Mum and I were cat-crazy — then we decided it was meow or never. By Lauren Sheldrick, 26
As I cradled the tiny ball of fur in my arms, it purred gently away.
‘I love you Macy May,’ I said, cooing over my new pet.
I was eight, and our neighbour’s cat had just given birth to a litter of kittens.
My mum Karen already had a cat called Sooty, and when I’d been drawn to a cute black and white kitten, she’d let me have one of my own.
A year on, Sooty passed away, leaving us devastated.
And, as Macy got older, I told Mum: ‘I can’t stand the thought of losing her too.’
So we’d never end up cat-less, we decided to get more. Soon, Macy had four new feline friends to play with.
Then one day, my uncle came over with a tiny smoky grey kitten in his arms. He worked in a pet shop and said someone had come in, and threatened to drown her.
'Every cat is different'
We were horrified, and Mum immediately said: ‘We’ll take her.’
Misty, as we named her, fitted right in and she inspired us to take in more rescue cats, including a stray we brought back from a holiday in Rhodes, who we named Mehmet.
By the time I left to go to university, we had 11 cats roaming the house!
Meanwhile, Mum had started working at a local pub.
‘The customers calls me the cat lady now!’ she told me.
Word had spread around the local community that Mum was someone who would help a puss in a pickle, and whenever I returned, there always seemed to be a new arrival.
Mum would either try to find them new homes or neuter them.
When I moved back home to Llandrindod Wells, Powys, after uni, Mum said: ‘Let’s turn our place into a rescue centre.’
‘I’m in!’ I replied.
We lived in a bungalow, and began using all the space we had to take in cats in need.
‘I think they call that a catio!’ I said after we set up an outdoor enclosure for them in the garden.
Together, we created our own web page, calling our rescue centre Karen’s Cat Community.
‘This is in honour of Sooty,’ I said, showing her the logo I’d come up with, including a regal black cat. ‘After all, Sooty’s the one that started it all.’
We had our hands full, nursing kittens back to health, and taking in older moggies whose owners had passed away, or could no longer look after them.
‘How on earth do you remember all their names?’ a friend chuckled when she popped in, and I started pointing out who was who.
‘Because every cat is different!’ I replied. ‘I’ve never met a cat with the same personality.’
Mum and I quickly fell into a routine.
We fed, cleaned and medicated all our fur babies three times a day.
Then there were regular visits to the vets for neutering and vaccinations. The bills didn’t come cheap.
At first, Mum and I did it all out of our own pockets, combining our wages.
We needed some help, so we started a TikTok account, posting photos and videos of our cats, and encouraged our followers to donate.
‘Wow, we’re getting so much support,’ I told Mum, as I read the comments on our posts.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a huge surge in unwanted pets, as people got rid of ones they’d bought during lockdown.
We went from taking in one or two litters of kittens a year, to four or five.
These cats desperately need to be re-homed, we posted on TikTok, sharing each one’s story.
When we decided to go full-time, our followers responded, giving donations to help us run things.
Although it was hard work, finding our cats their fur-ever home was a great feeling.
So far, this year, we’ve helped and re-homed over 70 cats.
We’re still fundraising online to help support the 23 kittens and four adult cats in our care, including Jess, who has medical issues that require specialist vets.
Over these last years, Mum and I worked out we’ve rescued nearly 300 cats, and we’re pushing to become a registered charity.
Our online shop sells handmade seasonal catnip toys and, later this year, we hope to open an actual shop in Llanidloes.
We still have so many cats and kittens looking for the purr-fect family, and hope more people will help.
But just one look at all our cuddly charges, and we can’t help feline good about the future.
To donate go to Lauren’s LinkTree page, linktr.ee/KarensCatCommunity