Young duo’s mission to save feral cats in Tauranga

Sam Meredith and Hope Dobbs started Wild to Warmth Cat Rescue a few months ago.

• Wild to Warmth Cat Rescue, founded by Hope Dobbs and Sam Meredith, aims to home stray cats.
• The charity works to socialise and prepare feral kittens and cats for adoption.
• Significant costs include microchipping, vaccinations, and desexing. As cats are still being socialised, there have been no adoptions yet.

Two kittens, one grey and one black with white patches, play in the centre of the room in Welcome Bay.

Both were only two weeks old when Wild to Warmth Cat Rescue found them.

Boots, one of the stray two-week-old kittens rescued by Wild to Warmth Cat Rescue.

The new cat and kitten rescue for wild strays opened a few months ago and has been overwhelmed with requests, according to chairperson Hope Dobbs.

“We just started doing it, and then we got slammed.”

Dobbs, 20, and her partner Sam Meredith, 21, noticed a gap where stray kittens and cats were often not adopted and subsequently put down, she said.

“That was the biggest motivator,” she said.

The pair work full time, with Meredith as a mechanic and Dobbs on social media.

A love for kittens and cats compelled the young duo to open an animal rescue and registered charity, even though it wasn’t part of their original plan.

“Our goal has always been to do something like this, but we certainly thought it would happen later in life.”

The duo try to make the kittens and cats more friendly and ready for adoption, Dobbs said.

“If you just give them that time and ability to grow, they can do that in as little as three days.

“It can be more rewarding in the long run.”

Wild to Warmth Cat Rescue partners with a small team of vetted foster families whom Dobbs and Meredith visit before caring for a cat.

“We often check up with the foster families to ensure everything is going well.”

It can be a mixture of ups and downs when it comes to caring for feral kittens and cats, as there has often been very little human interaction, Dobbs said.

“It can be quite disheartening,” she said.

“A lot of them, they’ll come back to us and say, ‘Hey, we saw this amazing progress, but now it has stepped down’.”

She said the duo can travel to pick up kittens or cats, or people can drop them off. They cover Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga.

The most significant cost to the charity is microchipping, vaccinations and desexing, Dobbs said.

Cat and kitten food can also be a notable expense, but Dobbs said spending on quality food is worth it.

“It can cost around $300 per cat. It is worth it in the long run, especially for health issues.”

No kittens or cats have been adopted so far, as none are ready to go to new homes.

“We are still in the process of making them not wild,” she said.

• To follow Wild to Warmth Cat Rescue, visit https://wildtowarmthcatrescue.squarespace.com, Wild To Warmth Cat Rescue (@wild.to.warmth).
• To donate, go to Wild to Warmth Cat Rescue – Givealittle.