Bent Lily

I refer to the Gymea lily growing in front of Block 1. It has bent over to face level in an attempt to get more sunlight. So, next time you come to save, walk past the mail boxes to get a close up view of a lily that is usually 3meters up in the sky. 

Another spectacular thing is that we have adopted out 2 dozen cats/kittens so far this month. But we only have 71 cats in residence at Safe Haven because we are expecting a deluge of kittens shortly. September is traditionally the beginning of the kitten season. But we have had a steady trickle of kittens all year.

Cats who got adopted since last week include Mickey who has been on our books for ?3 years.

Mickey

And Pixie a kitten who's sister Ecco, the last of that litter, was chosen by a woman today. She has to convince her husband that their Siamese cat needs a friend.

The man who came in last week came again and will return tomorrow to adopt Meika and Loki!

I did one adoption today of Garfield to a couple who picked him up from the foster home.

And the man who surrendered two of his family's 17 cats (!) was in tears this afternoon after visiting them. The cats, Heffer and Ginger, weren't happy either.

Heffer

Ginger

A busy day. Cherish got a bath and has moved to Darcy's condo. Darcy in next to Bass and Julie in an enclosure. I tried to take her photo but she is one wiggly cat! Ishi and Apricot got baths too. Sue and I got scratched. They are still in Isolation, waiting for a suitable condo in Welfare.

We have two new cats in Incoming. Sunflower and Rain. Neither of them ate much last night or today. I wonder if they came from the same place.

Sunflower

Rain

Not like Lola whom I caught snacking on the kitten's MBC food this afternoon.

Naughty Lola

A Touch of Terry

 If I had a smidgen of Terry's magic I would have adopted out 5 cats this afternoon. First a young girl arrived with her mum. She has had health issues and is giving school a miss at the moment but likes to spend time with our cats. They were here earlier in the week. They will be back. (Terry would have sent them home with a kitten).

Here she is making friends with Garfield(a). Biggie Kahuna had a coneless wander earlier with an attendant so that he could scratch/groom the rest of his body but get shouted at if he scratched his chin. He kept the collar on for the rest of the day.

Big Kahuna

Garfield

Then a Uni student arrived with his mum. They have just moved into a house so have room for their first cat ever. They have had a dog. We looked at all the availables and nobody "spoke" to them so I told them to go away to think about it and see who else is on the for adoption list because there might be some in fosterhomes who would suit. Terry would have made them fall in love with Amelia, at least.

Amelia

While they were inspecting everybody a mother and daughter arrived to find a cat to replace their beloved 20 year old who died some time ago. They followed along and then went through them all again with me, falling in love with each condo occupant in turn. After their second go-round, the mother had decided that she really wanted a pair of cats (so we went around again) and the daughter decided she really wanted Garfield or Jamie. I told them to have a think and come back tomorrow when Terry can do his own magic.

I was going to get a good photo of everybody to have a backlog of photos but my time was taken up. I might need them because I am having surgery on Monday on a lump on the back of my hand that I thought was a ring worm. . . except that it didn't itch and kept growing. It will be removed and a bit of my skin moved to cover the wound. I won't be much use in the cattery for a couple of weeks, . . . or more.  But I am sure I will find something to blog about.

Adoption Tails: Quick turnarounds

 Garfield, adopted Nov 11, 2021

Garfield was a kitten found on street by a Good Samaritan. He came to SH on Oct 3.

Grafield/Mr Darcy

3 days: Garfield now called Mr Darcy is doing great. He hid under the bed for the first day as expected but was eating and toileting fine. He is now very keen to explore the house but always comes back to his favourite pillow. Sometimes he is still skittish with the rest of the family, but he is happy to get belly rubs from his adopter. He has become very playful and is very loved already.
1 week: Mr Darcy is still doing great. He is more confident and loves to do a little trill when he greets his adopter.

Mr Darcy/Garfield

1 month: Mr Darcy is doing really well. His personality has come out & he is very chatty. He loves everybody. They may get him a companion down the track... but not yet…

Schnitty, adopted Nov 16, 2021

Surrendered to SH Aug 29 with a sore eye. Eventually we realised that his eyelid was turning in and his eyelashes were scratching his eye. That was operated on and he recovered well.
1 day: Schnitty is going well, eating and drinking. He has his own room as is very, very cuddly.
1 week: Ower says all good. Beautiful photos have been sent. 

Schnitty at home

4 weeks:  Schnity is sneezing every now and then. Janice says she was advised that he is clear of cat flu. She was told 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.

Cherry 823, adopted Nov 14, 2021 

Came from Good Samaritan on Oct 31. As a beautiful grey tortie we didn't expect her to last long. She was adopted twice in the two weeks she was with us and the second one stuck.

Cherry

1 day: Cherry is doing really well. She is being kept in one section of the house whilst settling in, but she is already interested in exploring. She has found herself some hiding spots and is eating really well. She has not been introduced to the dog yet as they want her to be comfortable first. Our fact sheet to help with the introduction was recommended.
1 week: Cherry has now explored the whole house and roams up and down. She has also met the family dog and they are generally fine with one another. She is a good eater.
1 month: Cherry is doing great. She has completely settled in.

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.