White is the new black

Storm went back home today. Won't she be pleased! But she will be confined because the neighbours don't like her to roam and create havoc.

I had just cleaned out her palace condo . . . . cleaning her hair off the scratchy pole took the longest. . . . when in came Sue with Linda. Sue is off travelling (in NSW) so Linda is having a turn in the palace.

Linda

 I also cleaned the condo above Willow and moved her into it (with permission) so that I could clean the condo where she and the kittens lived (and caught ring worm) for weeks. I have given it a good scrub but it needs another pair of eyes to clean off the grubbiness that was under the first layer of crud. I think WIllow likes her new view (of the feeding station!)

Willow

Lucia's boys were taken off to be desexed because WIllow's kittens were not quite well enough. She seemed anxious to have them back. I removed the small carry cage that they were born in and have outgrown.

Lucia

 These two WIllow kittens look quite smug to be left at home

Willow kittens

Morty has an interesting mark on his foot.

Morty

A couple came to look at Lynette but have gone away to think about her. They want a shy cat because their last cat was shy. But then he spotted Bowie . . . . who is not the least bit shy. In fact, his door was unlatched and he wiggled into my arms happily. They could pick Harriet's kittens if they want a shy kitten.

With Baggage

Cookie and Tim Tam came with loads of baggage.

Their owner is working out of the state most of the time and has found that cat sitters are unreliable and not good enough for his spoiled babies. I didn't get to see them. They are hiding in a cat carrier, each. But I heard their mournful cries.

Next door to them is Peggy. Couldn't see her either and don't know her story.

Out the back, Petey has been moved in with Buddy (who has an elizabethan collar). Neither of them were happy enough to eat their breakfast.

 Petey, Buddy

Several other cats are off their tucker as well. Even two of Willow's kittens, now released from ringworm quarantine have been put to bed. .. and stay there!
 W-kittenWilliam

The other two are fine, so far.

As is Lily with her four babies. Still in their upstairs bed.

Lily

Quatro was adopted. . . no surprise there.

Midnight adopted

As soon as she stopped yelling, she got adopted. I hope she doesn't yell when she gets to her new home.

. . . . excuse the strange photos. See below. . . .

A kitten, white with very few, tabby makings was surrendered today. An older woman found him and took him in. But he is only about 4 months old and is full of play so she was scratched and bitten. After four rounds of antibiotics, for her, she decided that a kitten is not what she needs. He came will a pile of toys and many varieties of food so was a thoroughly spoiled. Nevertheless, he seems very sweet and he name is Bowie.

Bowie

We separated Morty from under his brothers. He has gone into Buffy's condo so that he can see them across the aisle. Within a very short period he was out in his big space. When I offered him treats, he ate them from my fingers even though he didn't want to be patted,

Morty

Lynette wanted to be patted. . . lots and lots, thank you. Her tail is quite short (not as short as WIllow's) but is very stout when she is happy.

I washed Bosley's face but it didn't make much difference. He thoroughly enjoyed the attention. . . such a wussy puss.

The W kittens will finish their medication tomorrow so I set up their wheely cage for them. It will be mayhem.

My camera ran out of battery so I took photos with my phone. Can't sync the phone to the computer. Emailed each photo to myself but none have arrived. Any tips for getting photos off an android onto a Mac will be gratefully received.
I recharged the camera battery and took photos of the mobile phone screen. Hence the arty-looking photos.

More include:
Diamond and Hera are much more in evidence since they have a quarantine sign and nobody is fussing with them.

Hera and Diamond

 Charley has been moved to "adopt now" aisle. He is listed as a Himalayan/Ragdoll cross. But he is very cross at being with us and specialises in spits.

Charley

Whereas Octavia's special face is "I do not trust any human". Even those who bring gifts of dental crunchies.

Octavia

I tried to get separate photos of Haley and Harold but it was difficult to pry them apart. We really need to get them used to people smells on their bodies.

Haley

Quatro is a little shy still but her purr is bigger than she is so that it is a pleasure to spend time with her.

Quatro

Not rocking

Last week Catsie cleaned the new boarders and said "Remember the stickers on panel vans that said "if the van is rocking, quit knocking"?" The igloo in their condo was rocking.
They have been moved to our area and will be available for adoption as soon as they have become a bit more friendly. Morty is said to be the friendliest so he is to be moved to a condo on his own.

I stuck a camera into the carrier in their condo:

Edward and Jacob sitting on a Morty rug

 The exciting news is that the mama cat had her kittens sometime before Monday morning. She has four. Now she needs a name.

Her neighbour, Petey is new. And shy.

Petey

Luna has settled down, ie she seems resigned to her fate

Luna

Kimi is hungry (not resigned to her ration)

Kimi

And Sue wants a good photo of Midnight.

Midnight

Gone

Shumai. Of course. His new person was on the doorstep at 10am on Thursday morning. (Shumai was posted on Pet Rescue and our website on Wednesday around noon). I had told the other enquirers on Wednesday afternoon to phone before they set off for Safe Haven. Pity they didn't come to fall in love with somebody else.

Like Baby. . .  who is a female. I judged her a male because of her lovely round face and affectionate ways. Perhaps, as she is 13 years old, we should change her name to Babette.

Although, perhaps some of Shumai's success could be because of his "Chinese" name. Ask all your Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, etc friends what are the cutest names for cats that they know.

But the significant thing that is gone is the huge wall "art". As soon as I walked in (with the litter) this afternoon, I realised something was different. It took a little while to realise what the difference was. It is as though a black, frowning cloud has been lifted from our space.

So I checked with Tim who agreed that Buffy should be removed from above Tammy. He suggested that she take over Shumai's condo. She is such a social cat, she will enjoy being part of the action from the middle. 
Doesn't she look a happy cat!

Buffy

Haley and Harold are happy too because their wheely cage us just under the heater. 

Haley and Harold

Then I noticed that Octavia's condo was open. I hopefully asked if she was at the vets being desexed. She was . . . so we didn't have to search for her. Quartro was there too. I offered to go pick them up. Tim was planning on doing it which would have made him very late home tonight (after last night's meeting which lasted until 10pm). 

We put Quatro into  Jasmine's condo because as soon as she has recovered from her op, she will be adopted. Octavia needs more work.

Scary Hands

There has been lots of movement since last Friday. Somebody else needs to update the blog after the weekend.

The best news, perhaps, is that an older couple came on Sunday and adopted Diva and Sienna. They have a room of their own. They have ventured out of their carry cage. The man comes to sit in their room but is happy to wait until they want more interaction.

And Saxon has gone. Don't know where but whoever has him is one lucky person.

And Pepi has gone. Again.

In her condo is a cat "called" TBA. I hope that means To Be Adopted. But she is very shy. I left her breakfast bowl out on the shelf and she hadn't eaten it by dinner time. I gave her a modesty cloth to hide behind.

TBA

Across the aisle from her is a cat called Baby. S/he is 13 years old. Initially I thought that s/he was another shy cat because all I could see was a spotted back inside the carry cage. But I said hello and out the cat popped and was so pleased to see me that it was difficult to get a photo. My guess is that he is a male. 

Baby

Kimi is another "shy" cat who is perfectly happy to get pats. She keeps herself very tidy.

Kimi

And Luna has settled down. Last week she screamed blue murder whenever anybody came near her. Today she was quiet, polite and neat.

Luna

I handed out some treats, on my fingers to try to build trust with some shy cats.

Lynette wouldn't have anything from my fingers but she is eager to engage. . . . theoretically, until you reach towards her.

Lynette

Quatro purred like an engine while trying to push the treats off my fingers so that she could eat them. She did, eventually, take them from my hand and gently nibble my fingers. Perhaps she hadn't come across any before?

Quatro

Octavia wasn't having anything to do with fingers. She didn't say a word but the eyes spoke volumes. . . . get out of my space.

Octavia

Fixed it

. . . . the squeaky front door. All it needed was a squirt of WD40 on the top most hinge. I left the almost empty spray can of WD40 just in case the squeak returns.

It was nice to get something right. I drove from tennis via Pet-O vet where I was to pick up something for Tim. When I arrived at SH, I had got the wrong thing. So I went back, eventually, and got 13 vaccination booklets. Some of these cats have already been adopted so their vaccination records will have to be mailed out or delivered by vollies.

A couple came in from next door with their cat  -- he had been groomed. It was Sammy, the 10th cat that we adopted (from Bron's in Avalon). The new owner had, as instructed, mailed off his change of owner form to the council so he would be registered, along with the fee, in cash. Dr Kim discovered that Sammy is still registered to us. Which means that the forms (and cash) never arrived at the person who was to update his record. Now they have learned, the hard way, never to put money in the post. We have a friend, Sara, who will take credit card details over the phone to pay for cat registration.

While their problem was being sorted, by Tim, Shumai put on a great show. I had combed him just before they arrived and it must have put the happy into him. He tossed a pellet of litter around, then rolled around with his comb and generally made himself look charming. His heart murmur doesn't slow him down.

Tim was happy for me to name 4 mth kitten "Quatro" and 8 mth kitten "Octavia" (she is a calico). So while he was off doing the banking, I made friends with Quatro who had not eaten her breakfast. She eagerly ate her wet food from my finger and eventually tried the crunchies.

Quatro

While I crooned sweet nothings to her I heard gentle calls coming from Charlie's condo. So I crooned to him through his mesh. The perspex is covered with cloth so the interior is quite dark and all I could see, pressing my nose to the mesh, was a black, fluffy face. But when I held the camera to the mesh and pressed the button, I got the following photo, without any flash:

Charlie

What a clever camera. So I tried the same croon/photo on Leopold:

Leopold

Not very illuminating but better than nothing.

New faces

We may become the shelter for shy/stray cats if this week's new faces are anything to go by.

Behind complete blackout modesty cloths are Leopold and a pregnant mum. The mum is the one who should have come when Chevy arrived. He has gone to foster somewhere. But there are 2 kittens in semi-modesty, but without names:

"Kitten 4 months"

"Kitten 8 months"

Perhaps they could be called Quartro and Octavius.

Another of Harriet's kittens, Heidi, was adopted. One of the remaining boys has an EOI. They cuddled together on their smaller hammock. 

Henry, Harold, Haley

Bosely is back from his op and not feeling very well. Shumai was vet checked and has a heart murmur. Saxon is still having his water consumption monitored. He doesn't look like a nine year old.

Saxon

Nam is upset by his neighbour next door, Midnight who was surrendered for any number of reasons. She is only 1 or 2 and is loud. But the cat below who is a screecher is more upsetting to the cats, and to the gaunletted Tim. Didn't try for a photo of him/her or even to clean his/her litter tray

MidnightNam

Kimi is back from 12 months foster. She is still shy.

Kimi and Jo photographing Kimi. Tim wants better photos of Diva and Sienna for the website. Joy took hundreds by enticing them to play. (I replaced their old carry cage/bed with an identical one which is not hairy or wet (yet)/

Sienna and Diva

Should a collection of shy cats be called a blush of cats or a skitter of kitties?

Late yesterday afternoon Pepi was adopted. Hurrah.