Half a cat

Apologies for not updating our blog recently. The problem with being busy is that there is little time to write the blog; the problem with being quiet is that there isn't much to tell!

Mandu, short for Kat-Mandu (and known as Doo-Dee) is a lovely ginger cat, who at first glance seems to be all there. Some people don't even notice that he's only half a cat! When he runs he looks completely normal but when he walks or lays on his back the difference becomes obvious. Doo-Dee only has one back leg! He lost his other leg a couple of years ago when he was hit by a car. Doo-Dee doesn't know he's different and acts like a normal boisterous lad. So much so that he has left a couple of our volunteers rather nervous to go into his pen, as he dives for their legs. He is a lively, playful lad, chases balls and other toys and regularly challenges his scratching post to a duel (he always wins).

Roxie, is another half cat. Although we were lucky enough to find her a home at the weekend, we thought we would share her story. Roxie only has one eye, and no tail but we don't know how this happened.

Because she has only one eye, Roxie's co-ordination is slightly unbalanced - this means that if she jumps from say the floor to a chair, she may incorrectly judge the distance and either jump to far or jump short of her target. She has learnt to work around this by climbing where possible, or by using other means to get onto furniture etc.

Because she has no tail, her running balance is slightly compromised - if she runs fast she may find her back legs swaying out of synchronisation and this may cause her to stumble. Roxie has learnt to trot quickly and has an unusual swinging trot which compensates for this.

Most animals are able to adapt well to the loss of a limb, an eye or their tail, and it rarely affects their lives in a detrimental way.

One of our earliest blogs was about Vivian, a totally blind cat who is the alpha-cat in the group of cats that she lives with.

We're pleased to add that Marmalade, the little sick kitten we mentioned a few weeks ago has moved back to live with the people who found her and has assumed her rightful position as head of the household.

Rosie who had a major operation is now spayed and withstood that operation well. The vets are delighted with her progress and she has been cleared for adoption. Hopefully the right home will come along soon!