Cat owners urged to be responsible

Kay Hardie said she caught sight of the kittens early last month but was only able to capture one.

It took Ms Hardie and her daughter almost two weeks to find and retrieve the remaining kittens.

She said the kittens were small and malnourished compared to the first one, and they had to nurse the felines back to good health.

They first met their mother when she sat crying for food outside Kay’s front door.

‘Over an eight-week period we eventually worked up enough trust to be able to touch her. We now have the mother and all her kittens in one location,’ she said.

Ms Hardie said she was footing the cost of looking after the cats and that there were some ‘irresponsible’ owners out there.

But it is not the first time she has opened her home to homeless pets. In September, she rescued another cat seeking food and said it took time to gain its trust.

She eventually discovered the cat had cancer of the nose and cared for it until it passed away, something she said she could not have done without the help of Natalie Mason from 9 Lives Cat Rescue.

‘She (Natalie) was able to pick the cat up and guide it backwards into a holding pen.

‘Natalie’s charity provided an assessment of the cat and also treatment.’

The charity also provided food, medicine and later the cost of the cat being put to rest.

New cat laws came into place last November requiring domestic cats aged six months and older to be sterilised, micro-chipped and registered.

– 9 Lives Cat Rescue fundraiser, March 16, 1pm- 3pm, Pagoda Restaurant and Bar, Como. Call 0403 812 391.