Cutest cat retirement village stops elderly cats from being put down | Rescue Vet with Dr Scott

This week my own elderly ex-street cat made me ponder how we can best care for our older animals in rescue. To say that I love Ricketts is an understatement. I can't believe that he's now 17. I get up close and personal with the residents in the cutest cat retirement village and I meet a deaf and blind cat who takes me for a walk. Just walking a cat nothing to see here. I'm Dr Scott and this is Rescue Vet. So my cat Ricketts is an absolute legend. We've had him now for 17 years. He first wandered into our lives when we were living in Portugal. He was a scruffy old street cat who wasn't being treated very well by some of the local kids so we shooed them away and he just decided to walk into our apartment and after a time he just never left. To say that I love Ricketts is an understatement. Both myself and my wife are absolutely obsessed with him. He's been with us through when we got married when we had our four children. Ricketts has got some great vintage. He's now 17. I can't believe that an ex-street cat from Portugal has got to that sort of age but I really feel passionate about looking after older animals. In the later part of my career I've started to do more work with rescue centres and what I've seen is that older cats really do struggle to find new homes. I just want to find out how exactly we can tackle the problem of these geriatric felines in rescue centres and I've heard of one amazing charity called Shropshire Cat Rescue and they do amazing work. They've even got a retirement village for cats so I'm gonna pack my trusty vet box and head up to Shropshire and do what I can to help. Sadly Ricketts has got to stay behind for this trip. He's more of a homebody these days anyway. Shropshire Cat Rescue. They won't judge my terrible parking. Shropshire Cat Rescue don't have a vet on site so today I'm volunteering and running an open clinic for all the residents with the help of vet nurse and rescue volunteer Susie. Hi there, I'm Scott. How are you doing? Hi, I'm Susie. Hi Susie, nice to meet you. What a lovely place you've got. I know, it's very beautiful. Very cute. Very beautiful. Pop your box in there. Oh yeah, why not? Yeah, so this is the vet clinic? Yeah. But before I get down to work I'm desperate to meet all the feline friends at the rescue. So yeah, I'm just more than happy to just be thrown in the deep end. Okay, yeah, we can do that. You look after lots of cats so I'm just happy to kind of help with health checks and stuff. Hello. This one's Vera. Hi Vera, you've got no ears Vera. So how many cats are you looking after at the moment? Oh, it's a good question. 80 to 100 at the minute. Wow, that's a lot of feline friends. It is, it is. We've got some with some sad stories. We've got some with health conditions that we're having to keep them for that little bit longer until we can get them right. I see. Before we can find them a Yeah, this is so lovely. It's sort of like a little sort of cat village. It's just so cute. I can't think of another word for it. It's very cute. A little bit of kitten play time. Can't beat kitten play time. Hello. So these were actually dumped here. Oh, they were? Outside in a carrier. I'm guessing being three healthy, happy, playful kittens, they're not going to be hard to Although they're black and white. Blacks and black and whites that you seem to struggle to home. But we actually find black and whites are actually harder than even our black ones. How weird. I've got two cats today. One's black, one's black and white. So I must be not getting what everyone else is seeing. But yeah, that's very sad to think that people choose them based on colour. I feel very confident they'll find lovely homes. They will. They're very sweet. From the newest residents to the oldest, I'm finally able to feast my eyes on the reason that Shropshire Cat Rescue is so special. The retirement village. What is the age range? Our oldest, she's just turned 21, which is Cat, who's all Caffery. But she gets called Cat for short. Cat the Cat. Very inspired name there. We're now at Moggy's retirement village. You are such a purrer. You're lovely. You're a nice poster boy for the retirement village. She's nice here. Do I need to speak up? Is he a bit deaf? So how many cats live here at the village? We've got 20. All living in harmony? Yeah. You get the odd kind of, or you're in my space occasionally. It feels a little bit like a human nursing home, is that you're going to have some people going in and they're going to have a lovely time and they're going to do some art and make some friends. And there's going to be the grumpy old so-and-so that sits in the corner and just like huffs at people. Yeah. That's okay. Horses courses. Yeah. So I see you've got a paws village store and then you've got a cat in the store. Yeah. This is actually Cat. Oh, that is Cat. Cat the Cat. Hello. So 21 year old Cat. Yeah. She just goes on the bed. She's got other places she likes to be, but this door opens and she's in there. She's in. There's our cottages. This is adorable. I mean, this is so, so cute. You know, all of this outside enrichment, but then being able to go into different houses that must help socially, just some sort of work out where they want to be. You know, you don't want to be roommates with everyone, do you? No. Noah's always in Buttercup. Doesn't overly appreciate others going in, but he's let Sky in recently. So that's quite nice. The thought of the cat gossip flying around this village. It must be like an episode of a soap opera. I'd imagine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We definitely think we could probably make quite a good soap opera. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Late at night, Pip crept into Fern Cottage. What was going on there? He does have a thing for Philly. Well, there you go. It's already started. Unbelievable. This sort of set up. I mean, it's certainly not something that I've seen before. What was the inspiration for it? So Marion, the shelter manager, she kind of was getting upset that she was having old cats and they were just kind of, no one was taking them on. And then it was getting to the end of their lives and they were sticking pens. And she was like, I don't want this anymore. I want a space that I can put them into so that they can go and enjoy the end of their life rather than be confined. And there's no reason just because they're old. It didn't mean that they should be put to sleep just because they were past a certain age and no one wanted them. So it was like we can do stuff to help them. One thing I noticed, which I'm assuming a homage to those that have passed, is all these beautiful stones everywhere with names on them. Is that what that is? Yeah. Some come in and they only last two weeks for various different reasons. Some last for years. Yeah. It's just, you've given these older cats that had no future a lovely end to their life and that must feel really good. It's a wondrous place and you can really see that the cats seem very happy. Hello. Yeah. That's little Bronwyn. Hi Bronwyn. She came to us as a stray from Wolverhampton. We'd assumed she was quite old because of the state of her teeth. Yeah. And that she was so skinny and lacking fur. But now we're kind of watching her and looking at her going, I don't know. And she's just. It feels like she's lied about her age to buy booze. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. She's actually, you know, a youngster and certainly her coat looks fantastic. Yeah. And the skinniness is lifted. Yeah. Shall we say. Yeah. Yeah. She quite likes it in here. Enjoying the hospitality of the retirement village. Having too many scones with her teeth. Yeah. It's not just unwanted older cats that Shropshire Cat Rescue care for, but cats with complex medical conditions that struggle to be rehomed. So I'm going to introduce you to Johnny. Okay. Who is our little special case. Okay. He came to us last June, deaf and blind. Really? And he was in a foster home and he just didn't cope being inside. He's how are you? Well, I'm saying that, but he's deaf. So can feel vibration. Okay. We were I don't know Morse code. But no, I'm no good with Morse code. And you say he's blind as well. Yeah. We think he can see shadows. Can we go in and meet him then? We can. Yeah. Yeah. He wants to get on your shoulder. Oh, it's like a parrot cat. Oh my God. He's great to see. Look at my face. Oh my God. I know I had a shower this morning though. Hello. It's very lovable. Yeah. He on his own then. Cause yeah, all the other cats seem to be enjoying social interaction. Is he not so social? Well, he's clearly sociable, but just maybe not with cats. He can't see that they're telling him to get lost. He also can't hear that they're telling him to get lost. So it was like, this just won't work. Right. Well, I tell you, I'm appreciating it. I mean, he's great. And I mean, he does have a slightly, um, unusual gait. I noticed. I'm just going to pop him down and just see if he's going to have a walk for me. He's coming down there. Very stilted gait. Very weirdly stiff. Yeah. Oh, he's like a circus performer. Yeah. Maybe that's it. He thinks he's in the circus. Maybe that's it. Yeah. I definitely want to examine him in the vet practice because I just want to get my hands on him that little bit more and just work out what is going on. Cause there's some pretty quirky symptoms there. Yes. Yeah. He's very quirky. Yeah. Getting that, getting that vibe. Yeah. He's happy. He's got exactly what he wants, which is outside. Does he ever get to leave the castle grounds? Yes. Yeah. He goes on a harness. So at least twice a day he gets taken off on a walk. Amazing. Well, I definitely want to be on cat harness walking duty later on. I don't know how lend. Yeah. He's in charge. He takes you where he wants to take you. All right. All right. Well, should we get cracking? Yep. Let's do it. But before I can go for walkies, I've got a vet clinic to open. Cute little vet clinic. Got a brand new vet practice today. The only thing is cats and vets always get along. I have got a number of scars down my arms. I'm never going to be a hand model ever. So good luck me. Good luck. My new vet practice is officially open for business. And whilst I think Johnny may be the most unique cat seen today with rescue work, you never know what problem patients are going to walk through your door. First patients are here. Hello. Come in. Hello. Oh, hi. Hi, I'm Scott. How you doing? Hi, I'm Rachel. Hi, Rachel. So who have you got for me? So we've got Winston and Dottie. They are from the same household, but they're not siblings. Right. So Dottie is four years old and we've got Winston who's five. They came to us a few days ago with some skin complaints. Oh, yes. Oh, dear. That's a cat that's just not been treated for fleas. Yeah. Wow. How old do we think that she is? About four. I mean, she looks about 14, doesn't she? Yeah. She's very skinny and very scabby. Let's just pop her out. She's so thin, isn't she? So what was the situation that she was in? So she said effectively that she couldn't cope with them. Her doctor had advised that in the family situation that she had to give them up. Okay. So we kind of tried to get them in as soon as possible. We weren't aware of how bad it was until we kind of saw them. Must be hard at that moment to hold your tongue. Yeah. How could you not see the state? Yeah, you kind of just have to kind of think, I'm just grateful that you bought them, that they're here and that we will now take over and we will do what we can for her. I mean, I definitely think she needs a course of antibiotics for this skin because that's feline allergic dermatitis, but it always spills over into infection because they're scratching and chewing and their mouth is full of bacteria. So definitely antibacterials will help to speed the recovery of that because that's very chronic. Some weird fleshy masses in her groin. Oh wow, yeah. Can you see? Oh yeah. So it could be vestige mammary tissue, but it's a bit weird. They're becoming increasingly annoyingly allergic to cats. Oh no. But not every cat, just some cats. Just some. Just some cats. And because she's got, she's all dandruffy. Yeah. So I apologize. It's nothing personal because I love you anyway. And I still keep doing the job. I just sneeze through it in silence. Well, I'm not in silence because it'll be really loud. Definitely not an ideal attribute to have as a vet. What I'm going to be doing is called a final aspirate. It's basically just taking a sample of some cells, that's all. And then we'll be sending it off to the lab and we'll find out what those cells are and if we should be worried about the mass before we intervene with, say, surgery. So this is a good way to just know, is there something to worry about or not? It's all pure and good. I know, I know, I know. I'm sorry. There's loads of cells in there. I'll get that up to the lab. Just double check because those are abnormal lesions. There we go. Do you hate me now? I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but it's a good thing to do. Now it's Winston's turn for a full health checkover. Can I say as well, I just noticed your shoes. They're fantastic, aren't they? You can tell that a cat person would wear those shoes. Hello, mate. Ah, yes. I wouldn't like to live in this person's house because I think I'd get bitten and be hairless because he's got the same affliction at that same position for the allergy dermatitis. Absolutely. Okay. Hello, buddy. You're a bit more chilled out, aren't you, buddy? Yeah. Hi. That's the one that's a little mucky. Sometimes you just don't want to do that. That's a bit of cheap dentistry there. So that's an old tartar. So he's not as afflicted as his house sister. He's got a lot of hair loss, so he's got a lot of hair to regrow, but hopefully, you know, come the spring and summer and a good molt or two will be fine. Let me have a listen to his chest. All right, buddy. All right. Okay. I know. It's got a little bit of a raspy chest. Was it a, dare I say, slightly sort of dusty house? I think so. I don't think it was the best of houses. Yes, just sometimes that can be just feline asthma is very common. I'm sure being in the fresh air of this place is going to make a big difference. It's one of the worst cases we've seen for a while and we have seen it really bad. It must be upsetting because this is just neglect. It's neglect of something that's easily preventable. And I think given how friendly, like even Dottie, they just want fuss and they just want people to be there. And you just think this has happened to you cats, but all you wanted really was a human to a lap and some love. So it almost makes it extra sad. Especially as well, like sometimes people will say, oh, I couldn't possibly put the flea treatment on my cat. Well, these cats are going to be fine about it. So that's not the reason. No, there's always a way to do it. You do get angry when you treat animals, when the things that they have are so easily preventable. And it's not like people haven't heard of fleas. Fleas are commonplace. But at the same time, it is better that owners accept that maybe they can't look after their animals and they bring them into places like this so they get that effective treatment. But yeah, it's frustrating. Working in rescue, sadly, this is something you see all too often. Every cat here has a story to tell. Hello. Oh, you do look like a princess, Roxy. Hello. Hello. She originally came to us because the animal was being made homeless. No teeth except your lower canines. Hello, we have the kittens. Obviously I need to cuddle them for veterinary purposes. I mean, they're so tiny, aren't they? They look very young. How long have you had them for so far? Four, five days. They were found in a box in a field. I mean, they're very young. I mean, normally at this age, they'd still be with mum. So quite a worrying situation that they were in a place that maybe if they weren't lucky, they wouldn't have been found and they may have perished. Yeah, we always worry as well as like, what happened to mum? Is she still out there now having more kittens or maybe she was knocked over or something? But we always just want the mums to be safe as well. Dumped in a cardboard box in the middle of a field. It's not good, is it? It's just so disappointing. People can do so much better. We can do so much better than that. If you're going to bring an animal in or you're going to offload an animal, then at least bring it to somewhere like this where they'll be cared for and not put in the middle of a field with a chance of dying. Four, five, six patients so far, so busy morning. I think I've earned myself a tea break and no better place for a cuppa than in the retirement village. Hello everyone. And the residents are making me feel very comfortable. So I'm about halfway through my open surgery here at Shropshire Cat Rescue. It's a little bit weird that I've just checked over some probably five, six week old kittens and now I'm here in a retirement village, but that's the full spectrum of age range that they care for here. I've always loved treating older animals and giving geriatrics, which is what we call them scientifically, not to be offensive, the very best of care. All right, you guys, I wish I could stay all day, but the vets got to go back to the vet clinic. I've got to go and see some more feline patients. Here we go. All right. Oh, good girl. All right. I'll see you guys later. First up this afternoon is a resident of the retirement village who I met earlier, Bronwyn. As I have my suspicions, she might not be as old as she's letting on. Can we maybe have you on the table and on the shelf? It's hard to examine you when I can only see your bum. It's tricky. Can I see your pretty face, please? Good girl. Nicely done. I think she knows I'm about to let the cat out of the bag and reveal her true age. Age wise, we normally use dentition to determine the age of a cat generally, you know, a few other things, but generally it's that. And she's had a lot of teeth removed, so that makes it difficult. Is there anything in her personality or the way that she's behaved that makes you think maybe she's a bit younger than she's letting on? She is very playful. The way that she plays just reminds us of our younger pen cats when we get them out to play. You kind of think, oh, maybe something's not quite right there. Yeah, we can't carbon date cats, so we can't specifically tell you how old they are scientifically. Yeah, I mean, I would absolutely think that she's probably middle age at best, so maybe, you know, eight, not 18. But maybe she just likes hanging out with the oldies. Heart's nice and strong and nice and clear. I mean, this is a very healthy cat. So it's a tricky one, isn't it? Because at the moment her trajectory was a retirement cat in a retirement home and generally no chance of them finding a forever home. But do you think maybe that might change now because she potentially is a much younger cat and has that maybe 10 more years of finding another home? I think it's definitely something that we'll probably explore. And I understand that she's made quite the transformation. Oh, yes. So she was handed in as a stray. Originally, when she came as well, we had to keep her in a hospital for a few weeks because if we'd put her down in the village, she'd have froze to death because she was so thin and so like without any fur or anything to keep her warm. I'll show you what she was like before. Wow. Such a scraggy little scrawny thing. Look at that lack of fur. Oh, man. Look at that. That's heartbreaking. Wow. What great work you guys do. Look at that. Look at the work you've done. That's amazing. The difference in this cat is it's transformed it, isn't it? She's happy and loved. And so you've done an incredible job. And she's a lovely, healthy girl. I think it's a very exciting thought that she might be able to go and find a home with someone who knows how to treat fleas. Yeah, definitely. Just check that for me, would you? Yeah. Retire her from the retirement home. She's still got some life to live, this one. Thank you so much. So I really want to see Johnny now, if that's okay. Yeah, that'd be wonderful. Thank you very much. Just to warn you, our vet says that he is very difficult to examine. Excellent. Hello. I was going to say that he was my favourite and now I'm scared. Hello, big boy. Yeah. Well, I suppose it's tricky, isn't it, when a patient can't see and can't hear. Yeah. Then his anxiety levels are going to raise very quickly for not very much. So I'll take it as gentle as I can. So just tell me a little bit about his vision issues. He was found on the street when he was six weeks old. So Johnny spent his whole life in a rescue centre. He has, yeah. He was taken in by another rescue who lived with one of their fosterers. But because of his vision issues and his hearing issues, he wasn't allowed outdoors because obviously it wouldn't be safe for him. But he hated being inside. So he was ripping everything apart, ripping his fur apart. And he got out one time, was on the roof of their garage. So if it's like something has to change, he's going to end up really hurting himself. So they contacted us. How did you find out that he was deaf as well? When he came in to us, they told us that he was deaf as well. Do you mind if I check just to see? Yeah, no, that'd be great. Because I normally wouldn't do this for a cat, but I will for him just to see. I'm just going to make a cat noise, just any cat noise, just to see. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely diminished. I'm not sure it's completely gone, but yeah, he wasn't like turning around swiftly like any other cat would if I did that. But he sort of knew where it was coming from. But again, it's pretty hard. Even when you clap, you're going to send vibrations through things, and you might be able to feel that. And also even the air, you might feel it because I'm doing it too close. The vision is interesting. Let's just pop him out for a second, actually, because I want to have a good look at those eyes. Good boy. That's a good boy. I'm doing his menace reflex just to see if he can see me. And I think you're right. He can definitely see something because he is kind of closing his eye a little bit. But what's very interesting is that his eyes flick constantly moving. So when he's still, they should be still, but he's doing this like he's at sea. There's definitely some issue there with his balance. And also I noticed in the enclosure that he's got a very strange high stepping gait. So he's had x-rays, which didn't really come up with anything. So I wasn't sure whether it's a neurological problem or something. We're kind of stumped with Johnny. I'm going to have a feel the back of his just to make sure it's not a physical issue. So if you can just hold him on his shoulders there. I'm just going to extend his hip and just see. He does that beautifully. He's got good flexibility. And he's showing no signs of discomfort there either. I mean, I do think that he does have cerebellar hyperplasia, basically where the balance center doesn't develop very well. And in most cases, it's an infectious cause. So it can be parvovirus, feline parvovirus. It can be like FIP viruses. There's loads of different things that can cause it. And a cat that's come from a questionable background that was unwell, it's very likely that he had that from the womb, that infection. And that's caused damage to that area of the brain, which unfortunately will never improve. And what it does lead to, alongside being a bit of a weirdo, is that, is that what you want to do? Or do you want to just stay on my shoulders? I can't work it out. There we go. The neurological element is absolutely present. And this flicking is fairly classic of it as well. So he's got the eye flicking, he's got the strange stance, he's got the strange way that he moves. But actually, he shouldn't get any worse. That's a really positive thing, is that this condition is something that affects them developmentally, but they get to maturity and that's sort of it. So what you have as a mature cat is what you'll be left with. So now he is very much a special needs cat, 100%. But I think what's so amazing is what you've done to help him, you know, you've seen that he needs his own enclosure and you've given it to him. You've seen that he doesn't get on with other cats, not because he doesn't want to, but because his vision and hearing impairment means that he's just not very good at cat socialization. But as you can see, he's pretty good with human socialization, aren't you mate? Should we go for a walk on a harness? You know, like normal people do. And with that, that's my last patient to be seen and my clinic is now closed for the day. Just walking a cat, nothing to see here. Today has been such a lovely day. Having the open vet clinic today as a volunteer was a brilliant way to get to know some of the residents here. And it really is a mixed bag of animals with lots of different conditions. And it really epitomizes the importance of rescue. I like to say I'm walking the cat, but the cat's walking me, aren't you mate? It's cats like Johnny that make rescue centres like this just so vital. And it's also the amazing volunteers that work here that work day to day to just keep these animals happy and healthy and well cared for. This cat is clearly living his best life. The one thing that makes this place really special is the retirement home, because sometimes it is really difficult to find homes for older cats. These guys get to live in a retirement village together and enjoy the twilight of their lives, being loved and in social environments. So it really is a very special place. Since filming, there's been some good news. The sample from Dottie's lump came back as inflammation only and clear of anything nasty. And on treatment, hers and Winston's skin is continuing to improve. Princess Roxy has settled in well with her new family. The kittens who were dumped in a cardboard box, well, all of them have found new homes and are healthy and loved. Bronwyn is now looking for her forever home, and despite having lots of interest, is proving reluctant to leave the comforts of the retirement village. And Johnny, he continues to be the king of his castle, doted on by all the incredible volunteers. To support the amazing work of Shropshire Cat Rescue, check out the description below. And please hit the like and subscribe button to this channel to help me help more rescue animals here on Rescue Vet.