More Mums and kittens

Fosterers have surrendered their kittens to us. They have come from all over Sydney and none have names yet.

There are two mums who both seem friendly. One has (almost) weaned her kittens the other hasn't.

There is a litter of three kittens who are not quite 1Kg. But as soon as they have got rid of their fleas and worms they will put on weight quickly. They were chasing fleas madly after Tim dosed them. And investigating the toys I gave them.

The Liverpool cats all have L names.

Lennox and Lyla

Luca

Luca has been moved to Taylor's condo. He is very friendly and much appreciated having something to play with.

I am to pick up two more teenagers from the Liverpool colony on Friday. That should be the end of them because the Granny cat will stay in Liverpool.

Were Diana and Danielle were are a pair of kittens: Alfie (ginger and white) and Abbey (tortie tabby). Alfie is the bigger, more active kitten and Abbey was rather getting the brunt of his energy until I added some toys and a scratchy pole.

Alfie and Abbey

And in Elsa's condo we have a private surrender, Katie who came with the most glamorous cat carrier ever. 

She is the bit of fuzz you can see behind it. I zipped off the lid to give her more space. She is a ragdoll. . . . . naturally.

Second chance, again, for Ginger

Sue reports:

Alice, a kitten we took in only a few days ago, was adopted today but unfortunately Ginger came back only one day after leaving as his new owner had a severe allergic reaction.

But on Tuesday he was adopted AGAIN.

Ginger's new family

How long will she last?

Remember the litter of kittens in the far condo out back one of whom is a tortie. She was fostered to keep her out of harm's way. Well she is back. Her name is Alice. She is currently the smallest available cat at SH. How long will she last?

Alice

I took Taylor to Sandy's friends in Mona Vale. They have given up on the foster to adopt idea and have just adopted her. They will change her name to Tinkerbelle. I think they will find that she is a Belle rather than a Tinker. But before she was Taylor she was Tutu so she won't mind the name as long as she gets respect.

She was good in the car. She objected initially but settled down when I turned on RN to women's voices.

They have promised frequent updates and photos.

Taylor

A work at home mum and her teenaged (18-ish) son arrived. They had looked at the website and decided they wanted to meet Elsa and Olivia. Tim smooched up to Elsa and told them how to approach her. She did splendidly and won the mother's heart. She didn't take to the lad but I think it was because he looks a bit like Tim but his hair was combed straight up. Confusing for a cat.

Olivia didn't want to have anything to do with anybody this afternoon.

They went off to buy a suitable carry cage and stratchy, etc, etc. So, hopefully Elsa should be settling into the mother's home office by now.

Elsa

Dorito, Apricot and Ginger were off being desexed. I am amazed that Ginger is over 1 Kg. But he is 12 weeks old so should cope with the op. Somebody has bagsed him so I won't be able to say goodbye. Tim is going to miss him but won't miss schlepping his carry cage back and forth.

Ginger

Mr Popular today

His name is Peanut.
I moved him to a wheely cage so he can get used to being out and about more. And sterilized his condo because it was grubby. With any luck and he gets a home this afternoon, that is done.

There are two lots of folk coming this afternoon to look at him. They would have prefered a kitten but he is the smallest one we have available except for the shy Diana and Danielle (not suitable for small children). He is still a teenager.

Peanut plays with Rod

Peanut when he arrived

 But he is also Mr Problem. Remember when he arrived last year, in October, he was picked up from the streets of Brookvale, without a microchip. So his owner couldn't be contacted and the vet can't tell if he has been desexed. By the look of him, and his behaviour, he has been desexed: he hasn't developed the big, booffy head that late desexed males grow and he hasn't sprayed anywhere. But we don't have a desex certificate for him.

The Liverpool mother cat had 2 kittens (at least) on Monday night. She is doing a purring good job. This is not her first litter.

L mum and ? 2 kittens

Nala/Neill is looking more relaxed

Nala/Neill

And Dorito is feeling better.

Dorito

With Peanut in the wheely cage, Sootie modesty clothed, Taylor snoozing behind her partial modesty cloth, Penny doesn't have anybody to watch except for Kit Kat and Maggie who only move when there is food on offer.

Penny

PS. Had a phone call from the mother who adopted Angelo and Alex last week. She asked if it was normal for them to be hiding behind the washing machine from her children who are home from school. . . . . smart cats!

Some good news

Liz reports:

All 5 kittens in the stand alones were adopted yesterday: Mozart, Angelo, Alex and the 2 remaining F kittens. And the pregnant mum gave birth last night but Tim unable to see whether she has had 2 kittens or 3.

Mozart

Alex and Angelo

F kittens

Sandy reports:

Have got a couple of friends interested in Taylor so have suggested they foster two adopt so that I can drop her off to them in Mona Vale on Friday. Hope it’s a successful match.

Renamed

Helen tells me that her niece Lisa, her husband and 2 young children adopted 2 of the ‘F’ kittens last Sunday and have called them Bandit and Chili after the parents of Bluey, a popular animated ABC kids program.

NSW has been shut down. We will continue to care for our cats. But it is a pity that the public cannot come to get a cat or kitten to keep them company in isolation.

Tasha

Catsie's Tasha/Pud will be overjoyed if Catsie stays at home all the time.

Nails trimmed

The traffic to Arundel Park to pick up the litter load was easy peasy. And I got a full tank of petrol for $1.09 per litre!

All quiet back at Safe Haven. I cleaned out Blossom's condo then talked to a couple of cats. I noticed that Taylor's claws had got caught in her bath mat. Trimming her left paw was quite easy but the right paw was awkward. I ended up sitting in her condo with her on my knee to do it. She was perfectly polite throughout and has a delightful purr response to caresses. It would have made a good photo too.

I stroked Jewell while she was under her bed. She didn't shudder. But when she came out to see who was manhandling her, she promptly gave herself a thorough wash.

Penny doesn't do that. She just begs with her eyes for you not to stop.

Mozart

We haven't heard that the Petstock adoption for next Saturday has been called off. So Tim plans to go ahead and we should be able to convince at least 6 people that a kitten is the best antidote to being house bound and at least two more that an adult cat would be even better (Peanut and Taylor should be able to cope being in the shop).

Angelo

Alex

Adoptions to report

I could save the best until last but can't help myself.

Blossom was adopted this morning.

Her new person is an elderly woman (and her two mature daughters.) They have had a problem cat before and are happy about her health status.
Blossom didn't like being put into a carry cage. I had suggested that we swap the short, tight one that they brought with a taller, pink one that was given to me. Even though I put a piece of my mother-in-law's hand embroidered tablecloth in for her to sit on, she still didn't like to be put into it. But didn't complain once she was there.

Blossom

And the smallest A kitten was adopted: Annabelle

Annabelle

And, two of the F kittens, a boy and a girl. The names had not been assigned to any particular kitten so Tim just chose to call the adopted ones Fred (except that he changed that because of Freda and called him Flint or some such) and Flame. So I have wiped those two names off the white card on their rolly cage.

 F kittens

Feral Street:

Marmalade, the ginger kitten in the far condo by the wall has got himself out of that condo for the last couple of nights. Generally he let himself back in so that he was there when Tim arrived in the morning. But today he didn't get back into his condo. Tim caught him and put him into an Ingleside condo. He won't be able to wiggle the door until it opens there. He is above where Annabelle was. While he was out he left two very sloppy calling cards and a yellow puddle in the boarders row that I sterilized. You can eat your lunch from that bit of floor now.

I cleaned his old condo and you wouldn't believe the build up of dirty paw prints on the lower edges of the doors! He must have worked for hours to get it open. 

His Clare fellow rescue cats, all gingers, are not happy.

Apricot

Dorito

Dorito is the friendliest of them, but is not well.

The pregnant cat I collected on Saturday from Liverpool is still pregnant.

Nala?Neil has been put in his own condo and was prepared to be patted but not to be photographed. His nose needs a good clean before he is put on record.

Liverpool rescue

The trip to Liverpool was quick this morning, although it was cold. . .. . 14deg C out west!

The girls had managed to catch both the expectant mother cat and her brother. Tim has housed the brother and had him desexed so he should settle down quickly. His name is Narla. . . . from when they though he was a girl kitten. Perhaps he can be renamed Neil. They gave us permission to rename their cats and maybe they should all get names starting with L for Liverpool.

Narla is white with dark markings and the mum is white with grey (I think) and a scratch on her nose from when she tried to run through the bars of the carry cage en route to my car. Her tummy is quite large. Let's hope she doesn't do a Bonnie on us.

The trip back to Safe Haven was quiet. I think Narla/Neil must have had his "accident" after we arrived because I couldn't smell it in the car.

Good news is that Sootie, from Helen's cat colony has been fostered by a woman who used to be involved with the colony before she retired. She is used to dealing with very shy cats. How I love to see "CLEAN ME" on condos.

Co habiting

I decided to install the new hammocks before the weekend rush. Perhaps some folk will decide that if they must be quarantined at home for a fortnight they may as well get a kitten to keep them company.

Alex and Angelo

Annabelle looks very fetching in her Elizabethan collar.

But Tim decided that it had been long enough since she was desexed and she could go back in the stand alone cage with her brothers. Her brothers (especially Alex) were not convinced. They had one hammock each. And who was this cat with a funny neck.

When I installed a third, triangular hammock they settled down.

Annabelle, Angelo, Alex

Mozart loved his. It might have spun his head some.

Mozart

And the F's had a ball.

F kittens

I enticed Taylor down to nose level with sweet talk and pats. She is such a pretty cat and loved to be patted.

Taylor

I moved to Elsa who had upended her food bowl in her bed. So I had some food rewards for pats. She obliged. Quite liked it in fact. When I took my hand away, she reached out for it with her paw.

Elsa

Then, moving to the next grey cat, I kneeled before Olivia. She hissed at me. After 5 minutes all I got was a couple of blinks but no softening. Next time, perhaps.

I peeked into Candace's condo but she wasn't there. She was downstairs snoozing with Bonnie. Their communication door has been left open for the past few days. Bonnie is due to be desexed on Tuesday. As soon as she has recovered, Tim hopes that she and Candace will go together to a woman who is keen to have them.

Bonnie and Candace

 At lunch time Ginger appeared to bury his face in his food. Look at that round belly!

Ginger

Kitten wrangling in Liverpool

When I got there (an hour and a half drive on toll free roads) the mother cat had eaten her fill with one leg outside the carry cage and shot off as soon as the door started to close.

The two kittens were corralled in a large carry cage.

The mother cat is very pregnant. Tim hoped that they would catch her today so that she could have her kittens at Safe Haven. She is the daughter of Grandma cat, their original stray cat who belives that she belongs to this house. She is friendly and has been desexed. She is not allowed in the house but greeted me.

Liverpool Grandma

One of the kittens, a tuxedo ?boy, was in the first litter of two kittens of Grandma's daughter. The other kitten, the tortie, joined the little family when still breast feeding. The second original kitten died leaving just two. The tortie is the leader and smarter (of course) and the tuxedo is a playful kitten.

The two sisters of the house decided that I should wait to see if the mother came back although they thought it unlikely. Just wait for an hour and a half.
I was offered a plate of fruit. We chatted. I convinced them that it was unlikely that the mother cat would come back after the excitement of the morning and that I should transfer the kittens to small carry cages and leave the large carry cage for the mother. If they could corner her in there, they could leave her there to have her kittens and I would pick them up next week.

We adjourned to the small laundry with the large carrier with 2 kittens and two small empty carriers. The tuxedo was easy. But then I made the mistake of trying to put the tortie into the small carrier with the tuxedo. He shot out, she wriggled and fought, I got bitten but not scratched, she got put into the carrier, and he escaped. Very exciting. We took a break to breathe for a bit. Tuxedo ended up behind the washing machine, the safest, smallest space. After a bit, I grabbed him and put him into the other carrier.

I left them with the big carrier. Tortie and Tux didn't say one word all the way to Safe Haven. It will be interesting to learn if the mother returns.

The kittens have been put together in the bottom corner condo of what I think of as Clare Row. . .. . . after Clare who has now brought three ginger kittens from the War Vets cat colony. The one who arrived today is mournfully vocal. Clare Row is better than Feral Street.

RIP Freda

Cuddle time

The Friday morning crew finished up early and had left by the time I arrived at 12:30. Or perhaps it was the smell that drove them away. I talked Tim into turning on the fan. The worst smell might have come from the A kittens. I replaced the dirty white sheet that "protects" the dreaded painting.

Angelo and Annabelle 

(who deny that anything was going on)

I decided to spend time with the shy cats.

Bonnie loved her pats especially if I stroked her with her small mouse.

Bonnie

Milly wasn't keen to be touched but was soft eyed and blinky. And she was very interested in what was going on with the other cats she could see with her doors open. Kit Kat and Maggie demanded, and got, extra food. I always thought that they were both girls. But KitKat is a boy. He has the straight line of white up his nose. Her line wobbles.

KItKat

Penny was keen. She looked heartbroken when I stopped. Olivia did not want to be touched. Or even looked at, thank you.

While I was stroking Candace, who loves it, Elsa managed to knock her food bowl from her ledge. It must have given her a surprise as well as everybody else. She was probably leaning forward watching me pet Candace. I fed the escapee crunchies to her sisters who appreciated them (having eaten their own HOURS ago). And gave Samantha a box which she immediately got into. Tim suggested that she might like it better than sitting in her litter tray. She is not easy to see in the box.

Samantha

Taylor seems settled in a condo away from Buffy (who loves her venison soft or crunchie). But Taylor hadn't eaten any of her crunchies. She ate them when I put them under her nose, one by one. But not out of the bowl. . . . cats!

Taylor