Anyone who knows me will know I’m a sucker for cats and kittens.  But who isn’t?

Often on holiday I’ve encountered unfortunate stray cats or kittens but have been completely at a loss as to how to help them improve their lot. 

Lunching at the Fisherman’s Market & Grill in La Quinta earlier this week, Alan & I were disturbed to see a small grey kitten with a broken front leg begging around the tables.  Even worse when the staff there told us it had been hanging around for a couple of months & had been hit by a car a week or so earlier.  They said they’d been unable to catch it (how hard can it be to catch a kitten with a broken leg I asked myself – little did I know how resourceful & resilient feral cats can be) & that they’d then been waiting for its leg to get a bit better before they had another go.  I did what I could at the time – which was to hand over a large portion of my crab salad to the kitten...well he was crying rather pathetically and staring up at me with his big yellow eyes.  I knew this would be the start of sleepless nights for Alan if we couldn’t make this right.

Luckily we know desert-dwelling legendary cat rescuers, Leigh and David Kirk.  Tuesday we set off for La Quinta armed with a cat trap, sturdy cat catching gloves and a towel that Leigh had somehow managed to get a person in the cashier queue in Walmart to donate to her.  Kitty was a no show but we set the trap and hoped for the best.  No luck on Tuesday.  Afterwards we realised the cat was too smart to enter a cat trap containing standard cat food when he was used to feasting on fresh salmon and half & half several times a day – that’s what the good people of the restaurant were fuelling him with.  Back Wednesday at noon – again no cat but a decent lunch.  Back again Wednesday night where we were delighted to find a family holidaying from Santa Fe in New Mexico had been out & bought a cat trap & were also trying to catch our elusive moggy.  This time around, however, Leigh was armed with a secret weapon.  Original recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Cats cannot resist it.  (Good to know it has some use I guess.)  And she was right.  A mere hour and a half and numerous near misses later the kitten was in the trap & heading home with his new family, eventually (after a long overdue visit to the vet) to join their 9 dogs, 5 other cats and a herd of goats on their 6 acre smallholding in Santa Fe.  Small salmon-eating grey, you are one lucky kitten.

Well done Leigh and all the other good people who tirelessly try and make a difference both practically and by lobbying for changes in legislation.  Belated thanks also to the Colonel for his secret recipe!  Please post up your rescue cat stories – you know we all love to hear them.

PS Leigh's not for profit is called Forever Meow if you want to help out or make a donation.

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I’m on holiday in Beautiful Palm Springs in the southern California desert this week so it’s only right that I should tell everyone how lovely it is here.  This is my top ten not anyone else’s – I’m just getting that in now before people start giving out about the fact that golf or celeb spotting aren’t mentioned anywhere on this list!

1.       It has to be the weather.  OK – so it gets a bit hot in the middle of summer but the rest of the year you can’t fault it.  It makes outdoor living a reality.  Even Palm Springs airport is outdoors (it calls itself a resort-port instead of an airport – how cool is that!)

2.       Our wildlife – especially the glorious variety of colourful garden birds & hummingbirds that you see everywhere.  I also have a soft spot for the bats that appear at twilight and the roadrunners I see running across the lawn when I’m swimming early in the morning.  You can also visit the Living Desert if you want to see the stuff that lives here but isn’t readily visible – owls, tortoises, big horn sheep – check it out at this link http://www.livingdesert.org/

3.       Healthy, tasty, cheap vegetarian food – it’s everywhere.  Without doubt the worst thing about living in Northern Ireland for me is the poor choice of restaurants to visit for people that don’t just want to eat steak or chicken (I know – market forces – small population – I accept it’s my fault...)

4.       The people – most people who live here are blow-ins so there’s a rich tapestry of stories from pretty much everyone you meet

5.       The ubiquitous palm trees – who would have thought there’d be so many different types – don’t knock em until you’ve tasted a date shake

6.       Location, location, location – easy driving distance to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix & San Diego – just in case you ever get bored

7.       The flowers – especially the spectacular cactus flowers that are blooming right now and this year’s flame red ocotillo flowers – absolutely spectacular

8.       The mountains – changing colour all day long & allowing you to walk in snow at the top of the tram ride – even when it’s roasting hot down in the valley

9.       Mid century architecture everywhere & giving Palm Springs it’s unique retro look – it’s what we’re famous for & you can’t see it anywhere else

10.   The Ocotillo Lodge where we live – built in the mid 50s by the Alexander company & still exactly as it was the day it was built – just beautiful & with the best pool in town – that’s it pictured in the photo.

That’s my top 10 – would love to hear from you what I’ve missed.