Annie is a semi-feral who arrived with Tommy, a lovely ginger boy, as kittens about eight years ago. Unfortunately, Tommy died suddenly aged three, leaving Annie on her own. Later, Ebony, another special needs cat, was taken in and they became devoted companions. Sadly, Ebony developed a tumour recently and had to be put to sleep, so Annie is on her own again. But she is lucky to be secure and cared for. She has her own cabin and is free to come and go as she pleases. She responds to her carer, but is very distrustful of anyone else.

Seal-point Bill and his lighter brother Bob are Birmans who came to us in August 2011. They are 14 years old and both have medical issues, so it has been decided that they will become 'special needs' cats and will stay in our care. Both cats have had to have most of their teeth removed due to nasty infected gums, both have heart mumurs, both have onset of kidney failure so need to be on a special renal diet, and Bill also has high blood presure, so needs to be on medication for that! They are very friendly cats, very quiet (so far) and sleep a lot. They also love each other to bits!

Daisy and Maisie came to us as kittens towards the end of 2010, with their mother and another sibling, as there was some concern about their health. The mother and sibling both died of a rare illness soon after and there was uncertainty whether the girls had the same disease. It has now been decided that they should stay in the care of Oxford and District Branch so that a close eye can be kept on them. As you can see, they are now rather elegant supermodels of cats, clearly content with their lot.

Stella was found,along with another kitten, in the Wood Farm area in Oxford. Her mum was a feral. As she was a rather sickly kitten, she had various tests that proved she was suffering from a condition called portosystemic shunt, a congential defect in which an abnormal blood vessel shunts blood from the intestines straignt into the general circulation, bypassing the liver. In a normal cat, blood returning from the intestines is processed and detoxified in the liver before being passed to the rest of the body. In a cat with this condition, the blood is not detoxified and this can cause clinical signs such as shivering, drooling of saliva, increased vocalisation and aggression, and poor growth. Around December of 2009 Stella had a major operation at the Cambridge Vet School to correct the shunt, and has gone from strength to strength. Stella was unwell December 2011, and after specific blood tests, we discovered that her liver is now not working to full capacity anymore, and she needs to go on a special diet and will have to have daily medication to help her cope. Only about 10% of cats survive this condition, as it is a complicated and serious disorder.