Northumberland cat charity appeals for help after rescuing 16 cats with deadly virus
A Northumberland cat charity are appealing for help after rescuing 16 cats with a life-threatening virus.
Minnie’s Haven Cat Rescue are a Morpeth-registered charity who rehome cats in need across Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.
Recently, the team rescued 16 young cats from one household who were in terrible condition and being fed very small amounts of food.
The volunteers took them to their partnered vets, Coquet Vets in Amble, to be checked over where they received confirmation of CaliciVirus being present in the cats.
The virus can be deadly and can cause cats immune systems to react to tartar on the teeth, creating painful gingivitis and making their lives severely uncomfortable without treatment
Some of the cats are thriving after treatment and good quality food, however five have needed almost all of their teeth removed.
Trustee and co-founder, Kara Lawrence said: "We quite often get calls from members of the public who need support and we have found the amount of support we are needing to provide for multi-cat households has increased.
“We still don’t know how many cats were in this home and we are hoping to rescue even more. What is frustrating is that people aren’t neutering their cats.”
The charity are now appealing to find the cats loving, indoor, single-pet homes to stop the virus from spreading further.
"There is a lot of stigma around cats with these sorts of things but at the end of the day some of them can just be carriers and can live healthy, long lives,” Kara added.
“We don’t want people to be put off from adopting cats when they are loving animals. They need homes just as much as others.”
The team, who rely entirely on donations, are also fundraising to help with the expensive dental costs they are now facing – having already spent around £2500 on tooth extractions.
Kara explained: “We have an excellent relationship with Coquet Vets who help us a lot but it adds up.
"We’re not cherry picking so we take on lots of animals that have health issues or are older that other charities may not want to put the funds into.”
The charity are now urging cat-owners to make sure their pets are neutered and microchipped. Click here for more information or to donate to the appeal.