FOSTER HOMES NEEDED ASAP

We're looking for help with temporary fostering to help get these beautiful young kitties out of a shelter. Please spread the word and if you can foster, fill out an application here!

Thank you for your support!

URGENT!! CATS AND KITTENS IN NEED OF FOSTER HOMES!

Due to the success of our last appeal for fosters, the shelter up north has asked us to help once again take in some mothers and kittens who are in desperate need of foster homes. We have 15 kittens and 5 mother cats with their kittens who would love to find a temporary home while they wait to be adopted. Some are very friendly, while others are shy and need some encouragement. Please consider applying to foster by filling out a foster application form and helping out these adorable feline friends get out of shelter cages and into a temporary home.

Heather Rennie

It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden death of Heather Rennie who has been a mainstay of Abbey Cats for the past 15 years. Heather never wavered in her life long love of animals and her wish above all to provide them with the help they often so desperately needed.

There was nothing she wouldn't do to help an animal in need and she especially took pride in the incalculable contribution she made on a daily basis to Abbey Cats, plucking cats out of dangerous or highly unsuitable situations, to place them instead in a dedicated foster home and give them their best chance of a better future than they had a past.

Heather wore many hats in the organization.

Screener, ensuring cats would be placed in permanent homes where they were well matched and well suited to their new environment.

Foster parent support where she would provide help and guidance for new fosters to find their feet, to share her extensive knowledge of animal care, or to help experienced ones deal with the heartbreak of losing a kitten, or indeed a whole litter, who had zero chance of survival but where we fought to the end anyway.

Social media content creator

Heather did all this and more and she did these tasks with both humility and grace. Day in and day out.

We will miss her terribly and we sincerely hope that tonight she is busy greeting those pets who have gone on before her, catching up with all of them, sharing their news and getting reacquainted with the many whose lives she touched and transformed..

Rest well, Heather. The next hundred cats we save will be dedicated to your memory. I know you would think nothing could be more fitting.

Cat Responsibility

We at Abbey Cats love to tell you about our adoptable cats and kittens, how they’re beautiful and playful and smart and cuddly and a wonderful addition to any home and family. But let me tell you a little bit about us - I mean, all of us. People domesticated cats 8000-9000 years ago. That means that although they still look a good bit like the original wild animal, they have long lost their connection with the wild, in fact millennia ago.   

Yes, a cat will kill and eat birds and rodents; that part of their essential nature has not been lost. Hounds will chase and kill a rabbit, horses will run for the sheer fun of it. Some things are hard wired. But hounds are not very likely to be left to fend for themselves outside, at least not in Canada. It is a sad reality that many cats are. The perception that they “belong” out of doors, and even worse, that they can fend for themselves, is so pervasive and so wrong that it is heartbreaking. Outdoor cats are exposed to the dangers of cars, weather, predators, getting lost, disease, pregnancy, and aggression from other cats. Abandoned, discarded, unwanted “strays” and ferals also face a slow death by starvation. They are not able to fend for themselves. After 8000 years they have forgotten how. Can you blame them?

We invited cats to join us on our evolutionary journey to modern man. Now we have a collective responsibility to make good on our part of the deal. How? Be a responsible cat owner; keep your cats inside, care for them medically, physically and emotionally, protect them and love them. Spay and neuter your cats. When it comes time to adopt, adopt a rescue, give a kitty another chance, repair the damage done by past relationships and abandonment. Remember when you adopt kittens, adoption is for life. You will see those babies through the good and the bad, including the sick and the old.

Not sure you can afford a cat right now? You’re right, costs can be significant - quality food, litter, toys, spay and neuter surgery, medical costs, boarding. If the timing is not right, consider fostering instead, volunteer at your local shelter, cat sit for family and friends. Are you facing some uncertainties in your future? Serious illness, marital break-up, job loss? Provide for your cat; be responsible. Find a new home, with a firm commitment, in case you have to give your cat up. Arrange for its secure future, allowing you to concentrate on your own.

And - speak up if you suspect neglect or abuse. Be their voice, their advocate, their rescuer.

Cats have enriched our lives for so long, life without them is unimaginable. They feel the same about us. They love us, but they also need and depend on us.

It’s an awesome responsibility.