The volunteers and staff at Cats Protection regularly meet moggies who haven't had much luck.
They rehome around 40,000 cats and kittens each year. Many of those animals have often been through a really tough time before the charity comes to the rescue.
But not many can have had the sort of rough ride Harriet had.
Black cat Harriet came into the care of Cats Protection’s Bridgend Adoption Centre after a member of the public found her in his shed. She had just given birth. Sadly, of the three kittens she had, two had passed away.
When a check for a microchip proved unsuccessful, the Bridgend team gave her the name Harriet and took her to the vet for a check-up.
The vet noticed that she had signs of infection and so admitted her for emergency treatment. They suspected she may have an injured pelvis and decided to x-ray her to investigate. However, the x-ray revealed something much more surprising.
Harriet had a diaphragmatic hernia: a hole in the diaphragm between the chest cavity and the abdomen. As a result, her abdominal organs were in her chest cavity.
While she was under general anaesthetic for the x-ray, she started to go into respiratory failure and the vet quickly contacted the centre for permission to perform potentially life-saving surgery.
It was a risky operation, but Harriet beat the odds and pulled through. She then had to spend 48 hours in an oxygen tent recovering.
During this tense time Harriet’s tiny kitten, who has been named Harry, was being bottle fed by the vet nurses to make sure he got all the important nutrients he needed.
Thankfully, after a few days he could be reunited with his mum and she did a fantastic job of looking after him despite still recovering from her surgery.
The team at Bridgend then set about searching to see if Harriet had an owner, but when no one claimed her they started an appeal to help raise funds to cover the cost of her vet care.
Thanks to some very generous supporters they managed to raise an incredible £500 and Harriet made a full recovery.
When Harry reached eight weeks old, both he and his mum were then ready to find their forever homes. Luckily, it wasn’t long before new owners came forward.
Cats Protection helps around 200,000 cats through its national network of branches and centres and for most moggies it's not long at all before they find a new home. The charity rehomes around 40,000 cats and kittens each year - and never put a healthy cat to sleep.
Purina is a champion of pet adoption and awareness and has been in partnership with Cats Protection for over 30 years. In that time, Cats Protection has expanded to include over 250 volunteer-run branches and 36 centres across the country.
Cats Protection do an amazing job of keeping all the cats in their care warm, safe and nourished all year round, while Purina are behind some of the nation’s favourite cat food brands including Gourmet, Felix, Purina One and Go-Cat - but they're much more than a pet food company.
Purina's big-hearted staff are passionate about improving the lives of pets: promoting pet adoption through collaborations and partnership is one of the company's 10 commitments to pets and society.
Click here to find out more about the Purina in Society commitments.
The company are also proud sponsors of Cats Protection’s National Cat Awards - a ceremony that recognises and rewards our extra special feline friends from across the country.
- Check The Mirror website over the coming weeks for more inspiring tales as we bring you the happy endings of adopted cats and kittens as part of the Purina In Society campaign. For more information on adopting a cat please visit www.cats.org.uk/adoption2019