New Years Eve

 Helen emailed to ask if I could go in early to help because somebody couldn't make it. But everything was under control when I got there before 11am. Lots of boarders have gone home. Others arrived today including two more ragdolls who came with notices of "Loves cuddles" "Loves to be brushed", etc, etc. But they have not been boarded before so I think they may take time to settle in.

I had a fright when I noticed that the door of the mum +4 was open on the back row. I flew around shutting doors and windows and galvanised the troops. Sophie found the fourth kitten hiding inside the condo. Quelle relief! Moral of this story: if you have trouble shutting a condo door: ASK for HELP.

A woman came in to adopt an unadoptable. She couldn't decide between Mr Magoo, Maple and Kingsley. The cat will be an only in an apartment with a yard with 2 m high fences. She went away to think about it.

A young woman came in to adopt a pair of the 4 kittens being fostered by a friend. The friend is adopting the other two. So we have a foster fail and a friend success. The woman's friend was interested in Mr Magoo and Maple. She may be back.

Another woman and her fella came from the southern highlands to meet Max. He was not in the mood to cooperate. They went away to have a cup of coffee and didn't return.

Everybody loved the chicken.

Trixie and Frankie were desexed today. Terry would have them adopted tomorrow if it wasn't so close to the operation date!

As you can tell I was too busy to take any photos. So I will leave 2021 with a photo of my Cody who has practiced his "day after the night before" pose suitable for New Year's Day.

Cody

Adoption tails: Sometimes it takes longer

 Champ Adopted 24/10

Champ

1 day: Champ is settling in nicely. I got beautiful photos of him cuddling his new owner.
1 week: Champ has settled in really well. His eye is no longer weeping.
1 month: Champ/Boots has settled in beautifully. He seems to love living with his new parenta. He is curling up on a lap as soon as they sit down.

Sammy & Daisy: Adopted 6 Nov, 21 [I was surprised that these two were adopted together because they were in separate stand alones in the cattery, and different ages]

Sammy

Daisy

1 day: Both Daisy and Sammy are settling in well. They are in separate rooms. When their new owner was in Sammy's room and just sat there playing on her phone he came out to greet her. She was a little surprised to find that Daisy was a lot older than she expected. She was under the impression that she was an older kitten as well. She received kitten food for both. She had a few questions around food and Irene  spoke about Daisy's age and how she might run into problems when she comes to register the cats. Irene advised her to take one of her parents with her in case she needs to sign the cats over to an adult
1 month: Sammy and Daisy have settled in very well. They play in the morning and sleep most of the rest of the day

Tiger, adopted Nov 24

Tiger

Day 1: Sweet Tiger stayed glued inside the carry box the entire day I brought her home. Set her up in one room with all a cat would need and gave her quiet and peace.
Next morning her food bowl had been sampled and litter box used ... but cat hidden. She's in my office. This morning same proof she was somewhere in the room, but she's hidden.
I've cleaned her litter box and changed her almost uneaten food bowls. Even put water bowls in a few 'hidden' corners but so far she barely has moved and remains hidden.
It is sad. I try to talk with her now and then to let her know she is safe and loved. I hope she does settle. We will see.
Are you one who looked after her? She looked and seemed so lovely at your facility.
Perhaps she felt safer with you and her other carers. 
I will continue to be patient and hopeful. I long to hold her but it must be her choice.
Day 3: Irene has a long chat with the new owner and she has since set up a large cardboard box in her office and everything Tiger needs is in it. She is prepared for Tiger to take some time to go back to what she was like when she met her at the shelter and progress even further.
1 month: Tiger is still using her bedroom and rushes under the bed to safety if someone else approaches. She is however adventurous, clever & quite funny. She loves to fall asleep in her  owner's lap or shares her pillow at night.  Her owner has discovered she is a Norwegian Forest cat and loves high places.  All very good there.

Back up

 When I arrived this morning, good and early because the traffic was so light (although it was freezing: only 13deg C for Dec 29! Thank you la Ninha) I counted the cats: 88 which is down from the 95 on Christmas morning. Imogene's kittens all got adopted as well as Rula and Maxwell.

If I hadn't taken the time to count them I might have got more rubbish bags in the neighbourhood bins. But I arrived with my first trolley load just as the garbo truck was pulling up to our curb. And they had already been down our side of the street. By the time I got back with a second trolley load, another garbage truck was emptying the red bins on the other side of the road. Bugger.

And by the time I left we were back to 95. Two boarders arrived and Cookie and her four kittens were delivered by their foster mum. Evidently Cookie had been very sick while raising the kittens with some kind of liver complaint. She certainly was not happy that they were to go into the same condo as her.

Cookie in the box. Kittens scattered.

Blink is boarding. He looks just the same.

Blink, not too pleased to see me

We have had lots of boarders coming and going with the associated bedding change overs. It has proved that we have enough bedding. We do NOT have to accept any more donations of towels, sheets or blankets. I rearranged the laundry shelves to put all the bath mats on the lower shelf of the middle row. They were on top with the towering pile of fluffy beds on top of that. Most unstable. Much better now.

TIDY: keep it that way

Joy took lots of lovely photos. I can't resist this one of Tigger matching his sock heights. He has come out of his shell since his brothers got adopted.

Tigger

And of Tux and Baby drowning in a fuzzy bed.

Tux and Baby

Adoption tails: more Lola

 Gina was so pleased that Lola made it to the blog that she sent more photos:

Lola makes sure the cake is safe

Lola watches for pesky reindeers

Lola from her favourite perch on top of the microwave

Merry Christmas from Lola

 

Lola

The thirty nine sneezes

 Figgie sneezed 39 times in a row. With all that snot flying around it is amazing that Darcy never sneezes.

snotty Figgie

I was a bit worried about Max yesterday because he was so quiet. He seems back to normal today.

Max

And it looks like Amy's kitten really loves her but she is only licking food off her whiskers.

Amy and kitten 

This is our Riley who is boarding. She wants more attention.

Riley

And Marmalade is back for another weekend. He was chatty today too.

Marmalade

Thanks to the enthusiastic vollies (who really did have somewhere better to be) we finished early. All cleaned and washed up by noon.

Be careful of the door latch in the condo where Anvi (aka Dusty) was with her kittens. I couldn't find the screw driver to tighten up the screw so stuck on a bit of cardboard with stickytape. It won't last long.

There were a couple of (email) enquires for Imogene's 4 kittens. But the phone didn't ring all morning!

One of the boys persistently sucked on his sister's stitches. I tried to remove her but that didn't last long. I put a plastic collar on him. He walked backwards for 5 minutes and figured out how to get it off. But it stopped him sucking for a while.

Christmas Eve

 It wasn't as frantic today as it was yesterday, I'm told. But it was pretty busy. More cats came in to board and one pair left. . . . early. The nice family who left Tigger and Misty on Wednesday collected them today. On Thursday they got as far as Goulburn when a friend called to tell them that one of their girls friend's had a positive Covid test. They rushed home to isolate and test the girls. All the relatives in Melbourne will have to go to all those exciting places and do all those fun things without them. They, poor girls, will at least have their cats back. The dad hopes that their tests come back negative so that the family doesn't have to isolate for 10 days!

Folk came by with donations, feeling the spirit of Christmas, and needing to be shown around. One man discovered that we had cat goodies for sale and wanted to stock up for the British . . . special breed. . . that he is buying for his family for Christmas from a breeder. He must have needed to save money on the goods! Sue spent almost 2 hours telling him how to set up his house, how to feed and care for this kitten, etc, etc. He did spend some money with us but . . . . 

Imogene's kittens are listed as available and one of the morning vollies called her mum who called her friend and they adopted the one with one blue and one yellow eye.

Adopted

I told you we should have started a book on him!

And I know what happened to the rat, Fat Louis. He was adopted by a vollie on the day that he arrived. She has other rats at home. 

I am to feed tomorrow morning so will try to take some photos. Pity I can't take some audio because we have Burmese chatters at either end of what used to be Naughty Row. They will be talking to each other all night.

The Naughty Row cats next door really liked chicken Friday. Remi actually hissed at me. She was silent on Wednesday.

Adoption Tails: Quick turnarounds

 Garfield, adopted Nov 11, 2021

Garfield was a kitten found on street by a Good Samaritan. He came to SH on Oct 3.

Grafield/Mr Darcy

3 days: Garfield now called Mr Darcy is doing great. He hid under the bed for the first day as expected but was eating and toileting fine. He is now very keen to explore the house but always comes back to his favourite pillow. Sometimes he is still skittish with the rest of the family, but he is happy to get belly rubs from his adopter. He has become very playful and is very loved already.
1 week: Mr Darcy is still doing great. He is more confident and loves to do a little trill when he greets his adopter.

Mr Darcy/Garfield

1 month: Mr Darcy is doing really well. His personality has come out & he is very chatty. He loves everybody. They may get him a companion down the track... but not yet…

Schnitty, adopted Nov 16, 2021

Surrendered to SH Aug 29 with a sore eye. Eventually we realised that his eyelid was turning in and his eyelashes were scratching his eye. That was operated on and he recovered well.
1 day: Schnitty is going well, eating and drinking. He has his own room as is very, very cuddly.
1 week: Ower says all good. Beautiful photos have been sent. 

Schnitty at home

4 weeks:  Schnity is sneezing every now and then. Janice says she was advised that he is clear of cat flu. She was told that every rescue cat has most likely been exposed of cat flu but that a few sneezes here and there are nothing to worry about.

Cherry 823, adopted Nov 14, 2021 

Came from Good Samaritan on Oct 31. As a beautiful grey tortie we didn't expect her to last long. She was adopted twice in the two weeks she was with us and the second one stuck.

Cherry

1 day: Cherry is doing really well. She is being kept in one section of the house whilst settling in, but she is already interested in exploring. She has found herself some hiding spots and is eating really well. She has not been introduced to the dog yet as they want her to be comfortable first. Our fact sheet to help with the introduction was recommended.
1 week: Cherry has now explored the whole house and roams up and down. She has also met the family dog and they are generally fine with one another. She is a good eater.
1 month: Cherry is doing great. She has completely settled in.

Banished

 Tim told me yesterday when I called to get the running orders for today that the naughty corner had been moved to Dr Kim's suite. Our hand over conversation usually happens at 4pm. Yesterday Tim was busy then so I said "ring back when you have finished". He called back at 6:30pm. The cats who have been moved are in a state of shock today. I imagine that Tim and whomever helped him also spent the day recovering from the transfer. At least it is nice and quiet next door. And cool with the air conditioner playing on them. But Remi is not happy. She has retreated to the back of the upstairs nestbox and didn't even hiss at me!

Peach, Blueberry and Blackberry next door

But this has freed up all the condos out back for boarders who are streaming in. Many are "our" cats/kittens and it is lovely to see how they have grown.

I happened to check the list of animals and the most recent entry was Fat Louis at Safe Haven. He is listed as a white Rat. I couldn't see any rats anywhere. It was reassuring that there were no condo cards labelled with "Fat Louis" or I would have worried that he had escaped. Very intriguing. Every condo has a label.

I resurrected the small stand alone that we used when Incoming was separated into a quarantine area and an incoming area before the condos were moved there. There was a mum in the small stand alone. I can't remember her name. I will come to me. . . . 

Two kittens Baby and Tux, both girls who were desexed yesterday, were added to the play place which is now the home of Imogene's kittens. 

Baby or Tux

They are younger than Imo's kittens and were overwhelmed by the boisterous, bigger kittens. Not to mention they are sore post op. So I unearthed the small standalone from the store room, with Catsie's help. It was a good thing I did because Frankie arrived, unexpectedly, from his foster home to be desexed. It wasn't on the list but Tim will sort it out now that he has rested.

Frankie

Charlie is taking it all in his stride.

Charlie

PS Jumi and Victor have been adopted. As have Anvi (Dusty) and her two kittens. The woman who found them in her back shed decided to give them all a home. What a lovely lady!
 

Adoption Tails: These will have a happy Christmas

Callie

Callie  Adopted Nov 15
1 day: Apparently Callie is a lot better than Jones when he arrived. She is eating and toileting well and generally looks fine.
1 week: Callie and Jones are getting on very well and Callie is eating well and sleeping well.
1 month: Callie and Jones continue to get on well and Callie's eye looks good. 

KitBells  Adopted Dec 4
2 weeks:  KitBells is wandering around. She has commandeered her new owner's rocking chair! She has settled in well and is not too active so perfect as a companion.

KitBells' bed on her chair

KitBells tell dad what to do

Finn  Adopted Dec 12
5 days : Finn is acting like he has been with his new family for years. He is so loved and makes them happy every day.

Finn doesn't like cages

Cody sends greetings to all his fellow Safe adoptees along with half a dozen kitten sized Elizabethan collars and three white board markers.

Seasons greeting from Cody

Long Friday

 My tennis on Friday is off for Christmas holidays (because the courts are used for tennis camps for kids whose parents work during the day). So I spent all day at Safe instead of just the afternoon. 

It was nice to spend time with the Friday morning volunteers. And to meet Edward who usually works on Tuesday but volunteered for an extra shift today. (Silly me, I didn't get to tell him about this blog.)

The woman who fostered Ebony brought her in. She says that she can tickle Ebony's tummy. I believe her but there was no way Ebony was offering her tummy to me. Not Happy!

Ebony is back

The fosterer used to have Diego so I took her out back to say hello. She saw Diego and wept. . . But we think that Diego has come on well recently. Here are Joy's photos of him from Wednesday.

Diego

Imogene's kittens line up nicely. (The one who shed her collar was redressed after breakfast). They will be just right for Xmas.

Imogene's lot

In contrast to Max and Gus whom I tipped out of their box on Wednesday and gave them a new, clean box with windows. They don't much like the exposure. They wouldn't take chicken from my spoon this afternoon.

Max/Gus

For a dog

Remember Alice who volunteered with us and raised a litter of kittens? She adopted one of her kittens, Gia. She came in this morning to adopt Tinker to go with her. Gia needs a friend and Tinker is just a couple of months younger than she is so they should have a wonderful life together.  

I quickly cleaned Tinker's wheely cage and moved in Darcy and Figgie. They had spent all night playing together with Aster and River in the play place. They were exhausted and slept all day long.

River and Aster always share a hammock

Darcy and Figgie sleep separately

The Palace is full of Imogene's kittens. There are 3 boys and two girls. One of the boys has one blue and one yellow eye. We should auction him off to the highest bidder.

Imogene's blue/yellow

At this point, my Mac mouse stopped working. Husband Jo's Mac mouse downstairs went berserk. I turned off my computer and Jo was able to continue working on his epidemological analysis of the Covid situation in Portugal. . . . as you do. He has now turned off his computer as I am cook this week and dinner is ready. I will try mine again after I have cleaned up after dinner. This didn't happen last week when he was cook/washer upper.

 

Later: my mouse seems to be talking to my computer now rather than Jo's. Which reminded me that I had a call from rabbit Coco's foster father. The meet and bond with their bunny doesn't seem to be working out. I hope Tim has some brilliant ideas tomorrow.

And I can add a photo of Maxwell who has made a miraculous leap into loving people since being moved from Incoming. These days he would rather have cuddles than food. Here I am tickling his tummy!

Maxwell

And then I F10-'d my hand because he is recovering from flu. . . . . as are all of the cats who caught it.

This afternoon a family arrived to look for one of our cats who would be happy to live with a 10year old dog who hasn't lived with a cat before. I suggested a pair of kittens would be less stress on the dog because we don't have an adult cat available who is known to get along with dogs. They seemed like a family who would try hard to make it work but a sole kitten would be such an effort for an old dog. They went away promising to keep an eye on our website.

Time to relax

 The (middle aged) woman who rescued Charlie came to visit him this afternoon. So he got enough pats and chats to satisfy even him.

Charlie

She enjoyed meeting everybody else and would have happily taken home a few if she had space for more cats at home.

Look who is getting more friendly (within the scent of chicken). . . 

Remi

Or perhaps she was looking for another pot of grass to rip up and shower all through her condo. Rosanna left a note on her condo to "PLEASE not give her a pot of grass" because she made a disgusting mess with it. I will just give her stalks of grass . . . and see what she does with them.

The flu'y cats all seem much better. Even Casper has stopped sneezing. She loves chicken. Perhaps that blanket should be changed.

Casper

And while I had lunch at the desk I could hear somebody playing. It was Gracie who had a fine time with her balls on elastic.

Gracie

No adoptions this week. But I think we can rest on our laurels for the rest of the year. I counted 280 adoptions so far this year.