Bonnie's bath

 Bonnie has been moved out of Isolation and after a visit to the vet on Friday to confirm that she is free of ring worm, will become available. I do not expect that she will last the weekend. Vegas didn't.

Because Bonnie is a British Short Hair, she was especially difficult to get wet. Their hair repels water. So she was sprayed with the medication.

Then she was immersed in a basin of medicated water and massaged for 10 minutes.

 

Then she was enfolded in a series of towels (which all got thrown away) and rubbed until she was almost dry. She was popped into Lola's stand alone with a hottie and was soon back to her normal, fluffy self.

Disinfected Bonnie

 I took Ravyn for a walk. She went to the vet and is feeling much better. We went upstairs and Demi was overjoyed to see her. It was just like when you see an old friend at a railway station. Demi was thrilled to see Ravyn. Ravyn ignored her.

 Gideon is much better. His appetite has returned and he poos in his litter tray. The urine is still a bit tricky but he is so much better. He really wants to become friends with Raffaella.

 

Short Wednesday

 The moving men still haven't delivered the dismantled condos to Mona Vale. So the cats haven't been transferred. Which makes working at Mona Vale very quick and easy. The two vollies could take their time with every cat and still get away before 1pm. Even I went home for lunch because Lovely Kath came to take care of everybody in the afternoon.

Joy took photos of Demi and her baby whom I have named Half.

Demi who really does glow and her kitten

 Terry dropped by to put together the scratchy poles that he had to disassemble yesterday to bring to Mona Vale. He also reconstructed the stand alone that was in Isolation. It has been empty for months so surely is not contageous (ringworm family was in there.) He tightened up everything so I hope the doors stay closed.

 Every day is another adventure.

 Since I wrote this Kath has posted photos of reassembled condos at Mona Vale. The removalists came! 

My first Tuesday

 It was very nice to meet the Tuesday crew (or some of it) at last.

One thing they, and everyone else will have to remember is that the new, industrial mop needs to be rinsed out after it is finished with for the day. Otherwise all the dirt stays in it.

I told Tim that Julie and Bass are almost out of ZD wet, which has been their sole diet since he had a tooth out. Tim decided that it was time they were reintroduced to ZD crunchies. Aslan is proof positive that you don't have to have any teeth at all to enjoy crunchies. (But he does love his wet ZD).

Julie and Bassuria

 

I gave Dinesh a hammock today. Is was brand new. I made it out of a pillowslip yesterday. He watched them next door playing in theirs. (Do we have a name for Demi's kitten? How about "Half")

Demi + 1

At some stage Demi threw up on his new hammock. I have made him another one this evening. If anybody has some old, cotton or flanelette pillowslips, please bring them in. They are the perfect size for the larger enclosures. 
 

 

How's it going

 I photographed every cat at Mona Vale today. You can tell by their faces how they are coping.

Demi plus 1

Dinesh

Bonnie

Roxie

Ume

Rascal and Raphaella

Julie & Bassuria

Chalk

 

Autum

Maggot season

 Is upon us. It doesn't help that the balcony was piled higher than I have ever seen it. There was not enough space in the bins for the maggoty bags. Some of the younger bags had to be left on the balcony because all the bins were all full.

Comes of all the boarders going home and 7 adoptions this past weekend. There have been 50 adoptions already this year. Well done us all.

And PC is back. He is very thin and he has given up grooming his rear half. We will have to help him with that because he seems to be as sweet as he ever was. He has been in his foster home for a year. And was with us for a year before that.

Three of the spice girls are due to be desexed tomorrow. So they will all have a late breakfast. Nutmeg is looking forward to a rest. I think this tuxedo is a boy.

 Joy took photos and shared with me. She is enamored with Wolfgang in Incoming (despite his seriously boy smell).

Wolfgang

 Little Gary doesn't smell but he has something strange about the way his head moves.

Gary

 And Demi, the gorgeous one, is still in Isolation. Her kittens are almost as beautiful.

Demi

Demi's three 

But Valentines two will be sad tonight because Valentine has been moved to a stand alone. They will be all by themselves.

Dan

Phil

Why are they wearing collars if they are boys?
 

Adoption Tails: Demi and Winnie, Bon, Dora

 Jan & Trish (previously Demi & Winnie)

Jan and Trish (on right)

1 day: Winnie (Trish) and Jan (Demi) are currently settling into the study which has been cleared out. They have used the litter tray and have been eating and drinking.

1 week: Jan and Trish are starting to come out of their shells a little more. They are still staying in the study, however they don't get scared whenever somebody walks in anymore and they seem very happy.

1 month: Jan and Trish are very used to their home and routine now. They are both now a lot more comfortable around people.

Bon

1 day: The owners love the name Bon so they’re sticking with it. They believe he is settling in nicely. Bon is curious, wandering around his room and not hiding though still a little skittish around them but is starting to purr and accept pats. He is eating and drinking and has used his litter a couple of times. He has been playing with the owners and his toys a little bit; he gets so worked up that he’s been panting after playing.

MINE says Bon

1 week: Bon is adjusting very nicely to the rest of his home. He loves sitting by the window, watching the outside world and running around the place after his feather toy. He is not happy that the owners do not let him into the bedroom but is slowly learning.

Bon

 
1 month: Bon seems to be doing great. New feeding portions have helped a lot. He seemed less hyper with less chewing although is still quite curious with his mouth. The owners do not let him in their bedroom and Bon still meows and scratches at the door if they are inside but they are hoping this will lessen over time. Otherwise, he is getting lots of playtime and love.

Dora

1 day: Dora's really happy and enjoying her safe room. The owners understand that it'll be a while before they can get her and their resident cat together but they are patient.
1 week: Dora is OK, still a bit skittery but exploring a bit more. The resident cat is doing fine now but the owner wouldn't be calling them friends.

Dora

 1 month: Dora's settling in well. The owner wouldn't say she and the resident cat are besties but they get along fine. She is very cuddly and enjoying time with the whole family.

Traffic chaos

 I was very late today because all the traffic from the beaches had been channeled into Mona Vale Road. We crawled up the hill. I could have walked faster. But it was rather nice to have the time to examine the rock walls and the ferns and the waterfalls cascading down the man-made drains. 

 

Nevertheless, I got to SAFE before the garbos had come so got rid of lots of poo bags. There had been a clean out of the junk room/store room over the weekend which generated bags of old towels, mattress covers, etc, etc. I binned some of them too. Some I put on the shelves which are now full. Others I gave to a vollie who is about to become a WIRES vollie and the price of that membership is some old towels, pillowslips, cloths, etc. She went off very happy to have found a source.

 

The clean out of the store room is because it will become the Isolation Room when we get John's play room just to the right of our front door. This is supposed to happen in 7 days. Imagine!

 

The cleaning crew got through their work in record time. Not being able to play with the cats makes it much faster. I got my kitty cuddle by having to move Ginger George into the main cat room because he is now available for adoption again. We both enjoyed the cuddle.

Ginger George

He is in Chikka's condo because she was adopted this morning. (I wasn't aware that she was available until she was gone.) She went with an older woman whose cat has recently died and she can't be happy without a cat. 

 

On Sunday Demi and Winnie were adopted. Their stand alone was set up to receive Paul tomorrow at 11am. I understand that he was the second cat that we adopted. It must have happened before we got these premises. There is no record of him on this blog. His name has been changed to Mr Milo.

The condo cards say that there are 9 tiny kittens where Yin and Yan used to be. I didn't see them. So far they well. We need to keep strict parvo protocols to ensure that they stay uninfected. Chanel will be coming back soon as she is much improved but some other kittens in Incoming are not well.

Lockdown

 I made a mistake on my last blog. Chanel didn't die. She is with the vet being treated for something, serious. But kittens in Incoming did die of parvovirus: the two smaller ones in the stand alone beside the Royal Canine stand alone and one of the ones with Venus in the stand alone across the room. It seems that parvovirus is running rampant in the western suburbs and goodness knows where these kittens came from. They may have brought separate bugs with them. The Royal Cannon stand alone was moved out of Incoming yesterday. But Roxy's kittens were not looking very energetic and not eating (!) this afternoon. So they were rolled back into Incoming. The cats, McGreggor and Donatella who were moved out of Incoming on Wednesday were moved back there. And it is a no-go zone for all but a few staff/vollies so that we can try to contain the source of infection. https://pets.webmd.com/cats/what-to-know-about-feline-parvovirus has lots of good information.

Tim has vaccinated all the cats that he can in the hope that we can stop cats getting very sick. Kittens are more vulnerable than adults. So there is to  be no more random cuddling of kittens and no cats are allowed out to run around to play. Phantom was not happy at being shut in this afternoon.

Phantom

And Opie complained loud and long.

Opie

Some cats couldn't give a . . . . . like Chessie: who would rather be alone. Perhaps we should have called her Greta.

Chessie

Demi and Winnie were not so upset by the lack of attention but the fact that they didn't cuddle together in one hammock. The tie of the upper hammock came undone and they were forced to find other places to sit.

Here in the process of getting back together after I tied the bow again.

And we have a new cat, Simba. Don't know where he came from and I couldn't give him a welcome cuddle because we are in lock down.

Simba

.

Exchange Row

 The Naughty Row needs a new name. This week I suggest Exchange Row, or The Exchange. It is where things change from bad to good for the cats who come in. 

For example, remember Chester? He came from a vet with various other cats and was said to be desexed. He was in Incoming first and was withdrawn/shy. Then he moved out back and started to become much more friendly. Then he started to call out to other cats. Then Tim had a good view of his back end and realised that he is a she and that she was coming into heat! So Chester is now Chessy and will wail until she is really desexed.

Chessy

We had the minimum number of vollies today which was still good as Sandy arrived in the afternoon to help clean up out back. And one vollie brought her sister who stood and watched the cats until I found her jobs to do. . .. the boxes of plastic gloves are stored in the bookshelf behind Opey. There are only two packs of toilet rolls left there (hurrah!). Next I asked if she like putting things together. She did. So I got her to assemble the pingpong roller track that had been left on the drying table.The idea was that it go into the play place. But it was too big.

She made is half as extensive and Jasmine and her kids will learn to play with it. And we will get used to it looking like a reticulated python.

There were visitors. One came looking for a young cat (not a kitten) for her unit. She is expecting visitors in a fortnight to the room which should be the cat's safe room. We decided that she should delay her decision until those visitors leave. She rather liked Lucky! Fingers crossed.

Other visitors came with donations and got to visit with the cats by way of thanks: one lot adopted Tom and ? 2 years ago (and changed their names immediately) from us and are very happy with them. Another came with donations because their cat died of urinary failure. They will be back when they are ready. Another brought in a splendid crate and a bag full of ? mouse hidey holes (too small for cats) that can be suspended!

We have a kitten in Incoming who needs physio on her back legs. This entails gently pulling her back legs every afternoon. She is getting much better. Her name is Jolene.

Jolene, nothing wrong with her appetite

Phantom will have company perhaps.

Phantom's funny way of sitting

And finally, I don't know why Demi and Winnie are still with us. Such loving cats.

Demi and Winnie cuddle

Christmas thanks and mood

 Earlier in the week a 6 year old boy came with a donation. He asked his friends to give money to Safe rather than to buy him a present. He gave us $350. What an entrepreneur!

And the Eleanora Heights Vets had a donation drive for us over the weekend. I picked up their Safe money box and it held $202.85. 

And thanks to all the vollies who are pulling extra shifts over the holidays.

Joy brought in some deco/toys to get the cats in a festive mood for her photo shoot.

Phantom took it lying down.

Pumpkin and Midnight have heard that he is to go to the vet  tomorrow.

Margot was at the vet today. She is to go into Wanda's condo because somebody has taken Wanda home for foster care.

Kate and Helena were not impressed

Winnie/Demi was more interested in getting out of the condo for a little wander.

Tiger was not enthusiastic.

But he did like a little wander. While he sat on the chair that gave him access to his upper condo, Ying who lives below him, got up to see what was going on. He doesn't usually bother to unwrap himself until almost dinner time. I think he needs a buddy.

And Mariko bought one fluffy tail with a bell and a hook to attach to a stick for every cat. They are laced with catnip so there was frolicking.

Suki died on Saturday. She lived at least 27 lives . . . . at full volume. She will be much missed.

Suki

 

The quiet before December

I hope we have a deluge of customers in December. Nobody got adopted over the weekend. But Taylor did die, unexpectedly. He has never looked a healthy cat but last week he happily played with his ping pong ball. 

There are more kittens in Incoming. Guess what colour. . . . black and white of course. The mum (Toni, I think) hides and hisses in a carrier in crate but the 4 kittens happily rush out to greet you. I bundled them into a carry cage (on top of Margot's crate) to clean their crate which is under Margot's crate. Margot, incidentally is just over 1 Kg. And Midnight is 0.95 Kg: not far behind although considerably younger. There will be kittens in Xmas stockings.

Midnight

Joy took some lovely photos:

Demi and Winnie are getting friendlier and more photogenic.

Demi and Winnie

Sydney is getting bold enough to come out in the morning to do his Diego imitation.

Sydney

Kate and Helena are getting to be grown up supermodels.

Helena and Kate

And Phantom is still everybody's bestie.

Phantom

Except for Pluto who has devoted slaves.

Pluto