Working With The RSPCA

We work closely together with the local RSPCA. Here in Norway they are called Dyrebeskyttelsen – directly translated: animal protection. Even though they are about protecting all animals, the focus in the past years shifted towards cats (90%) with some dogs and other animals (10%).

The animal protection is a foundation that gets money in through a membership service with a monthly magazine. The general organisation is a national one. The local animal protection is a division of the big organisation. Each division covers a certain region of the country. These divisions get a certain amount of money, corresponding to the number of members of that region. Next to that they organise all sorts of campaigns to collect more money for their work.

They work with many volunteers. Some work actively with saving animals. Others work with actively looking for new adopters. There are people distributing food and other materials. They got a deal with the local veterinarian clinics for a cheaper treatment of animals for various things.

They also receive donations from local community and companies looking for sponsorship. And then there are the volunteering foster homes where cats and dogs get placed after being saved from their harmful location.

There where they know many cats run about, special food stations are placed such as the one below. They also tend to place isopor boxes with blankets in them, that protect them a little from the cold.

We have been actively capturing feral cats the past two years. The RSPCA uses a special non-harmful trap – easy in use and enormously effective.

As soon as a cat gets captured they go through a checkup at a local veterinary clinic. They get checked for Cat Aids and Cat Leukemia, for the usual stuff such as worms and a general health check. They get a healthy dosage of vitamins and minerals.

If not done so before, they get neutered / spayed, chipped with a special Cat ID and tattoo’ed in the ear with a special symbol for the RSPCA.

After they have been thoroughly checked and appear to be healthy they move on to a foster home, for eventually being fully recovered and being adopted by a new family.

We are one of those foster homes. As soon as a new owner has been found, the new owner will make an appointment with us to get to know the cat. When the owner and the cat seem to like each other, the owner has to sign a contract. They have to pay a small sum to cover the costs of veterinary visits, cat food and cat sand. After that has been done, the cat moves into the new home.

We got currently 2 cats in, which I will give you a short introduction of below.

Tulla / Tiny (2018)

Tulla came to us Friday the 11th of May 2018 to us and is a very beautiful 1.5 year old short-haired tabby/tiger kitten. Beautiful colour and pattern as well as sweet character. She’s a tad bit nervous, but this will probably disappear with the time being here. She currently has to get used to the 6 other cats in the household and that always takes a bit of time.

Foxy (2017)

An extremely nervous and hyperactive black long haired kitten with a fluffy black tail. Very dominant in its behaviour among other cats and in the demanding of cuddles. When you don’t give her attention, she might nibble both humans and others. She is however a lovely cat and when you get to know her she will be your biggest friend. At the moment she cannot be outside, because she doesn’t come back by calling her name (we figured out the hard way and had to capture again with a trap). I do believe though that if the cat needs to be out and there is a cat door, she will most likely be able to use it.

 

In the past we have had:

• Melody (2017, female kitten, nervous but became an cuddly cat, adopted together with Angel)
• Angel (2017, female kitten, nervous kitty that was trained to become a house cat, adopted to family with multiple cats)
• Chanel & Fluffy (2017, two female cats, taken care of because of passed away owner, adopted together to new family)
• Bobby (2017, male cat, found in the neighborhood, adopted)
• Daisy (2017, female cat, found near a golf park, owned so returned to owner)
• Kiara (2016, female kitten, found near a holiday houses park, adopted)
• Simba (2016, male kitten, found near a holiday houses park, adopted)
• Aron (2016, fluffy cat with health problems & frostbite, straying in a living area, adopted)
• Prince (2016, male, blind white cat, owned so returned to owner)
• Felicia (2015, female cat, feral, found near fuel station, highway, we adopted her)
• Kira & Nusse (2008, two females that were abandoned together with dogs and horses, we adopted them)

We will keep you updated of our work with the RSPCA and the progress with our foster cats!

This post will regularly be updated with new information. Last update: May 12, 2018

Do you also work together with your local animal protection? Or do you support a local animal protection foundation? Please leave your comment below!