Pet Page & SPCA Update

Posted On April 23, 2014

As I pass by the Arthurette Animal Shelter on my way to deliver the Blackfly to Plaster Rock, I usually stop in to say hi to the shelter staff and visit with the cats. In the March 26 issue we told the story of the little calico mama cat who’d been left behind in an apartment when her people packed up and took off without her, leaving her to have her babies all alone.
 
Fortunately, she was soon found with her two tiny new kittens and then taken in by the SPCA. The shelter is no place for newborns, though, and so Gary and Jo-Anne Broad, a compassionate and pet loving couple in Plaster Rock, have been providing a foster home for the little cat family.
 

Linda Hiscock and I dropped in at the Broad’s home last week to visit and see how mama and her babies were doing. The kittens were just a couple of days old when Jo-Anne and Gary took them in several weeks ago, now they were at that rough and tumble age of 4 weeks….cute as they could be and into everything!
 

Jo-Anne has named the mama cat “Alice”, in honour of a dear friend and neighbour, and she told us that Alice, the cat that is, has been an exemplary mother to her babies. She is still nursing them, but has been taking those stern steps that mother cats take when it’s time to wean the kiddies!
 

At four weeks old, they are still pretty clumsy but full of joy and playfulness…. In fact, they wouldn’t slow down long enough for me to be able to take a good picture!
 

Jo-Anne said to us “If you ever feel down in the dumps nothing will cheer you up like watching kittens play.” And this is so true!
 

The shelter can always use your help, whether it’s your time, money or resources. There is an infinite and inexhaustible supply of homeless cats in our province. Just this past week, shelter staff arrived on Monday morning to find that two boxes had been left on the steps overnight. One box contained a mama cat with six new-born kittens, the other box held two extra cats, because, hey, whoever dumped them figured the shelter could use nine more cats.
 

The SPCA Thrift Shop in Plaster Rock will be opening again soon for the season. Check it out….it is chock full of great stuff at bargain prices and proceeds will go to help take care of the pets at the shelter, and to SPAY & NEUTER all the cats to stop the vicious cycle of endless litters of cats.
 

Some cats have been at the shelter for a long time, and they really would love to have homes of their own. Whitney and Alexander are sister and brother, and have now been at the shelter the longest of all the cats. They are perfectly lovely and friendly, and are attached to each other so they’d like to stay together.
 

Harriet is one of the most personable cats at the shelter. She was dropped off in a ditch in North View with her four kittens last fall. A nearby family found them and took in the kittens, but Harriet went missing. The family kept one of the kittens and found homes for two others, the fourth kitten did not survive. Harriet was afraid and laid low until the shelter had nearly given up on finding her, and then she finally allowed herself to be rescued.
 

She’s turned out to be a real lover after this traumatic experience!
 

Layla is a pretty and feminine little long haired black cat who was brought in by an older gentleman who found her hiding under his deck. He was unable to take her himself, but she was clearly someone’s pet as she is loving and affectionate. She’d been living rough but is starting to get her sleek looks back.
 

You can visit the shelter on Facebook but stop in some time to meet this crew in person…. You just might find a new love. Call 356-1117 to make an appointment.
Victoria County Animal Shelter
238 Route 109
Arthurette, NB E7H 4C2
 
If you know of or see a case of animal abuse call the SPCA Hotline at 1-877-722-1522.