'Village aunties' giving new mothers a helping hand

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The old proverb "it takes a village to raise a child" is a concept a group of women on the mid-north coast of NSW have been working to bring back. The village aunties' are all about cooking meals for new mums in need of support.

Transcript

00:00 It's a core vaccine generally referred to as F3, so it protects cats against feline

00:06 parvovirus, feline callusivirus and feline herpesvirus.

00:11 Most cats, if they receive their full course of vaccinations as kittens and receive boosters

00:16 as adults, they'll be fairly protected, so if they're not getting an update at the moment

00:21 the delay won't be crucial, but the issue is with kittens who don't have that immunity.

00:26 It's a yearly job, is it?

00:29 Usually it depends.

00:31 As a kitten they'll usually get a course of three or four, one at six months, then at

00:36 a year, and then after that it might be yearly or it might be less frequent, depending on

00:40 the cat's circumstances.

00:42 If they're regularly boarding or at high risk they might be annual vaccination, the period

00:47 in between might be a bit longer.

00:48 That's usually a matter that's discussed with the vet.

00:51 So your vets just simply can't get it?

00:54 A lot of the vets we work with have completely run out.

00:59 Some still have some supplies and in line with the AVA recommendations they're prioritising

01:04 kittens because they're most at risk.

01:07 We still have some supplies at our shelter and we've been able to vaccinate our kittens,

01:11 so we have a fantastic shelter manager, Nerida Atkin, she's always prepared, but it is a

01:17 really difficult time because we're in kitten season and kittens are the most vulnerable.

01:23 It must be difficult to turn away kittens as well.

01:26 So what happens?

01:28 You just say, "I'm sorry, we can't take any more now."

01:31 We have a waiting list and we typically have a waiting list anyway because we're a managed

01:36 admission shelter, so as cats are rehomed we can take more in, but we also have a lot

01:42 of foster carers and they're an absolute lifeline to us and thank you to all our foster carers

01:46 and to all the people who do fostering for rescue because they're so important, because

01:51 they help you to manage those peaks and troughs of cats coming in and cats going out.

01:57 Might we see, Christina, an increase in cat illnesses then if this problem persists?

02:04 I think for cats who are homeless it's going to be a very, very high risk period and kittens

02:11 will be most at risk and it can be fatal, things like pavovirus can be fatal, even feline

02:17 herpesvirus can leave a cat blind.

02:22 These can be really severe diseases.

02:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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