WHAT WE DO

 

Cat Action Trust Lanark & Central (formally CAT Lanarkshire) are a cat charity based in Lanarkshire, Scotland. We have various full time fosterers in Lanark, Abington, Grangemouth and Cumbernauld. We aim to help any cat in need, whether they are feral, domestic, abandoned or stray. We run subsidised neutering, micro-chipping & vaccination programmes which can help some cat owners and their cats. Details of these can be seen in the help section.

 

The cases we deal with range widely and you can see some of the cats we have helped under Cats We’ve Helped, in which some cats have been in very dire, near death situations. At CAT Lanark & Central we aim to be the home of happy contented cats. We are very passionate about our voluntary work and strive to improve every cats quality of life going forward. Unfortunately for many of the cats we have helped, we are their last hope. For us fosterers, finding cats the very best loving forever home and getting such positive feedback is thoroughly worthwhile and rewarding for us. It gives us a sense of achievement and for most if not all of the rescued cats it’s just like a “rags to riches” story.

 

We rescue about 400 cats and kittens per annum, and we would never put a healthy cat to sleep. Every penny raised goes to the cats in care, as we are run by volunteers, giving our time freely. However, although we are very much a self-funding branch, we are really struggling to survive just now in the current financial crisis. As we receive no other government funding or financial help whatsoever.

 

We are heavily committed to helping feral and stray cats found in large cat colonies. We have just neutered and returned a colony of 22 stray cats at South Draffan, Lanarkshire. We are still dealing with a colony of about 20 cats in Grangemouth. In Carstairs, Lanarkshire, we have trapped, neutered and returned 30 cats to an abandoned farm, along with socialising and rehoming 16 kittens we found to forever homes.  The largest colony we have dealt with was in Braehead, Lanarkshire. All 72 cats and kittens we found were suffering from the calicivirus. Two of the kittens found unfortunately had to have an eye removed due to the extent of their illnesses. Obviously, looking after this number of cats and their ailments is a very expensive exercise for us. Most of the colony cats are trapped, neutered and resited, with some being returned. We are constantly looking for outside homes, such as small holdings, stables or farms for these neutered feral cats. Where they would get regular food and shelter, in return for working as pest control. 

 

Please bear our charity in mind if you are thinking on donating to a worthwhile charity. We can only continue to help as many cats and kittens, with your ongoing financial help. We are currently struggling to finance the replacement of our main cat shelters in Lanark, this has meant we haven’t been able to take in as many cats as we would have liked as we don’t have suitable space to accommodate them. It is thought the replacement of each shelter would costs around £5000 each. We are hopeful we can get there with your help. Information on how to donate can be found under Fundraise & Donate.

 

If you wish to become a C.A.T volunteer - helping with fundraising or admin duties -  or you think you would be up to the challenge of fostering for us. Then please get in contact with us, we would love to hear from you!