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Every Penny Helps Us to Neuter or Treat a Homeless Cat

 News and Events 

Fuerte Felinos  contacted us recently, to report that cats in the resort of Nuevo Horizonte are being shot. As you can see in these photos this particular cat has been shot several times. If you live in Nuevo Horizontie and own a cat be very careful if you let them go outside and be vigilant for all the homeless cats that have no one to protect them.

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URGENT APPEAL. Over 35 cats need help - now!

Recently I received a call asking if Twinkle Trust can help a very desperate group of cats. There are OVER 35 cats living in a flat with 2 well-meaning people, they love the cats very much, but can't cope and the situation has hit crisis point.

We are a volunteer neutering charity (not a sanctuary), all of our money goes on vets bills for neutering and emergency treatments, plus cat food etc.etc.etc. and we already have more cats than we can find homes for.We can't possibly take in any more cats.

Next week, we hope and plan to go in and take away some of the cats, once we have them we will take them to the vets for health checks etc. but we MUST find homes for as many as possible. These cats are not used to going outside! but of course they can once they have gained sufficient weight and are stronger. These cats will need time to gain strength and to adapt to a new environment. Please, please if you have the time and love to give and the possibility to adopt,even if its to live in a nice safe garden, then please send me a private message or text me on 659598719. I will get back to you as soon as possible. We need to act quickly!

 

Update 12/02/2015

 

Today we were able to enter the property and we removed 15 of the cats, they are now being examined by the vet.These poor cats are all very underweight and some were in urgent need of medical attention. We can't take them all in and are desperate to try and find homes for the cats that are only suffering from the lack of food and care. 

 

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We still have our Twinkle calendars for sale and ready to be posted,they are now reduced to just £5.00 each, this includes postage and packing.We ordered extra because so many people requested one but we still have some left, we would rather sell them for no profit than have excees at a loss.

 

They are professionally printed and have plenty of space to write on for each day.

 

To purchase one pay via the "Charity Checkout" link at the top of this page. When you enter you details please click the 'add message' box and send us your name and address and tell us your donation is for a calendar.

 

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Two very cold days -  fundraising at Christmas Fayres over the weekend.13 & 14 December 2014

 

We had everything on offer from cat and dog hampers, painted pebbles, knitted cats and kittens, Twinkle calendars and plants.

                        

                                   

Many,many thanks to the volunteers for all their hard work and to everyone for the huge amount of great items, many where hand made.Special thanks to Cath for getting this organised and up and running in aid of Twinkle.

 

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The week of 19th November we carried out another large stray cat neutering campaign. Even though we are neutering or taking sick cats to the vets through out the year, there are always still more cats and kittens in need of help. Our campaign week was hectic, as always we were inundated with calls from people asking for help from all over the island. We had a list in excess of over 400 cats that needed help and we did our best to reach as many as possible, we travelled from Betancuria, La Oliva, Vellabron, Corralejo to Caleta de Fuste and everywhere else in between. It was just a small team of us, a few volunteer ladies flew out especially from the UK and some great Spanish and English island residents came to help as well, which was brilliant. The weather was the worst it could have been for catching and releasing, the island has never seen such heavy rain that went on for days at a time and the wind was so strong, it blew away anything not nailed down.

 

We managed to admit 295 cats to the vets during the week, with a further 13 that we took in because they were sick or injured. It was a challenging and emotional week but we know we have made a difference to so many feline lives and helped some very kind local people as well. Our work is heart-breaking when we see the conditions some cats have to try and survive in, one of our first places we went to help had 28 cats and kittens, they were all fighting over an old piece of goat bone that had no meat on it at all, these cats were starving and covered in fleas and ticks, now they are all neutered, parasite free and hopefully now their future will be a little bit easier. We also see 'the good' in many people, Its heart-warming to meet such kind people that have no money but manage to feed 30+ cats on very little and that care so much for the homeless cats.Again this is another spot where we managed to catch every single cat, so the future for this little group will be so much better. We fall in love with so many of the cats when we're out 'catching' them for neutering, all they are trying to do is 'survive' and stay 'safe'. If we all help, even just a little bit we can make such a MASSIVE difference. To all of you, that supported or participated with our campaign - THANK YOU - from all the voiceless cats and kittens of Fuerteventura.

 

     

 

At the end of our week we were left with 13 new cats and kittens that we could not return because they were either sick or unsafe. We've managed to find a great home for one of the kittens but that still leaves us with 12 new cats. We now have 75 cats and kittens, we can't give them all the love,cuddles and comforts of the home life they need. Please get in touch if you can help by adopting. We all need 'someones' help.

 

Dec 2014

 

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We've just had some sad news from the vets. Our little Biscuit has been diagnosed with Lymphoma (cancer) after a biopsy of one of his lymph-nodes. Ever since we have known him, he has suffered from 'cat-flu' symptoms and his glands have been swollen. Biscuit is such a happy little cat and loves to charge through the cat flap at 100 miles and hour and to play "knock everything off the table". Of course now we will stop trying to find him a new home and he will stay with us.

 

Update Dec 2014:-

Biscuit has started weekly chemotherapy treatment, intravenous and tablet form.

So far he’s not had any bad reactions and its doing OK. We’re really hoping he can keep up his strength and zest for life and get better.

 

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We received a call from one of the hotels in Caleta to ask for our help with a very sick cat that had been seen by some clients. We went in search for the cat, all we knew was that it has a problem with its skin & ears and had trouble walki...ng. When we got to the hotel it was midday and very hot and we were unable to find the cat. Luckily we meet holiday maker Chris and she had seen the cat and confirmed how sick it was. Unable to find the cat we left our number with Chris and the next day she phoned to let us know she had found it. We went and picked the cat up and took her straight to the vets. Her skin was in a terrible state, she had a condition called Sarna (Mange), this is a microscopic parasite that burrows deep into the skin as it feeds and lays its eggs. If caught early it this condition can be treated with medication, bathing and creams but sadly this was not the case with this little girl. She was heavily infested, the reason she kept loosing her balance was because the mites had gone deep into her ears. Her underbelly was incredibly raw, she was clearly in pain. She was so gentle it was heart-breaking when we had to put her to sleep but not before she had a much welcomed meal of chicken and a big drink. She suffers no more.

 

   

 

 

Monti the cat - He's the "Bear Grylls" of the cat world.

Monti the cat "trapped and starving" - We received a call about a cat that had been heard crying for 2 1/2 weeks! This poor cat had got himself down into a patio which had walls of at least 12 feet high. He had no way of getting out. Very dehydrated and starving, he had been getting a few drops of water from the plumbing from the washing machine in the patio and eating lizards and bugs. Thanks to volunteer Chris, who dropped down into the patio to rescue him (we had no ladders long enough), within minutes of getting Monti in the basket we were in the vets for emergency treatment.

This pretty little girl (only about 1 year old) appeared in our garden on Wednesday, within a few hours we discovered she was having a miscarriage. We rushed her straight to the vets, her kittens could not be saved as they were not fully developed. She was x-rayed to check for any more kittens but there were none, she was given fluids and antibiotics because it was an infection in her womb that had caused the miscarriage. She is recovering well. It so sad to think this sort of thing must happen often when these poor homeless cats are unneutered. 

This is Sophie. All her life she has lived at Castillo Beach in Caleta. She has provided cuddles to many holiday-makers over the last 10 years. Recently we were told about her swollen and injured foot. Yesterday we collected her and today took her to the vets. The vet had to trim off the thick extended claw and clean up her wound. She is on a course of antibiotics and pain relief medicine. We have noticed that she drinks a lot of water, so on her review at the vets in 1 weeks time, will need to have her blood tested to check her kidneys etc are OK. Sophie is a very sweet natured cat and at least 11 years old. This is a super age for a 'complex' (homeless cat). It's wonderful for us to see cats that we neutered over a decade ago, still alive and even though she may have some renal problems she is doing great. If she needs a place to stay for her Autumn years we will keep her with us and she can join all our other Twinkle fluffs.

25 August - A little update on Sophie, this morning we took her to the vets for an operation on her foot. the vet will have to remove the claw and possibly some bone. Its expected she will need to be on pain medication and antibiotcs for some time.

29 September - The vet has received the results of a test made on some of the damaged tissue on Sophie's foot and the bad news is, it was a cancerious tumour. We are hoping that the vet managed to remove all the tumour and it won't grow back.

More of our rescued animals. Place your curser over the photo for more details.

These photos are just a handful of some of the fluffs we need to find good homes for.Please contact us on 0034659598719 or twinkletrust@aol.com if you can help save a life.

Some of Twinkle's Volunteers in Action

Cat Cafes – Twinkle has 17 cafes in the resort of Caleta de Fuste. This means the homeless cats have some where to eat and have fresh water. Many are based in the grounds of hotels that work with Twinkle, the cafes help not only the cats but the hotels, it means the cats don’t go looking into people's holiday accommodation for food. We need 70 kilos of dry food every week to keep the cat cafes stocked up. The cafes are cared for by kind volunteers that live in Fuerteventura, some cafes need maintaining once a week, others need attending to 3 times a week, depending on the number of cats that rely on the café. We are always in need of volunteers to help look after a cat café.

The work we do is incredibly hard , both emotionally and physically, although we were all exhausted the sense of purpose, achievement and team work kept our sprits high.

Below are just a few of the cats that we have been able to help in the last 12 months. Cats in for neutering or treatment and TLC. 

Jan 2014 

Donations can be made via our [Donate page].

If you live in Fuerteventura or Europe and could help Twinkle with a donation you can make a regular donation or a one-off amount to the Twinkle account detailed here.

Twinkles Bank Details: Account 0081-0695-57-0001158319

IBAN : ES16 0081 0695 5700 0115 8319 /BIC BSAB ESBB