For Day 11 of our Reverse Christmas Advent Calendar, we created a bundle of cat food and toys for the Warrington branch of Cats Protection.

More than 100 animals are abandoned every day in the UK many of these being cats for a multitude of reasons. This number becomes even higher after Christmas and many families buy cats, dogs or other pets for their children for Christmas only for them to be abandoned when the appeal wears off, a family member finds they are allergic or for many other reasons.

Cats Protection started in 1927 and has grown to become the UK’s leading feline welfare charity. They help around 200,000 cats and kittens each year through their network of 250 volunteer-run branches and 36 centres. Their strategy acknowledges that by educating and informing adults and children of cat welfare, they can achieve their vision of a world where every cat is treated with kindness and an understanding of its needs. They provide an array of cat information via publications, the help and advice section on their site and via a National Information Line, they also promote the benefits of neutering to prevent unwanted cat litters, which then become the abandoned cats of tomorrow.

Animal welfare is close to the heart of our lead frontend developer Liam and we decided to donate some supplies to the Warrington Branch as this is where he adopted his old kitty cat from. Liam decided to adopt an older cat instead of a younger one because older cats always struggle to get adopted and he wanted the kitty to live out its remaining years in a loving home instead of waiting and possibly not getting adopted. Liam has now had his adopted cat for almost 3 years and can confirm he has done everything he can to make sure his cat is loved and cared for in its final years.