News & Events

News and Events Page

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Last week we were busy trapping, neutering and releasing. In total we’ve helped 49 cats and kittens in the last 6 days.

Here’s Charlotte releasing a “ very pleased to be back home “ cat after he was castrated, treated against fleas & worms and given B&B for his recovery.

I’ve got to say a huge thanks to Charlotte and Sue for managing to catch 2 cats from this particular location, we’ve been trying to trap and neuter this family of cats for the last 11 months they are totally wild, trap savvy and cautious so it’s been a challenge. Still 3 more to catch ...so it’s a work in progress but very relieved to have achieved getting 2 of them.

This one certainly did not want to hang around

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Last week Cat/Suza & Sue/Charlotte have been catching cats for neutering and veterinary treatment.

It’s been a busy couple of days, so far 39 cats & kittens have been either sterilised or in the case of the young kittens they’ve just been treated for fleas/worms.

Also Alan one of our cat cafe volunteers had been spending many hours trying to catch some very tricky cats.

Sue & Charlotte have also managed to catch 2 cats that have been on our list since they were born 10 months ago, but have proved very difficult to trap, it’s great to get the time consuming and very wild cats caught and sorted.

Sterilising these cats literally saves their lives.

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We found this very sick kitten at our gate in a box .

We don’t know how long it was outside our gate in the scorching sun, because we were out for many hours at the vet clinic and the airport. But it seems he started off at the rubbish bins, then was left at our gate. He’s very sick and skinny, and needs a lot of medication and TLC if we’re to help him survive

UPDATE

Little Humphrey (that started his day at the rubbish bins, then was left at our gate) really enjoying lots of cuddles and play with Catherine, our super friend, volunter and trapper extraordinaire. He’s still very sick and weak, and hasn’t the energy to do much but he sure loves human company and cuddles.

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This little boy is only young and already has sun damage to his ears.

Yesterday he had to have his ears removed to prevent further skin cancer spreading. He’s going to have to stay with us for a few days, so we can give him pain medication and check he’s recovered ok.

Although he’s nervous and wild, we think in time he could be such a sweet little fella.

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Purina/Nestle have donated all of this wonderful food to Twinkle Trust Animal Aid.

It’s all great food that we could not have afforded and will help us a great deal in the coming months. Thank you so very much to all at Purina/Nestle, especially Diego, who has visited us at feeding time and seen for himself how much we needed this help.

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This is Jerry. He’s a homeless cat that lives in Nuevo Horizonte,

Unfortunately he was recently hit by a car and who left him.

Friends of Twinkle were notified of what had happened and went in search for Jerry. When they found him they could see he had blood coming from his eyes and a slight visible wound to his head. As soon as they contacted Twinkle we made emergency arrangements for him to be seen at ...Bichos vet clinic, with nothing to put Jerry in he was placed gently into a laundry basket and rushed to the vets, where he has remained since Friday. Jerry has received a severe blow to his head from the car, andhis head and brain had taken a nasty bang.

It’s so sad he was left in the street after he was hit by the car, if our friends had been notified on the day they would have picked him up sooner or if the person that hit Jerry had bothered to stop and check and called us Jerry may not have ended up with so much swelling on the brain, as immediate treatment is vital and could have made all the difference.

UPDATE

Jerry is much brighter and not as dopey. He is keeping his mouth closed some of the time and it looks less swollen. He is in good condition and zero fleas - Lou ( girlfriend of Luke that called us about Jerry and rushed him to our vets) and her neighbor give him regular flea and worm treatment so he is in pretty good shape considering. He is a tank but so gentle - Sally Twinkle’s other foster kitty sneaked in to say hello and they are starting to make friends.

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We would like to say a “great big thank you” to Mark & Joan of Sun,Sea,Caleta for putting on a fantastic event at the Pickled Palm yesterday.

It was a fun evening with BBQ delights, live music and much more including a charity raffle with some very special donated prize’s by some of the best businesses in Caleta.

Special thanks must go to Mark and Joan and everyone else involved that helped out at the event for making Twinkle Trust Animal Aid their chosen charity and presenting the proceeds of €310 to our charity.

FuerteTube were also there filming the fun, can’t wait to show it.

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Margarit who was rescued from a car engine and taken to Bichos vet clinic.

As you can see she has recovered well from her ordeal and we were very lucky to find her a great new home.

She’s now named Mia and has found cuddles with her new step sibling. A great outcome for this little girl.

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We were asked to help this tortie mum cat and her ginger son, they live in the grounds of a hotel but they get feed every day by a kind lady, who noticed they were both limping badly. Thanks to the help of friends Margaret and Angela, who were willing and able to trap them both (they can’t be touched) at the usual spot, at the usual time of 11pm, over the course of two nights both mum and son were trapped and taken to Bichos clinic for full X-rays and examinations whilst under... anaesthetic.

Although no reason could be found for the ginger boys limp he was given anti inflammatory medication and is now walking ok.

Mum has the most amazing X-ray, showing where she has previously had a badly broken leg which has naturally healed. Because the bones have fused in such an extreme way, a repair cannot be made. Amputation was considered but that would mean she can’t return to be with her son ( they are always together) and the many weeks / months of healing would have meant she would have to be confined to a cage. As they are wild, and don’t like being touched or handled, we have made the decision on the vets advise to return them both to their spot, where they can be monitored and we will be notified if anything changes or they need help in the future. Both cats were treated with a 2 weeks course of pain medication and also given flea and worm treatment just to ensure they are comfortable in the coming weeks.

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Look at Wilf, hasn’t he done well since he was rescued just 6 days ago.

Pretty soon he will be ready for adoption, a kind, genuine and responsible home for this little fella would be a great happy ending.

Wilf is about 6 weeks old, very gentle, playful and now healthy. He would love it if he had another kitty or feline in his new home. Young kittens cannot be left home alone for more than a couple of hours or so, so needs a family that can spend lots of time with him.

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Excellent news. Thanks to everyone that shared our post about our previously adopted cat Bubbles who was missing. I’m very,very happy to report she was found some distance from where we originally homed her but thankfully she was taken in by a wonderfully kind & responsible local man. We will be visiting Bubbles in her new home soon, to organise new adoption details as she will be staying exactly where she is. Can’t wait to see her and thank her new dad for what he did for Bubbles. Here’s a lovely photo of her in her true forever home.

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Here are mummy and here 3 baby's getting their final check up at Bichos vets a few days ago, as you can see mummy could not resist giving them a good clean whist they waited to be seen.

SATURDAY MORNING

Mum & 3 kittens! Found this morning in a little village, inside the bottom of a large industrial rubbish bin by a friend and Twinkle volunteer, who had to climb into the bin to rescue the 3 kittens. Mummy had obviously managed to climb out of the bin but her babies are to small and were in a state of panic and fear. Mum was crying trying to encourage them out but they were in one of the really big high bins ( they could not have climbed up & inside) and had no chance of get...ting out. The kittens have eye infections and all of them including mummy are smothered in fleas. We’ve removed as many fleas as possible but there are mini mountains of fleas embedded into all their ear folds and any other hard to get at spot. We’ve bathed their eyes, applied antibiotics, which we must do 3 times a day, and each kitten has had kitten stronghold, and mummy has had adult stronghold. At the moment the kittens are traumatised by what’s happened but they are not wild. Mum is especially grateful and friendly, she even climbed onto our laps as we were cleaning her babies up. Tomorrow I’m sure they will look and feel a lot better. This is not the first time we’ve pulled kittens out of the bins, infact I’ve lost count how many times, sadly I don’t think it will be the last. By this evening the nightly rubbish truck would have come and .. need I say more

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UPDATE

A quick update on “Pitusina” as she’s now called. Whilst in Bichos vet clinic getting Pitusina checked over we were lucky enough to bump into Leni, another animal lover who has a rescued lactating mum with just 1 new born kitten. Leni immediately offered to take on our tiny tot and look after her. I can’t express how truly grateful I am for this. I was really struggling with all the other animals and serious lack of sleep. Pitusina is already looking much better, her eyes are healing and she’s enjoying all the TLC. I can relax knowing our tiny tot is in good hands, all being well she will thrive and eventually be placed in a great home.

Found in Betancuria car park, this teeny tiny little girl has an eye infection and was all alone. Both eyes were sealed shut which is ok if just waiting for Mother Nature to open them but they were full of puss and had to be gently washed, opened and medicated.

She is so tiny, she would fit into an egg cup but the vet thinks she maybe as much as 3 weeks old.

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UPDATE

To follow up on our earlier post.The cat I was originally called to help was right where I was told he’d be at 6.30 Friday evening, with no stress or struggle he let me put the special dropper basket over him and it was then I could see how badly he needed help. His skin cancer / tumours had progressed even more than in the photo I was sent.

What I didn’t plan on was meeting two friends, and a lady who was just walking by, she said there was another white cat that was also in a bad way, in the opposite road.

With the unexpected help of my 2 Spanish friends, as I dealt with the first cat, they set a trap for the second cat, and very quickly they caught her. It didn’t take a second to realise she also needed urgent help. I took both cats straight to the vets, where they were examined and as I expected ( and dreaded ) the vet diagnosed skin cancer and tumours on both poor cats, and they were put to sleep.

These situations are never easy to deal with but it was all we could do.

The cats, myself and passing friends Roccio and Aco, and the lady walking by were all in the right place at the right time. Another month longer and not only would the cancer have spread and deepened even more, but with warmer weather the flies would have made the lives of these poor cats even more hellish.

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UPDATE
Miella with her baby Marmite. Since Miella’s milk dried up I’ve been syringe feeding Marmite, and he’s doing really well. He’s started to eat a little soft food on his own, which is great news for Marmite and me. Miella is still a mum with ‘L’ plates,

when I go into feed Marmite she tramples over him to get to me for cuddles, even so she is protective of her little boy if she hears strange noises and encourages Marmite to try and eat his special soft food and he still suckles on his mum for comfort.

I’m so relieved and happy that he’s doing so well, it’s really lovely to see him bouncing about the place, just like a kitty should

Miella and her baby Marmite having a cuddle and a doze after lunch.

He’s doing really well now, he still needs syringe feeding several times a day and a late feed at night but he’s trying to lap at his weaning food and water & he’s put on weight and almost 560 grams now.

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UPDATE

Baby George has settled into his forever home with mum & dad (Alan & Chris), plus his English big bruvs, Scout who is still a bit unsure of this strange bundle of fluff, and Harry who is more than happy to give George a wash and play with him.

Found earlier this week by one of our cat cafe volunteers. This poor little kitten was found stuck in plants and rubble, it seems like he’d fallen from the above rock face, his eyes were stuck closed so he may have stumbled away from his mum and over the edge into where he was found. His crying saved him, otherwise he would never have been seen.

We took him straight to Bichos vet clinic where he was treated for the unbelievable amount of ticks and fleas that were literally sucking the life out if him. He had to have more than the normal amount of Frontline for a kitten of his size and weight ( 35 grams ) but the lovely vet told us as long as we gave kitty a bath 2 hours later he’d be fine, which he was, see below for later in the day

Here is this lucky little lad again, after his bath, a soft blow dry with my hair dryer, lunch of a mix of Lidl kitty food and weaning food from the vets, then tucked up on a nice hot water bottle.

We made sure he was warm and fed through the night, our 2 dogs were also great at nuzzling up to him, keeping him purring and entertained.

This morning he looked a million times better, he’s very pale, but the vet believes this is because of the severe infestation of the blood sucking fleas and ticks. Kitty has also been treated against worms and best news of all, our fantastic volunteer that found him came up this morning and took kitty home. Happy days

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UPDATE

Yogi (previously named Midnight) is still learning to trust humans, he’s ok once I’ve persuaded him to settle on my lap and got him playing. He really needs company and I’ve not got enough time to spend with him. He’d love a home with other cats to snuggle upto and someone with time for play and cuddles.

Meet Midnight.

Late last Sunday night we heard a pitiful kitten crying, it sounded loud and desperate, so we grabbed our torches and went in search for the little kitten with such panic in its meow.

He took a while to located as he was running in panic amongst the cactus plants and cobwebs. We finally managed to spot him, but he then ran into a hole in a wall. Thankfully we were able to reach in and get him out, he was full of hiss and spit but soon calmed down.

Apart from the fleas he didn’t look in bad condition, he does have a but of diarrhoea but we’ve treated him against the fleas and worms and hope his tummy settles soon.

In the meantime he’s on special food and getting braver all the time. He’s got a lovely little white moustache and we think he’s about 7 weeks old.

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We ask anyone in Fuerteventura who could possibly give a home to one or more of these cats to get in touch with us.

A loving home would be the perfect thing, but if not a safe garden they could call home, they all came from the house ruin and had such sad living conditions it would be so nice for them to learn there is safety and comfort out there.

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Baby Marmite is doing so well since we started syringe feeding after Miella his mummies milk dried up. He’s put on 20 grams in the last 2 weeks because I’ve got him on weaning food which I’m syringe feeding him, it means though he’s pooping and mummy isn’t too kean on clearing that out, but this clever little boy is just “34 days old “ and not only uses his specially converted litter tray (so he can climb into it) but he covers his poo & pee up as well, and he’s been doing this for the last 3 days,

I was like a proud mummy watching her child use the potty for the first time.

Considering the terrible conditions Marmite and his mum came from and that he was prematurely born, he’s doing really well and his mum is learning how to be a mum for the first time. She plays just like a kitten herself with the toys, because she is such a young mummy.

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Last year we had another unusual rescue.
A volunteer spotted a terrapin in a shop window, the terrapin had only a cat litter tray of water and a few rocks as its environment, and was in full sun quite a lot, so what do we do, what do we know about terrapins?, where do we home a terrapin?, you know us now, we like a challenge.
We started to ask and research and unbelievably found a family on the island that knew all about them and kept some in a specially built area with all t...hat a terrapin needs, they agreed to give our terrapin a home and look after it.
So Andy went off and bartered and bought the terrapin, as you can see it was quite large as it's as wide as a cat carrier.
Once at the new home the terrapin was introduced to the area and without hesitation slide into the pool and joined his new friends, ours is the one with it's head sticking out of the water with a masive grin, we were sure he was saying thank you.
Thank you to all that came together to make this another life saved.

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Sally and Lola are now about 8 weeks old and have grown so much since we found them.

They are the sweetest little sisters and so affectionate and playful.

We hope we can give them the happy ending they deserve and find them a new safe and loving home very soon.

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Miela and her baby Marmite. What a difference 9 days make. Miela has gone from being a starving, young mum who was doing her best to keep her new born babies safe and now she is the proudest, happiest mummy ever.

She loves it when we give her cuddles on our lap and more so when we include Marmite. We’re weighing Marmite from time to time to ensure she’s gaining weight (and she is),

Miela knows her baby is safe with us and is happy for us to handle her baby too, but the other day she decided a weigh in wasn’t necessary. as Judy put Marmite on the baby weighing scales, Miela promptly hopped on the scales, gently picked up Marmite in her mouth and took her back to bed.

The night she was found

With her baby now

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Is this really a house?, a home?, you might ask ! Yes it really is for 1 poor unwell man and his many cats.

We were asked to help some cats 2 months ago in a non tourist area. Directions were very vague but we went, unfortunately we couldn’t find the “house” or the cats we were told of. Unable to get any more information we had to give up.... but the story of 20 starving, unneutered cats kept playing on our mind. When friends/volunteers Catherine and Suza offered to help catch some cats for neutering last week, I gave them them what little details I had. With Catherine’s “never give up attitude” and Suza’s brilliant help & local knowledge, plus long phone calls in Spanish in the dark whilst bouncing down dirt tracks to nowhere, they saw an old ruin way off in the distance close to an unused beach, far from civilisation, electricity, water and any sign of life. By now it was almost dark as they reached the run down house. Still on the phone to the person that originally told us about the situation, they were told to call out to the occupant, out of the darkness a frail man appeared and after explaining we were asked to help his cats he let us inside.I say inside but there is no roof to speak of just torn and weathered tarpaulin and a front wall with a padlocked door. Inside were 9 live cats, 2 live kittens with inches of bird droppings covering the floor and everything else and rubbish everywhere, they found dead kittens and other decomposed matter that could not be identified. By now it was completely dark, stepping anywhere or moving things out of the way to search was lethal. But by 1.30am they had caught all but 2 of the cats, 1 being a mum with crying kittens in a difficult get to corner and a clever ginger that took off.

After a brief pause and stepping outside to catch their breath they went back in ( having to use their phones as touches) and managed to trap the mother and then went diving into goodness only knows what, to reach in and get the 2 live kittens. With the ginger cat nowhere to be seen, they promised the man they would return the next day during day light, to try and catch the last ginger cat.

Once Catherine and Suza had managed to navigate out of the middle of nowhere through the darkness they made it back to Twinkle's facility where we immediately set about assessing and feeding the cats and settling mum and her 2 new born kittens still with their umbilical cords attached into a foster cage. I’ve never seen such a more relived and happy mummy Cat, when we put her in her nice clean bed with her babies she snuggled up to them and instantly started purring and padding away at the soft donut shaped bed and set about giving her kitts a wash. Story continues below

Please Click Here To Read Catherine's Short Responce

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These are the photos of the cats and kittens we rescued from the ruined house. 8 adults are still with Twinkle until we can find new homes.

Although they all had to be trapped,all but one is very sweet and friendly, they just weren’t used to seeing anyone other than their poor dad. Unfortunately the white cat had a huge internal head tumour, she was so friendly but any bright light caused her pain so we made sure her last night was clean and cosy, she could only eat liquid food so we mixed up some pain medication into Mercadona liquid cat food with mashed up chicken, which she loved, I think she had the best nights sleep in a long time.

Two of the females had obviously had kittens recently but because the kittens had not survived they had developed mastitis we’ve got them on medication and already they are looking and feeling more comfortable and in less pain.

The friend of the sick owner that initially asked us for help is trying to convince the man to accept professional personal help from the church and local authorities so he can be moved to a special needs home where he can receive professional medical and mental health treatment.

He is a good man at heart, that just can’t care for the cats or his frail self.

Please Click Here To Read Catherine's Short Responce