CAT lover Jackie Longley is going without heating in her own home to afford to keep her charity running.
Jackie, aged 63, runs the Sheffield Cat Abuse Treatment Society CATS in Firth Park, and has been caring for abused and mistreated cats for more than 25 years.
But she says her financial situation has now become so desperate she can no longer pay for the cats' medical bills.
She is going without heating in her house to save money, and is having stress-related health problems.
Today she made a desperate appeal to Star readers for financial help - and said the charity will have to close imminently if more money cannot be found.
"We have 22 cats," she said. "Three kittens have cerebral palsy, two are blind, and other cats only have one eye or have missing legs.
"But now I can't afford to pay veterinary bills for any cat that is ill in the future. We are dead now."
Jackie started the charity in 1989, and began by standing on a street corner three days a week, selling clothes and bric-a-brac to raise money for an abused cat she had found.
Since then the charity has taken in many sick, injured and abused cats, and helped to re-house many more healthy cats.
Now Jackie says she is facing the prospect of losing it all.
"I don't like to think about what will happen to the cats if we have to close," she said. "I am a one man band. I have no transport and no money.
"There is no way on earth I am going to be able to carry on like this."
To donate securely online via PayPal go to www.sheffieldcats.org.uk, and for more information on the charity ring Jackie on 0114 245 7181.
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