Let there be air

Sometime over the weekend, or before, somebody installed glass, screened louvres in the window across the corridor outside our font door. We have air circulation from outside our front door, through our suite and out through the balcony. No more smell. Hurrah.

Billy was posted on the SAFE webpage last night. This morning Val rang. She adopted Sam some months ago and fancied Billy at that time. She has come back to visit since Sam settled in so well. Last night Billy was posted on the web site. He didn't even have his blue card or his file in the "For Adoption" folder. But Val came and was happy to see how much more relaxed he is. He accepted her carresses and let me lift him into her cat carrier. I carried him down to her car and waved him goodbye. He will have a devoted carer.

There was an email from the man who adopted Octavia. He is slowly convincing his body corporate that he can have a cat. Octavia doesn't look anxious to leave. She just looks fabulous.

The Gooie Eyed Five have got over their . . . . what ever it was. Now they have ringworm. They have also learned how to rattle their door hard enough so that it opens and they can explode all over the floor. Thank goodness our lease on the spare room off the kitchen corridor has come to pass. All the germy kittens can be confined there. In the meantime, the gooie eyes get corraled in a cage. See their bright eyes.

Lola loves sitting on a pile of fabric.

Grass for treats

The rain has made the grass in pots grow. So I took a box of pots to Safe Haven this afternoon to give as treats for the cats. They were not as keen on grass as they are on chicken. And one box of pots doesn't have enough grass for everybody. So I had to play favourites. Of course, Billy got his pot first. He has decided that I am "alright" and accepts pats willingly. Marmalade, on the other hand, is still unhappy that I am not Tim. Same with Soxy and Buddy/Petey. What is this boy/boy thing. The kittens are unaffected it is just the adults. It might just be that they are shyer and like the hand that feeds them most often. When I came to take a few photos, I got the "flat battery" message, again. So I will add some old photos. Candy and Collette were not feeling well this afternoon. They didn't leap out of their condo when the door was opened with a food offering. They just lay at the back of the very hot box. They were desexed earlier in the week and still have their collars on.

Sapphire is wearing a collar too. She, and Tiny Tim will be adopted on Sunday. Big Tim is counting the nights he still has to take them home with him.

Octavia is still with us but has moved to the outer edge of Quarantine. Gracie has moved out to the condo below Dobby (whose nose is getting stuffier every day in the stuffy condo). Daphne and the 3 little d's are in a wheely cage where Octavia was. I have talked my cat Cody into being brushed every day. He rather enjoys it. But he doesn't purr as loudly as Tara did when I brushed her today.

I roll the fur I brush off him into balls. I would much rather these fur balls that the ones that he vomits up.

After the deluge

The lift breaks down. Perhaps there was water in the basement. Whatever happened, it wasn't working when I arrived, later than usual because my alarm cat was busy watching the wildlife by moonlight rather than waking me up for a early breakfast. (It is high time daylight saving stopped gobbling up my morning). By the time I had wrangled the trolly and six bags of poo down the stairs, the commercial garbo had been. . . . there was space in those bins. So I started to fill up the homeowners bins. I even came across an owner. I asked her if she minded me putting bags in her bins to make the garbos trip worth while. She smiled and said "Not at all." Aren't Aussies nice! I did a couple of trips and on the third, the regular garbo was coming up the street where I had planned to drop my bombs. There was a traffic controller in the street because an electric line needed to be fixed. He saw my plight and said "They haven't been up this side". So I ran my trolly up the hill to the first garbage bid I came to. I tossed them all inside just before the garbage truck caught up to me. It was highly entertaining to the traffic controllers, and a local who was trundling in his empty bin (on the other side of the road). I didn't manage to get all the garbage bags off the balcony. Please take one or two home if you have space in your bin. My vollies managed to find their way in. The lifts were fixed by lunch time. Belle's kittens are poorly. They leak from their bums. Some are better than others.

Joy must have taken this photo immediately after I cleaned their condo. It doesn't take them long to make it dirty. And the five kittens (3 blacks and 2 tabbies) have the flu. Their poor eyes are swollen and inflammed. But they are eating well despite nasty medicine and eye ointment. A couple came to find a friend for the kitten they adopted from a vet a few months ago. They wanted a ginger. I showed them Marmalade, Dash and Niblet. They liked Niblet best because he was calm (sleepy) and their cat is full of energy. When Niblet went, Nori went back to sleep.

During the afternoon, I looked around to see who was playing with a ping pong ball . . . . and it was Sooty! Later she sat still for a photo.

And Windsor has abandonned his hiddy structure and rests on his upstairs shelf.

By the time I got my camera out of my pocket, Billy had uncrossed his front paws and lifted his chin from them. A cute photo missed.

And, of course, as soon as I pointed the camera at Mia and Bella who were cuddled up together in their square hammock, they moved.

They have available lables without any indication that they must go together. But on the website, they are listed as a bonded pair. As are Faith and Bud who are lording it in the play place. They choose beds as far from each other as they can get.

Rita report plus

Irene heard from the folk who adopted Rita. They say that she is the BEST cat that they have ever introduced into the family. She leans into any hand that is stretched out to love her. May they be happy together foreever. Elona has come back. I think we/the cat got in the middle of a perennial mother/daughter tussle. Elona was very happy to get some chicken this afternoon and happy to be patted. (She might not have been given breakfast before she was returned which may explain her eagerness for food. But I prefer to think that she is happy to be back with us.) And Lane, one of Luna's kittens was returned.

For him, the timing was perfect. One of our Friday volunteers adopted another of Luna's kittens. She has loved being woken up at 6am with an invitation to play footsies under the doona. (She is under the doona and the kitten is on top of it). Today she realised that what her kitten needed was a brother to play with. So Lane's feet hardly touched the condo floor before he was whisked away to PLAY. Someone has booked the Palace for Easter. So I had to move Dobby back into the condo that he shared with his mum and clean (the snot off) the Palace.

His nasal congestion has improved since he has been there. It will be interesting to see if it returns when he doesn't have so much airflow. I replaced the large scratchy pole there with another from on top of the condos. It is called a "Bono Fido". Doesn't that mean "Good Dog". What a strange name for a cat scratchy pole company.

Sapphire is booked in to be desexed on Monday. I imagine the person who is keen to adopt her and Tiny Tim will be in on Tuesday to take them home.

Joy and Vi dropped by to check on Billy and she took this photo of TT and S which was much better than mine. They were more focused on chicken when I tried to photograph them. I had lovely, fresh BBQ chicken to share. Everybody went wild. Petey mistook my finger for chicken and bit me. This is Tim's finger who demonstrate how much Petey loves him, and the probably not ring worm lesion on his face.

We had a delivery of "free" food today so Irene took off the slightly out of date kitten kibble for the woman who feeds a cat colony. It will be better for them than cold noodles.

Rita liberated

Rita was adopted today by the woman who came last week, or was it two weeks ago, with her "granddaugher". Their carer didn't want a boy cat. So Salam was rejected. And she didn't fancy Luna. So they said they would come back. They did and Rita was chosen. I hope the carer has the patience to let Rita adapt to a new environment of hugs and kisses. Poor little thing hasn't had much of that since she got ringworm after giving birth, eventually, to her three kittens. Who were her colony mates who came in at the same time? All pregnant. All just big kittens themselves. . .. . Star and Zelda? (The date on the photo is September 2020.

Her three kittens are now available as they have passed their ringworm test. They are Robbie, Roger (the grey tabby) and Roxanne (the black). Today a mum and daughter came in to check out Roger (mum liked grey) and Roxanne (daughter liked black cat). They coudln't decide so went home to have a family conference. They had planned to come back within an hour or two to take somebody home. But by 5pm, they still hadn't decided. And they were in Mosman. So I said, "Come back tomorrow". There is another person who is waiting anxiously for Roger to be posted on Facebook. Another grey cat lover. There may be a frantic rush tomorrow morning.

These folk spent some time with the kittens. As there were only two of them and three kittens, I had to cuddle the third. It is such a nice thing to do. I have almost forgotten how nice since all the "Don't touch a cat because you might give it a germ" policy that definitely was not in vogue at Peggy Brown's. And I realised that I am good at it which must be because of all that practice at Peggy's. The kitten I handed off to the visitor was relaxed while the kitten I got from them was tense. I put my skill into practice with our newest litter. Three blacks (2 boys one girl) and two tabbies (one of each). They have mucky eyes. So I had to clean their faces and apply the ointment. They are sweeties (and withour names.)

Our other new resident (75 in total today) is one that Irene picked up yesterday from the vet. She had been desexed and part of her tail had been amputated. Don't know why. But we decided that her name is Bridie. She seems a gentle, shy, very young adult.

Rosie news

Remember Rosie whose face we didn't see for weeks because she hid in her bed mourining her surrender. Eventually she turned around to see what was happening in her new environment.

Then she decided that we were alright, after all. And shortly afterwards she was adopted. The woman who adopted her came by this afternoon to buy her a scratchy pole. She got Rosie because her previous pair of cats died (one after the other) and she grieved for 2 years before being ready to jump back into the pool of cat loving. She is soooooo happy with Rosie. Rosie has her own room, with en suite, that she will return to when her mum has had enough tummy time. Rosie talks to her and anybody who comes to visit. She poses for paintings (the owner is an artist). They are very happy together. But the owner is concerned at how she bereft she will be if Rosie dies and leaves her catless. Easy solution! When Rosie is completely relaxed, come get a big boy kitten from us! If you always have two cats you will never be catless. Cabbie and his big sisters Uber and Taxi were picked up by their Cabramatta family. They now have unpronouncable Russian names. The mother cat has been desexed. The kittens have been microchipped. The family is happy to have them back again. Short, sweet stay. The soft drink kids were in the play place this afternoon. Irene had a great cuddle with them all but they were wary of me, even though I fed them milk.

I tidied up out the back to make litter trays more accessible. And then distributed treats. Belle needs more treats. She is growing splendid white whiskers.

Sesame is an easy cat to give love to after Octavia who is very suspicious still.

And Christopher has come on leaps and bounds since his brother was adopted.

Talking of adoptions. Star was adopted. Don't expect her back. Her person has been waiting for her for ages. Her condo has been filled by the mum and kittens that Amy was supposed to pick up on Wednesday but they never arrived. They came this afternoon at 4:30pm. And Zelda has been adopted. Let's hope it sticks this time.

Joyful photos

I was at Safe Haven all day but only found time to photograph Faith and Bud. I made time to give them some serious cuddles because my previous neighbours adopted Sam and Sally from us at Peggy Brown's. Sally died last week. Sam died last year. I needed to cuddle some mature cats in memory of S & S.

Luckily, Joy took some photos. Our most recent arrivals are Cabbie from Cabramatta and his big sibs Uber and Taxi.

Some people have said that my choice of names is . . . lame. . . unalphabetical. . . un-catterly. But, for me, any names are better than no names. For example, when I sent off Rita and her kittens to be desexed today, I had no idea how many of the kittens were girls/boys. So I didn't know how many collars to attach to their carry cages. They all came back bare necked because the vet didn't/wouldn't dress them. I had to check the tummies. Rita has one girl (all black) and two boys. None of whom have names! (Nor photos because Joy had left by the time they returned from the vet). But Joy took a lovely photo of Miss Silky, who is just like her mum.

And of Matty and Maddie who are much happier away from Marigold. She, in turn, is much happier that her kittens have left the building (as far as she is concerned.)

The Soft Drink kids are getting bigger and more strident about meal times. This afternoon one discovered the joy of burrowing into the Kitten Kibble container. It didn't last long, but s/he will remember it.

No adoptions today but some visitors who may return.

Milking it

I sat in the play place, on the floor, to eat my lunch in the hope that Silky's kittens would sidle up to make friends. They circled around me. Sniffed at the fragment of cheese I sucked the salad dressing off. They didn't eat it. The tuxedo stayed on the highest shelf throughout. Not a very successful lunch date. Until I thought to get the carton of cat milk that has malingered in the fridge for some weeks. It tasted OK. . . not sour. So I poured out a bit in four bowls and the kittens came. They let me pat them for as long as there was milk in the bowls. It is a good start. So I gave milk to everybody else who needed a pat. All kittens loved it and got patted whether they wanted pats or not. Some cats, like Billy and Zelda and Star, wanted, and got a pat, before being offered milk. Star has been desexed and the person who wants her will come to pick her up as soon as she is good to go. Even Lucky got milk. She wouldn't let me pat her but at least stopped spitting at me for long enough to drink it.

Pearl wanted what ever everybody else was getting but didn't recognise it when I poured it into her bowl. I am not sure whether she couldn't see the cream coloured milk in her yellow bowl or she couldn't smell it with her stuffed nose. But eventually she found it and enjoyed it. Mixa let me pat her while she drank his (And I thought he was a boy, no wonder he didn't want me to pat him before!) Belle is sick to death of anything to do with milk. Robyn had to trick her into accepting a couple of her kittens to deflate her mammary glands.

We got some more kittens from Cabramatta. One is very cuddleable. I decided his name should be Cabie.

The other two, from the same household are much shyer. They can be Taxi (or Tachi) and Uber.

The really good news is that Rita and family has been deemed un-ringwormed. They have joined us by turning their (wheely cage's) back on quarantine corner.

SH is good for your heart

It gives it exercise in all different ways. For example, when I arrived this morning I quickly went around to check on each cat and to count them (85 but I think I may have missed Octavia and other stand alones). Everybody was in their place. So I took the (17) trash bags out to the garbage bins because Wednesday is the day when the garbos come and there are lots of half empty bins along the street. When I got back the last time the Japanese kittens were running all over the place. They had forced their way through the hole in their screen door that I mended last Friday. I quickly rounded them up and popped them back with a temporary bit of cardboard. That is when I discovered that their mum wasn't there. Wasabi could have been anywhere. Under the food shelves, on top of the condos, over the balcony. . . . Terry arrived and started the search. After about 5 minutes he stopped and said "But Wasabi went home on Saturday". Such a relief for my poor overworked heart. You have got to love Terry. The day proceeded. The vollies arrived and found that we have very few gloves. I asked them to spray their hands with F10, put on gloves, clean cat 1, take off gloves, respray with F10, do cat 2 without gloves, spray hands, put on gloves, clean cat 3, etc, etc. It cuts the glove usage in half. And the cats prefer skin to plastic. Billy positively stroked himself against my hand. He was all about the pats today. Last week he was all over Joy as well.

Amber has two room mates. They are probably her siblings. They are shy as she was when she arrived but I can pat her now.

Sesame has always been all about the pats. She doesn't have any canines so has trouble keeping her tongue in her mouth when she is happy.

Zelda is back and available. Third time lucky, we hope. Especially since I cut an old, dry turd from the tip of her tail!

Windsor is not happy in his new digs. . . . same hidey hole but not as willing to come out for strokes.

Mattie and Maddie have been moved away from Marigold. None of them are happy about it, yet.

But Peggy was happy to have a gloveless pat.

At the final feeding of the day, I gave Marmalade his portion of crunchies and he looked at me with a hurt expression on his face. "Where is my cuddle?" it seemed to be saying. So I reached out and he happily got the caress that Tim gives him every day. Good exercise for the heart. (Plus I walked 9.92 K there today.)