Double edge of a thin wedge

 Meow Meow was adopted on Thursday by the woman who came on Wednesday. She will have a home with a devoted mother and 20year old son, a fenced yard and lots of love. Her condo has been cleaned and Ganda has moved in. He is shocked at being with us and is sulking in his litter tray but at the same time inviting caresses. Plus he is grey also!

Ganda

 

 

 

As is Cathy, across the aisle from him. She has come out of her shell since being moved from Incoming. She loved being brushed and let me put her on my lap to trim her nails.

Cathy

Next door to her is Archie who, like Ganda is suffering separation anguish. He liked his neck scratch after I took off his collar with its annoying bell. But he wasn't tempted by any chicken. . . . perhaps next week.

Archie

There were fun and games this morning when Tabitha and Jetta were moved out of Incoming. And bandaging.

Jetta

Tabitha

Which leaves only Fawny and Chi in Incoming. Fawny is a boy. He has an ulcer on his cornea which is why he squints so tightly. He has pills and ointment.

Fawny pre ulcer

And Chi who, when she came in, was taken next door for Dr Kim's opinion. Dr Kim fell in love/lust immediately and wants her for a farm cat. Don't know if her skin condition is the same as Oreo's.

Chi

She did enjoy her share of chicken but Oreo wasn't interested and left it all for Lucky.

Oreo (on left) and Lucky

And, to get to the blog title, at last. A mum and her two teenaged daughters came to meet Coco and Mason with a view to foster them while they are in lockdown and not able to travel to Hungary to spend time with family there. There is a teenaged boy at home too. And a dad who is reluctant to have a cat in the house. I don't think he has a chance against 3 kids, a keen wife plus all the love that Coco and Mason will give. We hope they will be back on Sunday to pick them up having prepared the house and the hubby.

Coco and Mason

Adoption tails: Daphne

 Remember Daphne who had three lovely kittens Danielle, Douglas and Dallas back in February?

Daphne and family

 

They caught the flu and were the first into our quarantine room. But recovered and all were adopted happily. Daphne worked as the meet and greet cat in the first seen condo for a couple of months while she recovered. Then she was adopted by somebody who came in for Sprinkles but chose her instead.

Day 1 in her new home at the end of May:

Her new owner called to say that Daphne had climbed up the chimney overnight! Irene phoned her back to see if any progress had been made though the day. The food her owner had left out in Daphne's room had been eaten sometime between 1.30 and 3.30. Perhaps Daphne went back up the chimney after eating as there were sooty pawprints in the room and still no sign of Daphne in the room itself. Irene advised that she should be ready to block off the space at any moment as she may find that Daphne comes down at anytime, so should be ready. She also said Daphne will be more likely to come down at night when the kids have gone to bed, so hanging out for a little while in that room quietly may be a good strategy as well.
 

After 1 week:
Daphne is very happy in her room and interacting with the family. She seems curious about the dog when the dog is on the other side of the door. Daphne is near the door a lot so her owner will start to introduce her to the rest of the house.

After 1 month:
The cat/dog introduction went well and Daphne continues to explore the house more. She does love sitting on her owner's lap at nighttime

A Fall from Grace

 When I got to Grace's condo on this morning's food delivery, it was a mess. She had pulled up the grass from its pot and then tipped over the pot so that there was dirt everywhere. I may have said something that startled her because as she jumped up to her upper box she missed her footing and fell out of her condo. To the floor. And then scurried, screaming "I AM SCARED" which got the attention of every cat in the cattery. We proceeded to have a merry dance with me trying to direct her back to her condo and her trying to hide under any low furniture. Luckily she didn't take the high way. 

Eventually she hid under the new merchandise shelves. I cornered her with the duvet cover from Mini's stand alone, put her breakfast in a carry cage that was draped with the same duvet cover. With the help of a prod or two with a bit of stick, she allowed herself to be guided into the carry cage. And got carried back to her condo. Pretty exciting for before breakfast.

We have three new cats in Boarding: Sasha, Shadow and Ellie. They are not boarders with us. They have been surrendered to us. They are really friendly with people. Ellie is a long/ish haired cat who has been shaved. It will be interesting to see how long her hair grows. Her whiskers are enormous.

Ellie

 

I tried putting Sasha into the play place with her but got the distinct impression that it was not a good idea. Katie confirmed that although they came from the same household they are not friends with each other. They just love people.

Sasha

 

 

Shadow is the third member of this trio.

Shadow

Steph dropped off Autumn and Summer. Lovely to have tortie kittens again.

Summer and Autumn

Magnus has a bare tip of tail. A bit has been amputated. There is no bandage. Let's hope this fixes his problem. He is such a loving cat.

Laurie (aka Lasagne) wins the photo of the day 

Laurie

 

As Dolly got adopted on Tuesday, the mother and daughter who fell in love with her on Sunday came to meet Petal. They promptly fell in love with her and will be back when she has been desexed. 

And another lady came in at 3:30pm to adopt Meow Meow. But she didn't do it today. She decided to go home and set up everything, buy lots of food, etc, etc, and come back tomorrow at 1pm to adopt her. (Adoption hours have been limited to from 1pm to 3:30pm to limit our volunteers' exposure to members of the public. We are not admitting people who come from hotspot LGA's)

Adoption tails: Blockbuster weekend

 So many cats were adopted from Safe this past weekend:

On Saturday: Honey, Mini, Mixa, Patches with George, Sock

On Monday: Misty, Pooh

Misty

 

Pooh, Piglet and Tigger

 

Misty was still in Incoming last Friday. And I didn't get around to sorting out the Wind in the Willow kittens. It will be easier now there are only two left.

And remember the delightful Bailey? He is one happy cat now.

"Do we have to get up?"

"There is enough room for us both here"

 

His person's daughter is going to adopt Emerald who has been living with Irene and family.

News of Harry and Harley after a week in their new home:

They’re doing good. Took a little longer for Harry to come out from under the bed, but by the end of the week they’ll both play with their new owner. They also took their first steps out of the bedroom and have been exploring the rest of the apartment. 

Sudden noises or larger movements do make them retreat to the bedroom but they come back out shortly after. The owner can get quite close to them as long as s/he doesn’t touch them and they are comfortable enough to eat in the human's presence and outside the bedroom.

Will Silky stick?

 Soxy is back. His new owner is frightened of him. He was very pleased to see me this afternoon. I think he, like Mini, is really happy to be back home.

Soxy

 

Wilson went to the vet this afternoon for his vet check. So I took Petal into the play place to see how she would cope. She was fine while I sat on the floor with her while she explored. Then I got my lunch and took off my mask and she hid under the tall scratchy pole. After lunch, Robyn arrived as did some customers. Katie was going through the paperwork with another woman who adopted Daisy. So I popped the masked Robyn in with Petal. They had a lovely time. Lots of cuddles and happy to be carried back to her condo. Do masks make us more appealing to cats?

Petal

The customers were a mum and her two kids (under 10). They have been enjoying looking after a pair of older cats that a friend left with them when she went overseas. Covid struck, the friend was stuck overseas, the kids really got used to having cats to play with. Then the friend came back and claimed her cats back. They thought initially that they'd like older cats like the ones they looked after. So I introduced them to Marigold and Mini who both behaved beautifully and let little kids pat them (Who'd a thunk it!) After lots of consultation with mum, photos taken, extra pats with Patches (who didn't behave very well and George hid) they chose Tip (because that will make more boys in the family than girls). 

Tip

Tim quickly vaccinated him and they took him home. Lucky Tip will have a great life. And perhaps Socks will accept Mo as a hammock mate now.

Alice brought in her kittens (in floods of tears). They hid in the box until I coaxed them out with a magic ping pong ball. There are two black kittens, Barrington and Hiccup. Barrington is bigger. The tuxedo is Momo and the tabby is Gia.

Momo

Gia and Barrington or Hiccup

Adoption tails: Lily

Remember Lily who was a very young mother and didn't enjoy the process very much? Her kittens were born in June 2020. She became ferociously hungry as the kittens got bigger and it took her a long while to calm down in her stand alone afterwards.

She was adopted on May 5, 2021 

1 day later: Lily is still hiding but sits on the lounge with her new owner for a little while. 

 1 week later: All is going well with Lily. She has accepted her new human. She has spent the week exploring and has been giving her lady lots of cuddles (to her surprise) which she enjoyed immensely. Lily is a wonderful talker and she enjoys listening to her human playing the flute. She is highly interested in the TV nonetheless. Her favourites are Dr Harry and David Attenborough programs and particularly any commercials that feature furry friends. Her person is looking forward to some really interesting times with her. 

1 month later: Lily follows her person everywhere and shares lots of hugs. She can be a little mischievous which she thinks is lots of fun. Lily went to the vet today and everyone loves Lily.

Looks like a shop

We have new shelves for merchandise. They look lovely when sparsely stocked. I took the rest of the items from on top of the condos where Billie was (no surprise that she was adopted on Monday at 10am!) As I dusted the top of those condos I was reminded of the cat who kept escaping from the condo he shared with his sister and retreating to the top of those condos. I cornered him there once and conned him into walking into a cat carrier. What was his name? I tried going back through the database but no names lept out at me. If I go back through this blog it will take hours. I moved all the cat beds there and they look more desirable now as a line of beds rather than a pile of beds.

Dolly and Mo were desexed yesterday. Dolly had one arm outside her collar when I arrived and she had spilt her water and rolled in the puddle so my shirt got wet when I picked her up to put her arm back where it belonged. Mo is her daughter (Why did I assume she was a boy? Was it the name? Could Mo be short for Maureen, Mouse, Monica? and not Moustache?) Mo wears her collar as a tutu. I think it will have to be cut off as she is such a skitty kitty (Mouse is a good name for her). I will take my good, sharp scissors with me on Friday. The scissors at Safe hardly cut paper).

Talking of changing names: Perhaps Sarah should be called Burrito. She wrapped herself tightly in her blanket and only came out at the end of the day. She was happy to be patted through the blankets.

Wilson has been moved to the play place because Harry and Harley were adopted on Saturday. (Well Done Terry). He is not a happy cat. When somebody goes to sit with him, he walks around growling and grumbling. I think he is telling us how unhappy he is to have been abandonned by his people. He loves pats and is very gentle. He even likes children. The bloke who works down the corridor and his daughter who lusts after a cat visited (again) this afternoon. I chucked her in with Wilson and he treated her just the same as the adults. . . . mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble, keep patting me, growl, complain . . . .

Last week Katie and I decided that Lasagne is a dreadful name for a cat and changed this ginger cat's name to Laurie on the assumption that he was a boy from a glimpse at his rear end.

But it turns out that s/he has some GI tract disease that will require 3 pills a day for a month, 2 pills for the next month and a pill a day for the last month. S/he will be with us for a while. Such a relief that s/he is such a nice cat.

What goes around. . . .

A beautiful cat was surrendered today because his people plan to go travelling around Australia. His name is Wilson. But his name was Merry. He was adopted, as a kitten, from AWL in January, 2017. Unfortunately I don't have a photo from then. But do you recognise him?

He arrived with a very tearful owner and a trolley load of litter and food. Other cats arrived to take our numbers above the 50 who were there when I arrived early. I came with a gift of 6 pots of grass from Catsie. As they were such tall pots of grass I gave them to our adult cats, like Red.

Coco chewed on her's and Mason's and had a gratifying upchuck (which is exactly what Catsie's cat did when she taste tested the pots.) The nice man who came on Wednesday and took a photo of Snowy came back with his wife. Snowy was gone but Patches was on display because before breakfast I took away her and George's squat box. She retreated upstairs to the comfy bed, he stayed downstairs in the corner. After breakfast I gave them a taller, shorter box into which I cut two windows. George moved in but Patches stayed upstairs in a comfy bed. She stayed there all day long being a sensible cat. The wife rather fancied Dolly (who doesn't!) mostly because she is mostly white and they have cream carpets. All our cats are shedding hair at the moment. The wife was worried about black hair on her carpet. She rather liked Petal.

The lovely Kristine who rescued Petal brought in Tabitha, another cat from the same colony.

She had spent a lot of time cuddling with Petal, so Petal was in a very mellow mood until she saw the nice man's hat. When he took it off she was fine. Everybody was wearing masks but none of the cats seem to be phased by masks. I moved Mini's stand alone to the corner where she was before. She is happy there. Sue came this afternoon and wanted character references for each cat for the web page. I went from cat to cat, patting and chatting. That was when I discovered that Max seemed to have trouble fitting through the porthole in the single condo. So I put him into a stand alone. He complained loudly for a while but soon settled down and by dinner time, was quite happy with his position by the front door. It must be good luck to have a black cat beside your front door.

Adoption tails: Mimi

She is back. The older man who adopted her at the beginning of July expected her to become a lap cat within 24 hours. He didn't put her into a room with a closed door with everything she needed and let her learn her new surroundings and routines gradually. He tried to force the relationship and got swiped. We all know how accurate Mini is with her swipes. He was advised to let her decide when she is ready for more contact. There were frequent phone calls between us and the new owner and his friend but the owner decided that she wasn't right for him. He had a real struggle getting her back into the cat carrier, so perhaps she didn't want to leave. It took three days. Here she is when she first arrived back in December 2020.

Talking of struggles and cat carriers: Silky gave Terry a black eye when he put her, with difficulty, into a cat carrier to be taken home. She too is hiding. So is Soxy. But their owners are being more patient with them and don't expect instant lap cat. 

Yesterday I moved Mini to a stand alone from the single condo she was in because I remembered how much she liked it in the stand alone. She let me pat her, scrunch the base of her tail and lift her into the wheely cage. She is happy to be back, I think.

New Faces

There were still only 52 cats at Safe Haven this morning but there are new faces to replace those adopted since last Friday: namely Santa Maria, Norma, Petite (separately) and Valentino yesterday. Plus Casper has disappeared --- into foster care, I assume. Her previous fosterer/rescuer rang today to ask how she was getting on. There are lots of new faces in the outer office. Can't call it quarrantine any more because all of the cats are healthy. Fawny is a particular delight. Her fur is extremely soft and she chirrups rather than meows (when she is not eating).

Thelma and Louise are together again and have been moved to the jewel condo (ie where Amber, Jet and Opal were)

Misty is a pretty girl, if a trifle confused.

And in the cat room we have Lasagne who is a bit smelly.

A man arrived to meet Honey. He and his wife had decided that they want to add a cat to their family and chose her from the web page. I asked who else was in the family. A 2 and a 5 year old. I did not recommend Honey with her history of biting. But suggested Snowy. He was delighted and took a photo and video to show his wife. He may be back tomorrow. A woman phoned to say that she had talked yesterday to Katie about Mixa and was OK with his FIV status but then thought that she would probably want to get another cat because she has always had two and hers had recently died. So could she come in and see Honey. I said "Of course" and that she had bitten a couple of vollies but with an experienced cat owner we agreed that wouldn't be an issue. She came. Mixa smiled at her. Honey was a little stand offish. For contrast I introduced her to Dolly and she agreed that she didn't want a cat that was that friendly perhaps. I showed her Lord Dudley and she thought he was lovely. She went away to think about it. She got as far as the car park and after 10 minutes rang back to say that she had decided on Lord Dudley. Then she came upstairs with the biggest cat carrier! Just made for Lord Dudley. After we did the paperwork, I hoisted him to his feet and he strolled into the carrier as though he had done in a hundred times before. I think she will be back for a friend for him because she works long hours as a nurse and feels that a single cat could get lonely. (My sister tells me that the Lord Dudley is a really nice pub in Paddington. Perhaps she trained at Crown Street at some time).

Irene's News of: Peggy

Peggy is adjusting really well to her new home. I am so glad I got her chipped and vaccinated otherwise she would still be sitting in her condo.

Soxy is struggling a bit but her new owner is hanging in there and I have a follow up coming up for Marmie. I will update you when I hear back from that one. New photo Billy and Sam:

Last little one

Billie was desexed yesterday. She managed to get her leg through her collar while asleep in her igloo. She has potential adopters lined up being the smallest kitten until Christmas, probably. Opal was being adopted when I arrived this afternoon. I chatted to Sandy who was trying to engage Harry and Harley with the fuzzy three string interactive toy. Harley watched it. I found the last feather toy and Harley was much more interested in catching that. [I need more feathers. The birds around here don't seem to be loosing theirs. So if you have some, please may I have them to make more feather toys.] Opal did not enjoy being in a cat carrier. We could hear her next door. Her new owners were thrilled.

By the way, Jet is settling in beautifully to her new home. Other cats who were desexed include Dolly in incoming who is the mother of Socks, Mo and Tip. Mo is still very "don't touch me" while the other two are "Whatever". Rather like George who hides in the box clutching Patches while the rest of Santa Maria's kids are as friendly as she is. She rolled over to let me tickle her tummy this afternoon. What can I say. . . . . "cats!" A couple of sisters arrived to look at Charlie. One of them couldn't get away from him while I showed the other around. They changed places and Charlie liked the other sister too. Decision made. Adoption processed. Lucky them. I will miss Charlie.

The other cat with potential adopters is Valentino. He was more interested in MORE CHICKEN this afternoon.

So was Lucky. (Isn't she a pretty pus when she is not spitting?)

Of course, Harry and Harley were most interested in chicken. Somehow their door opened and Harry ventured out as far as the wheely trolley. All I had to do was to wave the chicken in the play place and he scurried back in. Such a relief.

Harley is in front with the black elbows and Harry is in the back with the white elbows.

Different digs

We decided that Lord Dudley needed a better box. The box he had was low and long. We found a box that he could sit in rather than having to crawl into.

He approved.

Petite and Norma were left overnight in the play place. I thought it would be nice if their sister who usually sits outside the box containing her brother and sister, could join them. The microchipper told me that she is Snowy. It is Patches who stays inside the box with Ginger. The other two were more interested in having pats from me when I took her into the play place. But they greeted her with licks and rubs. It was quite sad to put her back into the condo with the exclusive pair.

But somebody else needed a turn in the play place. I took Zelda thinking that if she ran around for a bit it might help her tummy. She sat in a corner. So I sat with her and gave her a massage concentrating on her tummy area. She loved it and purred and purred. Then I thought, perhaps she is taking air into her tummy as she purrs. Then she farted. Whatever . . . she enjoyed it.

I put her back into her condo which gets sunshine in the late afternoon, and wheeled in Harry and Harley who love it there because they have space to chase each other.

Then a neighbour arrived with his ?7 yr old daughter for their regular cat pat visit. It struck me that Miko came from a family with children. The father rang a couple of weeks ago because the kids had begged him to find out how she was getting on. Miko REALLY liked the kid. The kid liked the cat too. But dad said "What about the dog at home?"

Max in incoming was super friendly to Robyn while she was cleaning him until she tried to wipe his floor with some paper towel and then whap! Makes you wonder what his past experience with paper towel is.

Charlie is available. Wonder how long he will last.