank their owners for contacting us, it's always nice to hear how they are getting on in their new homes. Please feel free to email or facebook us your Axhayes cat photos.

Puss in Chutes Charity Skydive, we did it!

On Sunday 6th October our Charity Skydive took place at Dunkerswell Airfield (Honiton). Our girls have spent months raising sponsorship and organising fund raising events such as our Puss in Chutes coffee morning and car boot sales. 

We were very lucky with the weather, all that week it had rained, but Sunday was a lovely warm sunny day for our skydivers. Myself and my managers Phil and Sandra had the privilege to watch our skydivers in action and of course we had our cameras to take lot photos of the day. Some of our CCAs and a few brave volunteers all skydived from 15,000 feet, most of them enjoying the experience! After the jump everyone celebrated together with a well-deserved Champagne picnic.

From this event we managed to raise almost £4,000 for the Centre! On behalf of the staff and cats at Exeter Axhayes thank-you; and a very well done to all the jumpers and thanks to those who came on the day to support them.

Feral Garden update!

We do apologise for lack of blogs, we’ve had a busy couple of months with a full centre of cats, a wedding and summer holidays away from Axhayes. We are back blogging once again. 

Our Feral garden/enclosure officially opened last month on the 23^rd September. There was a small gathering of some of the Friends of Exeter Axhayes Group and a few members of staff to celebrate the feral gardens completion. This feral garden wouldn’t have been possible with the generosity from our supporters over the years. We would say another HUGE thank you to everyone who made this possible.   










Our first three cats to stay in our feral enclosure were Minnow, Hello Kitty and Polly, they moved in during the summer. They have been enjoying the tranquil open space with lots of scrubs, long grass, cat mint, tree stumps to sit on and tunnels to hide in. In the evenings a newly built warm cosy house with comfy beds and meals delivered by our cat carers. 

 









We are pleased to tell you that these lovely ladies soon found an outdoor home together two weeks ago; we are so pleased for them. Now our feral garden is looking for new residents to move in. We are always looking for outdoor homes for our feral cats. If you interested in recruiting some out of work mousers, please get in contact us our centre via our website or facebook page.

New cat beds!

Couple of months ago we had shiny new cat beds delivered from Cats Protection head office. These beds are called “Feline Forts” which look like kitty bunkbeds, they are great for cats to hide away underneath or to sleep above.

This year these beds have been great for our kittens, like Si and his sister Sarah. They just love sitting in the top looking out of the window or playing hide and seek underneath. Si and Sarah are currently looking for a loving home together, both very friendly, affectionate and playful. They will make great additions to the family!

Please visit our website or facebook page for more information about adopting Si and Sarah :) Thank you.  

Our 25th Anniversary

Our adoption centre celebrated its 25^th Anniversary this open day. On our information boards, we displayed many of our old newspaper articles and old photos of the centre which our deputy manager Phil had collected over the years. Here are some facts about our centre and some photos from the early days….

 

• New building first opened in September 1987
• First cat homed from Centre was called Bagpuss
• Officially opened on 14^th August 1988 by TV Personality Johnny Morris
• In 1989 our centre had some special visitors from Russia (former Soviet Union) – The Moscow Cat Club filmed around our centre, this film was shown cinemas across the USSR.  
• In early days, Axhayes not only re-homed stray & unwanted cats & kittens, but a wing was dedicated to boarding cats until the mid 1990’s.
• There is an on-site surgery where the vets perform basic operations such as neutering, this was upgraded in 2007
• Outside chalets & pens have been rebuilt & refurbished over the years, the Centre now has a dedicated Isolation block
• During the 25 years Axhayes has re-homed in excess of 17,000 cats & kittens and helped thousands more through our neutering support programmes & advisory services
•  We are always looking at new fundraising ideas and in November 2010 the Friends of Axhayes Group was formed and has since held many fundraising events including a Firewalk & our infamous annual Easter Extravaganza!
• These funds raised have not only helped maintain the upkeep of the centre but has enabled us to build our Feral Enclosure – to be opened very shortly

• Several of the staff are taking part in ‘Puss in Chutes’ Skydive in October. We are hoping these funds will help our future cats and kittens.

We would like to thank everyone for their help and support over the years. We hope to continue helping thousands of cats and kittens in the future....