Protected Paws Animal Rescue Registered charity 1202369

24/08/2026

RUBEN - WELL, WE ARE F**KING INTERESTED.

Ruben came into our care last night after the Protected Paws team formed a search party for a cat with his eye literally hanging out of his head.
A kind woman called Ruby was out for a run when she saw him.

She could have carried on running. She could have assumed somebody else would deal with it. She could have been one of the many people who had apparently seen him before.

She didn't.

Ruby made it her mission to get this cat help. She posted on social media, we were tagged and one look at the photograph was enough.

Traps out. Sardines ready. Vets warned we were coming.

Kerry, Ania, Amanda, Siggy and Ruby were not leaving Usk Street without him.

We searched, set the traps, asked around and waited.
And then people started walking past.

"Oh yes, that cat. We've seen him."

"He's been like that for a while."

You want to grab people and shake them and scream THEN WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU GET HIM HELP?!

But there's a terrified injured cat hiding under a car, so you swallow it, roll your eyes and concentrate on him.

Ruben wasn't stupid.

He didn't trust us. He definitely didn't trust the trap.
He'd edge towards it, reconsider and disappear back underneath the car.

Again.

And again.

Until eventually hunger became stronger than fear.
He stepped inside.

SLAM.

Got you, sweetheart.

Straight to the vets.

And then we discovered something that made the whole situation even worse.

Ruben was microchipped.

We looked at this absolutely battered cat.

Unneutered.

Scars everywhere.

Ears distorted by years of scar tissue from fighting.
And an eye so badly ruptured it was hanging from his head.

And we thought: How can this cat be owned?

Still, you try to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe he'd gone missing years ago. Maybe somebody had desperately searched for him. Maybe there was someone at the end of that phone who would be devastated to hear what had happened to their boy.

His registered name was King.

So Kerry called the owner.

Ring, ring…

Owner: Hello?

Kerry: Hi, this is Kerry from Protected Paws Animal Rescue. We have your cat in our care. His name on the microchip is King. He's extremely injured—

Owner: "I'm not f**king interested."

She hung up.

Kerry called again.

No answer.

So here's the thing.

WE ARE FING INTERESTED.

We're interested in the fact that he's 11 years old.

We're interested in every scar covering his body.

We're interested in those battered little ears.

We're interested in his destroyed eye.

We're interested in how many years he's spent fighting, surviving and being failed.

And we're interested in what happens to him now.

His name isn't King anymore.

His name is Ruben.

Named after Ruby, the stranger who saw an animal suffering and decided that walking away simply wasn't an option.

Ruben is a Protected Paw now.

And if he survives this, this beautiful, battered, broken 11-year-old boy will get every single chance he deserves.

We will be interested in him until his very last breath and we hope that breath is still many, many years away.

As for the person who wasn't interested?

We hope that when you're old, frightened, sick and desperately need someone, nobody ever treats you with the same indifference you showed him.

For everyone else: please show Ruben that people DO care.

We need help paying for his veterinary treatment, and if he is well enough to leave hospital, we will need a foster home for him.

FOSTER:
https://forms.gle/WKmh5pGFJLgV9qsV9

DONATE

JustGiving:
https://checkout.justgiving.com/c/3456394

(The platform tip is optional — click “customise amount” to change it.)

PayPal:

[email protected]

GoFundMe:

https://gofund.me/fd61be0d0

Welcome to Protected Paws, Ruben.

We are interested. We are invested. And now, you are loved.

24/08/2026

AMARA UPDATE!!

Good news! Amara’s surgery went well today. He’s now recovering in ICU, but since it was a significant procedure, the next couple of days are still critical. We’re holding onto the fact that the hard part of the operation is behind him.

Massive massive thanks to Lilia, his Surgeon and to Megan, his Veterinary Nurse at Elizabeth Street Veterinary Clinic, London.

This surgery is highly specialised and takes great skill. We are so grateful to Lilia and all the team at Elizabeth Street for giving Amara the best chance at a normal cat life.

Unfortunately we only raised around £300 for his surgery and we’re expecting the total bill to be TEN TIMES this amount! Therefore if you are able to spare a few ££’s, we would be grateful:

https://www.justgiving.com/charity/protectedpawsanimalrescue

PayPal: [email protected]

Can’t donate? No worries! Please share his story with your friends/family and followers 😃

Please keep Amara in your thoughts as he recovers from his surgery.

PP 🐾

24/08/2026

23/08/2026

AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!

Say hello to Melinda, a 4-year-old calico beauty looking for her forever home!

When Melinda first arrived in our care, she was completely shut down and wary of the world—a clear sign that her past hadn't been kind to her. Thanks to the incredible patience of her foster dad, Richard, this sweet girl has undergone a remarkable transformation. She has slowly learned to feel safe, blossom into a true cat, and let her personality shine.

Melinda would suit a quieter household where she can feel secure and relax at her own pace.
She can be shy around new faces, but with a little time and patience, her curious side always wins out.

Melinda is a spider catcher extraordinaire! If you dislike creepy-crawlies, she is more than ready to be your brave, eight-legged pest control specialist!

She’s a fun, playful beauty who appreciates a human who respects her boundaries when playtime is over.

Melinda will need:

✅ Adult only home
✅ Access to a garden
✅ Only pet in the household

Once she’s used to your routine, she’ll great you when you arrive home and happily snuggle on your lap.

Once a scaredy cat, now a snuggle cat; Melinda has come so far on her journey, and all she needs is a kind heart to give her the peaceful life she truly deserves. Could that be you?

📍Melinda is with her foster in Croydon

Apply here: https://www.protectedpaws.co.uk/adopting

✔️All animals neutered, vaccinated, flead, wormed & microchipped

🏡 Home checks & adoption fees apply

23/08/2026

23/08/2026

Our little foster boy Louie

Old ✔️
Let down ✔️
Sick ✔️
Unneutered tomcat scars ✔️
Dying on arrival ✔️
Smelly ✔️
Kerry cat ✔️
Protected Paws cat ✔️

LOVE HIM.

23/08/2026

Good afternoon all!

PLEASE take two minutes to vote for us! 🫶🏻

Help Protected Paws win a share of £300,000 in grants — just vote for FREE at MyGivingCircle 🗳️

Just search ‘Protected Paws Animal Rescue’ when asked for the charity name 😃

https://mygivingcircle.org/protected-paws-animal-rescue?affiliate=mgcIshare&iv=share_BrmRIHY0Yj

Thank you x

Each year MyGivingCircle gives £1,500,000 in grants and donations

23/08/2026

“We feel very lucky.”
That’s what Mrs Bob and Tina’s family told us — and this update rather explains why.

Mrs Bob is still her mum’s little shadow, currently to be found sitting beside her demanding attention. Tina has decided her dad is her person, following him everywhere, giving him kisses and curling up in his arms like a baby while he works.

And that’s particularly lovely for Tina. In foster, she was the caretaker of her litter — looking after the other kittens and even helping teach them to use the litter tray. Now she gets to be the baby.

They still adore each other, and they adore their human brother too. Both seek him out for cuddles and “words of affirmation” while he sings to them and tells them how beautiful they are.

This is what happily rehomed looks like. Two kittens who once needed someone to choose them, now so completely part of their family that their humans feel lucky to have them.

Mrs Bob and Tina’s family took a chance on two rescue kittens — and now they can’t imagine their family without them. Somewhere among the cats on our website could be your future little shadow, work-from-home supervisor, chief cuddler or recipient of slightly questionable songs. Go on, have a Sunday browse — you never know who you might fall in love with.

https://www.protectedpaws.co.uk/our-animals

22/08/2026

MARTIN - ANOTHER CAT FAILED BY PEOPLE.

Martin was just eight months old.

Eight months old. Unneutered. Unchipped. Out on the streets.

Yesterday, Martin was badly attacked. His injuries left him with a broken pelvis, and when we heard about him, he was facing euthanasia at the vets.

But his pelvis was fixable.

We pulled him from euthanasia and rushed him straight to our vets. The plan was to stabilise him and then operate on his broken pelvis, giving this little boy the chance to recover, heal and finally have the life he should have had from the beginning.

We thought we'd got to him in time.

This morning, Martin crashed.

Our vets tried to resuscitate him, but tragically, he died.

There must have been more going on than the broken pelvis we knew about — potentially internal trauma, lung contusions or other injuries from the attack that his little body simply couldn't overcome.

And we're angry.

Because once again, an unneutered, unchipped young male cat was left outside to fend for himself.

Nobody neutered him.

Nobody chipped him.

Nobody kept him safe.

But when he was broken, suddenly he became the responsibility of a rescue.

Martin was eight months old. He was still a baby.

He should have been neutered. He should have been chipped. He should have been safe. Instead, he was attacked so badly that despite getting him to safety and planning surgery to repair his pelvis, he never got the chance to make it that far.

We couldn't save him, and we're so incredibly sorry, Martin. 💔

And despite losing him, we still have to pay for his 24 hours of hospitalisation, X-rays, emergency care and attempted resuscitation.

If you can donate anything towards Martin's final vet bill, please do.

Rest peacefully, Martin. You deserved so much more than eight months.

Donate:

JustGiving

https://checkout.justgiving.com/c/3456394

(Please note the platform tip is optional — click “customise amount” to change it.)

PayPal

[email protected]

GoFundMe

https://gofund.me/fd61be0d0

Donate • Foster • Adopt • Share

22/08/2026

This article highlights the current UK cat crisis and sadly, we are seeing it right here in our community too. Please read this to understand what we and rescues up and down the country are dealing with every day.