Will you help us to help these babies fight for their future? All GAAS staff are volunteers so every penny you donate will go directly to their medical care, surgeries, medication and specialist equipment. If you can help, please visit our Donating page.

Thank you.

It's easy to tell when a dog is suffering from the heat, but cats make it less obvious. We have some suggestions on how to care for your cat during heatwaves, and to protect them from sunburn, heatstroke and dehydration.

Cats can only sweat through their paws, so they keep themselves cool by grooming and by stretching out on cool surfaces.

How can I keep my cat cool and hydrated?

• Keep your cat indoors when it's hottest (usually from 10am - 3pm). Make sure your home is at a comfortable temperature for them and that they can get away from the sunshine, especially if you're leaving them alone.
• If they want to go outside, make sure they have plenty of shady spots and safe ways to reach them - if the ground is too hot for your bare feet, it's too hot for their paws!
• Use a fan indoors if you're there and put ice packs or frozen bottles of water, wrapped in towels, near where your cat sleeps. You could also try using a cooling mat.
• Never, ever, leave a cat in a car, and make sure you never shut one into a greenhouse or shed by mistake. These can all get very hot very quickly.
• Make sure they have access to fresh water, inside and outside, and encourage them to drink. This may mean taking their drinking preferences into account - does your cat like to drink from a watering can, a birdbath or any other unlikely source? and keeping those topped up too. You could also offer broth or flavour the water with the juice from tuna packed in water (never in oil or brine).
• Keep their water well away from their food bowls and also litter trays. Cats like to keep them all separate.
• Make cat ice lollies by freezing yogurt treats.

How do I know when my cat has heatstroke?
Your cat might have heatstroke if:

• They're drooling
• They're panting or breathing fast
• They're restless or confused
• Their gums are red
• They're vomiting or have diarrhoea
• They have tremors or seizures
• They collapse

This is a medical emergency. Put your cat on a cool, wet towel, rub them with a lukewarm wet cloth, provide drinking water and phone your vet. Don't try to cool your cat down too quickly.

How do I know if my cat is dehydrated?
Your cat might be dehydrated if:

• Their eyes look dry and sunken
• Their paws feel cool or cold
• Their gums feel sticky or tacky
• When you gently pinch their skin, it doesn't snap straight back into place.

How can I protect my cat from sunburn?

• Light-coloured cats, cats with white ears or noses and cats without much hair on their ears are most likely to get sunburn. Sunburn in cats needs vet treatment and can lead to skin cancer. 
• The best way to protect them is to provide plenty of shade and ideally keep them indoors during the heat. If you use suncream it should go on ear tips, noses, belly, groin and anywhere without fur. The cream needs to be waterproof, SPF 30 or higher and most importantly, pet-safe so check with your vet first.

Events like Whitton’s St George’s Day, St Margaret’s, Twickenham and Richmond fairs are an important part of our year. We don’t get any funding, so all our money comes from donations and what we can raise on our stalls. Our biggest expense is vet bills - the cash we raised at Whitton is going towards caring for our very ill kittens.

Can you help us? We need drivers to collect our stock from Isleworth, take it to fairs and then bring unsold items back at the end of the day, and we also need people to help with staffing the stalls.

It’s a fun day out with a friendly team, and you’ll be making a real difference to our animals. The next fair is St Margaret’s, Twickenham, on Saturday 11 July.

If this is something you’d like to get involved with, even if you can’t make 11 July, please email us on guardianangelanimals@outlook.com. The more volunteers we have, the more fairs we can go to & the more money we can raise! 

19 April 2026
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Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has donated so far to help us save these babies. 

When we rescued them, they were riddled with worms and fleas and so we rushed them to the emergency vet. They're currently going back every day to be injected with fluids and antibiotics.

But they're not eating yet... so they may have to be hospitalised soon, and we'll continue to need your help. If you can, please visit our Donating page.

We have no grants, no funding. All we have is the money you donate. We're thankful for every penny, and we spend every single penny on caring for the cats. 

We'll keep updating here and on Facebook and Instagram. 

17 April 2026
When we rescued this kitten and her siblings, they were covered in fleas, had stomachs full of worms and could barely lift their heads. 

We rushed them to the emergency vet and they're holding on... for now. But they're so small, and so weak, and they need weeks more of expensive treatment just to have a chance at life.

Please, if you can, visit our Donating page and help us to save these babies. If you can help, even a little, you could be the reason they wake up tomorrow.

​Thank you.