We would like to thank your readers and those of the Basildon Recorder for the fabulous response to the recent article about the 85 kittens we need to re-home.

However, we wish to clarify why we suggest a donation in the region of £50 from those giving a home to our kittens and cats.

We do not receive any funding for our work, only a small grant from our national headquarters .

The rest of the £60,000 a year we need to feed and take care of the cats and kittens - including all veterinary treatment, vaccinations, micro-chipping etc - has to be raised by our branch.

We routinely spend more than £100 on each cat or kitten in our care. Some can cost many hundreds more in additional veterinary treatment, All this comes either from donations when we home a cat or kitten, or is raised by our team of hardworking volunteers, which goes out collecting and holds sales, boot sales and similar events.

The £60,000 we need is a lot of money to raise every year. This is why when we suggest a donation for homing a cat or kitten.

That money is so important for us. You are not only helping the cat or kitten you have adopted, you are enabling us to feed and care for the next cat or kitten in our care and the next one after that.

All these donations directly benefit the cats and last year enabled us to help 695 cats and kittens find new homes and paid for several hundred other cats get the veterinary help they needed.

So once again thank you for your help. We hope you now appreciate why we depend on the donations we request to continue our work.

Linda Upson
Coordinator
Basildon Brentwood and District Cats Protection