last updated
25/11/2023
Mea is looking for a new home. She was taken in by a woman as she was being chased by a bunch of unneutered tom cats. She is shy at first, but sweet with someone when she trusts them. She has been spayed. She needs a quiet home as indoor cat with a patient caring owner who is at home a lot and with no other pets or kids.
Any interest, please email admin@westgateark.org.uk
Mr. Tom is the latest admission to the Ark. He is a cat who has apparently lived in a back garden the past two years. Right now he is rather frightened.
Two youngsters rescued from grounds in a factory. Ideally, they need more socialisation before being up for homing.
Sassy is a nine month old queen. She is very shy and needs an experienced and patient new owner. Sassy is very clean and will nibble treats from your one's hand but can't yet quite trust people to touch her. No doubt this will not be too much longer in coming!
Shasha is a nine month old queen. Like Shasha (above), Sassy she is very shy and needs an experienced and patient new owner. Sassy is also very clean, will nibble treats from your one's hand and loves to play! Again, she can't yet quite trust people to touch her. No doubt this will not be too much longer in coming!
Muffin is sweet little queen aged just four months old. She was rescued as a kitten of a just a few days old born to queen in an out-building on a small holding in the area north of Hexham.
Tiggy has now got a new home!
Tiggy is an especially loving cat who sadly lost her home due to the cancer of her previous owner. She is spayed and has a loving and affectionate personality.
Sam has now been homed!
Fireman Sam has got a great home in Morpeth with our great friend and supporter James. A few weeks back James also adopted a kitten rescued by the Ark from an outbuilding near to Hadrain's Wall and this little boy has been named Magoo, so the age difference in the two younsters is minimal. After their first night together James found them huddled up together and they are now very close and enjoy playing together.
Lucky little Sam owes his life and future to the wonderful crew of the two fire trucks and support staff from the Tyne & Wear Fire Brigade who saved his life when he was trapped between a shipping container and a brickwall with no possibilty of escaping by himself.
Thanks also to the good samariton who heard the faint cries of this distressed kitten and went to some great effort in adverse conditions to pinpoint his exact location and alert Westgate Ark volunteers to his predicament.
This is Scruffs, a young adult feral queen rescued from Chester-le-Street.
We rescued Scruffs earlier in July from the grounds of a pub where she has been living the miserable life of a feral cat with all the horrors such a life entails.
Thanks to the concern, care and efforts from publican Joan and her husband, Scruffs and the other feral cats in the colony have a regular supply of nice food to look forward to. Also, thanks to their good work and co-operation with Westgate Ark in trapping and rescue, we are proud to report that so far eight cats have been rescued in total. Five were young kittens, and one was an older kitten who was just about able to be domesticated thanks to the hard work of Westgate Ark volunteer Sharon and caring new owner Lacey.
One adult semi-feral cat (Bella) has been successfully coaxed back to the domestic moggie path and is now a pampered pussy residing in the Butcher's Arms public-house.
The last of the eight cats Scruffs, was not so fortunate being too old to be brought back from the feral lifestyle, but at least we have now had her spayed and given her a good week to recover before being returned to her old stomping grounds.
Great thanks to Westways Vets in Fenham for their great care of Scruffs and yet another successful spay operation. At least we now know that her and Bella will not be having any more unwanted kittens condemned to growing up to a feral life, which is normally brief and brutal.
Great thanks also to our co-ordinator Cath who has orchestrated their rescue and care (along with that of so many other cats) from her sick bed and between bouts of chemo and radiotherapy.
If you are interested in offering a home to a rescue kitten then please contact us. WE DO NOT BREED KITTENS but from time to time do rescue kittens and find them good homes!
All feral queens are spayed by the Ark before being either returned to the original site or placed somewhere better.Before being homed the kittens are all treated against parasites and will have developed to a safe age and weight.
All kittens homed by the Ark will be done so with strict neutering, vaccination and microchipping agreements in place, and veterinary insurance provision is also strongly recommended.
Update - Bella has now been spayed and after nine days recuperation returned to the beer garden at the Butchers Arm's in Chesterle-street where staff and customers welcome her back and have build her a new shelter!
Update - Bernicia has now been spayed (thanks to Westways Vets) and after a period of recuperation will probably be returned be to the agricultural site that she was rescued from.
Westgate Ark is operating again but at reduced capacity and is no longer open to visitors without an appointment.
Contact to Westgate Ark should be by email to admin@westgateark.org.uk
Please be aware that only a limited amount of cats can be admitted and helped by us!
Homing applications should be made via email by the person seeking to adopt and keep the cat. Please email admin@westgateark.org.uk
All cats homed by Westgate Ark are homed at our sole discretion.
Cats may only be viewed through an arranged appointment!
Cat litter, virkon, newpaper, kitchen roll/blue roll, flea treatment, wormers.
Anyone kindly donating any of the above items should please email us first to arrange a time to drop them off as the Ark is no longer manned around the clock.
We are always looking for home offers for feral cats. Feral cats aren't just strays, but cats that have had little or no human contact. We generally trap them from around the city and have them neutered and ear tipped. This isn't cruel, it just indicates that the cat has already been trapped and neutered.
Rather than putting them back on the streets we find these cats suitable homes, usually on farms/ stables/ smallholdings, where they can happily live outside, but have someone give a daily supply of fresh food & water and somewhere sheltered to sleep.
If you can offer a place for a feral cat please contact us!
Rescues rooms can be sponsored by individuals or organisations!