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Every cat a happy ending
When cats become disabled or chronically ill, they are often surrendered by their families. Unfortunately, some of those poor felines don’t even get accepted into shelters because their chances at adoption are minimal. To save these precious lives, ‘De Katten-Brigade vzw’, which translates to ‘The Cat Brigade NGO’, came up with an amazing initiative to give these cats the wonderful life they deserve.
The place where it all happens
To provide all the special needs cats with a welcoming home, the NGO is housed in an almost magical place: the ‘Blutsjestehuis’ – a shelter for cats with ‘blutsjes’ or dents. Unfortunately, the original Blutsjestehuis burned down in 2016, forcing the Brigade to move into a rental house for two years. In 2018, they finally found a new place in the Belgian province of Hainaut which they turned into a colorful house filled to the brim with cat love. Let us show you around!
Winston
Martin
Pirjo
Nassuka
Otis
Nell
Pjotr
Marley
The most colorful cat house
Each room in the house is painted in a bright color and assigned to cats with one specific type of disability. There’s the purple room for the paralyzed cats, the green room for the cats with bladder issues, and the blue room for cats suffering from ataxia – which means these cats can no longer move in a coordinated and consistent way. There’s a room for the blind cats, a room for the cats with FeLV, a room for the cats that need close monitoring, and many rooms more. Besides, the shelter is equipped with a general playroom, called the treehouse.
How can you help?
Taking care of special needs cats is quite expensive. Think about all the cat food, furniture, litter, meds, toys and vet visits that are needed. And then there’s the water bill, the heating bill, the electricity bill,… you get the point. To finance all this, the NGO counts on donations.
If you speak Dutch, or know your way around Google Translate, make sure to have a look at the Blutsjestehuis website.
If your Dutch is a little rusty, feel free to do some research into similar initiatives in your neighborhood. Remember: sponsoring cat help organizations doesn’t have to cost a fortune. A small gesture, whether financial or not, could make a huge difference. Do you know of any shelters that are just as amazing as Blutsjestehuis? Add them to our cat shelter list!
