Urgent plea for support as four rescue cats become 23 at Woodland’s Animal Sanctuary

Woodlands Animal Sanctuary based in Ormskirk took four young female cats into their care last month.

However, none of these cats had been spayed beforehand and all arrived heavily pregnant.

Two of the four had even had a litter each already this year, whilst staff were concerned that another two may not be able to give birth naturally as they were so tiny.

Thankfully, all the kittens were born without added complications but the charity says that the 19 extra mouths mean that the costs of veterinary treatment, vaccinations, fleaing, worming and specialist weaning products will run well into the thousands for just these four litters.

Last year Woodlands took in 348 cats and this year have already taken in 192 more.

A spokesman said: “Rehoming cats has really slowed down. For every cat we rehome, there’s five or six waiting to come for a place.

"There's so many due to illness, redundancy and homelessness.”

The sanctuary admits an average of 30 pregnant cats each year, as well as countless kittens that come in without their mothers.

They offer round-the-clock care, as well as specialist maternity pens, treatment pens, and barrier care for cats who might be ill or at risk of spreading disease.

Costs

To feed a litter of four kittens with wet food and biscuits until they are old enough to leave at nine weeks costs £194.

Hand-reared kittens who arrive without their mums require an extra £50 of milk on top of this.

Woodlands say that with donations plummeting amid the cost of living crisis, the help they can offer could soon be limited.

The sanctuary costs just to run are currently in the region of £5,000 per week and every penny helps. That is why they have launched a £1 appeal.

A spokesperson said: “Everyone involved with the sanctuary is extremely grateful for all the help and support that people give, in whatever way they can give it. That support is needed now more than ever. Over all of their social media outlets, Woodlands have over 15,000 supporters. If each one of those supporters pledged just a single pound a week, the sanctuary could cover the running costs for three weeks.”

To learn more about how you could help keep a local sanctuary afloat, visit woodlandsanimalsanctuary.org.uk.