CATS OF THE EDITION

BRANDY AND SMOKEY

Brandy (pictured) and her sister Whisky are two stunning 2 year-old black and white girls who love to be tickled and stroked.  They are looking for a home together

as they are very close.

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SMOKEY

Smoky is a gorgeous 6 year-old all black boy who is very friendly and loves to be fussed.  He has the most adorable 'take me home eyes'.  Could you take him into your home? Contact: Janet on 0795 8761483

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.whispurrs.org.uk

RON ALWAYS APPRECIATES NEW MATERIAL FOR THE BRANCH CP WEBSITE – IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING, PLEASE E-MAIL HIM ON gallery@whispurrs.org.uk

INFORMATION ABOUT OTHER CATS IN OUR CARE CAN BE FOUND IN THE HOMING SECTION ON THE WHISPURRS WEBSITE

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HOMING STORIES (Janet)

MAX

Here is a 'homing success' story for the magazine and a picture which was written by the lady who homed Max.

Max has fitted into our family so well. He slept on our bed the first night, but I brought him his own bed the next day in an attempt to make him feel at home and this has worked too well because he sleeps in every night!

Max loves to play football. He brings the ball back to us and we have to throw it across the room. He shoots after it, bats it around for a few minutes and then drops it back at our feet waiting for further play. He also likes to sit at the window and watch life go by. Max and our three-year old son Ollie have become a double act and Max always greets Ollie at the door when he comes in from pre-school. They play together for around two hours each day, chasing balls and playing hide and seek together. When I make the beds, both Max and Ollie will want to hide under the blankets and be tickled through the covers. Max often puts his nose up to Ollie’s, so he thinks that Max is a very ‘kissy’ cat. We love Max very much and we are so pleased that he has come to live with us.

PADDY

When I went to pick Paddy up from Margaret, his fosterer, he was living with his two bossy sisters and seemed like a bit of a ‘wimp’.  How wrong I was! He loves play-fighting with my other cat and is always the one to instigate it, but despite this they get along very well.  He's also a right little pig and can often be caught stealing the dog's dinner.  He is a very handsome boy and has a funny little gait which is very endearing.  Thank you for letting me give him a home. From Jacky

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NOTICE FROM TREASURER

A VERY BIG THANK YOU to all who donate to our branch. All the money which comes directly to us stays with us and is spent on ‘Harrogate Cats’. Thanks, too, for all donations towards our fundraising events and for your support generally.

TASSY

Tassy (alias Portia) was not with CP long before she was snapped up by Lorna who fell in love with her in approximately 5 seconds, and off she went to live with Lorna, Mickey and Patches who likes to follow Tassy round the house but any idea of romance with her is met by a bit of a clip round the ear, but he's not about to give up on this pretty little tabby, even though, as her picture shows, she has even stolen his favourite chair for her cat naps. 

WILLIAM AND BOB – another great success story

WILLIAM

We have been extremely fortunate because recently we found a loving home for Bob and William (above) who had been in our care for a little while. These six year old brothers are both playful and loveable with wonderful natures and used to race to meet their fosterer, purring like tractors. Bob (below) is the sporty one.  I was delighted to be informed by Sue (their fosterer) and Janet that they have been homed together. Bob and William have gone to a lovely home near Pateley Bridge to live with Colleen, Dan and their ever expanding family.

BOB

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Jasper (no picture available), is a very friendly 4 year old ginger boy who likes to give you lots of kisses.  He would make a very loving addition to a family.

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GINGY

Gingy was not with us long before he was snapped up by Steve, Wendy, Bradley, Declan and Libby and is a much loved member of the family where he settled in very quickly (as can be seen by the picture).  He's also made friends with four other cats on his street and divides his time between playing out with his new pals and getting lots of fuss and cuddles.

GINGY

TIM HILL – UPDATE (Artist)

Some readers may remember Tim Hill from our last newsletter. Tim is a local artist who wants to help raise funds for our branch of Cats Protection. Tim wrote to me recently to tell me that he had been unwell with influenza etc. and had not felt like starting any paintings. However, thankfully his health is improving now and he feels much better and wants to make a start on the painting to raise funds for our branch. He will let us know when the first painting is completed and then, perhaps, branch members may like to pay Tim and his colleague, Paul McHugh (photographer), to see his work. His colleague, Paul, takes photographs of cats amongst other subjects of interest. Paul’s details are as follows:

Paul McHugh of Paul McHugh Photography has been in business for around two and a half years. Paul can work in any situation offered to him – from weddings to family portraits. He can also work with children and animals, travel to any destination you require or can work from his own studio which is located near the Harrogate Harlow Carr Gardens. Costs very as they depend upon personal requirements.

For more details, please contact Paul McHugh on Mobile: 07883074580 or by e-mail at maccer@ntlworld.com

For a quote, please ring Paul at any time.

Cosy pussy cats!

MEMBERS’ CONTRIBUTIONS

Amanda Langley of Kirk Deighton sent me a delightful photograph and the following write-up. She told me that she reads her Mum's copy of Whispurrs regularly and thought we would like the following picture and update on Molly who she re-homed through Janet.

MOLLY’S STORY

MOLLY WITH PADDY

Hello, I'm Molly (I'm the pretty tabby at the back of the picture). I came to my new home from CP as a kitten. My Mum was a feral cat who was on her second pregnancy when she was finally taken in and I was one of her kittens. Paddy was not a CP cat, but was part of an unwanted litter from a breeding Siamese cat who escaped and mated with the local black and white tom! We have very different temperaments. Paddy is very loud and always getting into trouble, whereas I am more reserved. I spend most of the day outside whilst Paddy tends to stay near home, but we both like nothing better than to meet up again in the evening, have some dinner and a cuddle from Mum and then curl up together on the sofa or the bed. My favourite trick is to creep up on Mum when she's on the computer, stand up next to her and put a claw very carefully in her leg. It's amazing how far she can jump when she tries! Oh, and I also love teasing next door's dog too! The poor mutt doesn't have much of a chance against my cunning and speed! Well, I'm going to go find a nice spot to curl up in as I'm pretty tired from all this writing! Molly xx

DINAH

I was handed a photograph of Dinah (above) at our recent Spring Bazaar. Dinah’s owner, Mr D Stott of Middlesbrough, used to live in the Harrogate area and adopted Dinah a few years ago. Dinah has appeared in our magazine before (about two or three years ago), but this is a recent photograph showing Dinah enjoying home comforts. In spite of living so far away now, Mr Stott comes to Harrogate and supports our bazaars and donates items for us to sell. We’d like to think him for his continued support and for submitting this attractive photograph for us to print in this copy of Whispurrs.

NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS

I would like to thank all those who have contributed to our newsletters.

I realise that many branch members do not have access to/use computers, so if you want to send me something to include in our quarterly newsletter, please post photographs, stories, poems and other items to Jenny (Whispurrs Editorial) at 38, Farfield Avenue, Knaresborough, HG5 8HB. Please make sure you include your name/postal address and I shall ensure that your photographs and other contributions are posted back to you.

Alternatively, please e-mail me at jenn.hunter@ntlworld.com or jenny@whispurrs.org.uk

FUNDRAISING NEWS

AND EVENTS

SMART ARTS THEATRE

RAISES £1,500

Our thanks go to the Smart Arts Theatre which raised £1,500 for our branch of Cats Protection from their pantomime, ‘Dick Whittington’, last December. Janet informs me that Smart Arts Theatre is a local amateur dramatics group which was set up 20 years ago. She helps with this and they perform their pantomimes at Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall.

REFRESHMENTS DAYS

ST PETER’S CHURCH, HARROGATE

SAT 15 AUGUST 2009 AND

SAT 20 FEBRUARY 2010

We also wish to express our gratitude to Hannah Beck for organising these very successful refreshment days. Her organisational skills are magnificent! The first one in August raised £260, and the second one in February raised a fantastic £310! Thanks go to Margaret Birks, Lyn, Cheryl and all others at the church who helped. Thanks, too, to the bakers, suppliers and other supporters regarding these events.

BAZAAR NEWS

We held three bazaars – two Xmas ones in November 2009 and the Spring Bazaar on 10^th April 2010. The Xmas Bazaar on 7^th November 2009 at St Paul’s Church hall in Harrogate was a great success as £1,668.40 profit was raised on that day. Two weeks later we held a smaller bazaar in Ripon, but unfortunately this was not very well supported and our profits were somewhat disappointing. However, on 10^th April, the Spring Bazaar (also at St Paul’s Church) raised £840 profit which is a very good amount for a spring event. A lot of effort goes into organising the kitchen and manning stalls, as well as supplying them, and I wish to thank all those kind people who baked, organised refreshments, manned stalls, moved boxes and goods, supplied publicity boards, gave items for these events, helped at and/or supported them.

Well done and thanks to all.

KNARESBOROUGH PET DAY – 3^RD MAY 2010

Knaresborough Pet Day, this year, was reasonably well-attended, but the weather conditions were changeable to say the least. We experienced showers and cold weather, but managed to keep our stall going until about 3.30pm and raised approximately £70 in profit. A big thank you to Marilyn and Carina for coming along to help with the children’s cuddly toy lucky dip.

TABLE TOP SALES

Margaret Crewe held a table top sale for us in Ripon in December and Jenny did a similar thing in early December selling the old stock of gifts etc. Altogether about £60 was raised for our branch. Many thanks to Margaret for her continued support and organising the books!

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Calcutt Gala – Sunday 11 July. We hope to have a stall. This is held on the cricket field behind The Union public house and usually starts late morning.

Refreshments Day – no date as yet, but another is planned.

Xmas Bazaar – Saturday 13^th November 2010 – more information will be available nearer the time.

TIPPEX/ROXY

Unfortunately, Roxy and Tippex have not submitted anything for this edition of the newsletter due to other commitments!!

VISITING CATS

Our ‘visiting cat’ – ‘Simba’

The first time this delightful little chap came to visit us was a few years ago. Our large outdoor tabby, Pedro, seemed to attract this fellow, along with a black female companion cat called Simone. They regularly came into our back garden to play with Pedro, and then disappeared for long periods of time.

However, during the long, cold winter which has just passed, Simba appeared to take up residence with us. He obviously has a good home, as he is well-fed and wears a blue collar with a bell. I became rather anxious because I did not want his owners to be concerned about him. When he is in our vicinity, he is very well cared for as we love cats, and he is very good friends with Pedro and my ginger cat, Sam.

Simba is friendly and very affectionate. He loves to sit on my lap and cuddle up to me, but this behaviour occasionally incurs the wrath of my youngest cat, Maisie. She becomes jealous at times and tries to engage him in combat – usually a short boxing match. Simba, however, is docile and withdraws gracefully so Maisie then turns her attentions towards whichever cat is nearby and repeats the same procedure. If anyone has a similar tale to tell about a feline visitor, please do write to me at the Whispurrs editorial (on page 6) and relate the story to our branch members. Many thanks, Editor (Jenny)