Tell us your rescue stories...

The lovely Poppy was rescued just 13 weeks ago from her former home after the death of her previous owner,the lady had died unexpectantly and Poppy was left in the house on her own for nealy 5 days before someone found her and sadly her previous owner,she was taken in by her owners sister who had her for 3 weeks before she came to us just a chance advert put on Gumtree after we had sadly lost barney our old Jack Russell.
Poppy is now centre of attraction here in the small complx we live in and has certainly made her presence known.

Our two cats, Pudding and Silky, were found by a couple driving from Lutterworth to Leicester on the M1- they saw the taped cardboard moving by the slipway-- but couldn't stop due to traffic- they went all the way back to Lutterworth and back again. Inside the taped box, was 2 adult cats, 1 smaller black one, and a large grey and white one- and 10 kittens. They found a foster family, then homes for all the kittens, but nobody wanted the older mums. So they came to live with us. The little black one was so so soft, so we called her Silky. And the white and grey one was quite chubby, with a saggy belly due to being speyed just after her rescue- before her belly could spring back- so Pudding seemed like a good name- she doesn't mind at all, really. Silky stayed with neighbours in Leicester- she adopted them when we had to stay away to come and visit my parents- even though my other lovely neighbour came to visit, fuss and pet them + feed everyday.

And then they adopted her- very sad as we loved her so much- but the two just didn't get on at all- Sily being much smaller but totally dominant- we just could not see how we would make the 850 miles journey in the car with a dog and 2 cats that just didn't get on. Pudding is now about 16- and loves being top cat. She is adjusting to having a new dog around (we had to adopt our daughter's dog recently, and a friend's dog a few years back- both coming from very tragic circumstances too).

I could never buy a dog or cat- all our pets have chosen us somehow- all our rescued pets have so far lived to venerable ages of 19ish- and our previous dog, Pepper, found in the streets of Leicester after August holiday, was about 21 when we had to say good bye- and fit as a fiddle almost to the end.

DD1 was excercising her rescue horse in a field near her home in Beds when she saw 5 domestic rabbits sitting forlornly together at the side ,near the road.She thinks they were dumped from a car shortly before she saw them.
Luckily she had several boxes in her car nearby and ran around gathering them up. One she couldn't catch and had to leave.
She got home and discovered a mum rabbit and 3 babies, one boy, two girls. Her husband said "Don't even think about it!" as besides the horse she has rescue cats, guinea pigs and a Lurcher.
She phoned all the family, and we now have the Mum, Rosie, currently sunning herself on the lawn ,who enjoys sleeping beside our rescue cat in front of the wood burner.It cost £100 to have her neutered, but she has a happy life!
DGS2 has John (!) DD2 has Maisie, and the third baby went to a friend.
I never go to Pet Shops which sell animals, there are so many unwanted animals to adopt.

Almost all of my animals over the years have been rescues. The funniest was Horatio, a Shetland pony.

He had been well-hidden on a council estate in Maidstone, the whole street in Tovil used him to keep down their grass as they had very long gardens. Then one day after about 5 years a council official made an unexpected call and Horatio needed a home, and fast. One of the men who worked for my Ex came in almost in tears, and four hours later I was quietly weeding my rockery when a big white van pulled up, the doors opened and out trotted a fat dark grey pony with a black stripe down his back. I was shocked, and we weren't fenced in at the time and my poor flowers...

So I tied a rope to the bridle that was all he came with and walked him down to neighbours who had a small field, where he stayed for three weeks chasing sheep until I could sort out fencing, buy accessories and erect a small shed as a stable.

He was wonderful. Because of where he had been brought up, he could steal a can of lager and down it in one go, pinch a cigarette from someone's mouth and run off with it, delicately steal a bag of sweets from a child's grasp before they knew what had happened, could even play football!!! He would kick his legs out sideways and had very good aim.

Every morning I would run around his paddock, and he would run with me. but when he got bored he would herd me back to the house. I was quite grateful sometimes.

He was a fearful escape artist, though, despite our lovely new post and rail fences. We had a shared pond and he walked across the ice. I got a call from a farm 5 miles away, had to get a lift over there and walk him back through the lanes in the frost and ice. His back was only as high as my waist, but he jumped his fence often - most notably when the local hunt went past. He joined them and they thought a child had been thrown, until someone recognised him. Not many people have had the mid Kent hunt on their drive, all laughing and escorting a bad pony home.

My marriage ended 7 years later, and he went to live up the hill as company for two 'proper' horses. I bought them electric fencing as a thank you present...

My first encounter with a boxer dog.... was the love of my life, Missy Ginty, she was a huge girl, my daughter and her boyfriend rescued her from a horrible person, who kept her in a cage... she was a breeder of boxers, but Missy Ginty could not have pups for some reason. I had just lost my litte girl Mindy a tiny yorkshire terrier she was 17 years old. They just turned up at my house with this beautiful girl, she growled a lot, I was a little nervous of her..... but bless her she had had such a terrible start to her life...at two years old..I felt we could offer her a good home. We went out and bought her a cosy dog bed, and all the things for a big dog.... I tried to get her into the bed, so in the end I got in it, she followed me and the peed on my feet, yuck... she then seemed to bond with me... this gorgeous girl owned us for 13 years... she was my rock and used to kiss away my tears at sad times, helping me when my parents passed away, and also sleeping by my bedside when my husband was really ill and spent a lot of time in hospital... she was my rock...a heartbeat at my feet. How I miss her.... since then we have been owned by Sweet Saska, who was a fun time girl, who loved life, we lost her at the age of 11... she was also an ex breeder girl, now we have sloppy Prudence... who is a proper mummys girl... now 9 years old.

We had a 'failed' guide dog Nina. On one occasion we were house sitting for our daughter Karen and son-in-law Jim who'd been away for the weekend with Hannah (5) and Sophie (18 months). They came back on the Sunday night and we all went to bed, leaving Nina in the kitchen. She was so well trained she would not tackle stairs but normally remained downstairs.
A few hours later we woke to hear Karen shouting and Sophie crying. Nina had mounted the stairs, gone into Karen's room and woken her up, then rushed through to Sophie's room. Karen got Sophie out of bed at which stage the little girl went silent and her lips started turning blue, apparently choking. Karen whacked Sophie on the back whereupon she was violently sick then started breathing again. Once all was restored to normal, Nina went back downstairs - job done! Sophie had a check up the next day and was pronounced fine but from then on Nina was known as 'Nina the Wonder Dog'

Many years ago when my children were small, one of them came in from the garden telling me she could here squeaks from the shed, I unlocked the door and started searching in the junk, thinking we might find a mouse, what we found was 2 kittens which looked about 2 days old. We waited for about 12 hours to see if the mother would come back for them.
She didn't come so I thought that's long enough, they will die for sure if I wait longer. I went to the vets and bought cat milk and a small bottle, brought these tiny little things into the house and started feeding them, to my surprise they started feeding. They got in a right mess so I washed them with a flannel, not realising until then, they would only wee and poo when stimulated.
I was working full time so, having only a scooter at the time, I put them in the top box and took them to work with me, feeding them at break times.
I weaned them, very messy job. They thought I was their mother mewing like mad whenever they heard my voice. after 8 weeks I re-homed them to loving families

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I've had several rescue animals over the years but one who had bags of character was Smudge, my cockatiel.
We got him in the mid 90s through a friend, who found him as a stray. He spent several weeks flying round a local trading estate, being fed sandwiches and crisps, until one day he had enough and landed on our friend's shoulder. He stayed there all day, was taken home and given a cage. Our friend had a small baby and Smudge fretted at being cooped up all day, so he came to us.

What a character he was... a beautiful, handsome bird with a massive ego, who refused to be petted, as touch was subjugation. He would whisper sweet nothings into your ear, lull you into a sense of false security and then give you a quick nip.
He ate just about anything after his sojurn in the wild. I found him tucking into leftover chicken, taking sneaky bites from the pasta on my plate, and he loved potato crisps. He was quite capable of swiping one from your hand in a fly-by attack.

He was also blessed with formidable intelligence. I only once saw him frightened. He saw a magpie through our kitchen window, left off attacking my ear and shrieked with fear, then flew back into the lounge where his cage was.
I followed, to find him pulling his cage door shut with his beak, so that the magpie couldn't get to him.

Smudge developed diabetes after five years with us, but even them lived two years longer than expected - he was such a tough cookie. Finally he had to be put to sleep. Unable to fly and dragging himself by his beak to walk, his quality of life was so poor, but his battling little spirit would not give in. I took him to the vet, and in his last moments stroked that dear little face for the first and last time,

I have never liked our feathered friends that much, but I loved Smudge dearly.
He and he only, will always be my bird.

Eighteen years ago I went with my then teenage son and daughter, to a cat rescue centre. We were determined to pick an older cat, that no-one else would want. However a tiny kitten put her paw through the cage and caught my daughter's sweater. The volunteer had to come and unhook her. Once we looked at that little tabby kitten we had to have her out of her cage for a cuddle. The rest is history, she is sitting beside me as I type. For years she used to suffer from strange swellings on her face and paws. By chance i discovered that she was allergic to dairy products. No more milk since, and no more swellings. She's very elderly now, but still enjoys life.

McCullough I love your story.

I had some unfortunate neighbours (now moved away) whose driveway backed onto my garden. It was a chaotic family with loads of rows, screaming kids with behavioural difficulties. Into the midst of all this, they introduced a rehomed cat from a rescue centre. He was totally traumatised by his previous experiences and had a misshapen face where he'd been injured at some time. More and more this little cat crept under the fence and slept for hours under a tree in my garden. Eventually he managed to get inside my house and strutted about looking pleased as punch. He was such a character, totally attention-seeking, always hungry and just hilarious. The problem was he didn't want to go back over the fence and I kept him in his "safe house" for 5 years in total secrecy until he had to be put to sleep. The neighbours assumed he'd wondered off somewhere! I called him Roy and he was a true king.

Unbelievably, the same neighbours obtained a 2nd rescue cat, who was such a poor little thing. Guess what? I shared him with the neighbours (not that they knew!) for 3 years. I called him Tony Tesco because he loved one of their cat foods. I did actually stand up to the neighbours and demanded they look after him. He was so gentle and loving.
I miss both little cats so much, but feel I did rescue them.

Our old lady of a cat, now 16, was found wandering along Mile Oak in Brighton and taken to the RSPCA which is where we found her. She decided she liked us so we took her home and the rest is history. Such fun and joy she has brought to the whole family and I cannot bear to think of her not being around one day.
Our daughter has a beautiful cat from the same RSPCA centre but she has been unwell. She had been neglected, quite how people can do that is beyond me, and her spaying stitches causes an infection so it has cost £250 in total to have her to full health again. Some £50 of that was for a leukemia injection that had not been done. Fortunately, we were able to help out with the costs and all is well. Bless all the lovely animals and their kind and caring owners. xx grin

This is a rescue story with a very sad end! For about a year and all through the cold weather the winter before last we were feeding a beautiful stray ginger cat who came round regularly every day. He was very thin and wolfed down the food we left for him. He hadn't been neutered and didn't wear a collar. We couldn't invite him in as our big cat, Wilbur used to fight him and who could blame him, as it was Wilbur's home, after all. Wilbur died from kidney failure at the age of almost 16 in January 2013, and we decided that we could now adopt Ginger, as our other cat, Millie, didn't seem to object to his visits. We caught him and took him to the local vet, where we have always taken our cats. We had warned them beforehand what we were doing, so I was a bit surprised when they said that it was their policy to keep him there for a week before they would neuter him and we could take him home. I agreed to this as he had been with us for such a long time that I thought it was impossible that anyone could own him, as he was in such bad condition when we started feeding him and had obviously not been given any of the basics you would expect, such as microchipping, neutering etc. The next day, i saw his photo on the internet, on animal finders.
I popped into the vets most days to see how he was doing and the day before we were going to take him home, I asked the receptionist, whom I hadn't seen before and must have been new, how he was, and she said:"Oh, he's gone, his owner came and took him yesterday."
I said: "But he doesn't have an owner, we've been looking after him for over a year." she had no answer to this. I rang the head of the practice, who had no answer either. I think that the people who took him must have seen his photo on animal finders and decided that he was just what they wanted, as, after all the food he got from us, he had turned into a very nice-looking cat.
We didn't see Ginger for a while and thought that the people who took him must have had him neutered, as the vet recommended, or been keeping him in, and were pleased that he was being looked after, although hopping mad that the receptionist had handed him over.
We adopted a kitten from the animal sanctuary last summer and Monty settled in very well. After we had had him for several months, Ginger suddenly reappeared, looking thin and still not neutered. he was obviously unhappy, and, as we had been nice to him before, seemed keen to pick up where he had left off.
Unfortunately, now we had Monty and Millie had turned against Ginger - I suppose she was being protective towards the kitten. Monty doesn't seem bothered by Ginger. Ginger is desperate to move in with us and has started coming in through the cat flap and eating our cats' food and also spraying in the house as he thinks it's his territory.
We don't know what to do! We can't afford 3 cats and all the expense that entails and we don't want to chase him off as we are still very fond of him, but every time Millie sees him she fights with him. The vet has lost the address of his so-called owners, so we just don't know what to do and we feel awful as poor Ginger obviously needs a good home. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have been involved in rescuing pets for many years, including the pets of offenders when they got sent to prison, leaving neglected animals for some one else to deal with. My garden pond had rescued goldfish, a colleague took home a three-legged cat, I fostered a beautiful cockatoo till its owner was released from prison and most memorable of all, I rescued a cat from a flooding fiat!

The owner, a drug user, disappeared leaving her cat in her fifth floor flat. She had left bowls of dried food around the place and left a dripping tap with a folded towel in the kitchen sink. The people underneath realised something was wrong when water started to drip through their ceiling light fitting. They looked through the letter box to see two blue eyes looking back at them. A beautiful long-haired white cat, very young, miaowing for help.

Someone thought to phone the probation office and I turned up to find squatters had got in and sorted out the flood. I picked up the cat, asked for a box to put her in, and went to my car intending to drop her at the rescue place, but they had no room. I phoned a few people and she was offered a home 20 miles away. By this time, she has decided I was her mother and wrapped herself around my shoulders every time I returned her to the box!

I drove the 20 miles with her purring down my ear, and reluctantly parted with her. The woman who took her in said she looked like a very expensive pedigree cat. Luckily, she was given a permanent home with a family. Goodness knows how she would have fared if that flat hadn't flooded.

Thank you so much, I am all excited and surprised, that I have won something,

Thank you, I'm glad you liked the tale of our rescue rabbits.They are all very happy bunnies now.
DGS aged 7 loves Top Trumps.

Thank you for my prize! I haven't won anything for ages and I will certainly enter more of your competitions!