Adoption Tails: Lucy and Junior, Alice and Belle

 Lucy & Junior, now Pepper & Ginger

1 day: They're doing great. Lucy, who the owners are now calling Pepper, is so affectionate and Junior, now Ginger, is pretty shy but has come out of the cat cage for food and water. They've both used the litter tray. They are both so sweet and the girls were up at 6am this morning, playing with Pepper. The owner even introduced Pepper to her team over a work Teams call as she was sitting on her lap. Ginger is taking a little longer and definitely prefers it when it's not so noisy (with the kids).

 1 week: They're both just gorgeous. Ginger is slowly getting used to the family and sits with them in the evenings now. Pepper is so cuddly. Naomi (one of SAFE's day managers) will visit the family soon.

Pepper

1 month: They're both doing so well. The family loves them. Ginger has totally come out of her shell and loves being picked up and having cuddles. Pepper loves all the attention and wakes everybody up first thing in the morning for breakfast. Pepper and Ginger like to sit outside on the verandah which is enclosed with pool gates so they can't get out. They get some outside time but they're not allowed out into the bush. "They're a fantastic addition to the family and we are all smitten."

Alice & Belle, now Astrid & Ishka

Alice and Belle's mum is Cleo, whose follow up was an Adoption Tail on Jan 3, 24. 

1 day: Astrid and Ishka are hiding in the big box the owner has put in their room (as the owner expected). There has been 1 poo and a little bit of food has been eaten but not much. The owner expected a big regression. She is giving them the room to themselves and only going in the morning, before bed and once during the day. Hopeful that they pick up regarding food by tomorrow and that she can spend some more time in the room after the weekend.

1 week: They are going well, eating with gusto! The two have yet to explore and spend a lot of time in the wardrobe, especially Ishka but they do play and cuddle with the owner too. The resident boy cat is doing his best to ignore the fact that the room Astrid and Ishka are in exists. He makes sure to tell the owner off when she comes out of there! She thinks the two will be in the room for at least another week before she tries and moves to the next stage of introduction. They are bonding really nicely and she is already in love with them. She thinks they quite like her too!

1 month: Ishka is super confident now and is so affectionate! Astrid is lagging a little bit and unfortunately has peed on the owner's couches, bed, hall and bathroom floor. She is also using the litterbox properly and eating well so quite clearly a stress reaction though the owner is unsure what is stressful. The owner has since closed off the bedroom and loungeroom to give her less space and hopefully help her feel more in control. Jupiter (resident cat) is being really good with them, hanging out in the same room as them and licking both on the head at least once a day. The owner is really happy with how they are all going, individually and together. She is hopeful that Astrid will continue to improve and the peeing will stop, if not she will take Astrid to the vet for a check.

 

Alice and Belle's mum is Cleo, whose follow up has been sent by Sydney earlier this year.

a good Friday

 The traffic was terrific. The parking was plentiful. But Cousins didn't come to empty their bins.

Otherwise it was a good Friday with 11 vollies falling over each other and lots of cuddling going on when I arrived around noon.

With not much to do, I decided that PC needed some beauty treatment. His saliva blackens on exposure to air and where he licks himself is covered with black tar-like stuff. I put some warm water in the big sink and added PC. He didn't like it much. But he is such a gentleman he tolerated it. And he didn't really mind being dried with a towel by Emily. And he really liked being combed with a fine tooth comb while sitting on the visitors chair when he was all dried off. Meanwhile Stephen Gumptioned his condo. PC was quite happy to go back to his condo and was ravenous for his dinner.

Meanwhile Marissa arrived to spend time with her Azlan. Her house is being "fixed" so he is better off with us but she misses him. She pops a harness on him and lets him take her for a walk.

Azlan walkies

While I took this photo a man arrived and said "I am here to pick up Emily". My memory failed me. We don't have a boarder named Emily. Of course not. He came to collect his daughter Emily. And to check out our torties (because he had one in his boyhood). While showing them to him I noticed that Salt was trying to suck on Pickles. He is too big to do that. . . . and she is too skinny to tolerate it. So I let her out. She immediately went back to her previous enclosure.

Pickles pickle

But Yin and Yan are in residence there now. They have come in again from their foster home where they were doing very well. I tried to make lots of covers for them to settle into/under. One had made it out of the hidey hole when I left.

Yin/Yan

Chilli was moved into Mouse's stand alone because his condo is needed for a boarder. He was transported in his plum pudding. That will definitely need to go with him when he is adopted.

Chilli

I reaarranged the two stand alones so that neither Chilli or Eric is in a busy traffic lane. The trolley is back there.

Betty's two kittens are still with us. One is much plumper than the other. Guess which?

Maggots in March

 I missed the Willoughby rubbish collection this morning. So I didn't get our surplus bags out into other folk's bins. I filled the Cousins bins (with their 30Kg only) after they came in the middle of the day. Then I put the rest of the bags on the verandah into the empty Willoughby bins. The bags at the bottom of the pile were oozing maggots. Good thing I was raised in Queensland or I would have swooned.

The maggots are in the bins in the basement and the maggots on the balcony have been tromped on. One found its way into the play place water bowl. Sabrina's kittens didn't notice it. They were too busy watching ants wandering across their floor. (I have decided that the loud Sabrina kitten should have his name changed to the name of a famous male singer who sings LOUDLY). (Alternatively he could be called Banshee. I tried him out on that name this afternoon and he liked it. . . . we had a contrapuntal game going. . . Banshee . . . yowl. . . Banshee. . . yowl. . . )

We were three vollies down today but two kindly stayed into the afternoon to help. Sue was kept very busy answering the phone  and accepting boarders for the coming (Easter) weekend all morning.

As I was about to leave not having taken any photos, she asked me to take photos of Queen Victoria:

Queen Victoria

And Gigi who used to be called Venus. But her foster mum didn't like Venus and called her Gigi. She seems happier now that she has her own name back.

Gigi

Pickles and Salt have moved to the condo below her. Salt had a fabulous time playing with a ping pong ball on the bare ground floor space in the morning. They were all tuckered out this afternoon.

And photos of Betty's remaining two kittens who have moved into the Nursery/Quarantine. You can tell that they are feeling better because they did not stay still for a photo.

Camera fixed

I recharged the battery and put in the date and time zone. If only other electronics were as simple!

Vollie Michelle came in this afternoon with her daughter whose 3 year old grey cat has just died. She just wanted the comfort of being around folk who love cats and other cats (especially grey ones like her previous cat.) Violet fit the bill.

Violet

And Dexter who almost bit me. I picked him out of the box that I put into his condo that he loves and he sat happily to be admired in my arms for a while. But then he got stroppy and went to bite me. Luckily I knew the signs and my shirt got bitten while my arm escaped all by very marginal tooth marks. Which Emily happily bandaged for me even though it was really a waste of a good bandage.

Max and Maisie came in to board. It took her owners three hours to get Maisie into the carrier. They carefully hadn't made any moving moves. . . . no suitcases taken out of cupboards, etc, etc. But she KNEW that something was going on. Max was no trouble, of course. I put her into their condo in her small carrier. When the owner left I checked on them and Max had moved in with Maisie. The small furry grey mouse is theirs.

Max shielding Maisie

We have a boarder called Josie who needs eye treatment. As well as our Josie's kittens who both have gummy eyes that need treatment. Confusion!

Josie plus 1

Josie plus 2

And Bubbles needs ointment in her eyes too. She hates it. But loves any kind of attention so is prepared to put up with it if she gets a cuddle as well.

Bubbles

Eric was delivered from his foster home. He had been getting on well with the fosterer's two girl cats but recently has started to try to take over the dominant position which entails urinating on their couch and standing over the girls. So let's see if he can get adopted from us quickly. He is in the stand alone beside Mouse who is a good draw card.

Eric

Camera fail

 I took some quick photos late this afternoon to remind myself of new names. And the camera is on the blink. I will have to use my iPhone, I suppose. Or rely on Joy's photos which are much better than mine anyway.

Was delighted to find that Magic has disappeared. She has gone back to her foster home. Strangely enough, Willow, who is in the next door condo to where Magic was, was much more outgoing (or outcoming as she has consistently hidden in her cat carrier in her condo until today). She must have got some "keep away" vibes from Magic.

Magic's condo was occupied by four pretty kittens that I drove to a foster home in Avalon on my way home this evening. The fosterer lost her Burmese beloved over the New Year and is pining for more kitty love. These four should do it. The calico is reluctant but the others were friendly.

Stevie has been declared recovered from her desex wound (or from the treatment of iodine and honey). She is back with her brothers. Sabrina, their mother has disappeared from the Adoption list as well as from her condo so she must have been adopted!

And Gemma got adopted.

And Dexter got adopted. 

    But Tim was a bit dubious about that adoption. With good reason it transpired because Dexter came home to a beautifully spring cleaned condo this afternoon. The bloke who adopted him said that his flat mate really wanted a dog not a cat! 

And we got new cats as well as the 4 kittens for foster. There is Mouse, a small, 3 month old, all black boy. He adapted quickly to his new spacious digs in Gemma's stand alone.

Mouse

And Violet who is wearing one of our collars. Which is strange because I can't find them and Elsa has been desexed and doesn't have one on. (She would have had to be under anaesthetic for me to attempt to put one on her!) Likewise Gracie in Isolation has a new desex certificate and no collar.

Violet

And today two of Pickles kittens, Brine and Dill were adopted . . . to two separate families with (not too) young children. They are lovely kittens. But perhaps it is their catchy names that appeal. Geoff came this afternoon and installed a scratchy pole in their enclosure. Which meant that they had to be taken out of it, put into a carrier, entertained with bits of my lunch, until all the screws were tightened, the enclosure was reclad with cloth and put back in its cleaned position such that the litter tray fits. . . . Geoff is a treasure.

Pickles in the before enclosure

 AND, there was a telephone enquiry about Yang! . . .. or Ying

Adoption Tails: Elsa's brood

Nick

1 day: He's doing wonderfully. Eating, drinking and using his litter. Loves his cuddles.

1 week: He's doing great!

Nick

1 month: He's great. Nick's had his flea and tick treatment but is being treated for ringworm at the moment. The owners love him!

Marti, aka Smokie

1 day: He is happy, started drinking/eating and using the tray already. The daughter renamed Martin to Smokie, based on his fur colour. He is still trying to get to know the family and the room he is staying in, having already started playing with the daughter too.

1 week: Smokie had a bit of a cat flu flare up with watery/teary eyes. He is quite healthy otherwise, eating well and running around all the time. He has a sneeze once in a while so the owners will keep an eye on him and take him to the vet should things worsen. Smokie is a bit lazy during the day but very active and playful in the mornings and evenings.

Marti/Smokie

1 month: Smokie is doing well, he is the little king here and treated with utmost respect. "He has brought joy to us."

Chester

1 day: He is doing well! He previously stayed in the laundry room but it was too noisy and was moved to the owners' bedroom. He used the kitty litter and have been eating little bits here and there but not having any water. He is very affectionate and seems to be fairly confident with the owners but just gets scared of noises. He is meowing/crying quite frequently and the owners are unsure if he is bored or scared.
1 week: He is very confident around the house now. He does meow fairly often but a lot less than when he first came home.

Chester

1 month: He is doing very well and seems to be happy and healthy. He loves the owner's laptop and window hammock!

Loz  aka Leo

1 day: Loz, now Leo, is doing great. He was extremely scared on the first day but has settled in quickly. He’s playing with the boys and adjusting to their resident cat. He’s eating lots and has used the litter a few times. “I think he’ll be a great new addition to the family.”

2 days: “The cats seem to be playing well. All in all great success.”

Leo at 2 days with new big friend

1 week: “He is gorgeous. He has made friends with Milo and settled into the family. He eats a lot though.. about 3x as much as Milo. Hopefully we can slow him down soon.”

1 month: “He is awesome”

Hallie aka Sissy

1 day: When they brought her home, she was playful at first but as the night progressed, she grew very shy and scared. She had some dinner and hid in one of the shelves in her safe room. She stayed there the whole night. She didn’t want breakfast at 7:30 but eventually ate around 11:30. She inappropriately pooed outside of her litter box but has successfully peed in it. Her owner was working in her safe room today and she had a nap while her owner was working. She had a lot of play time this evening and is finishing up her zoomies. She’s been renamed Sissy as “she’s now one of many sisters in our circle of family and friends”.

2 days: She’s had another awesome day in her safe room. Her appetite and toileting have been great. She knows where to go to the bathroom and doesn’t hide as much. She was asleep on the office chair when they found her this morning so it’s definitely better than sleeping on the shelf on the first night. She’s been itching to come out of her safe room every time they leave and cries when her owners aren’t there.

Sissy one week

1 week: Sissy’s doing awesome after a week of having her. She’s out of her safe room and settled into the rest of the home. She isn’t missing the toilet, is drinking water and cannot wait to eat her meals. She tends to sleep in the wardrobe and scratches to try and get in when it’s closed. “Her personality has grown so much and we love having her”1 month: “She’s doing great - she’s found her groove and is such a character to have around the house”. She loves attention, cuddles and doing zoomies. She went to the vet and it went really well - she’s had her second immunisation and a flea treatment. They’ve found that she’s hungrier than usual. She doesn’t meow for food but she sits next to her food bowl. The vet advised them to base her portions around her as she’s still growing so they’re trying to figure that out. Other than that, everything else is going smoothly. She’s a playful, funny and sweet kitten and they love her so much.

Blake aka Smokey

3 days: He is settling in extremely well. He’s eating, peeing, and pooping. He is very affectionate and loves their bed. He has been renamed Smokey and is very much at home. Smokey will be well-loved just like their autistic son’s cat Lily. She came from SAFE around 2 years ago and is a “match made in heaven” for their son.

1 week: Smokey is going well. He has been in the hallway outside his safe room and this afternoon, he progressed to the kitchen. Very much at home and has a routine already. He sleeps all night and is eating and drinking well. He is a beautiful little boy and is very affectionate. He just likes being with his owners and follows them around. He also loves watching tennis with his owner. 

Smokey one week

 

1 month: Smokey is very well. He runs and owns the house. He now weighs 2.35kg and has been to the vet for his F3 injection. “He is such a beautiful affectionate little boy we love him to death. We are glad to give him a good home.”

 

Ants

 I came home today to find ants in Cody's quarter full bag (4Kgm) of crunchies. It has been a very bad summer for ants here in Sydney and I had not sealed the zip seal properly last time I scooped out a jam jar of crunchies. Be warned. And hope that ants don't discover the Safe crunchy shelves!

I moved Pickles from Isolation (aka Maternity) into Dancer's enclosure. No, Dancer hasn't been adopted. She has been moved next to Angel and Rory and Little have moved to the condo below Virgo.

Pickles and co love their new space. They were acrobatic when exploring the possibilities when they first moved in. There are 3 hammocks. Top two have one kitten each, bottom one has two kittens. Mum gets to sleep on the floor.

Salt and Brine

Dill

Cucumber

Penelope and Dot were brought in by their foster carers. And left them with us accompanied by tears. They are quite young so should settle down well (both cats and people). [Dot is a boy and has a spot above his right eye].

Josie's kittens are doing very well. They are plump and adventurous. A grand advertisement for not having 7 kittens at one time like Betty did. Her lot have gummy eyes and empty tummies because she has quit feeding them.

Josie and her ginger

PC had time out today and got to meet Michelle. She was not impressed. He was much more interested in being groomed with the strange blue cylindrical toy-thing.

Michelle and PC

Useful blog

 Charley was surprised when Martin was missing this morning. And Callie. I said to myself "You should read the blog".

Then later she asked if I knew who was Little and who was Rory. This time I said it out loud. And brought up the blog on the computer so that I could be reminded who is who. Little has the white on the right cheek and Tory has white on his left cheek. Charley took a photo of the blog url so now can keep up.

The other way I keep up is by making a list of all the cats available on our web site and crossing them off when they get adopted. It gets pretty chaotic by the end of the month.

January 2024

 

March 2024 so far

 Why is Angel still with us?

I had to leave at 1pm just when a former vollie had finally decided to adopt Tinkerbelle rather than Gemma. Tinkerbelle's name will be changed. Her new owner stopped being a vollie because she kept bursting into tears. But now she wants a cat of her own and came to us to choose. Tinkerbelle was in Martin's stand alone and Gemma was happy having her next door. Michelle moved into Callie's stand alone by the front door.

Tinkerbelle

 Tim had to do the adoption because I had to leave after feeding lunches. And Sandy's adopter was due in at 1:30 to pick her up, at last. Poor Tim wasn't looking forward to the mystic mumbo jumbo.

Magic has gone home with her fosterer.

When I arrived one of the boarder's condo door's was open. It didn't take me long to find Oscar. He was under the food shelves bellowing. I don't think he could get out even though he got in. So I removed the laundry bins, food bags, etc, etc and lifted up the shelf. He stood up and stepped out, into my embrace so I could carry him back to his condo. 

Sorry for the old photos but I never think about taking any until 4pm.

Finally!

 Cass was adopted this morning along with Talia. The folk came at 10am to do the adoption. Certainly not the best time to do an adoption especially when you haven't done one for a while. But they were out of there by the time I arrived at noon. Poor Michelle is all alone in her big enclosure. 

A man whose cat has recently died came with a trolley load of food, carrier, meds, dishes, etc. He was "happy to have found us" and on the way out met all the cats including Mia who positively fawned over him. If she could have, she would have licked his hand! He was taken with her too. So perhaps he will be back.

Then a woman arrived to look at our cats because her boy cat had recently died and her girl cat is feeling lonely. She fell in love with Martin who is the same colour as her previous boy cat. Seemed to be preordained. She entertained herself during the adoption by texting all her friends, getting their opinions, getting offers of a Uber back home to Bondi Junction and offers of kitty sitting forever.

A woman rang with a sad story of her friend having found 5 kittens in a rubbish bin. The friend was bottle feeding them but Tim and Helen think they are older than needing that. So they agreed to take them in. And then their photos showed gooey eyes. So they probably have the flu, at least. Tim was waiting for them to arrive when I left.

He was also doing the adoption of a foster cat with the couple who came last week to collect some special food. Plus he was having trouble with the computer . . . . as I usually do. So I had to sign on so that he could complete the adoption. In the meantime the couple played with Callie who is now available. They had chosen a toy from the merch shelves while waiting for Tim to sort his computer problems and played with it. They noticed Callie's fascination with the toy and I gave them permission to let her play with it. She was having a fine time when I left. (I didn't sign out just in case I crashed the computer).

Didn't get around to taking any photos either so will use Joy's from Wednesday

Rory or Little

Sue says that there is more white on Little's feet than on Rory's. But when you look at their faces, One has a white left cheek and the other has a white right cheek. Little above, Rory below.

Freya's kittens have ventured out of their bed chamber. They are charming lumps of plump. Not quite so plump as Josie's though. And Betty and her kittens are looking less squinty than in this photo taken on Wednesday.

Betty's bundle of B's

squinty Betty

Mickey is getting more confidence and is Pistachio. We will have some pretty kittens for Easter.

Mickey above, Pistachio below

Adoption Tails: Adele and her litter

 

Adele aka Brandy

Adele

 

1 day: She has been renamed Brandy and she is doing very well. “After coming home she sat on my lap after half an hour”. She is eating well and has used the litter box so it's a successful rehoming. She is not shy at all.

1 week: Brandy has explored the whole house now, as well as the safe veranda outside. She is always supervised on the veranda and follows her owner all day. She is eating well and uses the litterbox. She sneezes sometimes. She is very independent but comes when her owner calls her.

1 month: Brandy is getting a bit friendlier. She really doesn’t like to be touched or picked up but her owner can live with that. Her owner is sure it will take her a bit more time. She is asking for food all day but she currently gets food at 6 am, noon and 6 pm, before taking herself to bed.

Billie

Billie

1 day: Billie is loving the place! She’s very curious and is such a people person! She particularly loves the wet food and the owners have made her comfortable around the litter tray and water.

1 week: She's doing amazing! Much more comfortable around the entire house and is sleeping, feeding and going to the bathroom well! She's gotten more comfortable around the resident cat too.

1 month: Billie is doing great and the resident cat is much more comfortable around her now.

Britney aka Lia

Britney

 1 day: She is adapting, ate a little yesterday and today but she still hasn't drunk much water or used the litter. She just stays under the bed but little by little, she is letting the owners pet her. They still haven't decided on her name, they're seeing which one she likes the most (between Kya and Lisa).

1 week: She is already well adapted, super affectionate and playful. The only thing is that sometimes she meows very softly and other times, the meow comes out hoarse. The owner has tried to film it but every time she picks up the phone, the meowing stops. The owners have decided to name her Lia.

1 month: Lia has improved a lot, she is more affectionate and playful every day. She is very spoiled too. "Adopting her was the best thing we did, she is making us very happy."