Celia Hammond

“I work 18 to 20 hours a day, seven days a week, so I don't have time for a social life. Or any life outside work.”

“People's financial situation has changed, and they surrender their cats all the time, because they're downsizing or moving to a property where they are not allowed to have pets.”

“A lot of friends have given up on me.”

“It's the bedsit culture: people get a cat, and then, in a few months, when they move on or go travelling, they just throw the animal out. It's so discouraging.”

“You only get one life. You have to do what you feel is right with it.”

“Take one female cat over a seven-year period. If all the kittens survived and bred, she would be responsible for 21,000 cats - they are such prolific breeders: you can see how important it is to neuter.”

“Even though I need only two or three hours' sleep a night, there are never enough hours in the day.”

“Everyone says I should leave it. But of all the cats I have saved, the one I remember is the one I can't catch.”

“People simply shouldn't buy puppies without a breeding certificate.”

“The thought of being alone when time goes on is a little bit scary sometimes, but not really.”

“When I was young, I preferred dogs, but when I moved into a flat when I was 18, it wasn't practical to have a dog. So I got a couple of kittens, and that was it.”

“People buy a cat and think, 'Oh that's a beautiful collar. I'll put that on,' but that doesn't make them a responsible pet owner.”

“If someone was out all day, we wouldn't give them just one cat, because they would be lonely - we would give them two cats.”

“Multiple cat households are a good thing.”

“On collar wounds, we normally manage to save them, but they can take weeks to heal because they're so deep, and they sort of grow into the flesh under the arm.”

“The majority of cats are very gregarious - they love each other so much; they enjoy living together and grooming each other.”