Belle

17th February 2016: Today Belle has had her ear mites treated, ears cleaned, face washed & her eyes continue to be treated. She is putting on weight and has begun to take a great interest in eating. Sadly she remains very timid and is easily scared, loud noises or strangers cause her distress.
This will change as she heals and realises we will not hurt her
Last week the local Mayors office called to ask if we could take in a cat they had found in the bottom of their bin. We see many cases of abuse & starvation it is nothing abnormal but what arrived was pitiful to see even by our standards.

Emaciated unable to stand or walk she had sat in the freezing cold covered by rubbish all manner of foul things, the smell from her was awful paws were black her eyes full of pus she was covered in diarrhoea. The bin lid was down, the condition she was in was so poor she could never have climbed in herself we assume some contemptible human being decided she was disposable & threw her in the bin.

Our vet kept her for IV drips/antibiotics/X-rays an FIV/FeLV test which to our surprise & relief was negative. Sadly her pelvis has been broken with many fractures her left hip dislocated, with no obvious veterinary care all her fractures have healed incorrectly a patchwork too late for us to do anything about. The agony she must have been in after the accident while trying to find food & shelter is indescribable.

Despite all this she purred, wanted cuddles stoically sitting in her bath water while we tried to remove the caked on dirt. Belle has a long road ahead once normal weight she will need an operation on her back leg we cannot leave it hanging out she might lose it but we will try to realign it first.

We are aware this time of year is not good for most financially but we have to try on her behalf for donations towards her veterinary treatment, orthopedic operation & travel. Belle will never be able to be released back to where she was found & will be sent to Woodland Nook in the UK for re homing, many thanks for their efforts in fundraising.
In the meantime its rest, warmth, food & meds with love & care.

Again a big THANK YOU to Arche Noah Kreta for saving the lives of so many on Crete

Arche Noah Kreta continues to provide much needed food for the stray cats & dogs on Crete as well as the medical care of thousands of stray animals.

It is colder and wetter than the last few years so we are sure this will be very welcome with all the stray animals on Crete.

If you have online purchases you wish to make please go to their BOOST page where they will get for your every purchase – at no extra cost to you! – a small amount credited. Over 600 stores are available to choose from (please note that some companies may not deliver outside of Germany).

How often the truck arrives of course depends on how generous the donations are, every donation can be seen to fill up the truck on their website or donate here

Thanks to the generosity of Arche Noah we are able to continue to support over 220 cats & kittens in Apokoronas.

Christmas Greetings!

A heartfelt thank you to those who have supported our work this year in so many ways; donations that fund our work, our Greek & German vets who treat our sick cats & neuter with such care & skill, & to the foster mothers who nurture our recovering cats & kittens. Also the volunteers who brave often extreme weather to trap our feral cats for the neutering sessions, those who feed & care for their own cat colonies & the colonies we support with food & veterinary care.

Lastly the many who help in an endless variety of ways we could not do this work without you all.

Christmas Appeal
Every year we have a ‘Kitty Krate’ shipped over from the UK full of donated equipment, medicines, food & many other things we need to buy for the cats.

Thanks to the generosity of Nomad International & also Jane & Roger Newbury we have 2 crates this year coming over partially funded. We are asking for donations to make up the remainder of the shipping fees. The contents of the crates easily outweigh the cost of shipping these supplies & are vital to continue our efforts.

Some have asked if they can donate items to the crates and to this end we have made an Equipment list that we are desperately short of, please post to Woodland Nook Rescue Centre indicating it is for the Cretan Cats.

This was originally the idea of Jane & Paul Lynegar & they have our love & thanks for their efforts in making & delivering the crates, packing them & collecting donated items all year round.

Millie

We are appealing for donations to send this kitten to our UK colleagues for re homing or if anyone can take her into their hearth & home here on Crete.

This little one was seen to be thrown from a second floor window but she miraculously survived and was rescued by a caring group of cat lovers, she was then brought up to us for assessment. We cannot take her in we have too many sick/injured & kittens waiting to go to the UK.

She is a delightful little madam! About 14 weeks old small & dainty for age she is funny, vocal, full of life & very opinionated but quite happy to be cuddled & not feral at all.

She has a stunning grey & white coat and green/golden eyes and she appears completely unharmed with no injury whatsoever and unusually for most coming to us no signs of cat flu or any illness!

If between us all we find nowhere for her to go she will have to be put back to her local colony which is however supported & supervised by these kind local people.

We can assist with neutering/vaccination if re homed locally.

We have so many needing homes but after being so lucky to survive the fall it would be wonderful if she could have some luck by decent human beings giving her a safe & secure life.

Bulletin from the Animal Welfare Department (Apokoronas Council)

The Municipality of Apokoronas is trying to find a solution to the issue of stray animals with a specific management plan drawn up and unanimously approved by the City Council at the last meeting. Meanwhile, the Mayor Charalambos Koukianakis, has called to implement legislation and to permanently shut down the illegal animal center in Kaina Apokoronas.

Robin, Reggie & Ronnie

We have 3 kittens desperate for homes a very sad start to their lives lucky to be rescued by one of our volunteers.

Found by tourists thrown under their car parked at Kalyves beach they nearly drove over them. Still feeding from mother they were traumatized, blind due to eye infections with pus & heaving with parasites.

Now 10 weeks of age they are adorable boys playing, mischievous full of life unrecognisable from when they came into us.

Robin: Black/grey/white tabby his eyes are perfect, he has no health issues, he is the cutest & friendliest of the three boys. Purring all the time he loves to play is confident full of life & vitality.

Reginald (Reggie): Beautiful beige & black tabby, twin to Ronnie he suffered scarring to the iris/cornea & cannot focus. He definitely sees us but how much we cannot tell. Reggie plays, runs does all the usual kitten things but is quieter & much more reserved than his brothers.

Sadly he has entropion both eyes (eyelashes turn inwards) he has twice daily eye drops which are working well no signs of infection. We are waiting, sometimes they grow out of it but if surgery is required it is a simple procedure if re homed here we are happy to do this. He needs lots of love & affection someone to give him time to gain confidence.

Ronald (Ronnie): Twin to Reggie another stunning tabby he is much more confident & playful, he too had eye issues he has been left with a cataract in his left eye, very mild entropion to the right eye. He sees fine no obvious issues at all he can focus, plays normally & is just delightful. We are hoping he might grow out of his entropion.

Please contact us if you can help in anyway either by adopting or donating towards their care & travel costs.