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Cairo takes over the office

This pretty tabby girl (11) came in when her folks moved overseas to take care of elderly parents and couldn’t take Cairo with them. Cairo enjoys people time, but likes to set the pace of interaction. She’s not a fan of having other cats around, so she’s been promoted to office assistant, and takes her responsibilities seriously. These include providing smooches for people during screentime, warming laps on chilly days, and ensuring a gentle soundtrack of snores at other times.Cairo is spe...

Adopting Austin was a bit hairy

He quickly established a personality that was feisty, bitey and swipey, and most volunteers learned not to get in range of his claws, especially given his long reach.As a Maine Coon, Austin drew attention for his large size and stunning coat, but his behaviour around people really narrowed his chances of being adopted.Austin originally lived with a young couple who had him for two years, and then four years with another man. He was surrendered to CPW at six years old, because his habit of biting...

Stone keepsakes made with love

Headhunted from the Netherlands to take up the position of Professor in Ethical Leadership at Victoria University’s School of Business, Karin and her husband Juan (an IT specialist) moved to New Zealand in September 2016.In January 2017 they fostered senior tabby and white lady Emily from CPW and cared for her for more than five years until she was gently euthanised at almost 20 years due to old age. In March 2022, Karin joined the CPW team as a Friday morning volunteer and is an active and li...

Remembering Hugo Rusbridge

Hugo will be best-remembered by long-standing volunteers from recent years, as he would come in every week to spend hours combing and grooming the cats. He would go around the whole shelter to give every cat an opportunity to be groomed, usually while fending off several cats who wanted Hugo’s services all to themselves!Hugo was particularly fond of Godfrey and Jeremy, having known them since they were kittens. He had a special bond with Godfrey (pictured below), who allowed very few people to...

Consuela retires with grace

She now has a home with people dedicated to meeting her every need. In return, she’s providing her new people with endless joy. Consuela came into our care from a local vet to whom she had been surrendered. She’d originally been in a living situation where she was very much loved, but which had become increasingly unsafe. When Samantha saw the image of a rather dishevelled and sad-looking Consuela on our website, she immediately talked to fiancé Richard about the possibility of offering thi...

President's Report - June 2023

Needing to balance the value of education with potential stress on the cats and availability of volunteer time to manage these visits means that we are not always in a position to assist.However, we currently have a student volunteering with us through the Wellington High School Gateway Work Experience programme, and in the last two months we have welcomed a group of Animal Care Trades Academy students, Brownies from the Berhampore Brownie troupe, and also Rangers from Island Bay. Keeping the nu...

Smokey Joe's amazing new family

Smokey was living as a stray in Hastings when he was rescued, desexed, treated for dental issues and socialised.Vets found that he is FIV+, and has parts of air gun pellets lodged in his palate. These can’t be removed surgically, so he has to put up with a constantly runny nose.Smokey has also battled cystitis and has a host of other health issues – a heart murmur, anaemia, a blood parasite – and is in kidney failure.He was brought down to Wellington to find a home through CPW, as most oth...

Little moosh: remembering Bellah

At CPW, we see hundreds of cats come through the shelter, and every single one is a special personality to us. We care for every cat in the way that’s best for them, even though it hurts more when we have to say goodbye.It was with huge sadness that we had to gently and peacefully let our precious Bellah go recently. She was kept company to her final sleep by both CPW team leads, and the CPW president.This is their tribute to Bellah:“Over the last months we’ve watched Bellah busting to get...

President's report - March 2023

An eventful time is one way to describe the months from December to March. The toll of recent weather events has been enormous on both humans and animals in affected areas, as well as some of our own volunteers.In this newsletter, we reflect on the importance of our links with other rescue groups both routinely and in times of emergency. How and where can Cats Protection Wellington assist?At the time of writing, either one of our team leads or a volunteer has been on site at HUHA’s emergency a...

New CPW building opens with celebration

After years of hard work and planning, the CPW Committee is delighted to officially open the new shelter extension this month.The two-storey addition provides additional facilities for care of our cats, and plans were approved by members in 2019.The “West Wing”, as it has been dubbed by volunteers, has an additional isolation unit, room to introduce cats to potential adopters, additional storage space, and cleaning facilities for staff and volunteers.It also has private living apartments for...

Brave Gus outlives his violent past

Sleek and fit for his 17 years, there are few clues that Gus had a traumatic, abusive kittenhood.He is still cautious of new people, doesn’t like being picked up, and a long pat down his back shows the location of one of two shotgun pellets still buried in his back.Gus originally lived in a gang-house, where he was shot at and tossed over the fence.His neighbour rescued him and kept him for many years.He was brought to CPW for a new home in August 2021, and a vet visit found a number of dental...

President's report - December 2022

First of all I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our team leads, our volunteers, committee and sub-committee members for their ongoing dedication and hard work over this last year.We have had successes and challenges and many unexpected joys peppering yet another year marked by Covid. Throughout it all, the care and love of all of our cats does not wane, and we consider all the effort is undeniably worthwhile.Jeremy’s new building, aka the West Wing, has received final council sign off...

Golden Tama’s golden years home

Tama is an elderly gent who was found sleeping rough on a sad patch of concrete.When he first came in to the CPW shelter, our vets found that he had multiple health issues, including hyperthyroidism, tooth decay and high blood pressure.They also found a couple of growths in his chest, and we prepared to keep him in the shelter for palliative care instead of looking for a foster home for him.So Tama settled into the shelter, loving the warm blankies and comfy sofas, regular food and all the human...

Fundraising book features Jeremy

A book produced to commemorate an Italian poet is raising funds for Cats Protection Wellington – and it includes a picture of Jeremy! He's also featured in a poem which dedicates the book to him and another cat in Rome.Each year, the Italian Embassy in New Zealand marks Italian Language Week with a range of activities and initiatives, including a fund for products which celebrate Italy and/or Italian language.In October 2022, Victoria University teacher and director Dr Marco Sonzogni received ...

Mr Magoo melts healts

Mr Magoo enjoys a cuddle with CPW team lead Delwyn....

Countdown to new building

We’re almost there with CPW’s new shelter building!  CPW, Cranko Architects, and DRD Builders Ltd are onto the last things to do, such as installing a downpipe and heat pump controls, and replacing a door in the laundry. The contents of our storage unit have been delivered and we now have brand new climbing towers in each of the new cat rooms, storage, and bookcases for our records. Heat pumps and cat doors are installed, as is the fire protection system in both buildings, which include...

CPW's oldest foster cat reaches 23

Gypsy had a close bond with Geena, who fostered and loved her for three years....

High demand for desexing help

Oreo was a stray who needed to be desexed before he came in to us. All cats in the CPW shelter are desexed....

Bostik's sticky situation

He was noticed in the machinery room of a local factory, which houses a moving conveyor belt.Unlike other feral cats which occasionally find their way into the building complex, this little tabby was clearly friendly and could potentially be rehomed.One of the factory managers called pest removal company Pestproof Wellington to see if they could rescue the cat. Pestproof rescued CPW cat Mystery in 2020. Production stopped while the cat was trapped, and he was extracted without any injuries. He w...

Nikau Foundation donates $5k to CPW

Tama is one of our cats who benefits from Nikau Foundation's donation. He has ongoing medical needs due to a number of conditions, and is cared for at the shelter....

Mystery's miracle rescue

A pest removal expert seems an unlikely ally to a cat rescue charity, but his rescue of Mystery from destruction was one of the high points of our year. Mystery’s story begins before the 2020 Covid lockdown, when she was still the much-loved companion of an elderly woman. Like many timid cats, she bonded with the one person closest to her and avoided interaction with most other people.  When her person sadly passed away at the beginning of lockdown, Mystery was initially left alone in the...

Keep your cats sun-safe this summer

Keep all your family sun-smart this summer – including your cats! While we’re slapping on our own sunscreen and hats, we also need to protect our pets from the harsh New Zealand sunlight. Cats are just as susceptible to skin cancers as we are, especially those with pale or white colouring. Many people don’t realise that a layer of fur is not always protection against harmful UV rays. At CPW, we often see cats come through who have lost ears due to cancers, and noses are also vulnerable to...

Farewell to Tasman Street Vets

One of CPW’s longest supporting vet partners has sadly closed its doors after a 50 year history.The Tasman Street Vet Centre has participated in our desexing programme for many years, and provided care for many of our foster cats in that time.Practice manager Laura Kaan says there were two main reasons for the decision to close.“We were impacted by Covid, and the building’s no longer meeting our needs.”Originally privately owned and independent, the clinic was sold to National Vet Care, ...

CPW T-shirts now online

CPW’s online shop now offers more items to buy, alongside our calendars and Christmas cards. Marketing subcommittee volunteers have been hard at work creating new products for our supporters to enjoy while raising funds for CPW. The CPW-branded “Dreaming Cat” T-shirts, created by designer and volunteer Helen Wang, are available in several sizes in our shop. Modelled above by Max Koh, these have already proved popular, disappearing like hotcakes at the Pride indoor market earlier ...

Shoutout to our volunteers

It's National Volunteer Week, which means it’s time to tell the world how awesome the CPW volunteers are! The one thing all our volunteers have in common is their love for our cats, which is obvious just if you look around the shelter any day of the week. The volunteers genuinely adore the cats, and this has a huge effect on the cats' general happiness and wellbeing. Whether people are helping to clean the shelter every day, part of the homing team, serving on CPW’s governance committee, rai...