The Markfield charity has been forced to temporarily closeSome of the kittens cared for at the sanctuary.(Image: Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary)

A Leicestershire animal sanctuary has been “devastated” by the deaths of 11 cats. Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary, in Markfield, is currently closed after a deadly virus spread through one of its cattery areas.

Sanctuary manager, Maia Corbett, said that the virus called Feline panlucopenia virus (FPV), came from two kittens that were found at a roadside. Both cats spread the highly contagious viral disease, which is also known as parvovirus, to two separate litters.

Staff were unaware that the kittens were infected as neither showed symptoms of FPV, which affects the immune system, particularly the white blood cell count, as well as the digestive system. Maia told LeicestershireLive: “The mortality rate in cats under five months of age is over 90 per cent.

“[Even if we’d have hospitalised every single one of those kittens, which we did discuss with the vet, the vet said the chances of them actually surviving are so low – less than 10 per cent. We had to make some difficult decisions and had some put to sleep.

“Some of them just went in the morning – I would have a conversation with the vet, and then by the afternoon they’d already be gone. It has been absolutely devastating. There’ve been an awful lot of tears from myself, members of staff, our volunteers, because everybody cares so much.

A kitten at the sanctuary.(Image: Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary)

“Some of these kittens were born here at the sanctuary so we got to know them from day one, and we watched them grow, and then to see them fade so quickly – it was honestly just devastating and it’s been a very emotional time.

FPV causes reduced appetite and the inability to absorb nutrients in food, leading to cats becoming weak. Maia said that the sanctuary lost 11 cats between Friday, October 17, and Friday, October 24.

Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary, in Shaw Lane, also home to chickens, ducks, geese, goats, rabbits, and guinea pigs, has had to close temporarily as its treatment room for cats needs to be refurbished – a venture that will cost thousands.

The disease, which cats can be vaccinated for, can live on surfaces for up to 12 months, and so the sanctuary wants to rebuild the pens to ensure it can continue to help cats and kittens. She said: “FPV can live in the environment for up to a year. We’re having to completely modify the pens and by that I mean rip them out and build new ones.

“We need to know the virus is clear from the sanctuary and we’ve got no cases – we do not want to put cats in those pens unless they’re fully vaccinated. A lot of the cats we take in are either stray or have come from situations where the owner can’t afford to keep up the vaccinations so there is only a handful that we know would definitely be vaccinated.

The treatment room area, which will be stripped out so new pens can be built.(Image: Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary)

“We’re starting afresh with the pen so that we can still continue to help the cats that need it. We don’t want to have to say that we can’t take stray cats in.”

The animal sanctuary has a few cattery areas, and is still caring for 23 cats as the virus only affected one area. Staff have taken extra care surrounding cleaning procedures, and have been mindful not to travel between the different areas.

Maia added: “It has been a long, emotional journey so far and I think journey is the right word because a lot of us didn’t know much about the virus at all. As the manager, it’s really made me think about how our policies and procedures as a whole can improve.

“We’re now looking at how we change things in our intake. We’re building three new isolation units, so that any stray cats that come in will be isolated for two weeks before going into any other areas.

“We are making sure we buy new cat bowls, new litter trays, so that we’re using completely new things for each cat. We’re currently using disposable paper plates and bowls to put their food in as it’s making sure that we’re not keeping the virus around on any surfaces, so it really is changing how we do things now, but also going forward.”

Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary is raising funds on the platform GoFundMe as Maia said the treatment room is expected to cost between £12,000 to £15,000 to replace. The sanctuary has spent £4,000 on its new isolation pens.

It has so far raised over £10,000 in just six days. Maia said: “We’re absolutely blown away by everyone’s generosity. We didn’t think we’d be anywhere near the target, particularly after it only went live just days ago.

One of the cattery areas will be used to create new isolation pens.(Image: Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary)

“We are so incredibly grateful to everyone for their support – we couldn’t make these changes without it. It’s really warmed our hearts that people are there for us and the animals. In all honesty, the more money we can raise the better off we are, and these positive changes can be made more quickly.

“I think FPV is quite prevalent in the Midlands at the moment, according to the vets we work with. Once we reopen and start taking cats in again, even if we were to take one in – we know this won’t happen again. The changes we want to make will ensure that it doesn’t spread.”

Maia added that the sanctuary is still taking extra precautions three weeks on from tragic events. Once they reach the six-week mark of none of the cats contracting the disease, she said they can be “fairly confident” that it will no longer be a huge risk.

Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary is hoping to reopen and take in cats again in the New Year, and in the meantime is offering advice to those who need help.

One of the kittens at the sanctuary.(Image: Redgate Farm Animal Sanctuary)

“There is no silver lining from this, there isn’t a way of spinning a positive but I’m trying to see it as an opportunity to improve going forward – to take what we’ve learnt, and make sure the pens we’ve got going forward are better suited to these cleaning procedures.”

People can donate to help the sanctuary over on the GoFundMe website, with the appeal titled ‘Help us raise funds for our new treatment room’.