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← Feline Care

2025-03-31-accounts

FELINE CARE,, rescue sanctuary advice rehoming Ir 'Annual Re 11 2024-2 25 ear ènding 31st ￿rch 2P)2 Re4istered charity ryumber 114483

Trustees Report

Welcome from our Chair

Every cat who comes through our doors leaves pawprints on our hearts. This year has been no exception. We have celebrated joyful new beginnings as many cats found their forever homes, and we have stood by our longterm residents through complex medical and behavioural challenges. We have also faced the sorrow of saying goodbye to some of our beloved companions, always ensuring their final days were filled with love, dignity and comfort. You can read more about some of these individual journeys in the Our Year section.

Alongside this, we have continued to provide a safe and loving home to around 150 cats at any one time. Some enjoyed the company of friends in our communal spaces, while others roamed the safety of our four-acre site. Many moved on to happy new homes, while others remain with us to enjoy the retirement they deserve. Alongside rehoming, we have also supported families to keep their cats through advice and practical help, ensuring fewer cats need to leave their loved ones behind.

This year also brought change at board level. In January 2025, I was honoured to take on the role of Chair of Trustees, and I am truly excited to support a charity so close to my heart. Stepping into this role gives me the opportunity to help shape its future and continue the incredible work we do for cats in need.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Chair, Ken Hill, for his years of exceptional leadership and dedication since joining the charity in 2011. We are very fortunate that Ken remains a valued member of our board, continuing to give his time, knowledge, and energy to Feline Care.

None of this would be possible without the dedication of our staff, volunteers, trustees, and the unwavering support of our wider community. Every event attended, every donation made, every home offered — all of these acts of kindness make a real difference to the cats who rely on us.

We would also like to extend a special thank you to our donors, whose continued generosity provides the lifeline that keeps our doors open and ensures every cat receives the care they deserve.

As we look ahead to the coming year, we do so with optimism. We know there will be challenges, but with your continued support we can face them together, always putting the cats first. From every whisker, paw, and purr at Feline Care, thank you for being part of our story.

Here’s to another year of care, kindness and new beginnings.

Ciara McGahey Chair

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Who We Are

Feline Care (FC) began life as Feralands, part of another cat rescue charity based in West Sussex, set up to provide lifelong sanctuary to cats from that area, who for various reasons were not able to find homes. Alongside a very active TNR (Trap, Neuter & Return) scheme, over time we began taking in cats from the local area and facilitating our own adoptions.

In 2011 our parent charity made plans to sell our site leaving us with the choice of returning all our residents to their site in Sussex or purchasing the land and becoming a charity in our own right. The choice was obvious!

With huge support from volunteers and the local community, we were able to both raise the funds and establish as a separate registered charity in the extremely tight timescales given to us and keep Feline Care’s doors open to cats.

Feline Care is based in a purpose-built sanctuary at Harling Road, Norfolk, and accommodates an average of 150 cats and offers a neutering scheme for feral and domestic cats. We are governed by a board of trustees with the charity founder, Molly Farrar, living on site. We employ a small team of staff to assist with the daily care of the cats and to manage our fundraising and Charity Shop.

FC is proud to be an independent cat charity, able to support and care for feral, stray and domestic cats, through rescue, re-homing, neutering and educating the public on the responsibilities of pet ownership. The staff and volunteers work tirelessly to relieve the suffering of all types of cats by providing a calm and safe space of sanctuary for their care, in the hope of finding them permanent homes or while they stay with us for treatment.

FC admit cats on a temporary or permanent basis, regardless of age, health, and behaviour. We carefully manage our intake to support those least likely to find help elsewhere or to those who need it most urgently, always with their future happiness and safety in mind.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Our Home

Feline Care’s sanctuary base is set in nearly four acres of land, tucked away at the bottom of a small industrial area in the Breckland region of Norfolk.

The sanctuary set-up includes animal bedrooms and communal pens in a purpose-built single storey building, underfloor heated throughout. Larger areas allow multi-cat families to stay together while their social bonds are assessed prior to rehoming as well as giving socialised cats the chance to make new cat friends.

FC has two quarantine areas used for both quarantine and short stays and an intensive care room for those admitted with medical needs and aim to be flexible enough with space to meet the needs of individual cats.

Purpose built ‘Jellicle’ pens, primarily for cats admitted through the TNR scheme, are unheated and enable outdoor cats to be temporarily sheltered at familiar temperatures, crucial for them to retain their thick coats. Great effort is made to ensure feral cats have a calm and safe experience.

Our entire site is fully enclosed with cat proof fencing, ensuring those that live on site are safe from roads and external factors. We have a car park which cats have no access to and any vehicles on site are escorted in at walking pace.

For free roaming residents, mostly feral cats, there is ample outside space with over three acres of woodland, scrub and meadow which provides a green, pleasant and stimulating environment for those preferring to reside outdoors. Numerous shelter options are offered and all outdoor residents have access to heated bedrooms, should they wish to use them.

The number of permanent residents fluctuates, but we generally have around 60 cats living free on site. We always have a group of residents needing more specialist attention who reside in our kitchen area, but who still have free access to our grounds.

While the charity always aims to help as many cats as possible, its work can never be quantified by numbers alone as the priority is and will always be to help those most in need.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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What We Do

Animals arrive at the sanctuary in a number of ways and for a number of reasons. They may be found as strays, litters bred in the wild, brought to the centre, sometimes dumped at the gates or relinquished by owners no longer able or unwilling to care for them. We have even had a few male cats who self-admitted by climbing over our fences and onto site!

We are also asked to trap strays and sometimes colonies of feral cats and we engage with other organisations to take in large numbers of cats from ‘hoarder’ situations.

Work undertaken with groups of feral cats often includes the control of growing colonies on business premises where cats are captured, neutered and returned to the working environment. The FC team covers primarily the local Breckland area but works closely with other cat and animal charities whenever possible to deal with difficult situations.

Feline Care remains technically full all year round. Admissions are managed purely on a priority basis and are entirely dependent on availability of spaces. We operate an active waiting list of cats whose owners wish to re-home their pets. We tend to focus our admittance on the cats that other rescues may not prioritise, specifically feral or elderly cats and those with medical or behavioural issues.

On arrival, all animals undergo a full health check and any entire males or females are neutered. We scan every cat admitted for a microchip, in case it has become separated from its owners. Any un-microchipped cats are microchipped, these are then dual registered to us and the eventual new owner. Microchipping is essential in reuniting lost cats with their owners, and it gives us peace of mind that for any animal we have chipped, should the owner not be found, the cat will return to us.

All cats admitted are also vaccinated and given parasite treatments for fleas and worms. If other veterinary treatments are required, we will engage appropriate veterinary professionals, including referrals to specialist centres.

It is not uncommon for the veterinary costs for some of the cats we admit to run into thousands of pounds. Our willingness to treat cats with medical needs means we can save the lives of cats that might otherwise be euthanised.

Each animal admitted spends three to four weeks in quarantine, either in one of our quarantine units, or in a separate bedroom area, before being allowed into any communal cat area. During this time we monitor the cat's behaviour, if we discover they dislike other cats, they won’t join a communal area but will remain in an individual bedroom.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Many of the cats we take in will have suffered former trauma and abuse and have resulting behavioural issues. For these cats we work with an animal behaviourist to develop a behaviour plan to be followed by all staff and volunteers and monitored and adapted as required.

We have had great success in transforming angry, scared cats into loving lap cats. We have also successfully toilet trained many cats who have been taught bad habits.

Our adoption fee remains a standard amount regardless of the length of time an animal has been with us or the amount of money we have spent on their care. In some circumstances we may reduce or waive the adoption fee.

For very elderly cats being adopted out for end-of-life care, it is more important for us to get them into the right home environment, than to receive the standard adoption fee. For cats with complex medical issues, we may offer ongoing support for a proportion of their care.

Veterinary care for our cats is managed sympathetically with the help of Cherry Tree vets in Diss, our primary provider, who undertake regular visits to the sanctuary and carry out the majority of neutering.

We have found treating cats here, in their familiar environment, has led to less stress related issues.

We continue to use Knotts Yard Veterinary Practice in Watton and, as a result of diminishing veterinary appointment availability, have also used a number of other veterinary practices this year including Westover, Debenham and The Holistic Vet.

Our free roaming colony of around 60 cats comprises mostly of those who are not people friendly. As their trust grows over time, we never rule out re-homing these cats to suitable homes should it be in their best interest.

We offer lifelong rescue back up for any cats that are admitted and adopted out through us. We hope that every animal adopted out has successfully found their forever family, but understand that life can provide unexpected challenges, so if an owner's circumstances change and they can no longer look after the cat, we take the animal back into our care, regardless of how much time has passed since the adoption.

We tend not to focus on kitten rescue as our sanctuary environment is not set up for baby immune systems but we do help feral and domestic kittens when we have suitable space for them. For behavioural and socialisation reasons, we only re-home kittens in pairs.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Where possible, colonies of feral cats are trapped by us or third parties, then brought into the centre, neutered, left ear clipped as necessary, microchipped and then returned to the location they came from. These sites tend to be rural farms or industrial sites.

Where returning or re-homing is not possible, socialised feral cats are able to join our outdoor colony and to roam free on site. All our outdoor cats have free access to indoor areas. Despotic male cats, in the majority of cases, have to be returned to their area or rehomed as they are not able to live in peace in our colony.

Where we are engaged in removing cats from multi-cat households, we work with the owner to return a small number of cats, following neutering, microchipping and medical care. While they may have been overwhelmed with too many cats, we acknowledge they love their cats and still need them in their life. This usually prevents the owner starting the cycle again with new cats.

We feel that promoting good cat welfare is essential, especially the importance of neutering, microchipping and adopting rather than buying cats bred for sale. We are often called on to discuss cat welfare issues through local radio and we also use our social media platforms to deliver these messages.

People often contact us for our expert advice, even for cats that were not adopted from us. We are happy to give this advice and find in some situations, it can result in a simple change the owner needs to make, or follow and can result in a happier cat and family.

Giving good advice helps to reduce the numbers of cats being given up by owners, reducing the burden on rescues and freeing up spaces for those cats that really need them.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Our Year

As we predicted, our waiting list for admission into our care continued to increase in 2024/25.

This is the first full year that we have used an online admission form process and it continues to save the cattery time and helps us keep records in a more simple manner than our outdated former paperwork process. It’s also hugely helpful in prioritising our workload to help those most in need as quickly as possible.

In the future we hope to be able to draw statistics to help us further improve and direct our support for cats and their owners or carers. For now we note that 61% of owned cats were being relinquished into our care because their owners could not cope. Reasons varied but the cost of veterinary or behavioural help and mental health issues were predominant.

While we do not believe we can quantify the quality of our work with numbers, this information could definitely help us to find ways to help more cats and more families.

We admitted 15% more cats than in the 2023/24 period, testament to the hard working team we now have and managed by Charlotte.

How do we pick specific cats to highlight here when every soul is so precious and every journey has been unique? These might be some of our most memorable but we promise every single cat has been loved!

In 2008 we neutered a group of cats who lived on a stable yard locally. 16 years later the remaining cat from the colony of 12 came to live out his days with us as his home had been sold. Socks is around 19 years old and has settled into our office as he’s a little too old and deaf to be safe outside now.

He doesn’t love us but we absolutely love him!

This litter needed help at very short notice as they were found by children under a tree in a local park.

The RSPCA press released their story to help find their owner while we begged on social media for their owner to get help with neutering mumma.

Their owner never came forward but the family found lovely homes.

10 year old Ollie was found scavenging for food but didn’t look like your average stray. Thanks to the power of social media his owner was soon found and he went home with a newly implanted microchip (as is now law) and over the following week the rest of his family came in to be microchipped too. By law, elderly cats also need to be microchipped!

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Sushi was one of our first admissions in April 2024 and it was his second visit to Feline Care. Sadly he taught us just how hard we need to drill in the importance of pet insurance when cats go to new homes.

He was returned to us with a badly broken leg and his adopters had not taken out a pet insurance policy for him and were not prepared to pay for his treatment.

Sadly, after several weeks of treatment, his leg still had to be amputated. He has now found a family who dote on and love him and have him fully insured.

This year felt extra tough as we experienced several losses in a short space of time. Our kitchen felt sad and lonely without our established family and by chance, Hannah Banana came to all our rescue!

The little feral girl had testing health issues, mostly snot related, so she had to stay a while for befriending and medicine. She abandoned her feral fear very quickly and soon became our emotional support monkey, making us smile and distracting us with her happiness at every opportunity.

Much as we loved her, when she was finally fighting fit, she found her forever home.

Austin arrived as a defensive feral chap with swollen and bleeding feet due to a condition known as ‘puffy feet’: plasma cell pododermatitis. Thought to be immune related, he had by far the worst case we have ever seen. He was so badly affected that eventually the only treatment option was to risk surgery to remove the swollen tissue.

Thankfully the surgery was successful and along his journey he turned into the most amazingly appreciative patient. He went from striking out to seeking out a lap then finally he found his forever home in August.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Milo, with his rare toe problems, toileting issues and brain dysfunction, finally got lucky after over 18 months in our care when he found his perfect people to tolerate his problems and love him to bits!

After just one month in his new home we were delighted to be told he’d won an award for using the litter tray for 6 out 7 days!

Always very thankful for cat lovers with an extra large sense of humour alongside their kind hearts!

A very rude man turned up at our gates with his elderly cat because a change of life circumstances meant Blu was now an inconvenience.

We soon found out that Blu had major ear problems and a serious heart condition, both untreated.

After 4 months in our care, Blu was fit enough for a total ear canal ablation and lateral bulla osteotomy in both ears, to finally give him lasting comfort. His veterinary costs ran to well over £3k, mostly kindly donated by supporters.

Petunia made us extra sad as she’d been trying to move in with neighbours for months after her owner moved out and left her behind.

Her microchip was registered to her original owner, who was angry and sad that she had been left behind. She spoke to her ex-partner, Petunia’s current owner, who said he didn’t care what happened to her.

We care. And now her new family are delighted to love her and spoil her as much as she deserves.

One of our biggest and most complicated jobs of the year was trapping cats on an industrial site where we had trapped and neutered a large group of cats many years previously. The entire group sadly had to be relocated as their home was due to be demolished.

It was very rewarding to find that the 37 we originally neutered had mostly all stayed living in the same area and only 6 of the group were unaccounted for. There were 2 new cats in the group, one of which lived very locally so just popped over for food.

Trapping in a built up area where so many people cared for the cats made the process a slow nightmare as we just couldn’t stop people putting out more food, stopping the cats from going in our traps. The almost all black group are now living with our existing colony of cats.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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In February we tackled the most emotionally challenging rescue of the year: a touring caravan, piled full of many years of saved items, with seven cats living among/above it all. They were not allowed outside as their owner wanted to keep them safe, but sadly he was unable to care for them or himself. A family member contacted us for help after he sadly passed away.

Catching the cats had to happen over a couple of days due to the overwhelming clutter we had to unload to reach each cat. When we finally made room to set a trap, the last cat was caught overnight as he was too terrified to even be seen by us. He had a hind paw missing which did not appear to have been surgically removed.

Another two cats were also caught outside. Having never met the cats from inside the caravan, they were housed separately. We named all nine cats after characters from the popular series ‘Trailer Park Boys’.

Our hearts ached for their owner, despite their poor condition and horrific living conditions, we know he loved the cats. It’s one of the many cases we have dealt with this year highlighting the lack of mental health support in our communities. We hope their owner knows how committed we are to their well-being and happy futures.

Our toughest farm job was a farmer who was feeding his group of 15 cats on a diet of dog food, brown bread and cat biscuits. Not only did he need persuading to let us neuter his bedraggled family, we also had to cover diet, worming and hygiene in their food and bedroom area.

We remain aware that sometimes people genuinely love their cats even when they are not doing right by them. Sometimes they just need a kind word and support to help improve lives.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Chicken Nugget got points for arriving with the best name but we’re not sure if it slowed down his homing as he ended up staying with us for a crazy eight months.

This poor baby bunny was gifted by Sabrina and went to a local wildlife hospital to recover. We still have no idea where Sabrina found a baby bunny in our grounds!

Perdita, a very pretty lady in her 60s, came to stay for a fortnight when she was very poorly after her hibernation and needed daily injections and close monitoring.

In January, with the aim of getting ahead of kitten season, we distributed letters to every home on a local estate known to have frequent issues with strays and kittens. We offered free neutering and microchipping to around 200 addresses.

Like most tasks here, we had full cat support and Super G particularly enjoyed helping with folding letters and putting them in envelopes prior to hand delivery.

The uptake was not huge but all cat owners that we spoke to were very grateful that we were trying to solve the blossoming problem. We will have a better idea of how well it worked by the end of 2025 but to date we have not been made aware of any cats or kittens in need on the estate so we hope it helped!

We have been very lucky to rely heavily on donations of wet food throughout the year to keep our cats full up. We buy in bulk from Royal Canin so our core biscuit remains the same for sensitive tummies, adding good quality donated biscuits to a mix to give some variety of flavour. Wet food donations are carefully managed so cats don’t change diets during their stay.

Some donated biscuits are saved for farm cats we support in the community although we find farms depend on us less once their populations stabilise thanks to neutering.

We continue to focus on quality food and avoid added sugars and cereal for our resident cats which has continued to support our colony’s good health. Kittens are also not fed cereal or sugar so we know they leave us having had the best possible start to life!

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Our social media presence continues to grow and we have over 13,000 supporters on our main Facebook page. We post at least daily and it is used for our core online fundraising. We have found Facebook to be extremely helpful as an educational and communication tool and will continue to grow our social media presence on Facebook and other platforms.

We also have Facebook groups for volunteers, fundraising and our shop plus we regularly use Instagram and are still growing our TikTok audience.

Our web-based application for potential adopters continues to prove successful. This process reduces call time for potential adopters that we have no cat matches for and allows us to process applications at unsociable times which can take pressure off the cattery. It also means people can get the adoption ball rolling at any time of day.

Any possible adoption matches are discussed by phone prior to visiting which means less visitors disturbing our feral population on site and less staff time used.

Home visits are still carried out virtually, usually by WhatsApp and usually with feline assistance, and arrangements to collect the cat will be made as soon as possible after.

We provide ongoing support, advice and assistance to adopters if they require it. Our minimum adoption donation remained at £75 per cat or kitten.

We continue to offer microchipping to all neutered cats for £5 per microchip, if the cat is not neutered then we offer advice and help as needed. We will not support breeders with microchipping.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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In Remembrance

This year might have been one of our hardest ever, losing several of our long term residents in just a few months was tough on us all.

As a sanctuary primarily, this is what we are here for: to give cats a forever home when they need us. We are proud to have the option to give appropriate quality of life during palliative care, with support from some kind hearted and compassionate vets.

Roy was the first cat we admitted in 2024, his condition was so poor that we knew we had to pour the love into him asap because he might not have long. While it might hurt our hearts, it’s a beautiful gift to be able to give a cat the care they have missed in life.

Roy needed lots of dental work as soon as he arrived to make him comfortable but his list of ailments was long: FIV+, liver disease, hyperthyroid, chronic kidney disease, possible IBD/lymphoma, anaemia and had not been chipped or castrated.

We treated him sympathetically and pragmatically, knowing we could only extend his life long enough to show him how great life could be. We had 18 weeks before his quality of life started to deteriorate and we felt it was right to call it for him. We know he left us feeling so loved, living in warmth and comfort with cats and people that loved him.

Tilly arrived with half of her tail bone exposed. Her family moved home and left her with neighbours, who then decided they didn’t want her either, perhaps when they realised she needed veterinary care.

Tilly needed her tail surgically tidied up but also had lymphoma and a heart murmur, not that anything stopped her from being her magical self!

We hoped someone would consider taking her home for palliative care, but those homes are few and far between. We got to love Tilly for seven months and we can’t thank her enough for all the laughs and love she gave us.

October was when our biggest challenges came, losing Luna, Zelda, Ginger Balls, Thomas and Lulu Domino in a space of a month. It was very much too much for all of our hearts.

Luna was the last of her family to leave us, she came in with a group of 17 cats from one very sad household. The most confident of the very neglected cats found homes but Luna was one of five who just hadn’t ever had enough positive interaction with people.

Over her eight years with us, she learned we were pretty tolerable! Luna might get the prize for the biggest Dreamie lover ever, she would have loved them to turn Dreamies into a complete food!

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Zelda and Thomas were part of our FeLV family, living separate from other cats as there is a risk of it being passed on even between neutered and socialised cats. Neither of them were great fans of people but it didn’t mean we couldn’t provide them a comfortable and happy home.

Feral beauty Ginger Balls let himself in by climbing over our fence and then he couldn’t get out! He loved his home here but 3 years later sadly we found out, after bringing him in for weight loss, that he had kidney disease.

He moved permanently indoors so we could keep a closer eye and support him better with medication, and he found a new world of comfort and made friends with every cat he met. A year later we finally felt it was time.

Lulu Domino was a biggy. One of the 48 ‘Domino’ cats we admitted from one overwhelmed home who was sadly plagued with ‘flu and tummy issues. She lived free here for a couple of years but to look after her better she moved into our kitchen and for the next five years she lived her best life.

Occasionally Lulu would need a spell in our ICU but otherwise she would be found in the pile of cats on our bench or snuggled in a ball with her best friend Muffin.

Poor Lulu was one of few cats who don’t have the blessing of being helped to sleep at home. While it might be an added expense, we feel it’s an important way to make their journey peaceful. Lulu went, in the arms of people who love her, at the vets because her heart murmur was too bad to attempt further treatment or moving her again.

Daughter came to us with her mum and brother, Girly and Son. Girly had mammary tumours, common in cats who have not been spayed as their risk of having them increases with every season they have. Son found a home as he grew to like people. Daughter lived free here.

Daughter maintained her disgust of people for her full 6½ years here and we loved her for it! She would happily follow us and shout at us for food, but we were not allowed to show her any love or give her any strokes!

We love how much she loved her life with us. Seeing her lounge so comfortably and her very special relationships with the other cats was worth the world to us. She loved piling in on a cuddle with her new family here.

How can a cat who didn’t even like us leave such a huge hole in our lives? Daughter definitely did.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Tommy hurts us. It’s rare for us to feel like we have made a drastically wrong decision for a cat but we did for Tommy. We put our trust in highly specialist vets and we have no faith that he didn’t go through extreme trauma as a result of our decision.

Tommy was a loving, gentle, playful and confident little boy who had a condition called pectus excavatum.

Action is ongoing with the vets in question.

We’re sorry Tommy xx

Born feral, Muffin spent 11 years calling Feline Care her home and she was so full of love, for us and all her cat family (especially Lulu). Her health dictated whether she would ever find a home as she was very susceptible to stress, but she did find her home here.

Much as we were hurt by her loss, it felt right to think of her and Lulu being reunited in the afterfields.

Nonny was admitted as a stray but the little old man had a plethora of health issues so within the first month we established he was living with us for palliative care.

Everyone who met him fell in love with him and despite thyroid, kidney and bowel issues, he didn’t even know he was poorly! It was such a privilege to be able to give him his last seven months living like our special prince.

Sharni From a 10th storey flat in South London, was one of 10 cats, and once she settled in, she ruled her world and ours for the best part of five years. She liked to hang out on shoulders, investigate everything that arrived, meet every visitor, cuddle every cat, sniff every new smell!

She found a new home in her early days here, but was returned a few weeks later because she was so stressed she had pulled most of her fur out. She knew FC was her home and whenever she didn’t get her own way she fell back on plucking her coat and spitting her fur out, so Sharni always got her own way (or a fun distraction!)

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Our final major loss of the year was precious Olive , star of our front cover. Another long term and formerly feral resident who touched the souls of the people she bonded with.

She was a feisty and untouchable lady until she had an eye injury from a thorn bush and we had to think of inventive ways to medicate her eye! From then on she understood people are here to help her and she returned our love tenfold.

In her later years she was happy to shout at most people for a fuss when she required it. Her voice and smiles are still so missed.

As ever, we couldn’t hope to care for feral cats without the pragmatic and fair guidance of the vets we work with because there’s nothing text book about our feral family!

We remain so grateful to have been able to give every one of these precious souls the home they loved and the happiness they deserved. It’s a true gift to give them love and peace as they need it.

None of this could be done without the generous support of cat lovers not only across Norfolk, East Anglia and the UK but from across the globe.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Our Euthanasia Policy

Euthanasia is a controversial topic but we acknowledge and appreciate its relevance to supporters of animal welfare charities.

It is our policy to make decisions based on ‘ euthanasia. absolutely justified’

We believe in euthanasia when quality of life is unlikely to be restored.

As a sanctuary, where cats may live out their days, we believe it is our duty to care for the cats in our home as if they were our family. We take pleasure in giving them their best quality of life but we do feel it is important to give cats a pain free, calm and dignified passing as suffering is not fair on them or those of us who care about them.

Euthanasia could be described as being contextually justified when there is at least one better option available but the circumstances are such that it could not be taken, therefore euthanasia is the best available option.

There may be times when a vet could suggest many alternatives to euthanasia that would give the animal a good quality of life. If these were not undertaken the reason for euthanasia could be described as nonjustified .

~ BVA Guide to Euthanasia, 2016

For some cats, their health immediately indicates their treatment and any decisions, but where cats have a long term illness and more gradual decline the burden falls on us to time and plan ahead to make their last moments as calm and gentle as possible. Unless the situation dictates otherwise, we always use home euthanasia as we believe cats should be in the place they know, with the sounds, smells and feels of home. Last moments should be as comfortable as we can make them. They deserve that dignity even more so because most of the cats who live out their days here have been grossly let down by humankind in their past.

Whenever possible, if we are able to plan the moment, cats are given a ‘Princess Day’ to ensure their last moments are full of as much happiness as possible. Princess Day is very much planned around the individual. Volunteers and staff may come in specially to spend time with them or they might like to watch wildlife television, they might like to eat special things or just hang out with their cat friends.

None of the cats we take in are put to sleep unless professional medical advice suggests it is in their best interest. We are grateful to be able to see residents live well into old age in the comfort of this safe haven, even when they have extra care needs. If the cat's medical or behaviour needs mean they cannot be re-homed, they are able to live out life as our permanent family.

We are privileged to work with some wonderful vets who support our cats and our team very well at these difficult times.

Feline Care Annual Report 2024 – 2025

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Our Mission

To relieve the suffering of domestic, feral and stray cats that are unwanted, abused or abandoned, regardless of their colour, breed, temperament, age or medical conditions, by providing shelter, medical aid and care.

To find permanent, loving homes for the cats that come into our care and to offer lifelong care and shelter for those that cannot be re-homed

To promote high standards of companion animal ownership and responsible management of domestic, stray and feral cats, through neutering.

To advance education in need for responsible ownership.

Structure Governance and Management

Feline Care began operating as an independent charity on 1 April 2012. The Trustees, as charity trustees, have control of FC, its property and funds. They are governed by the Trust Deed signed on 7 September 2011. Trustees were appointed for varying terms of office to ensure continuity. At the end of each term of office, the remaining Trustees agree either to reappoint or to appoint a new Trustee. Should a Trustee resign mid-term, a new Trustee may be appointed. New or reappointed Trustees have a three-year term of office.

Our Trustees 2024/2025

Ciara McGahey (Chair) (A. Jan25) Molly Farrar Kenneth Hill Stephanie Kayne Julia Carman (Treasurer) (A. Jan25) Carrianne Freemanhall (R. Dec24)

All Trustees serve voluntarily and receive no pay or benefits for their work. The only exception is Molly Farrar, who, in addition to her voluntary Trustee role, is also employed by Feline Care in an advisory capacity, having resigned from management.

The Trustees hold quarterly meetings, presided over by the Chair. A quorum of at least three of the five appointed Trustees must be present for a meeting to proceed. The agendas for meetings have as routine business: matters arising, updated financial report, fundraising and staffing issues. Other matters are included for discussion and agreement as necessary.

The Trustees are responsible for significant strategic decisions. Day-to-day operational decisions are delegated to the full-time manager, Charlotte Taylor.

The independent review of the FC accounts was undertaken by SCS Accountancy Solutions Ltd of Dereham. Payroll is managed by Becky Potiphar who manages it voluntarily in house.

We are still proud to have Rick Wakeman’s support as our Patron.

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Staff and Volunteers

We have a small team of part-time and full-time staff:

1 x FT charity manager 1 x FT founder 1 x FT senior cattery assistant 1 x FT shop manager 1 x FT cattery assistant 1 x PT shop assistant 2 x PT cattery assistants 1 x PT volunteer and fostering coordinator (new)

With support of a consultant, initially brought in to help update our business model, we hired a charity manager to oversee the running of the cattery and charity shop. Charlotte Taylor has been with us for a year now and has been instrumental in bringing us up to date with policies and procedures across the board as well as enabling us to grow the staff and volunteering team.

Founding Trustee, Molly Farrar, continues to provide full time support with the aim of reducing hours long term. Her commitment to the cats for 18 years remains as strong as ever and to make sure the charity survives forever for the cats who need us, we acknowledge it is necessary to spread the knowledge and workload among more people.

This year the cattery has settled into a great routine and we have been lucky to have a core staff at the sanctuary comprising our senior cattery assistant and two part time assistants. We decided to change the 2nd PT cattery role slightly and increase our efficiency by creating a new position to support exclusively with evening feeding.

Our cattery assistants, center manager and founder work from our Sanctuary site and between them provide full time 7 day a week coverage. We always have someone on site overnight. Our team collectively have a great deal of specialised cat care knowledge, including the ability to hand rear kittens, provide higher level nursing care and give minor medical treatments under the supervision of veterinary professionals.

One of our FT cattery staff members, Ella, has successfully taken on responsibility for adoptions and is having great results matching cats to their perfect people.

Louise, our fundraising and shop manager, had seen an increase in workload with our very successful eBay store continuing to go from strength to strength. As a result we have worked to make sure she has the right support in place to hand over some of her tasks and feel more able to dedicate her time effectively to raising the most money for the cats.

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One of our biggest staffing challenges this year was losing our Senior Animal Welfare Assistant to jury service for 6 weeks. This hit us hard as losing an irreplaceable member of a small team for so long was a huge strain on the remaining staff.

We couldn’t do what we do without the dedication of our volunteers. Some can only offer a few hours every month, and some have been committing hours a week for many years, to support us looking after the cats in our care in many different ways.

Every minute people can give is precious to our team and to the cats in our care.

This year we have been able to neuter and support a lot more cats thanks to great uptake for transport volunteers after a public request. We now have a dedicated group of “Kitty Taxi Superheroes”, who transport cats between their homes, the Sanctuary and vets. All coordinated by Senior Animal Welfare Assistant, Tanya.

We are also delighted that many of those who offer help with transport or cuddling cats are getting more involved and coming to the sanctuary to support in other ways as well. We have also been able to extend our fundraising team for the first time in many years.

Just a few of the many things our volunteers have done for the cats across the last year:

Our continued thanks go to everyone who gives their time, skills, services, donations or love to the cats here at Feline Care.

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Our Shops and Fundraising

We receive no government funding and adoption fees cover only a fraction of our costs. Most of our funding comes from our Attleborough shop and other fundraising activities.

Our Attleborough shop continued to trade normally this year with our shop manager and part time shop assistant being supported by a dedicated core of shop volunteers.

With great help from volunteers, Louise increased our sales through eBay by just over £5,000 compared to last year. Currently over 550 people have us on their saved seller list, around 550 to 600 items are listed for sale at any one time and we have a 100% positive feedback score.

Monthly pop-up shop events, run from our car park, continue to be popular, with people coming to purchase bargains, donate and try their luck on our tombola. This is a great extra fundraiser from stock turned over by our charity shop. We also have a very popular vegan cake stand at these events as well, which always sells out.

We have relied heavily this year on volunteers to run stalls and attend events as we increased the number of events we have been attending. We are also lucky to have keen supporters who fundraise for us like Sandra who has encouraged her primary school to support us as their charity of the year, we were delighted to hear we had been picked by school pupils for this honour in November.

Natures Menu, who have a warehouse very locally to us, kindly named us as their staff’s charity of choice for the year in Oct 2024. This means that we will be donated money raised from raffles and other activities organised for employees. Natures Menu has also provided us with over a pallet load of food since October.

Fundraising events have been much higher in number, a huge 36 this year, including restarting tin shakes at local supermarkets and more events locally. Finding volunteers for these events is still one of our biggest hurdles however.

Once again volunteer Julie ran spectacular hamper raffles for us at Christmas and Easter, raising over £5,000 and £3,000 consecutively.

i:“NG)| Having witnessed the positive results of less visitors to the sanctuary, open days will not return unless we can make them less stressful to the cats. This decision has been very difficult as they are well supported and enjoyed by the whole team, supporters and the wider community.

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Work Undertaken

For the second year running we have focussed on reducing our operational spending as far as possible to maintain our reserves. With big plans ahead for change, we have limited our projects on site to maintenance and enrichment.

Maintenance of our buildings and grounds is a huge undertaking and Olly has continued to volunteer his time to FC which is a huge saving for the charity.

We have made lots of improvements to our woodland areas with additional cover from the rain and extra hiding or snoozing places. These are private areas for cats where they do not have to tolerate much human activity so any work carried out has to be with great sensitivity to our feral cat family!

Keeping nettles and bramble under control has been very successful and we have been surfacing our woodland paths with cinders to make them a more permanent and a more stable surface.

The relocation of some operations on site and settling into new areas continued with:

We successfully achieved our goal of upgrading our waste procedures for both the sanctuary and the shop this year. By working effectively with Breckland Council and optimizing our collection schedule, we have created an efficient, dedicated waste process on site. The closure of fundraising schemes by Terracycle, while a big financial loss, has contributed to a much tidier site and negated the need for our planned recycling point.

While the Airstream cake cafe seemed like a sensible project to throw ourselves into, we have had to face that time has not been on our side and the skills needed to move the project forward might be beyond us.

Our health and safety plans were continually updated, and Charlotte has been implementing new safety measures across the cattery site and our Charity Shop.

We have not followed up on a new ambulance this year as we have been so lucky to have been so well supported by our transport volunteers. This will stay under review in the future.

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We’ve produced two new leaflets this year, an updated general leaflet and an informative leaflet listing the reasons to neuter your cat.

We trialled and supported the launch of a new brand of cat litter, Call of Nature. Stock was also provided to give out to adopters.

In August we were truly delighted to have a new catio installed on the back of our kitchen to give any cats who are not allowed free access their own space to sunbathe.

Upgrading and making safe our drive and car park, with huge help and support from local business Holbrooks including their finest plant driver.

And finally, one of the most satisfying jobs was new shelves in our feral cat bedrooms which have been met with approval. Carrying out work in feral bedrooms is always planned well so time spent in their area is as limited as possible.

They have made cleaning out their bedrooms quicker and easier, so therefore more pleasant for cats.

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The Future

Every care continues to be taken to ensure that expenditure is kept under control, whilst ensuring that the wellbeing of the animals does not suffer. However, substantial investment will still need to be made in continuing the programme of upgrading and maintaining accommodation for the cats and for the building of permanent staff accommodation at the sanctuary; the charity continues to save for this purpose.

Ring-fenced reserves ensure investment for the long term survival of the charity and our Perfect Home Project remains a continuing priority in the longer term.

Applications for grants and donations aimed specifically at the Perfect Home Project took a back seat this year while we were undergoing consultancy.

The Project will be revisited in the year ahead as the need for vet provision on site and for the cats we support in the community has greatly increased. We will look to investigate the feasibility of adding vet provision to our Perfect Home, including low cost support for members of the public.

Remaining long term elements of the Project include:

Continued delivery of the Perfect Home Project will go a long way to future-proofing our work.

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Trustees’ Financial Review

Financial Performance

The Trustees are pleased to report that the financial year 2024/25 was marked by continued growth and strategic progress for Feline Care. Total income rose to £335,276, up from £268,366 in 2023/24, driven by increased legacies, donations, and strong trading performance. Expenditure also increased to £258,742 (from £194,480), reflecting our ongoing investment in animal welfare, staffing, and infrastructure.

The resulting net income of £76,534 (22.83% of gross income) has been added to reserves, reinforcing our financial resilience and enabling us to pursue key strategic initiatives.

At year-end, our cash and bank balances stood at £399,823, up from £339,491, ensuring a strong liquidity position.

Reserves Policy

The Trustees maintain a reserves policy in line with Charity Commission guidance, ensuring that unrestricted reserves cover at least one year of operating costs to safeguard the charity’s sustainability.

As of 31st March 2025, unrestricted reserves stood at £491,025. While this exceeds the minimum threshold, a significant portion is strategically allocated to the Perfect Home Project, a multi-phase infrastructure initiative central to our long-term vision. These funds are held in designated accounts and will be deployed in stages to support critical developments, now potentially including on-site veterinary provision should this prove viable.

The Trustees remain committed to responsible financial stewardship, ensuring that reserves are actively invested in mission-driven outcomes. Continued support from grant-making bodies is essential to deliver these transformative projects and maintain our capacity to respond to emerging needs in feline welfare.

Strategic Outlook

Looking ahead, the Trustees remain focused on:

We extend our heartfelt thanks to our supporters, volunteers, and staff, whose dedication and generosity make our work possible.

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Feline Care

Independent Examiner’s Report

I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025, which are set out in the accompanying financial statements.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I have carried out an independent examination of the accounts in accordance with section 145 of the Act. My examination was carried out in accordance with the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

    1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: - to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act; and

  2. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act

have not been met; or

    1. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

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Statement of Financial Activities Year Ending 31st March 2025

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Balance Sheet Year Ending 31st March 2025

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Notes to the Financial Statements Year Ending 31st March 2025

1. Accounting Policies for Feline Care

Year Ending 31 March 2025

1.1. Basis of Preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with:

Feline Care meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention.

1.2. Income Recognition

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, the amount can be measured reliably, and it is probable that the income will be received.

1.3. Expenditure Recognition

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred.

1.4. Tangible Fixed Assets

Land is stated at cost and is not depreciated as it is considered to have an indefinite useful life. No other tangible fixed assets are held.

1.5. Stocks

The charity does not hold stock at year-end. Items for resale are expensed when purchased.

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1.6. Debtors

Debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments and accrued income are included where income is receivable but not yet received.

1.7. Cash at Bank and in Hand

Cash includes cash in hand and deposits held at call with banks.

1.8. Creditors and Liabilities

Creditors are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds and the amount can be measured or estimated reliably.

1.9. Funds

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Notes to the Financial Statements Year Ending 31st March 2025

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Notes to the Financial Statements Year Ending 31st March 2025

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Notes to the Financial Statements Year Ending 31st March 2025

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Declaration

The Trustees declare that they approved the Annual Report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s Trustees:

Signed : …………………………………………

Ciara McGahey, Chair Dated : 16/11/2025

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