Redbridge’s cat population is in crisis! Cats are abandoned for various reasons; housing issues, impulse buying, vet costs. Invariably they are unneutered, leading to continual breeding. Cruelty and suffering are prevalent across the borough, leading to ever more costs. Volunteers mainly meet costs from their own money, adoption fees and occasional public donations. Since May ‘23 we no longer receive free neutering for cats in our care; adding extra financial strain. Our vet costs to neuter 100 cats will now be £9500! To increase fostering capacity we will buy two outdoor pens (9'x4'x6'), providing accommodation to convalesce. We will enclose a volunteer’s own back garden with temporary netting for safety. Indoor fosterers are provided with a kit: cat pen, strong metal carrier, litter trays, food/water bowls, scratching post and monthly supplies of food and litter. The cost of each kit is £185 with recurring costs of food the longer a cat stays.

What we'll deliver:

• Fund neutering for at least 50 cats coming into our care
• Create areas for fostering cats outdoors including enclosing a garden
• Purchase foster kits to support our foster home appeal

Why it's a great idea:

While the initial benefactors of this project will be cats, the wider community will benefit through increased help for people who need to rehome cats, alleviating stress of witnessing suffering, reducing cruelty and dislike for roaming cats. Expanding neutering in this area is vital; benefits include controlling cat numbers, reducing injury, disease and spread of infections, reducing the environmental impact cats have on wildlife and the nuisance of breeding colonies. Expanding our fostering capabilities will increase our cat-pacity! In particular, outdoor facilities benefit semi-ferals who become stressed indoors, possibly improving post-surgical healing due to good mental health. An enclosed garden will allow safe outdoor access for cats, reducing incidents of RTAs and environmental disturbance. Indoor cat pens provide an immediate safe space. Considerations have been made to ensure our equipment is durable and removable if needed.

Steps to get it done:

• Recruit volunteers - An ongoing project for foster homes and general help
• Purchase garden enclosure kit from Protectapet to secure a foster home garden
• Purchase and distribute indoor foster kits
• Install garden enclosure kit with the help of volunteers
• Purchase outdoor foster pens from Ten Oaks Ltd.
• Install outdoor foster pens with the help of volunteers
• Use ringfenced funding for 6 months of neutering to neuter 50 cats by July 2024

We hope to attract volunteers for different aspects of rescue work, as such we are recent members of Redbridge CVS. Aside from foster volunteers we would welcome help to construct the outdoor pens and garden enclosure, drivers for vet visits and fundraisers to name but a few! Through our increased voluntary work we hope to increase awareness of the cat crisis and provide educational support through talks to community groups. The cat crisis is countrywide, there is no national rescue charity covering this area of East London. Current procedure to reduce breeding is to trap, neuter and return, this is often not as straightforward as it would seem; many cats require blood tests or additional treatment, particularly dentals requiring further appointments, resulting in cats needing to remain in care for longer. The desired outcomes of this project would help alleviate the immense stress on our few volunteers and support them in finding fur-ever homes for our feline friends.