Chris Contact Chris	I have always been animal mad and haven’t eaten one for about 30 years, and have been a volunteer for Pussycat Lodge for a number of years, it all started when I needed a trap for a feral tom cat in my garden, PCLT was so helpful, and I’d done cat rescue before, so I offered to get involved. I have since accumulated a large cat family, At the time of writing this there’s now, Jim, a local street cat, Alfie, bought home as a feral kitten to bring on for rehoming, whoops he never left , Dolly, with a damaged eye, Jack, abandoned, Fluke, local street cat, Honey, Treacle, a pair of ferals when I took them on, they didn’t change and now live in the garden with comfy insulated houses, Tilty, who had been hit with a car or kicked, and has a fused spine, Missy, a kitten too nervous to home and she loves it here and Sammy, my new young boy who could not be homed due to a medical condition. My soft spot is for the oldies that are difficult to home, I’ve had a few over the last couple of years, some have stayed a short while, and some lucky to live a bit longer, There has been, Jasper, whose owner went into a nursing home, Prince, who only had one tooth, he was found wandering the streets, Tabitha, who was poorly with a tumour, sweet old girl who only lived a number of weeks, Billy, who suffered kidney failure, mind you this didn’t stop him sneaking back home with a steaming sausage (I will never know how he stole it!), Dot, bless her, she lived for a couple of years, enjoyed a game right up to the end, and poor Paddy, a street cat, who was diagnosed with FIV, he was covered in sores and had infections and extremely unhappy, after a few weeks I had to make the hardest but kindest decision, he wasn’t getting better. Minty (who smelt of lamb and mint sauce when I trapped him)was not an oldie, but I can’t leave him out, he was an 8 year old tom, battle scarred and covered in sores and ulcers, Minty loved attention and used to follow me to the shops, he stayed with us for a few years but sadly suffered chronic kidney failure. Lastly, there’s Muffin, during her time with us she developed Dementia and become totally blind, she coped well as long as I didn’t move anything around, and never once lost her way to the litter tray. A perfect lady to the end. Due to her dementia she would wake me in the night calling loudly, which she stopped when I spoke to her and offered a cuddle. It is heartbreaking when the inevitable happens but so rewarding to offer a happy comfortable home to a cat that cannot tell you what troubles they have had, and its lovely to see them basking in the sunshine, and warming their old bones or curled up by the radiator. My first Rescue cat was Rosie, who sadly died recently at a relatively early age of 10, she was very ill and I had to make the very hard decision to let her go as she was suffering so much, this was so much harder than letting the very old cats go when they are ready. But I do feel its right to realise in the end, the quality of a cats life is most important. I have also fostered approximately 40 cats and kittens over the years, with the expert help of Jim, who was a street cat, he teaches them their cat manners and cuddles them when they need some comfort. I have tried my hand at trapping, fostering, vet runs, a tiny bit of fundraising, rehoming and cleaning at PCLT. I am now the Publicity Officer and I now regularly update the Forum, take photo’s and update the site on the comings and goings of the many cats that pass through our doors. It’s so rewarding when we get updates from our people who have adopted our cats. I do prefer the hands on, working with the cats, and the thrill of trapping a cat that needs our help is unbelievable (although I don’t do this much!). I have met many lovely cats, with many different personalities, and some tremendous people who work as volunteers and who have taken on our cats over the years. There have been some shocking cases that have come through our door, but the rewards are tremendous, and it’s always lovely to hear from people who have taken on cats that have had a hard start in life.