Hisses to Purrs Incorporated

22/10/2026

We've seen two posts today that just break our hearts 💔. This is the reality of rescue. This is the reality of kitten season. This is the reality of not having effective cat management.

Cat Adoption Foundation's post:
https://www.facebook.com/share/16JSaX5R1Na/

Purrfect Paws Rescue Incorporated's post:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19jKRYUTEs/

Containment won't fix this. Cat limits won't fix this. Statewide subsidised desexing programs that include owned, semi-owned and unowned cats would fix this.

How much longer do rescue volunteers have to pick up the pieces? How much longer do volunteers have to experience this grief and loss before people start to listen? How much longer do we all need to beg and scream into the void to desex your cats until people start doing it?

We've been running since 2021 and every year we see the same thing over and over again. Rescues begging and pleading for people to desex their cats. Rescues posting about grieving another death. More urgent cases, more neonate kittens, more litters found dumped.

Society needs to change. Cats need to be valued as much as dogs are. Councils and the State Government need to start being proactive instead of focusing on enforcement. Subsidised desexing programs are backed by Australian research and are already running in other states. Catching and killing cats has been tried for decades and the numbers keep growing. It's time to start doing something to stop this.

When we comment that rescues are burning out, we don't mean us. We mean the entire sector. Rescues can't keep going like this.

Please support your local rescues. Whether it's us, Cat Adoption Foundation, Purrfect Paws Rescue Incorporated or one of the many others... share their posts, donate, foster if you can. All rescues can only keep going with community support.

Read their stories. Email your councils and MPs, ask for subsidised desexing. It's the only way anything is ever going to change.

18/10/2026

We're here at the MVYC Fundraising Fete/Market until 2pm! Such fantastic weather to come say hi! Grab yourself a coffee, snag and while helping us raise much needed funds for the 53 cats and kittens in care.

See you soon! 😻

17/10/2026

Come find us at the MVYC Fundraising Fete/Market tomorrow from 10am to 2pm! It's gonna be a lovely day for it! As always, we'll have plenty of items on offer for the whole family!

We'll see you there 😻

17/10/2026

Huge thank you to PetRescue and Poowee Australia for the massive donation of litter today! And thank you to the wonderful Bryony for meeting us halfway on a Saturday 😻

Large donations like this help us so much! Especially with so many kittens in care that will be learning how to use the litter tray real soon!

16/10/2026

After a few weeks of sadness, we thought we'd share a bit of cuteness. Jewels' kittens are now 3 weeks and 2 days old and are starting to explore 😻

We just love when the little ones like this start to get their legs!

15/10/2026

Today we said goodbye to one of our permanent fosters little Jimmy 💔

Jimmy became a permanent foster after coming into care as a kitten. He and his siblings survived panleukopenia. After recovery, Jimmy did not catch up in growth and tested positive for mycoplasma and toxoplasmosis. He was treated and recovered from both. When he still didn't grow, we had a liver shunt test done plus a bunch of other tests to get to the bottom of things but nothing showed. We kept him in care as we couldn't guarantee there was nothing wrong.

Over the past 24-48 hours Jimmy rapidly lost weight and then this morning we found blood on the floor. He was rushed to the amazing Familypet Vet and sadly gained his wings.

Jimmy had an amazing few years with us. He met his best friend Winston who despite being twice Jimmy's size was only a few months younger than him.

We'll forever love you little Jimmy. Despite forever being the size of a 6 month old, you brought us a lot of joy in your short little life.

13/10/2026

📢 Announcement 📢

We don't know how many times we need to repeat this, but after receiving an email from our adoption partner today advising of someone going into the store to enquire about unavailable kittens we want to make something very clear.

If we have kittens that are unavailable, then they are unavailable. It does not matter where you go to enquire about them, they'll still be unavailable. There is no eta on when they'll be available and you will not get one. You are wasting store staff and volunteer time by being impatient and pushy.

We cannot believe that people think it's ok to constantly try to "get in first" when we have said numerous times that the kittens are not available. You are not entitled to an ETA on when they'll be ready. You are not entitled to information. The kittens will be ready when they are advertised as available. End of story.

12/10/2026

Please comment. We're all for voluntary containment of owned cats. All a by-law will do is lead to increased abandonment due to people being unable to afford enclosures. Our research showed that by-laws are ineffective and lead to an increase in complaints and more animal cruelty. The draft by-law effectively shuts volunteer rescues down. We need targeted, subsidised desexing for owned, semi-owned and unowned cats. If you feed a stray, this proposed by-law will make you its owner. It will be a choice between taking ownership or stopping feeding which closes the path that rescues have every day to bring cats into care. It's easy to think "of course cats should be contained!" We understand how people get there. It's not that simple though. Cat management is a complex issue that doesn't have a simple fix. A containment by-law with a 2 cat limit is not the way to solve the issue.

🐾 Tomorrow night, Council will be making an important decision about whether to begin the process of introducing a cat containment by-law.🐾

💬 Do you support Council exploring a cat containment by-law, or do you think there are better ways to manage the issue?

Here are some of the key facts I’ve learnt along the way:

🐾 Unlike dogs, cats aren't covered by the same legislation. Council must release a cat if it is microchipped or wearing something that allows its owner to be identified. A by-law won't change this requirement.

😼 The State Government has been considering a statewide approach to cat management. Council has requested an update on this process.

🐦 Free-roaming cats contribute to the deaths of millions of native animals every year.

💰 There are other options: Desexing programs, community partnerships, education campaigns and grants are among the strategies that could help manage cat populations. Some options come with a much higher price tag than others.

🐈 As of June 2026, the City of Onkaparinga had more than 13,000 registered and unregistered cats.

🏡 Other councils have taken action: Adelaide Hills, Alexandrina, Marion, Mitcham and Yankalilla Councils have cat containment by-laws.

⚖️ It's not a simple issue. There are important considerations around community expectations, responsible pet ownership, protecting our native wildlife, enforcement, costs and the impact on our community.

📄 Want to understand the issue in more detail? The Council agenda item starts on page 53. I'll post the link in the comments below. 👇👇

✅️ I'm happy to answer any questions or seek a response if I dont have the answer. I welcome comments to understand different perspectives too.

10/10/2026

***ADOPTED***

Hi! My name's Sampson! I was trapped with my 2 brothers in Aldinga after being found near some shops. I was really scared at first, but I've come to learn how awesome humans are!

Did you know that humans give you food and tons of pats?! Pats feel amazing and I wish I had discovered them sooner! I'd do anything for them and would push my brothers out of the way to get some. I LOVE food too! It's definitely the way to my heart. When I'm not eating or trying to get attention, you'll find me playing with toys.

I'd be best suited to a quiet home and am fine if you work full time. I'll spend my days napping and will be waiting for pats when you get home. I'm fine with other cats (but would need to be introduced to new cats slowly), untried with dogs and children.

*to be kept strictly indoors or with access to a secure enclosure only*

I'm 8 months old and my adoption fee of $220 iincludes:
- desexing
- 1st vaccination
- microchipping
- litter training
- socialisation
- an adoption pack full of goodies to get me started.

If I sound purrfect for you, head to PETstock Melrose Park and speak to one of the lovely staff members today!

DACO185413

09/10/2026

This is the side of rescue that people don't see. While everyone sees adorable little kittens and rushes to make enquiries about adoption, behind the scenes, while replying to messages and comments, our volunteers are navigating grief over losing little lives.

On Sunday night, after finding a stillborn kitten, our volunteer went in to check on another mum cat and found one of her kittens had passed away. On Tuesday, the same volunteer came home from work to find another kitten crashing. Despite following the fading kitten protocol for 3 hours, he unfortunately passed. On Wednesday, we found 2 more that we won't go into because it was very traumatic. Then on Thursday, we found another crashing. Despite trying to save her for over an hour, she too passed.

People see cute kittens. They think rescue is nothing but playing with kittens. It's not. It's death and crying over little lives that didn't get a chance. It's anger over the fact that those little lives shouldn't have even started because their mum should have been desexed. It's frustration over people not taking responsibility and thinking they can make their cat a rescue's problem to deal with.

Rest in peace little Penguin, Selina, Carbon, Kimiko, Butcher and Hughie. You were loved in your very short time here. You mattered.

This is why we don't do holds. We don't take early applications and we don't do preadoptions. We won't ever change this policy. If you've filled out an adoption application for a kitten who isn't available, it will be ignored. Kittens can crash and die within a few hours with no warning. We'd rather not have to message potential adopters to advise of a kitten passing while dealing with the loss ourselves. Stop enquiring about unavailable kittens. Be patient. Don't add to our volunteer's day. You don't know what they're dealing with behind the scenes.