Tabitha had no mother to care for her

Tabitha and her sister

As CEO of SPCA Auckland I wanted to share with you, the story of Tabitha.

On the day I met Tabitha I had called in to the hospital to see our head nurse. In a room full of cats and kittens, her sweet little face drew me in. She was sitting at the front of the cage, quietly crying out for attention. Her little paw was pressed up against the bar, her eyes wide and searching. I looked in her cage for a mother, but she only had her brother and sister for company.

Tabitha had been picked up by an SPCA Auckland driver. She had been found on the streets in Papatoetoe. Probably born to a mother who was barely more than a kitten herself, I can’t imagine how she had survived. She was so young and vulnerable, I couldn’t help but reach out. I am just thankful we found her in time.

Summer is the busiest time of year here at SPCA .Tabitha and her siblings were just three of 266 cats in need of help that week. As summer continues, and the weather gets warmer, it will only get busier.

As a stray animal, Tabitha stayed in the hospital for 7 days, waiting to see if a family would claim her. Sadly no one came forward. Luckily Tabitha will get a second chance. She has gone out to foster care with a volunteer foster family. Once she is big enough, she will be put up for adoption so she can find her new forever home.

Her start to life has been hard, but Tabitha is one of the lucky ones. Too often we see kittens that have been suffering for weeks, slowly starving because they are too young to find food, or too sick from cat flu to eat. Cat flu is a nasty epidemic in the stray cat population, not just here in Auckland, but throughout the country. With no one to care for the cats when they are sick, they pass on their sickness to their siblings, and any other cats they come in contact with. So the cycle continues, the cat flu epidemic spreads, and the suffering worsens.

Today I am asking you to help stem the tide of suffering. If we join together, we can make a real difference this summer. By donating today you can provide vital help to animals like Tabitha who desperately need our help.

$35 provides Tabitha with a warm bed and shelter for a week
$60 can give her the vaccinations she needs to be healthy
$85 will get Tabitha the desexing operation she needs to prevent further unwanted births

At times it can feel overwhelming, but together we can do something about it. By donating today we can get cats like Tabitha off the street. We can give them shelter and medical care. We can give them time to get well, and ultimately we can find them a loving family home.

It feels like a big problem, but the solutions are simple. Together we can help. Please donate today.