Cat Sun gives abandoned cats a second chance

The gray-spotted female cat initially looks expectantly and warily at Angelica Wendell from Catcommando Sid when Angelica enters her cage. But after a few seconds it goes well and she allows herself to be pampered and closes her eyes relaxed and amused.

– In fact, only in the last few months has it been possible to stroke her. We found her in the winter of 2021 at the processing plant in Bogov. Then she was a stray and was in bad shape, with lungworms, among other things, says Angelica.

Hemmets Journal visits Solkatten in Vadensjö outside Landskrona, part of Kattkommando Syd. The ranch is owned by the affectionate Gunilla Lindberg, who nearly four years ago closed off her kennel and turned it into a home for found cats.

– Since I also live here on the farm, that means I spend a lot of time with the cats. It even happens that I go in and lie down on a bed with the kittens to get them used to people, she says.

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At the cat house in Vadensjö there is room for 35 cats in large cages built within the langan that once housed the kennel. There are also five quarantine places here where cats that have just been found can stay for a while before being allowed in with other cats.

– We have permission from the county council for 35 cats, says Angelica Wendel. But the need is much greater. We cannot accept all the cats we desire. When feral domestic cats come to Solkatten, they are first placed in a quarantine section where they are checked for disease and dewormed.

– We then take them to a vet to have them vaccinated, neutered and cut. Recently, we have unfortunately found many cases of lungworm that were not thought to be present in cats in Sweden. Without treatment, infected cats die, says Angelica Wendell.

More volunteers are needed at Solkatten

At Solkatten, 15 volunteers work all year round, seven days a week, who spend a good portion of their free time helping cats who are in hard times.

One of them is Mary Nelson from Ridgeback.

– We should have had twice as many volunteers, you say. In the morning we always have the two of us here keeping up with everything that needs to be done, like feeding and cleaning the cages.

She herself mostly takes evening classes as it suits her working hours. Two days a week, she drives straight after work at 4pm a mile or so to Vadensjö, where she then grooms the cats until 8pm.

Christine Laursen is among the volunteers we met on our visit. She recently retired as a nurse on the neonatal ward at Skåne University Hospital in Lund, and instead of having premature babies, she now spends a lot of time with the cats.

– I usually take 2 shifts a week, but sometimes it can be twice that, she says.

Volunteers do not receive a single penny in compensation for their work. All the money that comes from selling, for example, cat calendars, grooming businesses and the like
Gifts from individuals go directly to the cats.

– Veterinary cost, for example, is a major expenditure item. We used to get a discount at an area vet, but unfortunately he couldn’t afford it, says Angelica Wendell.

Therefore, we are grateful for all the contributions we receive to the business. Outside a couple of shops in Landskrona, they set up boxes where generous people can leave their cat food.

They transported 250 cats

The reward for the volunteers is when they see an emaciated and sometimes dying cat, take care of it, recover under their care and get a new safe home.

– Since starting here in 2019, we’ve relocated around 250 cats, says Angelica Wendell.

There are many stories that she and the other volunteers can tell. Like the one about the emaciated and shy mother Salma who was found in a cardboard box in a warehouse in Dalby.

– One of the people who worked there called us because he was afraid they would run into trucks with the mother kittens and her cubs. Jonella and I went there on Friday night, says Anita Stenberg.

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Not only did they manage to capture the mother cat, but also her three cubs.

– Salma is a real angry person. We are still not allowed to pet her. But she is an amazing cat mom. Not only did she take care of the kittens, but she also adopted other cats here.

Behind every cat is a tragic story. Like the one about little Estelle, who was found this spring bobbing on a road in Ikepe in the neighboring commune of Bejouf.

She couldn’t walk straight because she had a virus. When she first arrived in April, she weighed 1332 grams. She weighed 2.7kg in August and is now a little fat, says Gunella Lindbergh.

All cats want to be considered as valuable as dogs

One of the issues Katkomandu Sid was involved in during the autumn was the advice they had received about a cat left in the wind by the railway line at Klippan, a few miles from Vadensjo.

– The owner could no longer take care of the cat, and an acquaintance left him at the railway. She was an indoor cat and she wouldn’t have lived outside for any length of time if we hadn’t found her, says Angelica Wendell.

To prevent too many cats from getting hurt, Katkomando Seed ensures that all male cats are neutered and females spayed.

– A female can give birth to 120 cubs during her life. We have a female here this summer who has six cubs. She was pregnant and gave birth to six more cubs. But the problem is not just uncontrolled spread.

– Unfortunately, there are still those who get a summer cat and let it go thinking it will fend for itself. no. They often die during the first winter from malnutrition, disease or injury, says Angelica Wendell.

She and the other Solkatten volunteers believe that cats should be raised and that they are considered as valuable as dogs. This is why Solkatten also charges 1,800 crowns for each cat they move to a new home.

– Not too expensive if you think they’ve been vaccinated, clipped, and checked by a vet. Anita Stenberg says she doesn’t even cover our costs.

– We also want cats that leave us to have a friend with them if there isn’t already a cat in the house they’re going to. Christine Laursen says that cats are social animals.

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