The Big Leap Fundraiser 2020: Getting Our North London Cat Clinic off the Ground
And so we have almost arrived!
This is our one and only funding push to open the long awaited and very much needed CATCUDDLES CAT CLINIC in London, run by the charity and a great team of experienced, charity-minded Vet & Vet nurse, who are joining us in this amazing effort to the next big step in our dedicated, incomparable Cat Work.
We do not believe in bad timing.
We believe in the will of those who believe in what’s possible.
So, for the first time in our history, we are inviting ALL of our friends, past adopters, people we helped and advised, rescuers, volunteers, members of our dear Catcuddles Facebook Community (of several thousands) and cat people who want to see something positive happen in a time of gloom, to look at our Crowdfunding Page and see how they - You- can each pitch in, as well as spread the word among those with feline sensitivities who wish to see more good happening to cats in need, regardless of limitations, restrictions and BUTs. We are ready and rearing!
With your Help, in ANY financial shape and of ANY size, we will get there within this, the historic month of April 2020. Just as the charity has not stopped its activity for one day since inception at 2009, but adapted it and made sure we can still help all the cats we can in and to safety, so we wish to complete the dream of a cat clinic like no other, which will come to the help of needy cats, owned and stray, within weeks of us achieving our funding target. This is our Promise. The team is ready, willing and rearing to go.
You will be donating Exclusively to fund equipment needed and 2 months of staff costs. That’s what we need. And it will all be transparent so you can monitor the progress of the effort all the way to Opening Day!
Here’s how you can donate specifically for the Clinic, and where you can find a lot more details of our needs:
1. Our Crowdfunding page, along with descriptions of some of the needs, compiled by the vet team in charge of operating the clinic.
2. Directly by PayPal for CLINIC FUNDING ONLY. This is the dedicated account for the clinic (not via the website which is open for donations for our catwork) and we will be regularly posting screenshot updates of all the funds raised there.
3. By contacting us direct at clinic@catcuddles.org.uk if you wish to purchase a larger piece of equipment for us (from the list below), either in name or anonymously, or even in memory of someone dear, human or feline. We would love to hear from you and give you more information of the specific item you wish to fund for us. Let us know how we can make this possible.
In addition, planning ahead, anyone who wishes to be a key benefactor to the clinic and fund strays and abandoned cats from Opening Day onwards by regularly donating, can also contact us on clinic@catcuddles.org.uk and we can explain how a regular contribution to the clinic account will work to fund the vet care of strays.
As you can imagine, we are extremely excited to be able to dream bigger than we have been able to so far, and think up of ways in which we can enable those who have the ability to fund poorly cats with this clinic that is planned to enable this in a very transparent and personable way.
The Clinic is accompanied by a second Rehoming Hub (our first in North London) hosted at the lovely large Garden of the property which is an 8-suite outbuilding, erected, lit, heated and adapted to purpose and it is fully funded.
So, here goes!
The remaining cat clinic needs, large and small:
CENTRIFUGE
We wish to be able to get basic urgent blood results inhouse from the very beginning! Having a centrifuge at the clinic, we would be able to get red blood cell counts in minutes. Red blood cell counts are vital to assess anaemia in patients. Anaemia can be life threatening, it is seen in young kittens with severe flea infestation or adult cats with autoimmune diseases.
A centrifuge also allows us to do urine sediment analysis inhouse.
This centrifuge costs £745 + VAT Pro-Vet HE Centrifuge and Haematocrit
WARMOLOGY UNIT
Our patients are so tiny! They need help keeping their body temperature stable when they are ill or under anaesthesia. We use baby grows, heat matts, foil blankets and warm packs but this machine is the most efficient way; it’s like laying in the middle of a warm cloud!
The warmology unit costs £799 + VAT
BLOOD PRESSURE MACHINE
Cats are very prone to high blood pressure problems in their old age. This could be due to kidney disease, heart disease, hyperthyroidism… High blood pressure can cause lethargy and blindness among other things.
We love our golden oldies and we want to offer them the best quality of life! This machine would help us tailor their treatment to their needs.
The Doppler blood pressure kit costs £945 + VAT
ANESTHESIA MONITORING
This is a state of the art monitoring machine (blood pressure, ECG, oximetry and capnography), to make anesthesia as safe as possible! We can also monitor more precisely the use of anesthetic gases, this will help us keep them to a minimum and is much better for the environment!
The Mindray iMEC 8 Vet Multi Parameters Monitor costs £2,495 + VAT
TONOPEN
Glaucoma is a disease where the pressure inside the eye is abnormally high. This can cause retinal detachment and lead to blindness. It is important to have it diagnosed as early as possible! Unfortunately, as the tonopen (intraocular pressure measuring pen) is very expensive, patients need to be referred to specialist centres for this. We would love to be able to measure this as it is not uncommon for our strays to come in with head trauma and secondary glaucomas.
The tonopen costs £2,088 + VAT
SURGICAL LIGHT
We need a good light (or two) to see those tiny organs!
The Luvis S200, 100’000 Lux Medical Surgery LED Light Trolley costs £1,395 + VAT
SURGICAL OPERATING TABLE
One is imperative and two are a blessing (as we have two operating theatres). The Burtons Pro-Lift Mono Table costs £1,265 + VAT
MOBILE DENTAL UNIT
Dentals are becoming all the more important for kitties' overall health and from experience, they are very frequently needed and not only for strays. This unit will come in handy and very time efficient. Plus, it transfers easily across areas within the clinic where space is at a premium, even with only kitties to treat.
SHORLINE RECOVERY KENNELS (capacity of 9-10 cats)
The kennels we have in mind (ex-demo) from Shorline would be a bank of 3 smaller kennels on the top row with two larger kennels at the bottom, the largest of which would have a divider, therefore making it 2. This bank costs £2,251+VAT
The isolation kennels (again ex-demo) would be two on the top with 1 large one on the bottom which also has a divider.
This bank costs £1,342+VAT
OUR DREAM PURCHASE
There is also a digital X-RAY MACHINE and a mobile Ultrasound Machine on our Wish List, but as these are items costing well above £10,000 combined we are still looking at different sourcing options, so they are not part of this fundraiser. Or, If you are a funding angel, a benefactor of sorts, who can help with either one of these two specifically, over and above everything else, please let us know by emailing clinic@catcuddles.org.uk
OUR OTHER SMALLER FUNDRAISING NEEDS
You can also see our Amazon Practice Wish List for small items which will be updated as we go along.
::::::::::::::::: OUR PROMISE :::::::::::::::
We wish to complete the long standing dream of our charity's cat clinic which will come to the help of needy cats, both loved and neglected, within a month of achieving our funding target.
This is our Promise.
The team is ready, willing and rearing to go.
THANKS FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE & HAPPY EASTER!
(Photos attached are of the majority of the equipment we will be buying with the funds raised).