‘It’s a crisis point’: Leeds cat charity forced to limit intake due to £20k vet bill

A cat rescue charity in Leeds has said that it is in a “crisis point” after it has had to temporarily stop taking in vulnerable cats and kittens due to overwhelmingly large vet costs.

Vet bills reaching a total cost of £20k have forced Cat Action Trust 1977 to make the “difficult decision” to pause its intake.

The volunteer-run charity works to rescue and rehabilitate feral and stray cats across the city and rehome them into loving homes when possible.

Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds prides itself on taking on some of the toughest and most difficult cat cases in Leeds and doing whatever they can to give a cat or kitten “the highest chance of recovery.”

Alice Ostapjuk-Wise, volunteer at Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds said: “Our motto is that we are a lifeline for feral cats. We often take in the cases that other rescues are reluctant to take because they are going to be very expensive.

“We will always take that financial risk because we put the life and the wellbeing of the cat first.”

However, with 142 cats currently in the charity’s care including seven high-need cases, Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds urgently needs to raise funds to meet care demands.

One of these high-need cases is Abbey, who came into Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds’ care with a litter of five, despite being just nine-months-old.

Alice said: “She was reported to us by a member of the public and was having uncontrollable diarrhoea - the worst we have ever seen at the rescue.

“When the kittens were five-weeks-old, her foster mum noticed that her breathing became really laboured and she was vomiting a lot. We rushed her to the emergency vets and it turned out she had a life-threatening condition where your bowl twists and had to have emergency surgery to remove a large part of her bowel.”

Another cat currently with one of Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds’ volunteer fosterers is three-year-old Nettie, who had severe injuries after she was hit by a car.

“She had a jaw that was broken so badly it had to be wired back together,” Alice said.

“She also had a lot of broken teeth but we’ve had to treat the jaw first. Now she’s had her jaw unwired, this week she’s had all her broken teeth removed.”

Both Abbey and Nettie are on the mend thanks to the support from the Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds, however the treatment of these urgent cases, alongside regular veterinary costs such as vaccinations and neutering, have meant the charity’s costs have skyrocketed.

Alice said: “We have a current veterinary bill of £20,000 which is quite scary for a small local rescue.”

“We’ve had to close temporarily to new intakes because we can’t take on any more financial risk until we’ve fundraised some money and paid off those bills.

“Its a short-term compromise but one we really don't take lightly - we don’t want to compromise the long-term sustainability of our rescue.”

Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds is entirely run by volunteers and doesn’t have a single rescue base in order to keep operation costs to a minimum.

Yet, as this latest cost, which Alice said is “the most expensive bill in living memory” for the charity, vitally needs to be paid.

Alice said that the pause has had a “high emotional impact” on volunteers who are desperate to see Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds reopen to new intakes.

“We don’t want to have to close our doors because we know how many cats need us and so it puts us in a really difficult position,” Alice said.

“It’s such a heart-breaking position for us to be in as volunteers. It’s such an internal battle when someone rings our direct line and tells us they’ve found a cat in need and we have to turn them away.”

The charity’s volunteer fundraisers are “working tirelessly” to run events and attend markets to help raise much-needed funds.

As well as this, Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds has set up an online fundraiser with a £5k target and so far, they have raised just under £1,700.

They ask the public to donate if they can so the charity can reopen its doors as soon as possible.

Alice said: “Donations, no matter how small, add up.

“I would encourage anyone who’s got a couple of quid spare to give us a helping hand if they can, we’re grateful for anything. Every penny helps.”

If you are able to help Cat Action Trust 1977 Leeds, visit their GoFundMe page.