Ashford Garden Cattery

Ashford Garden Cattery is part of the RSPCA Kent: Ashford, Tenterden and District Branch.

The Branch does not receive any Government funding and is operated entirely from donations and fundraising.

The Cattery took in its first residents on 9 April 2006 and was officially opened on 26 May 2006 by the Branch President, Mr Paul O'Grady. Since opening, 1500 cats have been brought to the cattery (as of 17 May 2010) and 1382 cats have been rehomed. In 2009, we took in 285 cats and rehomed 278. We can have up to 50-90 cats and kittens at any one time.

The Cattery is open every day (including weekends) from 11.00 am to 3.00 pm. We are closed on Wednesdays for our weekly deep cleaning and our vet arrives to check out all the new residents. Our adoption fee is £70 per cat over 6 months of age, £120 per pair; £80 for a kitten under 6 months of age, £140 per pair. All cats over 6 months of age leave here neutered, fully vaccinated, microchipped, flead and wormed. All cats that come to us unneutered are tested for feline aids and feline leukemia. The kittens leave here with as good a start in life as we can give them. We let kittens be viewed by the public once they are 8-9 weeks of age, they go home fully vaccinated at 12 weeks of age, no exceptions. You will be contacted when the kitten is approximately five months of age to arrange for its neutering. You will be sent a neutering voucher to cover the costs if you go to the Cattery's vet. If you go to a different vet, you will be required to pay the difference, if any. We love adopting kittens out in pairs, but understand if you only want one. All we ask is that they are not left for more than 3-4 hours a day and that you live on a quiet road. We ask you to not let the kitten or kittens out until they are neutered. This is for their own safety and to keep them from getting pregnant or getting another cat pregnant. (A female kitten can get pregnant at 4-5 months of age.) Please don't buy a kitten out of the newspaper - you will spend £40-50 and be lucky if the kitten is wormed. All of our adult cats leave here with as clean a bill of health that our vet thinks is possible. All prospective new owners have a home visit before you adopt a cat or cats and there is a post home visit a few months afterwards to make sure that everything is okay and the cat or cats have settled in fine.

We do our best to keep pairs of cats (or even more in some cases) that come in together to go to a new home together. We do whatever is necessary to get a cat back on its feet. We get cats in that have never seen a vet in their life and they need dentals, blood tests, medication. We get cats that need limbs amputated or have a fractured pelvis due to a road traffic accident. We get cats that have nasty collar wounds that take weeks and weeks to mend. While some cats come and go quite quickly, other cats (usually older ones) can take months and months to rehome. When we take in stray cats, we have no history on them and it is often educated guesswork on determining their ages, so you have to adopt them with an open heart and mind. Some young cats could have had a tough life and look older than they are, some older cats could of been pampered with a good life and look younger than their true age. If we have a cat that has a medical problem while in the cattery, we do our best to be as up front on the condition as possible. We do get cats that have hyperactive thyroids and do need medication for the rest of their lives. There are special people out there that will adopt them and keep up the medication. Are you one of those special people? We never put a healthy cat or a cat that can lead a normal life to sleep!

We get request after request for families with children wanting cats. We don't have a problem with families adopting our cats, but be patient with us if we don't have any family friendly cats in the cattery. It can take you several trips to find that type of "bomb proof" cat. We get so many cats in that have been mistreated by kids or have only lived with one owner and they won't always adjust to a busy home. If they are strays, we do our best to assess them while in the cattery - so if you come visit us with kids, we might rope your kids in for a "kid vs cat" test.

We don't have a problem rehoming indoor cats - some cats come to us without ever living outdoors, some choose not to go outdoors on their own accord and others have medical problems - flu carriers, feline aids, need daily medication or are on special diets. So, those of you that live in flats or on busy roads and feel that you wouldn't be allowed to rehome a cat, please visit us!

There is parking on site, but please be aware that our driveway is extremely narrow, so please take care. When you are picking up or dropping off a cat(s), please park in the car park. We don't want the cats to be stressed by the busy main road.

Hope to see you soon - purrs!!

Looking for Homes

Sophie & Ruby

Timber

Beth

Astrid

Arlene

Sheryl

Cleo

Fern & Holly

Ebony

Foster cats: Honey & Iris

Flora & Alice