A cat called Sugar was thrown off a balcony when barely a few weeks old, which left him with severe brain damage and uncontrollable shakes.

But he is a fighter and six years on he lives in a cat sanctuary where he is the darling of the dedicated carers.

However, his mollycoddled life, and that of another 180 cats in the sanctuary, may soon come to an end.

The Carers for Stray and Abandoned Felines has to evacuate their premises on the roof of the Maċina, in Senglea, in two weeks’ time.

“It breaks my heart to say it, but unless we are given alternative premises we’ll have to put them down,” sanctuary spokeswoman Joyce Scerri said.

“We cannot just open our gates and let them all out, they depend on us,” Ms Scerri added.

When it was set up seven years ago, the NGO was given a room at the historical building of the Maċina to care for abandoned and sick felines. Although they manage to home most of the abandoned cats and kittens, the colony grew.

“People phone us all the time when they come across an abandoned cat – we even have some with three legs – they would have been run over and we rush to the accident spot, pick them up and medicate them,” Ms Scerri said.

In January, the owners of the building, Maċina Development Company Ltd Consortium, ordered them to vacate the room by the middle of the month; however, they managed to managed to obtain a brief extension. The alternative premises they were offered by the Government was not appropriate.

“We were offered an open area in Vittoriosa that used to be a cemetery – it’s a jungle full of trees and rubbish.

“But the planning authority told us that we can’t build any rooms on it so it’s no use to us,” she said.

They are asking to be relocated to an abandoned factory: “It would be appropriate for us because we need an indoor room and an outdoor space for them.”

Her main concern is that the clock is ticking. “They’ve known about us for a long time... it’s already too late.”

What with the elections and the changes in administrations, she is concerned that new premises would take even longer to come their way.