Cat rehoming service, 4 Paws Kitty Galore, is chocker block full of cats and kittens.
The cat rehoming service is three years old and going strong but recently it has been harder to find homes for older cats so the rescue home is bulging at the seams.
Christine Szmelter from 4 Paws says, “we are near enough full. We can only take kittens, especially bottle feeders.”
4 Paws has two cat houses with runs and they can have up to 30 cats at one time.
Each cat is desexed, vaccinated, chipped, and has a health check before being rehomed.
Ms Szmelter said the cats they have are lovely friendly characters, as many have been surrendered by elderly people going into aged care and who cannot take their pets with them.
She added it was unfortunate people who often most benefit from the comfort pets can give have to be separated from them when the owners go into care. In some aged care homes in other regions, cats are used as therapy animals to help people with trauma and relaxation.
Ms Szmelter says cats have also been used as therapy for children with autism and cited a case where a young local person with autism was very unsettled and a cat was given to the young boy, who bonded and became more settled with the addition of his new buddy.
“The mum recently called back to say how her son was laughing and his whole manner changed with the arrival of the cat,” she said.
The cat was a friendly young cat, not a kitten.
Ms Szmelter added that nobody seems to want the older cats and said 4 Paws needed any information people had on homing services around Australia who they might be able to work with.
If you have any information, please call Ms Szmelter on 0400 017 852.
The cat service is free but does need help from locals.
If you want to help, please donate food in the big box as you enter Coles or drop in at 323 Jones Street.
