Cat rescue charity closes doors as vet bills soar

Jenny Musgrave says she's struggling with rising vet bills

A cat rescue charity says it has had to temporarily close as it faces mounting vet bills of more than £30,000.

Jenny's Cat House, based in Hessle, has taken in more than 250 cats in the past year from across East Yorkshire.

Founder Jenny Musgrave said the service might have to close permanently if it cannot raise more money.

"It's been really hard," she said. "Turning people away when they say we're their last hope... it breaks your heart."

Ms Musgrave began fostering cats for local rescue centres in 2020 and opened Jenny's Cat House in 2023 - and has since rescued about 400 cats.

She said: "I didn't realise that there were so many cats out there needing our help. It's unbelievable."

Ms Musgrave said she was grateful for the support she already received, but more help was still needed.

"We 100% want to continue with what we do for the cat community around Hull and East Yorkshire, [but] as a small charity we can't continue at our current rate," she said.

"We've had quite a lot of poorly cats. Even if they're not poorly, they still need a vet check, their first and second vaccine, neutering and a microchip. That all adds up.

"We just really need sponsors. We need anybody that can raise money in any way so that we can pay these huge vet bills off."

She said she needed some time to review the future of the charity.

"It may be that we drastically reduce and limit the number of cats and kittens we bring into the rescue, or we may request more volunteers to foster cats and kittens," she said.

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