Incoming population explosion

 We have kittens.

Savannah and her Sebastian have been with us for a fortnight or so. But now they have another kitten. It was one of Elle's. The rest of her litter died so it was decided that the remaining kitten might have a better chance with Savannah. Sebastian is cooperating . . ..  for now.

Sebastian and ?Silas or Silvia

Savannah is cooperating, bless her.

 Elle is not a happy cat. . . 

Elle

 There are three together in one condo who must be a mixed litter because two are bigger and shyer than the smallest tortie. The tortie is Rose and the others are Salt and Pepper . . . one male, one female.
 

Rose, in front and cowering S & P behind

Fawny had 2 kittens

Fawny's 2

Autumn had six! 

spaced out Autumn + 6

 

Valentino turns out to be a girl and has a name change to Valentina and put on Mum and Bub food.

Valentina in waiting

And Roxie's 3 are getting bigger: even the little dark ginger (in the back) is getting bigger.

Roxy's 3

 Bubble's five were on the bottom level this morning. They are usually in the upper bed box. I lifted them back because they couldn't jump up two levels but they didn't eat today. Neither did Bubble. 

Bubbles plus 5

 

Adoption Tails: Thanks for the photos Sue

 

Schnitty at home

Maple at home: 1 day

Fawny

Fawny at home

Scrat

Puss

Scrat loves Puss

It was the usual busy Friday trying to get everything ready for lots of kitten adoptions over the weekend. There was a delivery of large litter trays for sale. Each litter tray comes wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in its own box. It took 3 vollies ages to unpack them all and stow them away. Thanks to you all. I brought the flattened boxes home for recycling but left the metres and metres of bubblewrap in the store room. Please take some home.

Another mum plus kittens arrived.

On Thursday, the naughty row was brought back from next door. The nurse there said today how nicely cleaned their condos were. We can come and stay whenever we like according to her! Remi seemed happy to be home. Lucky is out of the corner so should be more engaged. Taylor is in the top row which she seems to like. Casper is in the main cat room and is sulking mightily.

Adoption tails: Happy New Year

 Fawny was adopted on Dec 1, 21

Fawny needed a home

There was no follow up until 18/12:  When his owner said that he was doing just fine.
At 1 month: He gets on well with the family. They have bought him many toys and that he is a lucky cat. He has a tall scratching post which he uses, he rolls around on his back, relaxes on the back of the couch and interacts with the family.

Puss and Scrat were adopted on Nov 24, 21
1 day: Scrat and Puss are doing great, eating and pooping like normal and very affectionate. They've been exploring and seem quite relaxed! The first night Scrat was wailing a little but nothing since then.

Puss above, Scrat below

1 month: We heard nothing until 1 month when the owners just sent photos no words. They both look really at home, relaxed & happy. 

Schnitty 693 Adopted on Nov 26, 21
1 day: Schnitty is going well, eating and drinking. He has his own room as is very, very cuddly.
1 week: Beautiful photos have been sent. 

Schnitty

2 weeks: Schnitty sneezes every now and then. His owner says she was advised that he is clear of cat flu. We told her that every rescue cat has most likely been exposed of cat flu but that a few sneezes here and there are nothing to worry about.
1 month: Schnitty only has discharge and sneezes every now and then. In the photo sent Schnitty looks comfy.

It would be nice to see the after photos.

Sniffle, sneeze, snuffle, cough. . . repeat

We have lots of flu-full cats and kittens. Some are so stuffed up they cannot eat (like Nada). Others wouldn't miss a meal if you paid them (like Goldie). 

Goldie

 I made some FLU signs to help the vollies know which cats they need to leave until last and which ones they should not pat and then go on to pat other cats. . . . no matter how much they beg for attention (like Goldie).

Charlie has been moved to the naughty row. Let 's hope that his good behaviour will affect his neighbours'. Somebody there was wailing "I am a lost cat" this afternoon. I think it was Taylor. And there was sneezing perhaps from the kittens. 

Charlie

I noticed that Coco eats her bedding. Make sure you don't put anything undigestable in with her.

bunny nibbled towel

A lovely family with two teenaged sons came to adopt a kitten and went home with Fawny. Lucky them!

The next day

 I went back to Bilgola Plateau and processed the adoptions of Sunny, Stormy and Sky. They are much loved kittens. Sky, the only boy, is the boldest, Sky is the sweetest, Stormy is the most agile (for example, in an attempt to keep them out of the kids' bedrooms they installed a sheet of cardboard at the top of a short flight of stairs that has clear perspex instead of railings (like modern swimming pools). Stormy can jump up to the top of the cardboard sheet (at least a meter) from the top step and then walk along the edge of the cardboard to get to where she can jump down into where she shouldn't be.

Stormy

Sky or Sunny: only difference is a spot of orange on her head

Today when I arrived Tim was introducing a couple to Schnitty. I took over when one of them wanted to meet Fawny. They need a cat to replace their rescue cat who recently died because their small, 9 year old dog needs a cat companion as much as they do. That is why Schnitty was first choice as he is used to dogs. But one partner spotted Fawny who was in the process of being added to the web page because he is the same colour as their previous cat plus their dog. Reason prevailed and Schnitty was chosen. They bought lots of stuff to go with him because they wanted to support us. 

To compensate poor rejected Fawny, I fogged the play place and put him there. He had a marvelous time, alternatively hiding, playing peek-a-boo with Mayka and racing around like a lunatic. By tomorrow he may be calm enough for somebody to choose him.

Manic mood Fawny

The mystery of Dusty and her kittens name kidnap is that the person who found them in their back shed now wants to adopt them all. She gets naming rights and has given them Indian names. So Ashleigh and Edie were left-over names. Then another couple of kittens arrived and were given those names. Ashleigh is on meds and is very shy. Edie is the purrer.

Edie up front, Ashleigh hiding

We have boarders including our Taylor renamed Tutu.

Tutu, not happy

And Heinz, so named because he was put in a Heinz box and thrown in a river and rescued. His foster carer has gone to Berrima for the weekend. She adopted Petal previously. Petal is terrified of Heinz!

Heinz

Threes

 We had three visitors today.

1. Was a long time supporter. She adopted her second cat, Rigby (perhaps) from AWL Ingleside to be company for her childhood cat Annastasia. Annie loathed him on sight and has ever since. Nevertheless, she is an enthusiastic cat lover. She brought in a handsome cat igloo that Annie had only deigned to sleep in once and a cat tunnel that goes around corners. She often picks up and delivers our cats to vet appointments. So I showed her around. If Dexter disappears one day, she will be first suspect. The second may be me (us redheads need to stick together).

Dexter

Then the man who adopted Billie to go with his problem boy cat came in to give us his surplus stuff, including litter, 3 beds, a water fountain (without the filters which he will bring in later with the surplus toys). All this stuff he bought from us in the hope of enticing Billie to settle in well. She settled in exceedingly well. The boy cat used to be on anxiety meds before she came, now he is not and is perfectly happy with her. 

The third visitor came at 3:40 to adopt Oreo. It was the fastest adoption I have ever done. She was determined to have him and seems to be the perfect mum for him.

And today Kingsley came out of his bed condo at breakfast to reveal that he has only three legs! I didn't know. So now we have three three legged cats: Petey, Kingsley and Charlie. Will the next one be called Jake?

Kingsley

As soon as Oreo left, I cleaned his wheely cage and moved Fawny into it. His collar is off. Time to be on the website.

Fawny

I also moved Rula into Callie's condo. She seemed very interested in her new across the way neighbours.

We have a new cat, Mr MaGoo who has a cattitude sign but I think it might have just been initial grumpiness.

Mr MaGoo

But Jackie definitely has the shits again even though she has been moved out of Boarding.

Jackie

Unsquinted Fawny

 Poor boy hates his hard, plastic Elizabethan collar. He can't eat anything, or lie down comfortably, or play with his feather or his water bowl. But, after the eyelid adjustment surgery, his eye is open and not sore. (Of course, he is on post op pain meds so nothing should hurt.) He was just as eager for cuddles and chicken as usual.

Finn and Tiger were at the dentist this afternoon. Poor Tiger only had one canine and has been positively friendly for the past week or two. This visit might set her back. I doubt that Finn will mind any extra attention even from a dentist.

I spent some time trying to figure out who is who in the palace. I wrote my conclusions on a piece of paper sticky taped beside their condo cards. 

Freddy is the tabby with white under his chin and on his chest

Tigger has the most white on his chest and white lines running from his eyes to his chest.

Hercules is all tabby and instead of the usual M between his eyes on his forehead, he has two parallel marks each side that look almost like apostrophes.

Molly is all tabby too and she has the usual M between her eyes on her forehead.

Then I moved on to Thelma and Louise.

One of them has a half and half face and the other has a white patch on her chest. I wrote them down, stuck the note to the condo and have since forgotten who is who.

Thelma and Louise

[And I was too busy handing out delicious chicken to remember to take any photos.]

Computer failure

 It is not a long way to the limit of my understanding of computers. When the screen told me that it was running out of battery I jiggled all the wires that I could see, turned it off and back on again. It worked for long enough for me to process Bodhi and Tara's adoption and then turned itself off again. Thank you computer. Tim is sure that he can fix it and that the fault is just the new desk and the new set up on Sunday. The desk is closer to the front door. . . . . just beside the poster with pictures of paralysis ticks. I think I should move that so the our visitors can see it more easily.

Bodhi and Tara were adopted by a couple who fell in love with their photo on our web page. Turns out that they used to have a cat who looked just like them except that he had a mark beside his nose that looked like he had a runny nose. Our Bodhi and Tara do not have that. They are perfect. And behaved perfectly. The husband was sent to "do the deed" because if the wife came "she would have adopted every cat in the shelter". I showed him our other pairs but he was fixated on B & T.

Magnus has gone. . . . . to foster with Fiona. Perhaps to adopt if he gets on well with Windsor. Overnight signs are all good. He will be missed in the shelter. But I must admit that the cleaning gets done quicker when he is not in need of somebody cuddling him while his condo is straightened. Once Fawny gets his eye sorted (he has the same problem as Schnitty had. . . . an in-turned eyelid with the eyelashes scratching his cornea) we will be able to dispense with one vollie per session!

Yesterday afternoon we accepted a 14 year old cat, Kitbells whose owner has been moved into a dementia unit and nobody in the family can take her. She is in shock, of course. But this afternoon when I talked to her (she had not eaten her breakfast) she rolled over so that I could tickle her tummy.

Kitbells

I didn't take up her offer. Even a 14 year old can change her mind in a flash.

Naughty corner is now naughty row. Two of the cats, Max and Gus from Incoming who hid in a carrier in the two story stand alone have been moved there. I expected there to be two cats in the box when I stuck the camera into their condo. Wonder where the other one is hiding?

Max/Gus

Their "mum" Willow is under Tiger, who came out for a chat today, again! Willow does not want to talk to anybody.

Willow

Naughty corner

Diego has learned from Fawny how to trash his condo. It was covered in dirt this morning, and his two level scratchy pole was overturned.

Diego

 

 Fawny's was flooded, as usual. He is to go to an eye specialist next week. Beauty's kittens didn't survive the weekend. Izzy and Jetta went to the vet to be desexed and both are boys. Izzy will be short for Isaac and Jetta is an alternate spelling for Jeda! Unfortunately, the vet thinks that the skin lesions on Izzy may be ringworm. We will await the cultures. I moved him into a quarantine corner in Incoming.

Incoming is full. The latest arrival is another Oreo, black and white this time which makes more sense than tabby Oreo. He is a sweetie. He moved into Rufus' condo and Rufus went to the naughty corner by the feeding station. His narrow door is cable tied shut to avoid the possibility of him exploding through the ceiling tiles again.

Rufus

 

 

Kendra moved to the main cat room to make room for Rufus. The vet has decided that she is just fat (probably from all the expensive food we have been feeding her and from when she OD'd on Babycat when her kittens who were not feeding from her).

The other Oreo was frantic to get out of her condo today. She kept scrabbling at the glass. I tried putting a solid scratchy pole in there to give her something else to scratch. But eventually she started beating up on Lucky, her son. So I added various toys. They worked for a while. But as I was wandering around in the peaceful afternoon (no visitors today), suddenly there was Oreo making for the nearest door. The pot flew out of my hands and I grabbed her. She must have jiggled the door open. Bibi upstairs was not impressed.

Bibi

 

 Above Pete and Buddy is a handsome ginger called Maple who also has a cattitude sign. She doesn't spit but seems to get overexcited easily.

Maple

There are naughty corners all over Safe Haven.

 

Double edge of a thin wedge

 Meow Meow was adopted on Thursday by the woman who came on Wednesday. She will have a home with a devoted mother and 20year old son, a fenced yard and lots of love. Her condo has been cleaned and Ganda has moved in. He is shocked at being with us and is sulking in his litter tray but at the same time inviting caresses. Plus he is grey also!

Ganda

 

 

 

As is Cathy, across the aisle from him. She has come out of her shell since being moved from Incoming. She loved being brushed and let me put her on my lap to trim her nails.

Cathy

Next door to her is Archie who, like Ganda is suffering separation anguish. He liked his neck scratch after I took off his collar with its annoying bell. But he wasn't tempted by any chicken. . . . perhaps next week.

Archie

There were fun and games this morning when Tabitha and Jetta were moved out of Incoming. And bandaging.

Jetta

Tabitha

Which leaves only Fawny and Chi in Incoming. Fawny is a boy. He has an ulcer on his cornea which is why he squints so tightly. He has pills and ointment.

Fawny pre ulcer

And Chi who, when she came in, was taken next door for Dr Kim's opinion. Dr Kim fell in love/lust immediately and wants her for a farm cat. Don't know if her skin condition is the same as Oreo's.

Chi

She did enjoy her share of chicken but Oreo wasn't interested and left it all for Lucky.

Oreo (on left) and Lucky

And, to get to the blog title, at last. A mum and her two teenaged daughters came to meet Coco and Mason with a view to foster them while they are in lockdown and not able to travel to Hungary to spend time with family there. There is a teenaged boy at home too. And a dad who is reluctant to have a cat in the house. I don't think he has a chance against 3 kids, a keen wife plus all the love that Coco and Mason will give. We hope they will be back on Sunday to pick them up having prepared the house and the hubby.

Coco and Mason