Friends of Felines – Help keep us healthy

Most of the cats we look after were saved from terrible living conditions. All suffer from FIP (Feline infectious peritonitis) and some have added conditions which we treat as holistically as possible. We have increased the lifespan of these cats from 3-6 months to 8+ years, with the oldest resident being 17yrs old. Some of the cats have weekly vet visits and are on special diets. Because of the issues/illnesses they suffer they cannot be rehomed and are cared for by us. We are trying to raise funds to build an outside run for them.

Some of the residents over the years:

• Skillie and Jassie was saved after their mother had been killed by a snake. Workers in the area trapped the babies and brought them to us to raise. Jassie had a broken vertebrae in his back but was such a fighter that it did not stop him from living. He would run up and down the trees and enjoyed his life in full. His veterinary bill alone was R30 000 South African rands a year (which is approximately $1548 a year). Skillie is the cat on the main profile picture. Here she is baby sitting one of the orphaned baby geese which was brought to us after a badger killed his parents.
• Emerald, Seuntjie, Pietie are brother and sister who we took in after their mom was killed shortly after they were born.
• Mrrr came to us after she had been severely abused by her first owners teenage son.
• Grace, Wollie and Spokie were adopted from HAWS. Being older cats they were not deemed adoptable. Grace has toes missing from her feet, and was very aggressive when we started working with her, now she lives up to her name.
• Klits came to us via one of the Veterinarians in Brits after her family had been killed by residents in a local settlement. She suffered from severe PTSD when she came to us.
• Misty was shot with a pellet gun and dumped at Welwitschia country market where she was brought to us for rehoming. The pellet is in such a bad spot that the vets decided to leave it in her, so she has been living with it for the past 15 years. She is one of our oldest residents now, already reaching the age of 16 this year.
• Mammies, Seuntjie, Ogies, Soentjies is a family that came to us after the rest of the family had been killed in traps set out by locals.
• Graatjie, Spikkels, Garfield, Mini Me, Tigger, and ET is a mom with her 5 babies which was brought to us after residents in the area found them sick and undernourished and at the point of death.
• Dopey was found at Chameleon village, very ill and undernourished, he had no teeth and was in a very bad condition when we took him in. He can only eat cat moose now but is a character in his own right.
• Squeeck was a day old african wildcat cross kitten when she was abandoned and we bottle raised her from a day old.
• Simba and Spikkels was dumped near a mine in JHB when they were a few days old. Spikkels suffers from a congenital heart condition which was diagnosed when he was 3 months old.
• Wollie came from the Harties cat rescue after her owners decided to euthanize her for not being friendly enough. She has severe arthritis and is also on a special diet.
• Gaps was abandoned at Chameleon village, where we started looking after her and later rehomed her to our own premises. She suffers from both FIP and Calici virus. But is still going strong. She can however only eat cat moose.
• Queen, Twinkle, Tinky, Sweetie pie was brought to us after their family moved and left them behind. The 3 boys suffered from urinary stones, and we managed to get 2 completely clean, but the one male after having a catheter inserted 3x now get blockages regularly if not constantly monitored. They are on the Hills urinary diet.

This is currently 16 in-house cats who are currently in residence. Someone recently asked us if we are able to ask for help, which we never did, but ... We are asking for help now. Funds are used to buy cat food, cat litter, medication, pay vet bills etc. We appreciate any and all assistance that you can give. Thank you so much for any assistance that you can give us.