Santa Paws Appeal - Thank you

From all of us at Exeter Axhayes Adoption Centre, we would like to thank our supporters and friends for donating Christmas presents for our cats and kittens via our Santa Paws appeal. We thought we’d share a festive photo of our CCAs Di and Gemma with two of our cats Wilson and Bert. We launched our Santa Paws appeal back in November 2013; in its first year, it has been a huge success! We have received so many wrapped up Christmas gifts for our cats. We have enough to give each cat and kitten a present on Christmas Day morning.

We will be taking a break from our social networking sites for the Christmas Holidays! Our centre will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. In the event of an emergency, please contact your vet. We would also like to thank everyone for their support and generosity in 2013.

We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :-)    

We have lots of wonderful oldies looking for loving homes!

Did you know that a 10 year old cat is only equivalent to a middle aged person? Cats of this age are very homely, love company and are often real lap cats. Many Cats live well into their late teens and even more are enjoying life well into their early twenties. That’s like being 100 in human years – but, alas, they don’t get a telegram from the queen. Just hopefully a loving home with you…Why not consider adopting an older cat?

Our oldies section is currently full of wonderful older cats looking for loving homes just in time for Christmas! Here are just a few of our oldies available for homing….

Lenny

9 year old male black cat

Lenny is looking for a home where he can do all the things that cat’s love to do. He loves to be a bit of a free spirit, going out on adventures in the garden. He is also affectionate and homely when the mood takes him! Please give this chap the chance he so deserves as middle age is fastly approaching him and he does not want to get middle age spread stuck in this pen with no chance to exercise!!!!!!!!!

Missy

10 year old female dark tortoiseshell cat

Missy has a sad story to tell and we are unsure how happy an ending it will be without a very kind cat loving person like you adopting her. She was first notice as skin and bone living rough in Tesco car park, a kind worker there saw her plight and started feeding her and letting her sleep in her car when she was on shift. This has gone on for quite some time however the lady is due to retire and was worried sick what would happen to missy. Upon her entry here we have discovered that she is a mature cat with early renal disease. This means that’s she needs to be on a specific diet that is quite easy to source from the internet. That’s the easy part the hard part is finding someone willing to take her. We know she will be a lovely loyal companion who will just adore so home comforts at last. Please help.

Chard

15 year old female black cat

This gorgeous girl might be 15 years old but she still has plenty of life in her! She is very affectionate and lively and loves to play around outside (although a warm lap in the winter is hard to leave). Her previous owners had to move and couldn’t take her with them as they thought she would be very unhappy without any access to the outside. If you can offer Chard a home please don’t hesitate to ask about her today.

Boo Boo

9 year old female tabby cat

Boo Boo is an affectionate lap-cat who loves attention. She was brought to Axhayes when her owner had to move into a town and Boo Boo had been used to open spaces and no traffic. Her owner was trying to keep Boo Boo safe. If you have room in your heart for a lovely friendly lady, look no further!

 

Jack

12 year old male black cat

Jack is an affectionate and loving gentleman. He is certainly a lap cat who adores attention. His owner sadly died and Jack is devastated! He is very upset to be in here and would love to find a new caring family as soon as possible. If you want an amazing cat for company then Jack is the one!

 

Popsin

9 year old female black cat

Popsin is a very sweet lady who is here because her owners were downsizing and she could not go with them. She is used to the quiet life, likes a cuddle and a lap to sit on as she is a very lovable cat. She doesn't wander far usually only in the house or garden. She would probably suit a quiet family who want to love an older cat.

 

If you would like to give one of our lovely oldies a loving forever home, please contact the centre on 01395 232377 or visit our website at www.axhayes.cats.org.uk. Thank you.

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.