Blue murder

As I arrived a young couple came to meet Tux. Tim opened his door and he strolled out to greet them . . .. briefly and then to explore. I herded him back to them with a feather on a stick toy. They enjoyed watching him play (and probably learned how to play with a cat never having had one before) and decided to adopt him. But they have to go out to buy stuff for him so will pick him up tomorrow. As proof of their commitment, they went through with the adoption paperwork after Tim had me hold him, in the kitchen (I mean hold the cat!) while his microchip was inserted. That is when the blue murder screaming started. But he wasn't fighting very hard. No scratches on either of us. After a couple of tries, the microchip went in under his skin. It is a horribly thick, blunt looking needle so I don't blame him for kicking up a fuss. They will be back tomorrow with all the gear.

In the meantime since Wednesday: Jacob and Edward have been adopted. Edward has gone but Jacob is still there with a sign "We have been adopted". But they have been adopted by different families. Jacob was very sweet today. He must know something good is coming to him.

And Luna has been adopted by Bron who fostered her originally and can't bear the though of her stuck in a condo forever.

We have a new cat, Abbie. Her condo card says that she is 12 years old. But I don't believe it. She looks older to me.

I had a lovely smooch with Tabby. Whoever adopts him will have to get used to damp laps. He is a slobber pus.

Joy reports from Ginger Alley

Here are some photos taken this morning for the Blog. It was lovely catching up with Liz after SO long & of course Catsie too but we did miss you as well. New cat came in who had been trapped but seemed to be happily released into a condo, I didn’t see him/her but no doubt the blanket will be slightly open by Friday. Little Angelique seems to be doing well thank goodness though not quite so energetic as her sister! As you’ll see from my photos my time was mostly spent in Ginger Alley & did especially enjoy time out with Edward & Jacob.

Of course the Star of SAFE is still ‘The Big Ginge’ and rightly so as who can resist his loving & outgoing personality ......it’s almost as if he knows he’s been given a second chance.

Anyhow hope you can pick a few photos to post. [I can't choose they are all brilliant] Larry and Leonard

Juju and Elle

Charlie

Persia

Not happy

When I arrived at about 10 to 10, Cass was already in action out front and Tim had taken some cats to the vet. He had fed the mums and bubs before he left but everybody else was STARVING. It was making Cass's job hard because even the nicest cats were cranky. So I fed them all and peace reigned. Then he came back to report that Lilly and her L's have the ringworm. Willow's worm corner has been reinstated with the kittens two by two in the little condos and Lilly in a wheely cage facing them. Don't think she likes to be so far away from the source of the food.

The good news is that Lucia's kittens have been passed as ringworm free. So they were moved to the other wheely cages as all are now available. Lucia was overwhelmed even though I picked the prettiest sheet for her cage cover. Even the boys were imobilized by the change. That won't last long. Neither will they. One has already been bagsed.

Steph delivered her four cats back into our tender loving care. The girls immediately rearranged their bedding to make a hidey hole. Venus is under the covers while Petal waits her turn.

I cleaned out Lilly & Lucia's condos. That took some time and lots of wiggling, on my part. Malley was entertained.

He will move as soon as he has been vet checked into Edward's condo who moved to Waffle's condo because she got adopted! Tara was out being desexed. I checked on the mamma cat and she was attending her kittens and was not happy to see me either!

Movements

I got a bit of a fright when I saw the "Please Clean" sign on Marmalade's condo. He hasn't been adopted. He has been moved to Willow's possie. The big blue gauntlets were needed and he sulked when he got there. But he accepted some crunchies later when I arrived having picked up a load of litter (which is the news you wanted to hear!) It wasn't until I had almost finished sterilizing his old condo that Tim mentioned that they had trouble moving Chinchilla too. It still has the "Please Clean" sign. Chinchilla has gone to live with Irene for a while. Lucky girl. On Wednesday I noticed a hard wad of hairball between Katie's front legs. I tried to comb it out but it was too stubborn. Tim sat in front of me with Katie on my lap and cut it out in bits and pieces. She loved the attention. Two servants are better than one any day.

There is a new cat called Bell. She comes from the same colony at Canley Vale that Bosely came from. Let's hope that she is as charming. BUT, she needs an e at the end of her name. Being ginger she will be mistaken for a boy without the e.

Robyn dropped by with some special food for Big Ginge. He was pleased.

She also chose a name for Angelique's sister . . . . Amber. Which is another bodice ripper name. Ashleigh didn't look keen but Amber looked angelic.

There was a program on TV last night that stated that it is hard to read the expressions on cat's faces because they don't have as many muscles as most animals do. But these cats all have different expressions.

Still staffless

Good thing they didn't come. They would have been disappointed. Chanel 7 rang up early to ask if they could do a follow up on the Big Ginge. It was OK with Julie who is going to adopt him. It was OK with me but I said they should talk to Tim first. They didn't come with their cameras and microphones. Which is a big pity because The Big Ginge will soon be known as The Big Mouth Ginge. Either he is a very chatty cat or a very hungry cat. He is still on wet food only and can never get enough.

There has been movement out since last Friday: Mylo the glorious. As opposed to Milo at Bron's in Avalon who has been badly tick bit and is now at the Emergency Vets. Willow has found a home. Morty has been adopted. Jacob as been moved to his condo. Edward has their old condo all to himself. I think Jacob has more brains that Edward. I put a kong with crunchies in both of their condos and showed them how it worked. Edward just kept screaming for food but Jacob hit it repeatedly until it was empty.

Tim Tam and Cookie got adopted twice since Friday! Let us hope that this will be third time lucky. The new owner took some of their fancier toys and their new bed which is a good sign. Missy was adopted. . . no surprise there as she was our smallest. And Lennox. Not only that but somebody is after Layla. As soon as Lucia and her two terrors are off our hands the Liverpool colony will be done. The new mum in the corner of boarding is doing well. Her kittens are always in a neat pile, she is in her carry cage and her food bowl is empty. . . no matter how often you fill it.

Angel has been renamed Angelique because Angel was tempting fate. She feels much better and had multiple small, warm meals. . . . sort of like tapas except it was always the same thing. She snoozes between teaspoonfuls on her hottie.

On Sunday, the colony cat Windsor disappeared. (He was from a colony near the suburb Windsor hence the name). Terry found him in a hidey and carried the whole thing to his condo with him inside. Better Terry than me!

Lola is settling down in her new home. She got a new pillow today.

Settling in

Tabby seems like an affectionate cat. His first owner says that he was and he is certainly warming up to us.

His neighbour Mally is quite confused. He thinks that he would like to like us but then changes his mind and snarls.

Next door to him is Windsor, the new boy who came from a cat colony. He knows that he doesn't like us and is doing a really good job at being invisible.

Leopold is trying hard to get used to our strange ways in his condo. But sometimes he gets overwhelmed. I tried to get a photo of his ears which show the signs of many battles. He must have spent time on the street.

Angel is still not well. She hardly eats and prefers to sit on a hottie.

Her sister (still unnamed) keeps it warm for her.

Staffless cocky

Last week I felt smug that I could sit back and be boss cocky at SH today with Joy and Gen and Catsie to do all the work. Then Catsie had to take Michael to doctors, Joy had to take her cat to the vet (more important) and Gen didn't arrive. So it was just me. I decided to do the front cats first just in case we got visitors. Then Gina arrived to adopt Lola. She had organised a friend to drive her, phoned me several times to set it up. I promised to have my phone in my pocket and turned on. It was. But it must have been on mute/no vibrate because I didn't get the call. Never mind. Gina is my friend. She knows I am a tech clutz. Gina decided on the spot that Lola was for her. There is, as her sister Francesca says, a distinct similarity in the look in their eyes. She wanted to take Lola now, today, this instant. So I dove into my first adoption. Of course, because Lola had been adopted and then returned her paperwork was not ready to go with helping bits of paper for inexperienced adopters. We muddled through it. Thank goodness Gina knows that I am a paperwork clutz. I even managed to take the payment with the square correctly (I think). One of Ashleigh's kittens is not well. (I have named her Angel but Tim doesn't like the name). There were signs of explosive diarrhorea on the condo wall. She didn't eat much yesterday. Today she managed some puree'd tuna and chicken mince in broth. She spends the day in a condo beside Marmalade. Eventually she "got" how nice the hottie was and snoozed. Missy and Milo were desexed yesterday. Missy's Elizabethan collar was missing. It was in her box not around her neck. And her stitches were gone. But no sign of blood or opening inscision. Early in the afternoon a lady arrived to visit Tabby. He was her cat before she gave him away to a friend. He lived rough before he came to her and didn't settle well with her two older female cats even though he was brilliant with the kids and adults. So eventually, for the sake of her old cats, she passed him on to a friend who, unfortunately has had to move and can't take Tabby with him. She had a lovely visit and left him purring with a pile of cooked chook. She will return.

Lola adopted

I know this because my friend Gina is finally ready to adopt a cat. She came in some months ago and fell for Penny and for Bailey.

Gina with Penny

Bailey

Gina has kept an eye on our website and rather fancied Lola. She was going to come in on Friday afternoon but couldn't make it. Lola was peacefully asleep in her condo. I advised Gina to ring before she came to make sure Lola was still there. When she rang at mid day on Saturday, Lola was just leaving with her new owners!

Lola

Baby

I thought that Baby would be a good match with Gina but her eye condition has flared up again. Baby will not be available again until her eye has had 4 weeks of antibiotic treatment. I hope Gina can wait that long and that it will be third time lucky!

Pepper adopted

She was gone this afternoon. So I cleaned her wheely cage and we couldn't think of anybody to go into it so it is out the back again and Lennox has star billing just by the front door. His cuddle rugs had mostly fallen through the gap and he was sitting on a couple of inches of rug on the bare shelf. I installed a hammock and put one of the fallen cuddle rugs onto it. I pulled his sheet across and within a whisker he had settled himself into the hammock and was peeking around the corner of the sheet. But he still had not eaten his breakfast. Leopold and Waffles have been moved into the front area. They are where Diamond and Hera were. . . . but without the connecting trapdoor opened.

Leopold

Waffles

Cookie and Tim Tam look apologetic for having misbehaved at their new house.

Tim Tam

Cookie

The cat without a name has disappeared . . . possibly taken back by the person who brought her here. Another of the mysteries of Safe Haven.

New Blogger

The bloody web site has been threatening to change (?update?!) its protocol for the past month. Today it has done it and I can't work the new system. Luckily they have given me the option to retain the "old fashioned" method for a transition period. Mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble. . . . if it ain't broke WHY fix it! We have The Big Ging in the Palace Suite. He was thrown out of a car in Newport and rescued by a young woman who took him to the Northern Beaches Emergency Vets. They have passed on the pleasure of finding him a new, improved owner. He is much younger than we expected. He didn't like what he was given for breakfast this morning but lapped up the rather smelly fishy food that he was given for morning tea.

The Big Ging

We have two new surrenders in the boarding aisle. Persia, whose name really should be spelled Pursia, is a very pretty girl.

Persia

I don't like the feel of crochet cloth so gave her a fleece and she was much happier. Candace and Bonnie's sister was brought in from the industrial estate at Brookvale. We decided that she should have a D name and the only sweet name we could think of was Dolly. She came with 5 tiny kittens and is is the far corner of Boarding. Hera and Diamond have been declared non ringworm and probably never were. So they were moved to the condo under Lola. Initially they were shock/horror at the move but they soon came out to watch the action on the front desk. Tim's back side is always interesting. Lola, upstairs from them, did not seem pleased to have a noisy pair of grown kittens downstairs.

Lola

Talking of Tim's back view: here he is trying to give Larry, Leonard and Lucia some lunch.

Tim

Cody update: Tonight there were two fat bandicoots frolicking on the grass out front because I overcooked a bean bag and tipped the scorched grain there a couple of days ago. Brush turkeys have been having a lovely time digging them up and the bandicoots are probably sucking up the worms that they have uncovered. Cody was peeking at them from behind a brick wall. I don't know if it was caution or fear. He came in shortly thereafter and put himself to bed. . . such an exciting evening.