Rodneys Rescues

01/12/2024

It takes a thousand eyes to find one cat"

Still searching for PussKat.
Have you or your neighbour had a new adult tabby recently turned up?
We've had the usual sickos taking pleasure in taunting owner who is devastated.
Reaching out to the great caring people in community.
This cat has survived fire, drowning, poison, jungle cats and travel from Nicaragua.....we still think he is out there and will likely seek someone out.

Car Accident Oct 1st at Southern Entrance to Whangarei near Bounty Rd.

13/10/2024

DESPERATELY SEEKING PUSSKAT

Hi Folks PussKat update. 13/10/24
Big shout out to the lovely people who have assisted with flyers and allowed us to put out traps following possible sightings. Your support is so appreciated.

We have followed up on a few potential sightings but PussKat remains elusive.

Traps have been moved about when sightings made plus a few remain in sites that we know cats wander. It appears that there is a circular corridor that cats follow in the area, with sub colonies along it. These sub colonies that cats travel between are in Dyer St, South End, McDonalds and near Quarry Rd.

PussKat is short in stature and would still be wide in girth right now, ears are short after being singed in fire as a kitten. The fire also messed up his paws and his claws are missing or munted. He is microchipped and details up to date.

Flyers have covered the area on industrial side and parts of Smeatons.

One white and tabby, unsocial, unchipped not desexed Tom missing teeth and clearly living very rough and struggling and looking unwell cat went into traps. As no chip found and clearly unwell he was humanely euthanised. Heartbreaking. A report came in for a young tabby seen deceased on the berm on entry to Gull. Sadly the body has been moved so could not be scanned. We don't think it would as PussKat due to both size and also we had a very likely sighting of PussKat days after. However if you know of someone who moved the body and buried it I'd love to check it for chip....sounds grim but can give closure.

Pusskats owner has been walking, with her dogs, calling and creating scent in areas PussKat could be.

Once more thank you for support. Every possible sighting can be a genuine possibility towards reuniting Pusskat with his family. Please call in with sightings alive or otherwise.

05/10/2024

DESPERATELY SEEKING PUSSKAT
Pusskat
In car accident 1 October 2024 on entry to Whangarei. Still missing.

Distinctive features:
Short haired Tabby
Desexed Male
Microchipped and status updated to Lost. Contacts current.
From being in fire as a 4 week old kitten he is missing part of his ears and no claws.
Timid
Likes to eat!

What's been done so far.
Thermal camera on early evening of accident with sighting of tabby cat on private property. Grid search of area did not reveal body and 5 days on (Sun 6th) no body seen or smelt. We believe he is alive.
Permission sought and obtained from property owner to lay traps day after crash.
Although owner was very ill in Hospital managed to obtain audio recording of her calling PussKat. Everyone has their own call it is like a thumbprint
During trap resets remain silent but play audio of owner.
Owner now out of hospital and walking in area of accident so scenting the area.
Poo seen on driveway ..cats do this to defend/ protect territory. There are strays in area and pets that are territorial so marking could be from PussKat or others. It won't be a comfy place for him to stay once initial time of decompression occurs post crash.

What's next
Flyers
Social Media

"It takes a thousand eyes to find one cat"

26/03/2024

Can anyone help get a kitten from New Plymouth to Palmerston North over next few days. Refused boarding at Whangarei airport and can travel to New Plymouth tomorrow

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/SCGd2jRyvavLG8DE/?mibextid=ZbWKwL

02/03/2024

Two shy bonded brofurs seeking quiet home

13/02/2024

Lol..happy Valentine's everyone

14/01/2024

Just been advised that due to a recent post breaching Facebook rules removal of this page will occur. Crazy given no posts for a very long time due to settling into job. This could be a scam or just another vindictive blow by a rescue that made all sorts of false statements (if they had checked their own rescue comms before making accusations they would have felt pretty daft - or maybe even checked in but that's far to adult). I've also been overseas. Just got back. So no posts made for a long time.

Just so you all know I will continue to be working with cats in ways that have ethics, recognise legal requirements, meeting Code of Welfare at all times as well as being financially transparent.

I will continue to provide community assistance for cat Desexing and affordable microchip implants and registrations.

Cheers

16/11/2023

Awesome advice re kits..especially why rescues ask to have kits 8 weeks and under ..the sooner the better. If you wait till they are not as cute it is usually too late

The most important part of your cat’s life 🐈🥰

The Formative Period is a period of rapid cognitive, social, emotional and physical development which we humans experience, dogs experience and cats experience too. It’s when an animal learns all the key behaviours they need for life.

When a kitten gets the right experiences during this time, they are set up to be happy, confident and well-adjusted into adulthood. When things go awry, it can have dire consequences.

A cat’s Formative Period for socialisation is between 3 - 9 weeks, much shorter than dogs because they are ancestrally a solitary species. During this period, the kitten’s brain is developing and wiring up at an incredible rate, they are learning who their family is and what to expect from life.

During this period, it’s important for domestic cats to have extensive contact with humans. If cats aren't socialised with humans during their Formative Period, it’s very unlikely they’ll be able to live happily in close contact with humans in future, they can become feral easily soon after this period.

This is also a time to get domestic cats used to all the different experiences they may have during their life with us:
- Being handled and petted
- Being crated
- Harness training them is a great idea at this stage for management and walking
- Car travel
- Exposure to friendly dogs
- Exposure to other household pets such as rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens
- Exposure to unfamiliar noises like traffic, music, TV etc.
- Play

Finally, a kitten’s exposure to prey and hunting in this Formative Period can impact how much they hunt as an adult cat. Given our incredible native bird population in New Zealand, I believe it’s preferable to restrict a kitten’s access to hunting behaviour during the Formative Period and on for a couple of months. Redirecting them onto toys like a flirt pole allows them an outlet for this prey drive onto a suitable prey-like stimulus without causing injury tos bird and wildlife.

01/10/2023

Quite the cat story! have any of you experienced cat intuition ?

There was a cat, Jenny, who was one of the Titanic’s cat. She had her kittens onboard in Belfast. But when they got to the stop before heading to New York, she took her kittens off the boat and did not get back on.
You can read about her below...or by googling cat on Titanic.
Perhaps, that’s what this picture by artist Celia Pike, is of...Jenny and her babies watching the last sailing of the Titanic.

Artist: Celia Pike

The Titanic Cat - Jenny's Story
In the wee hours of the morning between April 14th and April 15th 1912 the queen of the White Star Line, the unsinkable Titanic, did indeed sink into the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. Countless human and animal lives were lost, but what about Jenny, the Titanic cat?

As the story goes …
Jenny was brought aboard the Titanic from her sister ship, the Olympia, to act as mascot and to help with the rodent control. She lived in the underbelly of the ship (or the kitchen depending on which story you read) and was tended to by a stoker named Jim Mulholland. He would frequently sneak table scraps for her.

Work was difficult to find in those days and Jim Mulholland had been temporary help on the Titanic during the ship’s sailing trials from the Irish Sea to Southampton. When he was offered a full time position for the Titanic’s maiden voyage to New York he was thrilled to have the employment.

During those sailing trials, about a week before the Titanic moored in Southampton, Jenny presented Jim and the Titanic with a litter of kittens. Jim made Jenny a comfortable spot where she could tend to her kittens. Looking after the mama cat and her kittens broke the monotony of Jim’s work. Jenny seemed content with her warm spot by the furnaces, her babies and her kitchen scraps from Jim.


However, as soon as the ship docked at Southampton Jenny had a good look at her surroundings and promptly started picking her kittens up by the scruff of their necks and moving them, one by one, down the gangplank and off the ship.

Jim watched her curiously and decided that this cat must know something that no one else knows!

He promptly packed his meagre belongings and departed the ship himself.

Truth or Titanic legend? Some other reports have Jenny and her kittens perishing with the Titanic, but the cat lover in me … I like Jim Mulholland’s story so I vote truth!

Years later the Irish Times ran Jenny’s story after a reporter spoke to an elderly man who related the tale. Was he Jim Mulholland himself or just someone with whom Jim shared his story? We may never know. A Daily Mirror edition from April of 1912 ran an article with the headline “Clever Mother Cat Saves Her Kittens from the Titanic” accompanied with the following picture. Is this Jenny’s litter? Again, we may never know.

The Black Cat join us for more

28/09/2023

Recently went to Wellington to pick my last two cats up so whole family is now together. Fat Ronnie who started life as a skeletal worm ridden chest infection kit that I picked up the night Rodney was sighted on my trail cam in Taranaki.

Plus Harlow whose mum and siblings were ripped apart by dogs while she hid under a log.

Ronnie fitted right back in with the crew and not impressed by dietary measures. Still loves to play fetch with his sparkly fuzzy balls. Harlow was a kit last time with the crew but is settling. Her fave toy is a humungous rubber ball.

Thank you Sarah and Dion for taking amazing care of them for so long.

25/09/2023

Had a fright with leaving door open yesterday!

Great Western Swing track from the band Light Crust Doughboys