Better Row

 The Willoughby bin trucks were late this morning so I got 20 bags of rubbish off the balcony before they arrived. We still only have one Willoughby bin and it is 2/3 full already. We do not want to take any bags of rubbish with us to Mona Vale.

Progress is being made there. We will have lots more enclosures (10 of each size) so I am frantically making hammocks for them.

Today I noticed that Cheeto's stratchy box was hairy. He must loose hair continuously . . whatever breed of cat that he is. That is a very condensed ball of his fur from the  box.

Cheeto and his hair

 His neighbours, Cosmo and Coco just want to eat.

Cosmo and Coco

  There is a new cat on Better Row, Enzo who would dispute the name.

Enzo

 And a couple of kittens below Cheeto don't seem to spend time together in their condo. Always one above and the other trying to get to whoever opens his door.

Daisy (I just vant to be alone)

and 

Milo (Let me show you this trick)

 I moved Chalk from Incoming to where Oreo and Gingie were. . . they were adopted.

Dinesh is back from the vet and is transitioning away from the ZD diet. Hope this makes him happier.  

He is not happy. And not eating. Not even special treats of baby food.

Chalk

Nutmeg, on the other hand is full of beans and happy to be where Cookie and Marmalade were. . . they were adopted.

Zoomies

 Aslan is settling down at my house. Last night he had a case of the zoomies at bedtime. Then he came to bed and wanted to get under the doonah. Perhaps he was being chased by a mouse through the house!

The "pregnant mum" still doesn't have a name. And she still only has one kitten even though she is still rather plump. They are a devoted couple and deserve nice names.

Pregnant mum + 1

Roxy's little tabby died last week so she only has two gingers and the smaller champagne left. I was going to check their sexes today so that we could assign Joy's suggested names:

for boys: Rafael, Rascal, Rocky, Rufus

for girls: Rowena, Raven, Rosie, Ruby

But I didn't get around to it. I got distracted by trying to tidy up the store room. ("Tidy up" is not the appropriate term. . . . more like "clear a bit of space")

Rain hasn't had any kittens yet. Neither has Mouse.

Rain

 

Mouse

But they add to the lovely collection of gingerish cats we currently house. And we can use some of Joys' names for their kittens.

Renny and Blossom's "brother" Darley died overnight. He was not eating last week so something was very wrong. I wonder if Renny and Blossom knew and that is why they excluded him.

Blossom

Renny

Ollie is doing well since his little sister, Daisy died last week. He is more confident and eats more enthusiastically.

And this afternoon I gave the blind cat in Boarding a good brush which he enjoyed. Now that he is clean I can see that he has ginger fur on his front feet. So perhaps he is a tortie. Male torties are very, very rare.

Timless Friday

 He had a day off today. Friday is a good day to choose. The training of a new batch of volunteers always adds an element of chaos to the morning. But all the washing up was done by 12:30 this morning. (And overflowed to the floor again).

It was a busy afternoon with visitors.
The first batch arrived to look at kittens because Santa had left all kinds of kitten gear while they were away on Christmas Day. Slight complication is that the daughter has displayed allergy to cats. But she says that it was just certain cats that make her sneeze which is why they had to come to test our kittens. I sat her down with a Cleo kitten and her younger brother with the other (which they kept swapping) for 10 minutes. She should have been sneezing if she was allergic. But she didn't with either of them. And Mum fell in love with the calico. Then I sprayed her hands with F10 and she sneezed. She didn't sneeze at Earl but did sneeze at Midnight and the F10 lotion. So they went away to talk to dad.

Then a mother and her son came to donate us cat stuff. I didn't ask the details but think that their cat had recently died because of what she gave us. They has a short look about.

Then a prize winner came to pick up her raffle loot. She volunteered with us when she was let go when Covid struck. She gave us up when she got another real job and then got her old job back. She was very pleased to meet the new cats and did recognise Stella who has been with us for way too long. I mentioned that we are always looking for foster homes for our long term residents.

All these visitors were a fine audience for Ginger George who strolled around and introduced himself to everybody (in the hopes of more treats). Later Phantom had a lovely roll in some cat nip. He is moving better and his movements are more solid now that he is on ZD.

Even Tabby is surer footed. Perhaps the antibiotics that she is on for her tummy wound is good for her balance?

Lucky was the Top Cat and hypnotized me into feeding her a tube of treats. We left her there overnight and opened Nada's door in the hope that they will not tear each other to pieces overnight. They may as well be friends as they are both on weight reduction crunchies and their condos have a connecting hatch. (Remember when Diego used to force open the flap and end up with Nada overnight?)

Nada + Lucky = ?

Daisy came back to board after her people took her home for the night on Wednesday.

Daisy

Our Daphne (their Tilly) is back in boarding and has settled down quickly.

Daphne/Tilly

Joy worked the morning shift in Incoming and was happy to get more photos of Jasmine's smallest kitten who is doing much better now. He eats everything and his tail is a curly as a piglet's.

Jasmine's piggy

There are ringwormy kittens in Incoming so vollies who work there cannot linger elsewhere after their shift. I don't know if these are they as Joy took the photo.

Needs must

 Some of our water spray bottles have run out of puff. I devised an alternative. Instead of spraying the cleaning paper with the spray bottle, dip it into a dish of water. Do not double dip. It works very well.  I will try to remember to buy some new water spray bottles.

Over the weekend there were adoptions: Sandy, Florence, Skittles, the last Coffee Kitten Mocha, two of Star's planet kittens and one of the supermodels Naomi. On the arrivals side we have KitKat who only eats wet food and has a sore eye.

KitKat

And, another white but medium haired, Pearl.

Pearl

Our Daisy visited. She had been to the vet a day or two ago to have her anal glands attended to. She was sent home with a large, opaque, hard plastic collar which she hated. She couldn't walk in it. She removed it. Her person dropped by the vet to get another. Daisy took it off in the carrier. She came on to us (having phoned before) to get a cloth collar. We will see if it stays on. It certainly looked good.

Daisy

The person who adopted Hera brought in the things that she doesn't like: food, covered litter tray, metal food dishes. She is very happy with her and has renamed her Poppy. I showed her around and she would have taken them all if she had room. Bowie pulled out all the stops, of course. He likes to be held like a baby.

Bowie

Rhapsody has moved into kitten Sandy's stand alone. While Sandy and I had a tea break, she joined the conversation so we moved over to beside her and she came out to sit on our knees.

Rhapsody

Mia is a passion pussy too.

But the amazing news is that Megsy has a clean bed, at long last.

Megsy

Adoption Tails: Dumpling

  Daisy, adopted May 15, 22

1 day update: Daisy (former Dumpling) is not comfortable coming out and saying hi just yet and is comfortable in my desk drawer. She has eaten her bickies and used the kitty litter - bless her.

 

Daisy/Dumpling in a drawer

1 week update: Daisy is slowly getting used to her new home and adores her big sister dog Eadie. She is still very shy - but we all give her oodles of times, space and love.

Daisy and Eadie

cold day snuggle

1 month update: Daisy has become a treasured member of the family. She has begun taking little adventures outside and can always run back in if she feels uncertain. I can't believe how much she has grown - I think she is going to be a big girl. She is such an affectionate, loving and fun 
spirit and she makes me smile all the time.

Daisy and family

Daisy

 

 PS: I added photos of Ruby in her new home to her post of a week ago.

Adoption tails: Sometimes it takes longer

 Champ Adopted 24/10

Champ

1 day: Champ is settling in nicely. I got beautiful photos of him cuddling his new owner.
1 week: Champ has settled in really well. His eye is no longer weeping.
1 month: Champ/Boots has settled in beautifully. He seems to love living with his new parenta. He is curling up on a lap as soon as they sit down.

Sammy & Daisy: Adopted 6 Nov, 21 [I was surprised that these two were adopted together because they were in separate stand alones in the cattery, and different ages]

Sammy

Daisy

1 day: Both Daisy and Sammy are settling in well. They are in separate rooms. When their new owner was in Sammy's room and just sat there playing on her phone he came out to greet her. She was a little surprised to find that Daisy was a lot older than she expected. She was under the impression that she was an older kitten as well. She received kitten food for both. She had a few questions around food and Irene  spoke about Daisy's age and how she might run into problems when she comes to register the cats. Irene advised her to take one of her parents with her in case she needs to sign the cats over to an adult
1 month: Sammy and Daisy have settled in very well. They play in the morning and sleep most of the rest of the day

Tiger, adopted Nov 24

Tiger

Day 1: Sweet Tiger stayed glued inside the carry box the entire day I brought her home. Set her up in one room with all a cat would need and gave her quiet and peace.
Next morning her food bowl had been sampled and litter box used ... but cat hidden. She's in my office. This morning same proof she was somewhere in the room, but she's hidden.
I've cleaned her litter box and changed her almost uneaten food bowls. Even put water bowls in a few 'hidden' corners but so far she barely has moved and remains hidden.
It is sad. I try to talk with her now and then to let her know she is safe and loved. I hope she does settle. We will see.
Are you one who looked after her? She looked and seemed so lovely at your facility.
Perhaps she felt safer with you and her other carers. 
I will continue to be patient and hopeful. I long to hold her but it must be her choice.
Day 3: Irene has a long chat with the new owner and she has since set up a large cardboard box in her office and everything Tiger needs is in it. She is prepared for Tiger to take some time to go back to what she was like when she met her at the shelter and progress even further.
1 month: Tiger is still using her bedroom and rushes under the bed to safety if someone else approaches. She is however adventurous, clever & quite funny. She loves to fall asleep in her  owner's lap or shares her pillow at night.  Her owner has discovered she is a Norwegian Forest cat and loves high places.  All very good there.

Wet outside and inside

 There was a thunderstorm this morning and torrents expected further north. But that all stayed outside. I created the wet inside by putting the emptied food tins in the sink to give them a bit of a clean before putting them into my rubbish tin for a fortnight. I turned on the tap, took the spoon back to the feeding desk and got distracted. Later when I went to go to the toilet before the vollies arrived, I discovered the sink overflowing and water streaming down the corridor. Oh dear! The floor there is now clean and my shoulders are tired from mopping. Thank goodness for the centrifugal mop!

Lots of cats were adopted over the weekend including Jumi, Sammy with Daisy, Garfield, Cherry (still with us waiting to be picked up) and Leo. I tried to get brownie points to counter the flood deficit by putting together 5 cat carriers.

Cherry waiting to be taken home

The man who adopted Jumi rang to say that his housemate (temporary) is allergic to Jumi. I did not say "Tough luck, get rid of the housemate." I said he should talk to Tim tomorrow.

Amy has a neighbour whom she loathes. That seems to be the usual reaction with Amy. She loathes us who feed her. She is sitting on her tummy so that her kittens can't feed from her while we are around. But she is not nearly as attacky as she used to be. I gave her kittens a dry bed (they made the flood by jumping on their water bowl) Two of them have claimed it. The third is on the outer.

Amy's kittens

I took this photo after I had carefully unfolded the bed that the kittens had carefully folded in half so that only two kittens would fit on it.

Amy's neighbour is Dusty. She has two adorable, friendly kittens who are grey, just like her.

And there is a heavenly kitten out back in Boarding called Lilly. It was very hard to get a photo of her because she wiggles with joy when a person is around. She has been desexed so will only be with us for the shortest time possible.

Lilly

Below her is Cookie and her four kittens who have a very strange collection of names: Bianca, Raja, Violet and Evie!

Cookie with Raja, Bianca, Violet and Evie

I now know how Scrat got his name.  He and Puss are now in the play place. They need more space than a double condo. When I swept their floor he ran off to hide in a small space. Later when I mopped the floor beside the play place he again ran off to hide in a small space. So he is a Scardy Cat = Scrat.

Driving Ms Potter

 She had to go to SH to get a microchip and be vaccinated. As Bron lives 3 minutes from me, I picked up Potter on my way there early because my tennis was cancelled. Potter cried half the way there. When I turned off my windshield wipers, she stopped crying. On the way home, no rain, she only peeped once. I wonder what she can hear that I cannot. At the cattery she tucked herself into the smallest space.

Potter

One cat came in to board crying non stop. It was our Marmalade. His owner was just as upset but determined to go to the Blue Mountains for the weekend. She told me lovely stories of how happy Marmalade is at home and how in control he likes to be. His favourite toy is the feather on a string when it disappears under the edge of the rug. He has his favourite vantage points and his owner is his favourite person (everybody else gets hissed at). He settled down quietly when she left until Tim visited him when they both sobbed. . . . almost.

Marmalade

My heart almost stopped when I saw that Scrat and Puss's stand alone had a "Please Clean" sign on it. But they have only been moved to Thelma and Louise's condo. They don't seem too happy not to be able to cuddle up together in a hammock.

Puss (top) and Scrat

And Sammy has been moved to the stand alone beside Beauty who was off at the vet being desexed. I do not know where Mayka and Tinker have gone.

Sammy

Sammy is a delightfully friendly cat. But he is a bit of a chicken monster. Although not to the extent of Rebel who must have been raised on BBQ chicken from his reaction to it. Victor is much the same.

Jumi was adopted today to a young man who chose him over Daisy of the dazzling eyes.

Foster tails: Ashleigh, etc

 Ashleigh came to us in May last year and promptly presented us with two pretty kittens. Eventually the kittens were adopted but Ashleigh rejected all overtures of friendship despite many overtures from volunteers.

Time passed and she still spent all her time hiding in her condo until Sandy took her home where she hid in "her" room. It took months and the studious ignoring from Sandy's flock of cats for Ashleigh to come out of her room and discover that friends, both feline and human are not all bad.

Ashleigh and Franky

(Excuse the photo. Neither Sandy nor I are computer savy enough to know how to get a photo from a phone into a computer. I resorted to taking a photo of the photo she sent to my mobile from her mobile phone.)

Daisy was in foster care when she had kittens. She is taking too long to be adopted for such a sweet thing (despite her manic eyes).

Daisy

Diego was in foster but was swapped for Ebony. He is getting less hissy every week with us. So either he is mellowing with age or he didn't like his previous home.

Diego

Mayka and Tinker are back from foster care and seem much the same. . . . but may relax when they get used to the change. All cats hate change.

I am sure that Magnus is having a magnificent time lording it over his foster carers. Who could give him back?

Foster fails hurrah

 Remember Lillian? She was in the far corner of Boarding when she first arrived with her two very handsome kittens. They got adopted, eventually, and she went to foster. Today her foster mother came to adopt her. Hurrah! She is not a lap cat yet but is very settled into her new home.

Lillian

And Daisy is back and will be adopted by her fosterer on the weekend. She is not a happy cat. Didn't eat anything all day. I think she was in Incoming briefly before having kittens.

Daisy

We are up to 75 cats in residence including Amy and her three grey tabby kittens. Doesn't her expression say "one step closer and I will rip your . . . . arm off!"

Amy + 3

So Safe Haven's kitten season has started. Irene tells me that there are at least 5 mothers and baby kittens in foster as well as several bottle baby fosterers. 

And we have more surrendered cats since last week including Finn and Lucky who are in mourning for their real home.

Finn and Lucky

Our earlier surrenders Puss and Scrat are settling in well and love any kind of attention (but not our chrunchies). The rabbits have gone to foster homes so I don't have a photo for last week's blog.

I decided that as Chris and Beauty are from the same colony and probably related, that their wheely cages could be a bit closer together. Chris played footsies with Beauty from his comfy hammock while she was on her wire shelf.

Chris and Beauty

So I strung a hammock below her shelf and tried to encourage her to get off it. Food didn't work. Time didn't work. So I had to apply the squeeze by raising one end of the shelf. 

Beauty

She got the message and moved. But by the time I left she hadn't climbed into the hammock.