Our Vet

Almost all of the cats we have helped since March 2020 have been strays and ferals. Often cats that people only really noticed or sought help for once they were forced to stay at home during lockdown. The positive side is that many cats would still be outside, unnoticed, in need of medical attention. Unfortunately some of those cats arrived still too late and not even the amazing team at Anwell Vets could work their magic, which they have done over and over, often leaving us in disbelief that a cat could ever have recovered from death’s door. Some cats do seem to have waited for that final feeling that someone cared enough to help, before they left us.

The heartbreaking aftermath of Covid for cats is that breeding and buying has exploded. And now the result is a huge surge in dumped, abandoned and surrendered cats. Sadly, while many people responsibly adopted cats during Covid and thought about their long term care, many did not and instead chose to buy cats from unscrupulous breeders and were not prepared to look after these cats for their lifetimes. 2022 and in particular the summer, has been terribly challenging with all rescues simply overwhelmed.

Thank you to all who have supported us and given us the will to carry on, thank you to the many volunteers who have helped by risking themselves, to the many other rescues who have worked with us, to the professional and dedicated officers and trustees past and present.

We work closely with many other rescues, independent trappers and vets but our rescue vet is The Anwell Veterinary Centre in Coulsdon, who also have a branch in Caterham.

We are hugely indebted to the amazing staff at Anwell. They truly are the most dedicated, helpful, kind, patient and skilled team who have treated and saved hundreds of cats we have brought to them.

Head Vet Greg and Practice Manager Mel have always supported the work of New Moon and are true animal lovers, even adopting a few of our cats including Leo, who came into their care after his mum rejected him. His feral mum who was trapped at Woodcote Primary School was young and not the best mum under stress. Leo ended up losing both his ears and needed to be tube fed to survive, which Mel offered to do and then of course fell in love with him. Leo lives with multiple cats and dogs and the best human family. His best friend is another of our kittens, who any other vet would have given up on. Her mum was also feral and accidentally bit her instead of some food. Though the bleeding stopped and she became blind in one eye, it did not need to be removed. The amazing team at Anwell have always bent over backwards to accommodate our cats, whether that be last minute emergencies, cats that need weeks of hospitalisation or the never-ending check-ups as our charity policy is that every New Moon cat must be seen by a vet before adoption.

So many of our cats are feral or scared strays and these are very challenging cats for Anwell to treat. They could probably write a book about all the hair-raising moments our cats have caused! Not all vets would be comfortable working with these cats, but we are so lucky and grateful that Anwell Vets never hesitate to help a single one of the cats that come through their doors and have the skill and expertise to do so.

Due to the nature of rescue work, many of our cats arrive at short notice and have injuries, illnesses or complex conditions, as a result of being long term strays or neglected. Anwell will always step in to help and they have worked on some rather harrowing cases, such as Victor, who required months of hospitalisation due to some very gruesome neck wounds, most likely caused by rope being intentionally wrapped around him. His recovery was all down to the amazing care and skill of Anwell Vets.

We are grateful every single day for the whole team at Anwell, we could never thank them enough to do justice to their efforts.