Winter 2025 Newsletter

Welcome to a Bumper edition of our newsletter. Our volunteers on Corfu have been so busy. Grab a cuppa, put your feet up, and have a read about all the wonderful work they have been doing. 

As you will know, the winter is a busy time of year for us, but for different reasons. The weather on Corfu has been extreme in recent weeks, meaning the stray cats we feed and care for have needed extra support.  We’ve found a number of casualties to the weather who we have taken into our care. Read more about those later. We keep our feeding stations topped up with food, and ensure parasite treatments are maintained. This work is vital to the health of the cats on the island. It is not social media grabbing, but when visitors to the island go home, the cats rely on our volunteers to survive. Please don’t forget us over the out of season months, as your support is needed even more to allow us to keep the feeding up.

We have been doing some great sterilisation work – Chris has now got 12 cats from Kalami to the vets over the last few weeks – just imagine how many little lives that has saved.  We’ve also been giving financial support in St George South where Rafaella has taken 4 girls for sterilisation: a better life for them.

Featured stories

Nicola in Kontokoli

This story starts at a regular trap/neuter/release at the Kontokoli colony where Nicola and Sarah have a regular feeding station.  But this turned into an epic surgery – the poor girl had been in a road accident at some stage, and had a Diaphragmatic Hernia which had pushed all her internal organs into her chest. This is major surgery in itself. But to make matters worse, the severe weather had caused a power cut, so our amazing vet, Vasillis, was operating without electricity!! Due to the extent of the surgery,  this girl needed to be closely monitored for a couple of weeks before she could be released. She is pretty wild, so was not at all happy about this (picture below is her in a large crate).  Under Nicola’s care, she has made a good recovery, and continues to improve now as she is back in her colony.

Chris in Kalami - Arthur Gets His Happy Ever After

Arthur went to the vets with an infected claw, got his injury cleaned and was given a dose of antibiotics. On his way back to Kalami to release Arthur, Chris called in at home to pick up his dog to take for a walk. Fast forward to Kalami (about a 30 minute drive), and Arthur’s carry box was removed from the car for his release – but Arthur had managed to escape !!! Chris felt sick to his stomach. He drove back home to find Arthur up a tree in his garden having clearly decided this is where he wanted to be. Arthur is now living his best life in with Chris’ kitty family, and will stay there.

Up The Coast To Victoria In Kassiopi & San Stefanos

Found at the side of a busy road unable to walk, this girl was unable to wee and poo without help due to her broken pelvis. She was administered pain relief, and passed quite a lot of blood. Victoria helped her with toileting, until she was able to manage on her own. This is difficult enough with a domestic cat, but I can only imagine how difficult this must have been with a cat who was not used to human kindness, and was scared.  Six weeks of intensive care, and not able to move fast enough to be released to a colony. she is now living in Victoria’s garden with her other cats.

The next cat has received care from Agni over his lifetime, and is a local cat to Kassiopi.  Noticing he had lost weight and condition, Victoria knew the tell tale signs of bad teeth, but was shocked when she saw quite how rotten his teeth were when she looked in his mouth. A trip to the vet, and the teeth could not be saved, but puss is now enjoying his food again, and feeling so much better.

Uncle Timmy, here in the ginger and white coat, is Victoria’s own cat. He has disabilities, and has been in her care since he was 6 weeks old. He is always very happy to welcome the new rescue’s into his home with Victoria, helping them to feel settled.  Recently joining the tribe are the two kittens pictured with Timmy – the tabby and white was found in a car engine, the white kitten was found collapsed at the side of the road. Timmy is our special feline volunteer.

This next girl was found collapsed at the side of the road by a tourist.  As vets were closed that day, she was taken to Victoria to make her comfortable. It was thought she had been in a road accident, and was in a very bad way. It quickly became apparent that her illness was not as the result of an accident, but from a neurological condition, which she was administered appropriate medication for. She has recovered well – a slight head tilt and a bit wobbly, but she is affectionate and happy, and will stay in Victoria’s care

If you are squeamish, the next story and set of photos is not for the faint hearted, so maybe skip past this one. 

Jimmy John had previously been helped by AAWF following some issues after a road accident.  He has recently suffered another trauma, most likely caused by another accident, but his tail definitely got caught in something, and became de-gloved. His carer noticed that he had been missing for a couple of days, and when she found him, he was in a  horrific state. Maggots had infested the wound – there were hundreds – Victoria spent 3 and half hours picking the maggots out of his tail and a deep wound at the base of his tail with a pair of tweezers. Jimmy John lay patiently while this was done, obviously relieved to be getting help. This was the start of a long recovery process in which he has been cage isolated to keep him infection free. His tail has been amputated about  one third of the way down, but he has been a good patient. He has recently been released where he lives in Kassiopi, and greets Victoria with the biggest purr when she checks on him. 

If you have holidayed in Kassiopi over the last couple of  years, you may well have come across Buster. He is an adventurous and friendly cat, who was finally neutered in the late Summer this year. The vet gave him medication for a polyp in his ear, and this was being administered by a couple of ladies who live in the village. But the polyp grew, and his ear was constantly infected, so the polyp was removed through surgery. After a couple of weeks cage rest and care with Victoria, Buster has returned to his busy local social life, melting the hearts of local ladies. 

And finally... What Rhymes with Cat?

This bat was found struggling to keep afloat on the surface of a swimming pool. He had his wings stretched out and was very weak.  It was mid afternoon, so the bat must have been there a few hours. Victoria spotted him, and got advice from Greek Wildlife rescue, was able to nurse him back to health. Medicating and feeding an animal that likes to hang upside down cannot be easy !! Keeping him for a week, he was released back to a dry sheltered area for hibernation.

Angela and the team of volunteers at AAWF would like to wish all our supporters a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous 2026.  Thank you for all your support in 2025.

Thank you to the team of volunteers at AAWF

Our AAWF volunteer team:

Corfu – Georgia, Vicky, Theda, Chris, Nicola

UK – Tracy, Alison, Sean

Many thanks for all their time and commitment.