Stray kittens dumped then dropped off at Moorebank Vet Hospital to find new home

LIVERPOOL LEADER Stray kittens are a problem during the summer and spring months, but how could you euthanase Johnny, Oscar, Sophia, Little Johnny, Aria or Marvy?

Kittens dumped, vet staff rescue them

Stray kittens are a problem during the summer and spring months, but how could you euthanase Johnny, Oscar, Sophia, Little Johnny, Aria or Marvy?

That is the reality for these little kittens, found on the side of the road, in gutters, or in industrial areas in the Liverpool area.

Moorebank Vet Hospital’s Kate Bayliss currently has five kittens at her home, waiting to be vaccinated, desexed and rehomed.

Do you have a stray cat problem in your area? Tell us about it.

Johnny, Aria and Little Johnny were taken to the vet after their stray mum was suspected of being hit by a car.

Three of the kittens looking for new homes.

Marvy was found on the Hume Highway, scooped up in the pouring rain and delivered to Moorebank as a scared bundle of sogginess. Sophia was dumped in an industrial area a few weeks ago.

While Oscar was handed into the clinic after being found in a gutter as a newborn.

But the vet nurse said rehoming them wasn’t the solution.

“It’s really simple ... the less entire stray cats, the less kittens.”

“That can be done through groups and individuals who trap, neuter and release (TNR) the strays, which stops them multiplying.”

The trend for stray cats has been a problem for the Moorebank clinic for at least the last four years.

“I started to take them home and bottle feed them. Then I sat down with the boss and we agreed as a team, to start an adoption program.

“To date we’ve rehomed 40 kittens, after starting two years ago. Most of them came to us when they were only a few days old, their eyes closed and umbilical cords still attached.”

Meet Marvy, who was found on the Hume Highway. He was scooped up in the pouring rain.

One example of trap, neuter, release program success is a client of Moorebank Vet Hospital, who has a colony of 15 cats in an industrial area in Warwick Farm, with only three requiring desexing.

“She catches them, brings them in here, they are put under and desexed and treated as any other patient.

They spend 24 hours recovering and are returned to their location.

“It keeps the colony low and the cats live a long life and generally die of natural causes.

“Not only does she TNR the cats, but she feeds them daily.”

These kittens are all looking for homes.

The problem is not limited to cats, with the vet hospital receiving four puppies that were only a few days old last year.

“They were dumped in Liverpool, inside a cardboard box with a plastic bag tied around it,” she said.

“The three girls survived who went on to be desexed, vaccinated and rehomed.”

Kate Bayliss with some of the kittens she has cared for from only a few days old.

HELPING A STRAY

■ If you find a stray cat, take it to the vet to see if it is microchipped

■ In cases of a colony of stray cats, notify council

■ Contact Moorebank Vet Hospital to adopt a kitten — 8798 6242.

■ Male kittens are $120 and females are $160. All kittens come vaccinated, microchipped, desexed and on a two-week trial