Highs and lows

 When I arrived early this morning Lola was stationed on the entry (her) table in a patch of sunshine.

Lola sunbaking

When I went to the verandah there were NO TRASH BAGS. Now I know how folk feel on Thursday after I have shifted all the bags elsewhere. It feels very good. Thank you.

The lows came when I got home, went to take the two bags of laundry and plastic bag of washed tins and kidney dishes for recycling out of my boot to discover that I had done a Rosanna. I took them downstairs. Dropped them in the loading bay. Went to get my car out on the street. And forgot all about them. I hope Tim spotted them on his way out. There were three clean bags of laundry to be put away today so there are enough towels for the weekend (I hope).

Irene's Peter brought in Amber. She looked very unhappy until I gave her an igloo which used to be on the merch shelves but was loitering by the clean laundry shelves so I claimed it for her.

Amber

We have new kittens in Incoming whom Joy photographed today . .  . . for the Safe record.

Jerry is hungry, tiny and cute.

Jerry

Toby is a big kitten and seems friendly.

Toby

Mouse is back. He is in Mickey's condo. Micky was adopted. (Let us hope that is not a black cat kind of omen).

Mouse

The five kittens in Isolation are on a special diet. but take us to the highs of cute!

Flat out

 My first job this afternoon was to rescue a kitten that had gone under the food shelves. The only way to see the kitten was to lie on my tummy on the floor. Good thing that it had just been mopped. 

It was Junior and she was pressed against the wall a full arms length away. I pushed her up the the corner where the food prep bench is and, with the help of Greenies, encouraged her to allow herself to be pushed out from under.

Junior

Later I spotted her back in with Lucy who was licking her face. Don't know whether it was with sympathy for her horrid ordeal or removing the last traces of Greenies.

The two cats in boarding who had TBC for the departure date, Holly and ? (I have forgotten his name) have been accepted into our shelter. So they needed to be moved into Incoming. The boy hasn't been seen out of his cat carrier since they arrived so I thought that would be easy. Sods law ordained that this afternoon was the day that he decided to explore his upper shelf. Holly was on her upper shelf too. And did not want to be enticed into her carrier, Greenies or no Greenies. The boy sensibly moved to his carrier after several folk opened his doors so was very easy to transport. We needed Tim to get Holly into her carrier but that was done expeditiously. And both are now in the far corner of Incoming.

Robyn arrived to get to know the cats that she is to write profiles of for the website. We shorted out, the C kittens, again, with the help of the microchip reader, again.

Amber is the white pawed and chested tabby with the really black stripes.

Amber

Citrine is the white pawed and chested tabby with the dark grey stripes.

 

Citrine

The tabby without any white is Copper. She has a copperish hue.

 

Copper: no white paws or white chest

They are all eminently cuddleable. And seem to have recovered from their stitches.

Booties back

 The room off the kitchen is a quarantine zone. Anybody who goes in there must wear booties and toss them in the bucket at the door as they leave to stop tracking ringworm throughout the cattery. Davo didn't get adopted. He got ringworm and is back in incoming. Mickey is where Davo was.

Mickey

He looks much happier having a view of everything. (I didn't try to feed him so don't know if he is still desperate for food).

Ezra and his mum Lyra have moved from Incoming to where Tiger was. Ezra was adopted this afternoon. Somehow their condo was opened and Lyra moved out before the adopters arrived and into one of the hidey holes in the tall Top Cat scratchie. I was in the process of trying to tempt her back into the condo when they arrived. She is still there and the Top Cats surrounds her hideout.

Ezra

Lyra

 

Next door, where Maxwell was are Jack and Luna. They are shy.

Jack or Luna

Virgo only has one kitten left, Scorpio. The other two were adopted over the weekend. I caught him suckling her this afternoon. No wonder she looks fed up.

Virgo and Scorpio

Princess got adopted and Maria doesn't look too upset.

Vicky and I tried to work out the difference between the kittens who are in the play place. They were in Incoming. Two of them are almost identical. They are both stunning tabbies with white feet and tummies. The other doesn't have white feet. She is Citrine. One of the white pawed ones has darker markings that the other. She is Amber and the other is Copper. Or vise versa. They are all delightful and one even likes her tummy being tickled.

Amber and Copper

Adoption Tails: Bertie, Cleo and Amber

Bertie 

2 weeks: He’s doing well and has been eating, drinking and using the litter tray. He spends most of his time under the bed. His owner leaves him alone and doesn't want to disturb him. He comes up to his owner when they offer treats.

Bertie

3 weeks: He is no longer hiding under the bed. He now sleeps with his owner and is very clingy.

Bertie

 Cleo

1 day: She has eaten and used the litter tray. She lets her owner scratch behind her ears and pat her head. She does not yet come out of her very big box, but will sometimes stick her head out. “She seems content”. She is comfortable in her box but her owner is keen for her to come out when they are with Cleo. They will be keeping her name.

1 week: Cleo is still hiding in her box. She only comes out at night to eat and does not eat during the daytime. Her owner is concerned about her lack of activity because she spends all her time in the corner of the box. Her owner has a large box and cut an exit hole in it. As soon as Cleo was brought home, she ran into it and has been staying there since.

Cleo, 1 week

1 month: Cleo is still frightened and hides at noises but she is out in the living area most of the time. “She “calls” me to feed her and comes up to me gingerly and looks at me. She gets more comfortable every day. She still has a long way to go but she is getting there which I am of course very happy about.”

Amber

Amber 1 day

Amber 1 week and 3 months below

Amber has turned out to be a super-intelligent, super-playful cat. She loves playfighting with her owner’s hands but is always so gentle with her bites. “She is really starting to form bonds with us and it’s just so lovely to see more and more of her personality coming out. We really love her so much.”

Adoption Tails: Amber, Pumpkin and Midnight, Peach

 Amber

 1 day: She is going great. She is gaining confidence after a day to run around the house and approach them for pats. She has been eating, drinking, and using the litter tray with no trouble.

Amber, day 1

 2 days: “We are already in love with Amber”. She was very timid at first and kept her distance but now she is very talkative and will flop down for pats.

Amber, 1 week

1 week: She is going great. She is opening up more all the time and is more affectionate. She’s still a bit skittish when she is in new parts of the house, but she is really doing very well.

Amber, 1 month

1 month: She certainly is getting much more confident. She has been sleeping on their beds during the day now. “We absolutely love her”. She has picked her favourite person, their son. Probably because he plays with her the most. She has officially become an adult cat and looks a lot bigger than she did a month ago. She is super energetic and always ready to play or hunt toys. She still doesn’t really like being picked up but she purrs like crazy when they pet her and scratch under her chin. She is a lot calmer now, but she is a ball of energy and runs around the house in the evenings. She is always very curious about the outside and tries to get out when they open the door so they’ve been very careful.

Pumpkin and Midnight

1 day: They are both settling in well. They are both eating, drinking and using their litter trays. Midnight is very playful and adventurous. Pumpkin is slowly getting more comfortable with her new family and her new home. Last night, Pumpkin and Midnight were playing together.

Midnight, day 1

 1 week: They are doing really well. Both have explored further around the house. They spend their time on the couch and chairs and aren’t hiding so much. Midnight is still feeding a couple of times a day from Pumpkin when she allows him. 

Pumpkin, day 1

1 month: “I cannot believe it’s been a month, they are such a part of the family. They are very confident exploring the house and finding nooks to explore. They seem very settled and comfortable and have their favourite chill spots.”

Peach = Hinata

1 day: She has been renamed Hinata, which is a Japanese name meaning towards the sun. She ate a few treats on her first night and peed in her litter tray. On her second night, she seemed interested in the food so her owner brought wet food for her. She couldn’t wait for it to be put down before starting to eat it. Hinata didn’t mind the owner next to her while she was eating. She has a nightlight which keeps her relaxed. She has been napping with her back towards her owner.

Peach, 1 month

1 week: Hinata is doing well. She has explored her safe room and has even opened the door by herself to venture further. She met the resident cat, Bobby. She tries to cosy up to him and he completely ignores her. She has started pooping regularly and enjoys licking the gravy from her wet food. Her owner says “she’s such a cute character” and loves seeing her roll around trying to get Bobby’s attention. Hinata answers Bobby’s meows for attention with little squeaks. She looks like she wants to play with different strings and toys but is a bit shy still.

Peach/Hinata, 1 month

Frantic Friday

 One result is this:

The remaining three ABBA kittens were adopted today. Agnetha and Bjorn went to an enthusiastic teenager and her parents first. They were torn between them and Pumpkin and Midnight but Bjorn had called to the daughter over the www. 

Later a family came to find a kitten to replace their dark tortie who died not so long ago. Amber looked too much like their previous cat and they wanted somebody to go with their 8 year old boy cat. So they chose Freda who was looking very sorry for herself with her siblings gone.

Alongside these adoptions there was a superfluity of vollies and trainees, folk coming with donations of such generosity that they deserved a conducted tour around all the cats, folk coming to pick up their boarding cats who were more, or less, eager to go home. Tilly/ Daphne didn't really want to go but she will be back. Fosterers came in with kittens to be vaccinated including the fosterer of Sushi and her litter. Sushi is in the small stand alone. She is very sweet and a little shy.

Sushi

Her remaining two kittens are in the stand alone beside the trolley.

Tofu

Pork Bun

Lots of cats got to wander around enjoying the visitors. Max got time in the play place (as all boarders who paid for time have had it.) He is happy to be carried there by Katie.

Max

I didn't get to eat my lunch until 3 - 3:30. At which time I decided that it was too late to hand out the chicken. But Rosanna was so horrified at the idea that the cats would go without their Friday chicken that she offered to stay late to share it out. And Katie wanted some for the Incoming cats too. I got away just as Tim came back from the vets with Coco (check up), Cleo (desex) and somebody else. Opey was let out in the hope that Tim will get him back into his stand alone when he came back from the vets. As I left Opey's expression dared me to walk past him.

Opey is all bluff

 

Such nice customers

 Christmas brings out the best in folk. . . and brings them in flocks to Safe Haven! 

There was a stream of folk bringing in their cats to board. Sixteen condos were occupied with boarders this afternoon. Some have more than one cat in them. Madeline is back. She was immediately relaxed. Her people were happy to leave her with us.

The afternoon was crowded with morning vollies lingering to cuddle cats. Ginger George took advantage of any pats that were passing. But don't accept his offer to stroke his tummy even though he does roll over to display its delicious gingerness. New vollies need to be told to confine their caresses to above the shoulders of the vast majority of cats.

We had adoptions. One woman came to do the paperwork for two kittens in foster. She kept writing reminders for herself on her phone. Vander and Hercules will be well organised cats.

Penwing went home with the family who adopted JJ whom they adore. They have changed her name to Cleo but might change it to Alley (after hearing their history) to go with Penwing whose name will be changed to (Christmas) Angel.

And four lots of folk came to look at the cats. They take as long as the adoptions, if not longer because they linger. One woman who was brought in by her friend (male: always has had German Shepherds). She kept flooding with tears. Amber was a spouting spot.

Amber

And Feli (Felicies . . . perhaps as in Felix Navidad?) loved her on sight. More sobs. They went away to think about it.

Feli

A mum and her daughter had chosen Freya from the website. She behaved beautifully. They went home to talk dad into a kitten to go with their older cat, dog and horse! Freya's brother Earl had lots of attention from another couple who didn't make a rash decision. If they think too long he may be gone.

Freya and Earl keen to go

At 4pm another family arrived looking for kittens. Luckily I was up to my ears in dinner and chicken so Tim dealt with them. I had help with the dinners from Joy and Vi who came back to the site of the dreaded denture demise to cuddle the odd kitten (and pay for the stuff that I couldn't get the Square to charge on Wednesday.) One of Jasmine's kittens keeps on changing what he wants to eat. He regularly rejects Baby Cat pate! an unusual kitten.

Vi with a full smile

Busy being Sandy

 Today I was supposed to be Sandy in the afternoon but Catsie needed a lift to Safe so we went together early. We arrived before the Garbos and schlepped out all the poo bags. Thanks, Catsie. There were lots of volunteers which was a good thing because there was lots of work.

Catsie was put to work decorating Better Row where Boarders will go. The Naughty Row cats have all been moved next door to Dr Kim's. They liked the change last year. It will be interesting to see if they like it this year. Some may remember the change of scenery/venue (eg Melody). Catsie thought that she would be on light duties until she had a good look at the condos. Many needed a proper scrub (eg Melody's). But they all look clean and stylish now . . . Better.

Better Row

I moved one huge carrier to on top of the play place and pushed another into the space behind so that there is space for the boarder's carriers above the condos. I also tidied up the food shelves, again.

Joy had a distraction when home rang to ask if she had taken out her Mum's rubbish to the garbos. Of course she had. Unfortunately, her mum had tossed out her bottom denture plate with the burned toast. Joy managed to get her a first appointment for a replacement tomorrow. But Vi will be eating pureed Christmas dinner as it takes 4 visits to get a new plate made. 

Margot with Joy

One of our vollie's gym coach arrived to adopt Margot. She is a strong looking woman. I also would have said "Of course, you can adopt her". But with Margot in her arms, she melted. She has a boy cat who roams all over her two storey house and two boy dogs who live downstairs. Margot will queen it over all of them.

Dexter was adopted over the weekend and Freya and Earl are in his stand alone. Beans has moved into Margot's condo next to Phantom who is getting to be a bossy boots. He cries until you let him run around.

Amber cries too. . . . for attention.

Amber

Juliette has been renamed Jane, just in case Romeo tracks her down when she gets posted again.

Jane

We do have a lot of dark cats who look good with bright toys.

Nada

Libby

Chi Chi

LATE BREAKING NEWS

The plate was in Vi's dressing gown pocket all the time! Joy had to cancel tomorrow's emergency appointment. Vi may still have to eat pureed turkey on Sunday.

More sad and glad

Earl and co have moved from Incoming to the Palace and Midnight and his mum have moved to the condo above Honey. 

Pluto purrs on any lap and Penwing is back. He has gingivitis and is on meds so perhaps that is why he is back.

Penwing

One of our fosterers came in with more cats from the deceased estate that Opie came from. These are Lil Pete and Lil Sweetie. Neither is very little. Both are tuxedos. Lil Sweetie talked all the way in in the car but didn't say anything once she was out of that horrible carry cage. Coco and Chester came from the same house that had 16 cats, a dog, some rabbits and goodness knows what else.

Dora went back to fosterer Claire's and has settled in brilliantly. Her mum was adopted from there last week. And the other foster cat that Claire had, Amber, has moved to us.  Amber is 6-12 months (closer to 6, I'd say) and she had 7 kittens all of whom died. Way too young to get pregnant. She is where Sophia was.

Amber

Olga brought in another cat whom we have called Olga. She had her 3 kittens at the local primary school. This is the same school that kitten Mary came from, brought in by Olga. Only one of her kittens has survived.