A space

 A man dropped by on his way to Queensland to pick up a carrier for a dog. He thought the one above the stand alone in Incoming was a bit small. But the one on top of the Palace was perfect. He paid $50 for it and has taken off to collect a border collie to drive back to Sydney.

a light headed Palace

 And here is a gratuitous photo of the laundry shelves that I did a bit of tidying up of. Irene and Tim agreed that most of the pillow slips can go. (Didn't ask them about the cotton blanket with holes designed to snag cat's claws which went into a Cozens bin this afternoon.)

We received a pair of boarders a day late: Mo and George. Their owners seemed to think that they would be absolutely fine. They don't agree.

Mo

Georgie

Later Estelle arrived. Her owner was upset at leaving her to go to Japan for 17 days but said that Estelle would be just fine. She left a puffer jacket just in case she wanted a smell of home. 

Estelle under the puffer

 She is a tuxedo with beautiful green eyes.

Arthur moved into Cody's condo. His whiskers are just a grand as hers are. (But he doesn't have her furnishings).

Arthur

 Below, where  Leo was, is a box containing Goosy. Irene transported her from Incoming in the box at about 2pm. She was still in the box at chicken time. And still there at dinner time. She is a cat that doesn't like change. She was really frightened when she came in as a "pregnant" cat. No babies eventuated. Lovely food. She became quite friendly in Incoming. Now she is traumatized all over again.

boxed Goosy

 

 

 

Another mouth

 I seem to feed critters all day long on Wednesdays. When I got home Aslan was STARVING. And a crimson rosella was too:

I haven't met this bird before. He has a strange upstanding tuft of feathers on top of his beak. They must talk amongst themselves and tell where to go to get 4 almonds each.

Aslan is only interested in the birds when the rainbow lorikeets (up to 15 of them) come to pick up the bits that the bigger parrots drop on the tiles. Otherwise his favourite place is:

Aslan

 Leo was adopted over the weekend by Dr Kim next door. At one stage we took him there for her to check him out and she said "I want this cat!" 

And somebody came in and adopted Cody. Which proves that having a beautiful face, fur and furnishings will get you far.

Joy took photos of some of our mums and bubs today. Autumn has lost her hissy-ness. Motherhood has calmed her down.

Autumn

Or else, having 5 kittens to feed has worn her out.

Autumn's 5 . . .. seasonal names please.

Valentina is doing well with her two but I think she'd rather spend time with people than kittens. Her ginger kitten is behind her.

 Moo doesn't have any kittens yet and is looking pretty slim.

Moo

 Talking of cats with bovine names: The visitor of Heffer was very disappointed that he couldn't have his loving time with her because she was adopted last week. He was encouraged to transfer his attentions to Dawson who lapped them up. 

And we have another Moo Moo on Better Row who is stunning.

Moo Moo

She shares a condo with Humphrey. He looks stunned.

Humphrey

 

 

 

 

 

Geoff is home

 He had trouble getting home after 6 grueling weeks living in a tent and fighting fires in a very small town in Saskacthewan (300 residents plus 60 Aussie fire fighters). They were out fighting not only burning trees but burning ground under the trees every day. Only the heavy snow cover of winter will put the fires out permanently. The trouble getting home was Air Canada. Don't use it. His is the second disaster I have heard of recently. They did get home eventually though and Air Canada will be charged for the excess baggage that United Airlines charged them!

I did the quickest adoption this afternoon. A woman came in to adopt a cat from foster home for herself. She had previously adopted a cat for her mother. So she knew the routine. 

I asked Rong to count the carriers and the condos. We have 122 carriers and 61 condos. So even if there is more than one cat in a condo there will be enough carriers if we have to exit in a hurry. 

I didn't take any photos because Joy spent time photographing cats on Wednesday and her photos are beautiful.

On Better Row: 

Yahtzee plus 3

Geoff was very impressed with the blond kittens. (He has a weakness for Burmese-ish cats).

Willow

Geoff was delighted at how clean and relaxed her downstairs neighbour Archie looked. He promised to make Archie a new box/bar. Even Tommy looked sprucer to Geoff. But not as sparkling as Archie.

In Boarding: 

Bree

Who looks as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth but she has a very solid right fist full of claws.

Callie

Who is getting more used to people now that nobody is trying to give her medicine.

New in the Enclosures:

Sterling and Dorian

Who used to be on Better Row and then went home to Irene for some months. They are still shy.

In Welfare is Cody who has magnificent furnishings but is not availble yet. . . still.

Cody

And Rain who came in as a possible pregnant but failed to deliver

Rain

Is Autumn in Incoming going to be another?

Autumn

Thanks Joy for the lovely photos. 

New faces in Welfare

 India and China were adopted this afternoon by a young woman who really wanted Spagetti but she had been chosen already. After talking to her sister she decided that they really needed a pair of kittens. They came, they fell in love, they adopted.

And the young man who came on Wednesday looking for a cat to foster, came back this afternoon to take Eli home. So now that whole side of Welfare has new occupants. (Not including the Cody annex).

On the far left is:

Rory upstairs. His eye is well healed.

Rory

Below him (where Pepper used to be) is Brennan.

Brennan

And next door to Rory is Rain. (From Incoming but not pregnant after all).

Rain

And below Rain where Frankie was is Heffer who used to be in a double with Ginger but they really were not bonded so have been separated. (Even after an hour since Heffer left the condo, Ginger was not going to come out of his carrier on the bottom level).

Heffer

Ollie was moved to where India and China were. He was not easy to move. We had to call on Tim! I think he will be happier to have an enclosed space to hide in. . . eventually.

Ollie

Below Ollie where Eli was is Zena, aka Xena who is called Goldie on all her paperwork so we are going to revert to that name because ?. . . . she has no gold. Except for the cloth carrier bag that she came in by cat taxi which is on top of Cody's condo.

Goldie = Zena = Xena

 

Locked out

 When I left home Cody was having his morning nap.

When I arrived at Safe this afternoon Lola's room door was closed. And locked. I had a momentary panic that she was locked inside. But No. The reason the door was shut (and inadvertently locked) was that she was in the foyer early this morning and was due to go to the vet to have her spleen dealt with. To stop her running and hiding in her room somebody pulled the door closed. And it stayed closed until Tim removed a ceiling tile and climbed into the room to open the door from the inside. 

In the meantime, Lola's spleen was removed.

She should feel much better with that great lump out of her tummy.

Back at Safe, two foster cats were brought in. One, in a pram, had just had a dental. She, Emma is in Incoming. She is saving her bit of chicken for when her mouth feels better.

Emma

Her house mate, Bonnie, is in Boarding. She arrived in one of those backpack with perspex windows cat carriers. She had a little accident in the car and was not happy.

Bonnie

And we have a plenty of towels thank you if anybody tries to donate any to us. And plenty of everything else too.

Full laundry shelves

Consequences

 Because Jake and Josh got adopted their condo became available for Liam. 

Because Liam moved away from his "mother",  she promptly dropped another kitten in Incoming! I didn't get a photo. The kitten is too small and mum looks plump enough to have other kittens still to come.

Because Ryan and Luna got adopted (separately), Hansel and Derek moved into the front door stand alone and had a wonderful time in a space 6 times, at least, as big as their condo in Incoming.

Because Queen Victoria got adopted, Pickles was moved into her condo. He wasn't really pleased but I think he will enjoy watching other cats more than watching food.

So that means there are 3 empty condos on Better Row. Irene won't be able to resist that for long. She has 11 cats/kittens at her house.

And because a previous adopter dropped by few weeks ago to visit the cats and admire the hammocks I have two big bags of fabric scraps to make into hammocks. She was in the business of making face masks during Covid and has lots of left-overs.

And because an ex-vollie was collecting bedding for charity, she thought of us and rang to ask if we needed any fitted sheets. . . . no, thank you; blankets. . . . . no thank you; towels. . .. yes! please!

And, because we were busy I didn't get out my camera so here is an old photo of Dexter who made a dash for freedom during his condo cleaning. His cleaner was too wary of getting bitten to pick him up. But he is very good for me. . . . famous last words?

Dexter

And a photo of my Cody who is a Safe adoption. Sharon picked up her Leo this afternoon. He was very pleased to see her after being abandoned with us for 5 WHOLE DAYS!

Cody

Forgetful Prue

 No photos again. I left my camera at home and my phone is still at the shop getting fixed.

Mariko had the day off from her jobs (one is a Haig's chocolates and she left some of their goodies). She reports that Rebel and Melody are getting on OK together. She can stroke Rebel with a stick. And she only has 3 mice left. Perhaps the mice died of fright because of the cat smell! Luckily the mouse breeder that she took the surplus from has given up breeding mice.

She brought, of course, a big bag of Christmas toys for the cats. They are in the form of three coloured, rope covered balls possibly with catnip inside which hang from a nifty hook. We put one on the handle if the box the Tosca hides in. The red ball managed to fall into her water bowl. And the water was stained bright red! 

I think she needs to get a refund from whoever sold her those cat toys.

A pair of Chinese ladies came to get their first cat (since the younger was 5 years old). They liked Molly whom they had seen on the website. And Dexter, and Yuki, and Angus and. . . . .  They have some preparation still to do at home before adopting one.

Since the beginning of the month, Margurete, Kittah and Hunter have been adopted. 

I schlepped two bags of washing, 1 bag of recyclables, a disgusting cat carrier and litter tray down to the loading zone and left them there. Rosanna has done the same thing. So I am not the only vacated minded vollie at the end of a long day. Luckily Sue was still then when I got home and can rescue the things I left behind.  I will get them on Friday.

Recent photo of Cody will have to do.

Upside down Cody

Short orders

 Again I had to take DH to the eye doc today so was only at Safe long enough to feed everybody their breakfast. When I got home at 10:30am to pick up DH to take him, my Cody posed under the poppies.

Cody

He was still there when we got home after 3pm! Cats do spend 22 hours a day sleeping, just like ants. But they sleep very lightly so need the extra hours.

I was surprised when the first new vollies arrived shortly after 9am Evidently 9am to 1pm are the new vollie hours. Traffic will make them arrive like Brown's cows.

Loki (Maggie's all black) was adopted over the weekend. The woman who came to line up Astro on Friday brought her 2 daughters in on Sunday. One girl immediately had an allergic reaction to our cats so they went home empty handed despite all the preparation the Mum had done. We know a lovely dog that they can adopt!

Belle went home with her vollie. Kat has moved into her condo. It is smaller than her previous condo and won't offer her the same variety of beds.  It was also pretty warm in there this morning.

I will share some of Joy's fab photos from last Wednesday.

Jagger has long legs

Louis is settling down

Chonk has lost his parfum de bloke

Aslan is available for adoption

 

PS. DH had to have an injection into his left eye. He is still lying down.

All quiet until. . . . .

 After chicken time. Everybody enjoyed their tiny taste. And Virgo got to lick the bowl. She stuck her face in it and would not let any of her kittens push her out of the way. Her need was greater than theirs.

And then a mum arrived with four of her five children. They had definite ideas on who they wanted to look at. . . Samson. And knew the routine because they adopted Ashley last August. Of course, Samson is out the back and they had to go past Virgo and her kittens which was a distraction for the little girls. But the boys both lusted after Samson. 

Since she has adopted  from us before, she is in the system and has had all the print outs and instructions before. So it was the quickest adoption ever. The biggest girl got to carry Samson off in their carrier. . . with one leg in a removable cast and the other foot in a sneaker with it's laces floating over the floor. I hope they made it to the car without incident. They will change Samson's name because Ashley's was changed. Ashley is ginger and white.

At the same time, Tim and Katie arrived with Tim's mum to collect his cats after their Brisbane jaunt. Couldn't find their cat carriers. Eventually Katie spotted them in the condo below. Lola called and called to Tim's mum. She came from an older lady so must have spotted a kindred spirit.

In the midst of this Geoff arrived to learn that Chia's kittens chewed another hole in their cat mesh last night. The manufacturers sent a patch kit after he reported the first hole on Wednesday. It will do for the second hole that Arc cleverly covered with a loose cat carrier door. The kittens will have trouble chewing their way through the metal. But I think these kittens might be moved and somebody else moved into that condo.

As I was busy when I usually take a photo, here is a gratuitous photo of Cody whom I adopted some years ago.

Cody

PS Vicky tells me that Ginger George and I will appear on Tic Toc this weekend. Imagine!

Adoption Tails: These will have a happy Christmas

Callie

Callie  Adopted Nov 15
1 day: Apparently Callie is a lot better than Jones when he arrived. She is eating and toileting well and generally looks fine.
1 week: Callie and Jones are getting on very well and Callie is eating well and sleeping well.
1 month: Callie and Jones continue to get on well and Callie's eye looks good. 

KitBells  Adopted Dec 4
2 weeks:  KitBells is wandering around. She has commandeered her new owner's rocking chair! She has settled in well and is not too active so perfect as a companion.

KitBells' bed on her chair

KitBells tell dad what to do

Finn  Adopted Dec 12
5 days : Finn is acting like he has been with his new family for years. He is so loved and makes them happy every day.

Finn doesn't like cages

Cody sends greetings to all his fellow Safe adoptees along with half a dozen kitten sized Elizabethan collars and three white board markers.

Seasons greeting from Cody

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.