Emmaus companion Stephen talks about caring for Ratty at homelessness charity Emmaus Salford, who stars in the 2026 Big Issue Calendar.
“Ratty turned up on the grounds here as a stray cat. She was hanging around for a few weeks before she came up to take any food from us. She was living in a block of flats with a family, but they threw her out. They didn’t want her for some reason, so she ended up here. After a while we decided to adopt her because she was homeless as well.
“She was nine when she turned up. We found this out because the RSPCA was called in and they found out she had been chipped and traced the original owners. That was five or six years ago, she’s 14 or 15 now.
“I was at Emmaus Salford when she arrived. It was summertime when she turned up, but when the bad weather came in, the management at the time decided that we should bring her in.
“She was nervous around people and there are a lot of people in here, so she got moved into one of the rooms and I got nominated. I had never had a cat before, but I was fine with that.
“She’s the first pet I’ve ever had. It’s something new to have a pet around. I feed her. We used to get donations in the pantry. She’ll eat anything, but she does love cat treats.
“She’s a nervous cat. If there’s a lot of people. she’ll run off and be on her own rather than be in a crowd. But she’ll sit on my knee and sometimes let you stroke her. If you’re loud and waving your arms about, she’ll be off; you have to approach her slowly.
“We got in touch with Street Paws after our Community Support Manager became concerned about her breathing. She was breathing through her stomach, so we took her to the vets, and it turned out she was born with a deformity. No one would have known otherwise.
“We took X-Rays and her rib cage isn’t the way it should be. There’s a bend and it’s pushed her heart to the other side of her chest, which has caused problems with her breathing. She has medicine to help with fluid on her lungs and her circulation. One tablet a day and one drop on her food.
“It’s thanks to Street Paws we got her to the vets for an X-Ray. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known. They’ve been helpful with supporting us to book her into the vets. They’re always in contact, if we need anything else we can contact them and they’ll arrange it.
“Having Ratty makes a difference to me. Having never had a pet before, it’s about having something to take care of. Having a pet means something because you’ve got a connection.
“Emmaus has let her stay here. Originally there was a no pet rule, but the charity changed their mind on this occasion because of her.
“I think it’s fantastic she is in the Big Issue’s Christmas Calendar. She’s famous at last, so that’s good. They took pictures of her on the bed and she was fascinated by the red light on the camera. She kept staring at it the whole time.
“I’m looking forward to getting a copy. I think everyone should go out and choose to support the Big Issue North Calendar.
“And if anyone wants to donate pet food to help animals locally, we can accept pet food at Lucie’s Pantry.”
Emmaus Salford Lucie’s Pantry is a social supermarket offering heavily discounted food and essentials to families in need. The charity also works closely with Pets At Home to help animals in Salford. You can make a donation of pet food at the Community Homestore during opening hours or a monetary donation by visiting Emmaus Salford’s secure donations page here.