Adoption Tails: Akela and Rafiki

 1 day: They are still getting used to their safe room and are hiding in their carrier most of the time. Their owners are giving them time to adjust. Their owner doesn’t think they’re eating but one of them might’ve had a nibble this morning. They are using the litter tray and are drinking. Their daughter has renamed them Chimmy (Rafiki) and Cookie (Akela).

1 week: Chimmy and Cookie/Cooky are settling well, although they are still rather cautious. They are eating routinely twice a day and have been less likely to hide over the past 2 days when they’ve been feeding them. They try to poke their head out of the safe room but seem very hesitant to step out of the room. Cookie/Cooky stepped out once but scampered back to the safe room when their owner approached.

1 month and 2 days: They both love looking out to the garden. Chimmy made more progress this morning - he started meowing at his owner for food and also twirled his body around his owner. He’s definitely settling down well.

 

Bye bye Baby

 Vicky took home Baby today as a foster to adopt. She has an old cat already and hopes that these two old ladies will get along together. And with the younger Lucky cat. And the dog. But first, everybody had to say goodbye:

I am told it was fairly chaotic this morning with lots of folk coming to fill in paperwork for kittens in a foster home. The last one was processed this afternoon. I wonder if folk have had second thoughts about going away for the school holidays and decided to get a kitten instead. Perhaps all the Coffee shop kittens will be gone by Monday!

Remember when I spoke to the man who surrendered Max and Gus. I thought that he had named them. But it was Katie who named them after her sons. But didn't apportion the names. So I decided today that the tabby is Gus (short for guts. .. . he always wants first at the food and more of it thank you). His downstairs, shyer brother is Max. Now we just have to figure out who is who of the Akela/Rafiki and Diego/Samira family.

Diego/Samira

Rafiki/Akela  one photo does for both of them

Luigi and Bambi are boarding. Bambi has been shaved because he has a skin condition. Doesn't stop him eating Luigi's medicated food. Luigi didn't want it until I laced it with chicken juice.

Luigi and Bambi

Flu largely gone

It worked . . . . either my blog title from last week or the antibiotics . . . . but we are largely free of flu at the moment. Ginge and Sabrina are still sneezing but Florence is clear headed and full of bounce. As is Ricki. And all the snufflers in Welfare, including Dynamo, are much better. But we almost lost Star on Saturday. Terry was in today being, as usual, our hero by delivering a full load of litter from Arundel Park. He said that at 5pm last Saturday, Star suddenly couldn't breathe. Luckily Dr Kim was in her surgery and dealt with the problem. Star is on very fancy antibiotics and looks well today. All bar one of her kittens are off flu treatment.

Akela or Rafiki

Now that these kittens are getting used to us and more friendly, I must figure out who is who.

As usual, I didn't get around to taking any photos. Luckily Joy was in. Her photos are much better than mine because I use a camera and she has a fancy phone.

Bean

Cocoa (left) and Mocha

Latte

 The coffee shop kittens were in the play place when I arrived. (Thanks to the poo bag fairy who only left 5 bags for me to schlepp out to the garbage cans). They hopped back into their wheely cage for breakfast and spent the day supervising from the front door. 

Fern, Linda and Yoko, Mayka had turns in the play place before the Coffee kittens went back overnight.

Nobody was adopted over the weekend but Myrtle and Wanda went earlier this week. Myrtle went with an older man who came in a couple of weeks ago. His was a considered choice. Myrtle came out of her shell very well in the interim. And Wanda was adopted by an older woman. Almost all of the cats in Welfare are available for adoption now. There are 36 cats and one rabbit listed on our website!

And today, there was an emailed enquiry about Coco, the rabbit. Somebody wants a companion for their lop ear boy who has lost his mate recently but plays nicely with the puppy, has full run of the house and is getting the garden rabbit proofed! Sounds perfect. So I gave her extra cuddles today . . . just in case.

New adoption proceedure

 We are now using Shelter Buddy to process our adoptions. It is supposed to be more efficient. But it doesn't add the adopted cats names to the calendar so that they can be followed up. I hope this will be done somehow or my Adoption Tails will be cut short.

Since last Friday, Dabi, three of Violet's kittens (only Orchid is left) and the pair in the stand alone by the printer have been adopted. Plus the lift is on the blink. Often the door fails to open on our floor. You have to continue up to the second floor and walk down a flight. Poor Robyn had an accident on the stairs last week. Plus the trolley has lost three of the four bolts that attach one of its four wheels. That was the only photo I took today so that Geoff can bring the appropriate bolt to fix it on Friday.

But Joy took some lovely photos especially of this gorgeous cat who has finally come out of hiding. S/he is Akela or Rafiki.

Akela or Rafiki

The rest of the family is in another condo.

Diego and Samira

Look at those furnishings!

And we have yet another Oreo who is a charmer.

Oreo

And Baby, a 16 year old, white cat in the stand alone that Wanda and her kitten family lived. She is loud (possibly deaf) but very sweet. I took Midsummer to Catsie and Michael to be delivered to the Avalon vet tomorrow morning. She will need an X-ray first to make sure that her diaphragmatic hernia is all fixed before being desexed. She certainly looks healthy enough. Not like poor little Florence who is full of flu. Her nose is completely blocked so that she can't smell the food. But if you put it in her mouth she can taste it and realizes that she is hungry. She ate well today by being hand fed by me.

I tested the "pick up a rabbit and give it a cuddle" technique demonstrated by our intern last week. It worked on Coco. But not on Lily. They have furry bottoms of their feet instead of pads.

Coco

And I took pity on the tuxedo Coffee Shop kitten who was most often on the bottom of the pile in their triangular hammock with his butt hanging half off it. I gave them a square hammock which fits much better.

All four in a hammock in comfort

Good news

Romeo and Juliette were adopted over the weekend. It seems that they are settled into a room and hissing at their new owners. And, as predicted, George was adopted too. I imagine that he is sleeping with them and telling them when he wants to eat.

Sue or Slav?

 We have, in the last 5 years taken in almost a 1000 cats and dogs. We are up to 995 with Slav, our latest Good Samaritan rescue today. The woman who brought her in said that we should call her Sue.

Where Simba and Khandi were is another exotic sounding family of 6-12 month olds (closer to 12 months, I'd say): Akela, Rafiki, Diego and Samira. We needed another Diego! They were hiding in their carriers and I can't see 4 cats. Somebody must be being sat on.

Akela, Rafiki, Diego, Samira

And next to Amelia we have Chloe who is pretty but stunned that she is where she is not where she would rather be. . . . at home.

Chloe

 I put Tommy and Mia into the play place this afternoon mostly so that I could have a good cuddle with Tommy before he and Mia get collected on Sunday. He is a marvellous lap cat. I even managed to trim 6 of his nails. Mia accepts caresses but is not quite up to a lap.