Earlier this year, the Ross Gazette reported that the New Start Cat Rescue, based in Newent, were appealing for donations to help care for five kittens, who had been brought into the centre in a really bad way. They were weakened from a lack of food and care, and in danger of going blind.

Jackie Bahooshy, the charity’s co-ordinator, told the Ross Gazette: “When we first took them to the vets, they were in a dreadful state. The vet asked us if we wanted to put them to sleep, but that’s not what we do, we fight.”

The Blind Kitten Appeal raised around £3000. The New Start Cat Rescue volunteers were hopeful that they could save the sight of some of the kittens. The money was used to pay for vet bills, eye creams and medicine, and the kittens slowly began to improve.

Lots of Gazette readers donated and the Ross Gazette can now happily report that none of the kittens will be completely blind.

One of the kittens, Candy, has already had one eye removed, but her other eye is in perfect working order. Another, Cherry, also has to have one eye removed, but this operation cannot yet be done, because she is still too little. The other three kittens have had their eyes saved completely.

All of the kittens, and another cat who was their foster mum, have found their forever homes in time for Christmas, all thanks to the hard-working volunteers at the New Start Cat Rescue.

The Gazette spoke to Charlie Kawczynski, who rehomed Candy, who she describes as a “gorgeous bundle of fluff.”

Charlie told the Ross Gazette that she was following the New Start Cat Rescue on Facebook, when she found out about the Blind Kitten Appeal. She saw a picture of Candy, and she fell in love.

She said that she had to convince her husband, who was reluctant to adopt a kitten; their family already had two spotted bengal cats, and he had his doubts about taking on a third.

But Charlie said that when she went to visit Candy, when she held her, the tiny kitten snuggled in to her. She passed her to her husband, and she did the same thing. “He just looked at me, and nodded,” Charlie said.

Candy has been living with her new family for five weeks now, and while Charlie’s bengal cats took a little while to come around to the idea, they have now embraced the new tiny family member into their pack.

Charlie said that after Candy came to live with them, her poorly eye got very bad, and they had to take her to the vets, and the eye was removed. “We had her spayed at the same time, so she came home feeling very sorry for herself,” Charlie said.

After the operation, Candy’s eye became infected, and she had to go back to the vets for an overnight stay. She was missed very much by her humans, and the other cats, who came to sleep on Charlie’s bed that night, which she said is something they had not done before.

But Candy is home now, with her family, all ready for Christmas. ‘“We love her to pieces,” Charlie told the Gazette.

Since adopting Candy, Charlie has decided to volunteer with the New Start Cat Rescue. She told the Gazette that she was filled with admiration for the charity’s volunteers when she saw how hard they worked. She said: “Most places would have put them down, but at New Start, they give every cat a chance. None of them are paid, and the amount of work they do is jaw dropping.”