News

July is National Picnic month so if you enjoy getting out of the house and eating outdoors then this is the month for you! Of course, you can do this at any time of the year and in any weather (each to their own) however as it is National Picnic month; let’s take a look at the benefits of getting outside and some of the activities you can do whilst enjoying your picnic.

Wildlife spotting

Sharing the space with the local wildlife is very special! Why not see what you and your family can spot whilst you’re enjoying your picnic? Remember to observe from a distance as you do not want to disturb or scare the animals.

Bird watching

There are so many different species of birds across Norfolk & Suffolk, so this game will never get old! Try having a few picnics in different areas such as the woodland or by the coast. This will give you even more opportunities to see some of our lovely feathered friends that we are so lucky to share our landscape with.

It’s good for your mental health

Being outdoors is good for your physical and mental wellbeing as it can help improve your mood, help you feel more relaxed as well as be more active.

Below are some pictures of some wildlife you may see on your outing. Do you know what they are called and where you might find them? Why not challenge a friend or family member to see who can name or spot the most!

Don’t forget to take your litter home with you

On average the National RSPCA receive 14 calls a day about animals affected by litter and these calls spike in the summer months. And, as pet owners go directly to vets, and many injured wild animals are never found, it’s estimated that the actual figure of animals injured by litter is much higher than the RSPCA currently knows.

Everyday objects that seem perfectly safe, can sadly become hazardous when found accidentally by animals.

By disposing our rubbish safely instead of littering we are making choices that could save many lives. Protecting animals from harmful rubbish is easy.  Dispose of your rubbish responsibly by putting it in the bin, reusing or recycling! If you are out and about and cannot find a bin, take your rubbish home with you and put it in your bin. For more information on how litter affects animals, click here to go to the National RSPCA website.

Like most of the country, most the team from the Branch have been working from home where possible, some have been on furlough and others have been out on the front line caring for animals in need. Now with our shops open and staff slowly coming back into the office, the team is finally getting back together.

We have had the opportunity to spend more time at home with our pets and this is great however; it can also have a negative impact for when things get back to normality.

I got into a routine at home and so did my cat, Salty Darling. He got used to having me around more and he really enjoyed the extra cuddles I could give him as well as taking up space on my chair and joining in work meetings! The first day I came back to the office I did not really prepare much; I did the usual, packed my stuff, made lunch and most importantly I made sure Salty had plenty of fresh food, water, his entire home comforts such as his favourite blanket and some toys and I made sure his cat flap was open (he only goes outside during the day). Perfect right?

This is Salty when I first got him in February 2020

Not for Salty! When I came home, he was mad. I usually get a nice little meow from him, a cuddle and a loving purr. Instead he just glared at me and proceeded to take a massive poo right outside his litter tray. That’s right, not in it, next to it. He did this whilst maintaining eye contact, and then he strutted off and went upstairs. He came back down a bit later and refused to sit on my lap turning his nose up for a few minutes however it didn’t take him long to give in and give me a cuddle!

I clearly disrupted his routine; I got him only a month before the first lockdown so he was not really used to me going to the office.

Luckily I was not going back every day to begin with so I spoke to our Animal Welfare Team for advice and tried to prepare him as much as possible.

Here are some tips in preparing your cat for your return to the office.

• Try leaving your cat alone as much as possible during the normal working week (as if you weren’t there).
• Fun and games should happen at the usual time (outside of working hours).
• Try giving your pets things that they can do alone. E.g. destruction boxes, puzzle feeders and toys which move on their own.
• If you can go out for a few hours that would also help as that will start building the routine of you going out and coming home again.

I followed these tips from the team and now I am back in the office more often, Salty is not really that bothered! As it is warmer he does spend more time outside however he soon comes running back in for a cuddle when I get home.

So it turns out that in the end, my cat does NOT hate me after all!

This year we have extra special prizes to be won, so why not unleash your creative side and join in the fun! You don’t need to be an artist to enter, just use your imagination and enjoy yourself! We will start accepting entries from Monday 2nd August and the competition will close on Wednesday 18h August at midday. 

If you would like some inspiration, here are some wonderful entries from last year!

No matter what your skill set is, try something new and have a go at our competition. You never know, you just may surprise yourself!

Here are a couple of our winners from last year!

Before you start, make sure you read our T’s & C’s  for Arty August 2021

Residents of the United Kingdom are known worldwide to be a nation of animal lovers, but do we all know where we stand with regards to the law and our pets?

In the next few months we will be sharing some prominent laws every pet owner should know.

Prior to the Animal Welfare Act, animal welfare law was largely reactive and action could only be taken once an animal had suffered unnecessarily.

The 2006 Act introduced an important and new concept for pet owners and those responsible for domestic animals, e.g. breeders, those who have working animals or farm animals in England and Wales.

This means enforcement agencies and the National RSPCA inspectors can now act by advising and educating owners before their pets suffer. If this advice is not followed or the animal’s needs are not being met then action can be taken whether through a formal warning or in some cases a prosecution.

What does the law actually say?

Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act places a duty of care on people to ensure they take reasonable steps in all the circumstances to meet the welfare needs of their animals to the extent required by good practice.

Anyone responsible for looking after animals should give them the five freedoms:

Freedom from Hunger and Thirst . Animals should have access to fresh water all the time and the right type and amount of food to keep them fit.

Freedom from Discomfort . Animals should have the right type of home, including shelter and somewhere comfortable to rest.

Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease . Animals should always be fit and well and should be treated by a vet if they are sick or injured.

Freedom to express normal behavior . Animals should have enough space, proper facilities and the company of other animals of their own kind.

Freedom from Fear or Distress . By making sure the animals’ conditions and treatment avoid mental suffering

If you have a concern about an animal that is sick, injured or in distress, call the National RSPCA on 0300 1234 999

We are Jersey and Squares and we live at the beach. That’s right, we are beach bums! We both came from different backgrounds but luckily, we ended up with the same fosterer who took really great care of us. Here is our adoption story.

Jersey was taken to Sue, one of our expert fosterers who is used to dealing with tiny kittens and regularly fosters kittens without mums that need to be bottle fed. Sue was also fostering Pringles and her kittens and as Pringles was such a great mum, she stepped up and became a surrogate mum to Jersey!

Their new owner had been looking for some kittens for a while and really wanted to adopt and support his local Branch of the RSPCA. Knowing that the RSPCA receive many applications for kittens, (our Branch in particular can receive up to 100 applications in one hour of the kittens going onto the website) he patiently waited.

After applying for one kitten, he was a little too late and his application was not successful however a week later, he fell in love with Jersey and Squares and managed to get his application in quick enough to be considered. After going through the next stages of the application, chatting with the Animal Welfare Team and the virtual home visit, he welcomed Jersey and Squares into their forever home!

Jersey 

Hi I’m Jersey and I love my new life at the beach. I like to cuddle my sister Squares and we follow our new hooman everywhere. Some days, he sits with this box thing at the table and says that he is doing something called work. It’s a bit boring to watch but I still get to be with him so I don’t mind. He  also gives me treats so that is a bonus!

I really like watching hoomans that walk passed and there are lots of birdies here that I like to watch too. The hoomans next door are also my new family, I know this because my hooman goes there and eats a lot. I think they call it a BBQ. I also I like to go and see them. They do have a big cat who is older than me and another really big cat that they call dog (pictures below). They also call it Tilly, it’s very confusing.

Squares

I am a little shy but I do like everyone. When I get to know other hoomans I don’t mind a cuddle with them and my sister Jersey makes me feel braver when I see her cuddling them. I have so much space at the beach and I have my own double bed. My hooman says its his but clearly it is for me. He can share if he likes as he does give me treats and cuddles!

Without the RSPCA me and my sister may not have been rescued and that would have been sad. Thanks to them and their hoomans that they call supporters, we were cared for and now we have the best forever home ever!

Thank you for reading our blog, if you would like to share your adoption story with the Branch like we did, email them at woof@rspcanorwich.org.

Hello July.

This month our newsletter is packed with happy tails, tips from the team, advice on the law, volunteer opportunities and a lovely story about two lovely cats who really love the beach! 

Their ideal home should have:

• Vertical and horizontal dividers in their cage (shelves and climbing facilities) to increase its complexity and allow them to confidently move about.
• Opportunities to exercise, forage, play, interact with their cage mates without aggression, climb, investigate and control their environment within their home-cage. Mice like to stay in physical contact with upright surfaces and can find barren open spaces stressful

• Sufficient space within the home-cage to provide suitable enrichment whilst still allowing generous space for them. Wild mice are extremely active animals, travelling many hundreds of meters in one day.
• Space to clean and groom themselves properly otherwise they can become frustrated, and it can affect their ability to cope with their environment. Mice have a strong motivation to groom and spend a large proportion of their waking time grooming.

• Space to burrow. Wild mice burrow and build complex tunnel systems. You can do this by: Providing them with bedding material deep enough to allow them to burrow and seek a darker environment, but that does not totally stop you being able to check on them. And by giving them cardboard tubes with multiple exits which are large enough so they can turn round and not become stuck and/or help them avoid any confrontation with cage mates.

• Their home-cage located somewhere quiet and undisturbed away from the main activity of the home. This helps ensure they’re disturbed as little as possible during the day, when they rest and sleep. Mice are crepuscular and nocturnal animals, this means that they are active at dusk and dawn and throughout the night.

• You should also be familiar with them and how they normally behave. Any change in this could indicate they’re unwell or suffering. Changes in types of behaviour and how long mice spend doing particular behaviours can indicate that a mouse is in pain, or distress, or is suffering.

Use the links below to be taken to the National RSPCA website where you will find out more about how to care for your pet mice.

We get many applications for volunteer fosterers, in fact we have around 30 being processed as we speak! But only one of them has the preference to foster small animals such as rabbits or mice. Whilst we generally tend to have more cats in our care, our smaller friends also need that love and care that a fosterer could bring before they go to their forever home.

In the past I have fostered kittens and dogs and this has been really lovely and rewarding. Pictured is Salty Darling and Tinks; I am sure you have seen this cheeky duo in my previous blogs as they are big blog stars! Both are in their forever homes now (I adopted Salty). I am currently fostering little mice because they also need that love and care whilst they are waiting for their forever home. At first, I wondered what Salty would do, however he is not interested in them at all. I do keep them in a separate room with the door closed so Salty has his space and the mice have theirs.

They are funny little creatures with so much personality. They are fascinating to watch and are very cute! I have two tanks, one of which has four cheeky boys who are looking for their forever home and the other one has two little ones that are playful and sweet. I am currently trying to get the little ones used to being handled, they were born whilst in our care and are getting more confident every day. Unlike the four boys, they are not ready for their forever home yet but will be soon. They will go onto our website when they are however take a look at our adoption page for the four boys, Pyrite, Topaz, Turquoise and Zinc!

Here are the ‘lads’ having a snuggle together and also being cheeky when I was cleaning them out!

Hello, my name is Jamie and I am the Receptionist for the Branch. If you have called or written to us since September 2019, then chances are you have spoken with me! Read on for more about me and my role in the Central Services Team; a day on Reception!

My role is a vast one where every day presents its own challenges, especially since Covid and working from home. You may have seen a blog I had previously written last year about my continued experience of working from home due to the pandemic.

I receive and deal with enquiries via phone, email or post. Subjects include but are not limited to; Adoption of our animals, rehoming enquiries, sign posting to the National RSPCA (they deal with animal emergencies), financial aid assistance enquiries for local pet owners and neutering voucher enquiries.

Other enquiries that I deal with include; lost and found animals, volunteering, donations, education, wildlife, social campaigns, Branch membership and other general queries and advice. Our Branch covers the Mid Norfolk & North Suffolk area, so I get to speak to and hopefully help a wide variety of people and animals.

I also respond to legacy donation letters and to those of you who write to us with your donations. I process donations and I am on the front line of admin, assisting the Central Services Team with ideas, designs and collecting feedback / statistics. This role requires a lot of concentration and it is very hard work, but the satisfaction comes from helping animals and people in conjunction with one other, something which has always been close to my heart.

When I am not taking your enquiries, I enjoy meditation and relaxing with my partner which is normally accompanied by our trusty cat, Vinnie. We adopted Vinnie from the Branch last year.

Apart from my healthy obsession with animals, I am passionate about music and all things creative in general. I play guitar in a progressive band and have been playing and producing music for roughly 14 years.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about what I do and a bit about who I am behind the voice on the phone! I extend my gratitude to all those who share our passion for animal welfare and continue to support us.

Until next time please take care of yourself and each other, if you have a pet please give them a cuddle or pet from me! – Jamie