Bare balcony

 Again today! But, of course it was pouring down rain. So I put the second drying rack that never gets used underneath the usual clothes drying rack to try to keep the towels from trailing in the puddles on the surface of the balcony.

It might work   . . . . if the rain doesn't pour out of the sky as it did this afternoon. While I was out on the balcony I heard lots of noise from below. A large truck was parked outside the garage and a man was throwing bits of engines into the truck. He gave each bit a good look before tossing it in. 

Two cats were adopted. One from foster. And Valentina's Phoebe! The nice older couple from last week returned. She did the paperwork. He waited in the car downstairs because they didn't have the right wheelchair for him to come up. (He is a patient man. It takes ages to adopt from us). I carried Phoebe in her carrier (bought from us along with lots of toys and extras) and held her up to his window. Phoebe started talking to him. He answered her. I think they are going to be very happy together.

PC got another grooming session from me before that adoption. He didn't really enjoy it but he is a very tolerant cat.

A large pile of cotted tags.

At the end of the day David "socialized" the G kittens. If you remember what fraidy cats they were when they first arrived on Better Row, this is a huge improvement.

Gruff, Gideon, David

And Grayson climbs as well as a 4 legged cat. . . . .  when he is awake.

Grayson

Kitty let me pat her this afternoon. (Thanks to the efforts put in by a Friday vollie who stays back to socialize the more difficult cats.)

Kitty and me

And Miley shows her face more in the afternoon (when any visitor has left Safe.)

Miley

Check out the kitchen. There are fruity goodies. (Minus the mango that came home with me today.)

 Now, there's a good name for a cat!

 

 

No Lunch

 I wasted spent a lot of time this afternoon updating the vollie's name tags. The wee box that they live in has become very tight and most of the names in it are of vollies who have "retired". So I asked Rosanna for an updated list of vollies names and went through the box pulling out the uncurrent names and writing the new current names. It is amazing what a difference that has made to the number of cards that are current. But, if you can't find your name in the alphabetical sorting, go through the stack of cards at the back of the box. You may well still be there!

One adoption today to the woman who confessed to having visited 10 times before deciding whom she wanted to take home with her. David did the deed. They all went home happy. . . . see multiple social media posts. 

Pippa adopted

 Another visitor couple were looking for a kitten even though they are older. He is mostly in a wheelchair and she is lively. They liked Phoebe (Valentina's last wobbly kitten). Unfortunately they have a scheduled "away" time until Wednesday. But the probability of Phoebe still being available when they return is 95%.

Irene anticipates that 5 kittens will be adopted tomorrow. (Not including Phoebe.)

Georgie, the female G, went to be desexed today but did not survive the anaesthetic.  . . . something congenital. Rather like Grayson's missing back leg. The rest of the family is getting more relaxed and friendlier by the day.

Gideon (tabby with white on face), Gaia (Black & White), Gruff (brown tabby)

Including Grayson who can be picked up and cuddled medicated. 

 While on G kittens: I tried to clean up Gary who gets drops put into his ear twice a day. Of course, he shakes them out onto his divine ginger coat. I gave that coat a good wipe with damp paper towel this afternoon. It didn't do much good.

Gary

 Late this afternoon (when I checked that everybody had enough water to drink overnight) Lilli came out of her bed box. She is such a pretty cat with GREEN eyes.

Lilli

 And the new kittens who arrived on Wednesday are Caramel: tabby & white paws, Cheetah: tabby with white nose, Fluffy: DMH and, our named, Panther: black.

I have made two more hammocks to replace the ones that were thrown out from Nutmeg's enclosure.

 Bright enough?

 

Suspect discovered

 This afternoon Irene mentioned that the rather chewed scratchy poles in the entry that I had thought were for sale on Wednesday, were in fact, for our cats. So I moved them out the back. And discovered a large lizard sheltering behind them. Lola was sitting on her favoured "for sale" scratchy pole a little further down the entry. She didn't move when the lizard wiggled. While I went for a box to catch it in to move it downstairs (I was worried that "lizard meat" might not be on her dietary approved list) it scurried into the Conference/Junk room. I would have Buckley's of catching it there. So if you notice her watching somewhere "catchable" do take the lizard down to the garden. Whatever does it have to eat in a cattery?

On Wednesday I moved Garry into Lola's old small stand alone. He has been moved back to Incoming because he is on meds. Silly me.  

Garry's one day of freedom

And today I took pity on Grayson, the three legged kitten of the "five kittens" now in Enclosure 2. He is always on the floor and his siblings hang out on the upper shelves and the hammocks. I decided to install a hammock at floor level for him. This freeked him out so much that he climbed, with 3 legs only, up to the top shelf. 

Grayson is the grey blob on the right

 I just hope that he can get down to the litter tray, water bowl and his low slung hammock.

Please remember to put the litter trays at the front of the enclosures. Otherwise the litter gets dug out at the back of the enclosures and can't be cleaned easily.

David brought a friend with him this afternoon who played with the kittens. Valentina's Danny was worn out. They had a lovely time.

Danny

And Mouse's Gerry (was Jerry until we discovered that she is short for Geraldine not Jerald) has amazing whiskers and furnishings (ear hairs.)

 

Something suspicious in the kitchen

Lola has her eye on it. 

Lola

 When I arrived I noticed that Ravyn's play place door was open. But she was curled up in her small box. When I turned to the feeding area, I found a bag of crunchies that had been chewed open. Ravyn was not as hungry today as usual. It was a good thing, perhaps, that she chose a bag of "light crunchies" (for fat cats) to overindulge in.

A little later I must have not closed the G kitten's enclosure door after giving them their breakfast. Because all, bar Grayson (the grey, three legged kitten), were running around in Welfare. I caught three of them but couldn't see the fourth one anywhere. I searched in Incoming, Isolation and the Junk room. No sign of the kitten. So I continued feeding breakfasts and soon out she came from under the food shelves beside me. Easy to pick up and carry back home. Thank goodness.

Mumma and Freya are to be desexed tomorrow as well as two of Nutmegs daughters. 

Mumma

Freya

Muffin was in a very friendly mood this afternoon. Pity the woman who rather fancied Paige didn't choose her. (Paige was adopted over the weekend, And so was Minnie). She will be back when one of Nutmeg's girls is desexed. But which one to choose?!

Muffin

It is Minty's birthday on Saturday. 

Minty

Diet time

 This morning I fed Aslan slightly less than usual (about 12 crunchies less) then put my breakfast bread into the cold toaster before going for an early walk. This is what greeted me on the kitchen bench when I got returned.

Not bad for a cat with no teeth

He was curled up on his morning sofa either playing the innocent bystander or ashamed of his cubby self.

Chubby Aslan

I would love to get PC to that degree of chubby-ness.

We had a couple of visitor pairs this afternoon. One mother and daughter who fell in love with multiple, not yet available kittens. They will return. And a pair of scantily clad girls (on their way home from the beach) who did the same. They will come back with mum to make the final decision. 

 Mike still is not feeling very well. He might have a gigantic fur ball in his tummy as he is a hairy fellow and perhaps in his former life he got brushed regularly.

Mike

 

I had to take Svarte to the Collaroy Vets (as arranged last night during dinner but delayed due to dual organizations). She has a swollen hysterectomy site. The vet (who did the op) prescribed antibiotics. Svarte didn't make a peep on the way, in the clinic or on the way home. 

Valentina has settled well into a stand alone all by herself. Her wobbly kittens seem to be coping well without her.

 

Grayson, one of the G kittens on Better Row went to the vet today. And came back whole and hearty but without one back leg. . . . just the same as when he went. It seems to be a congenital fault. Our first three-legged kitten.

 Perhaps we should change his name to Jake. And change the rest of the G names we made up on Wednesday to J names.

Midnight adopted

Sue's friend Vann did come to adopt Midnight. Lucky Midnight. She has already been taken to the vet and questions were asked (and answered).

And Angus is the 13Kg cat in boarding. Not a happy chappy. He is on pain meds probably because all his joints ache from the strain.

Angus

Grayson and Giselle will go to the vet tomorrow. Grace (the tuxedo) was only .99Kg today so will have to wait. There is a queue to adopt this lot. With one person wanting Grayson and Giselle, another wants Grace and Giselle and yet another wants Grayson by himself. First come, first serve unless we make it an auction and the kittens will go to the highest bidder.

Jaffa and one of her kittens was desexed yesterday. Poor girl. She doesn't look comfortable with those big titties and the kittens aren't the slightest bit interested in helping her out.

Jaffa

Jaffa's kittens

I am convinced that Tessa's nose is dirty. And cleaned it with a wash cloth. Can you tell which is the before and which the after photo?

Tessa

Tessa

Lucia's kittens are roly poly cuties. They are outside the carry cage and Lucia is inside it. In the meantime, Luca went for a stroll and was quite easy to catch to get back into his condo. Buffy also wandered about and was a snap to catch.

Lucia and bub

Willow's kittens are growing quickly except for the black one who had a separate breakfast. . . and ate, and ate, and ate.

Willow

Second time lucky?

Jewell has been taken back by the folk who returned her earlier this week. I don't know if they were asked to pay a second adoption fee. They should have been asked!
Whatever. . . . her condo needs sterilizing again and her bed went with her.

And a young couple in an apartment came today to look at Blossom. He had had cats in his youth but she was a dog person. He seemed more tentative than she. Sue gave them Blossom's history (of biting an 80+ year old, twice) and they were apprehensive. I strolled over and started to brush Blossom and talk about her history. While I was chatting to them and patting her, the man became bolder and brushed her cheeks (a sure winner with Bloss) and the woman relaxed and told Bloss how lovely she was (another way to her heart). They went off to have a discussion. Came back and adopted her.

We lent them a cat carrier. I put a dark green towel in it for Blossom and said that we don't want it back. When Blossom sits on it and looks up at them they will see how heavenly green her eyes are. Both Sue and I asked them to call us if they have any problems and to let us know how they get on. They will have to return the carrier. Fingers crossed there won't be a Blossom inside it this time.

Chester is out of his carry cage which has been beautifully sterilized. (Thank you Sandy? Irene?)
He is a very lumpy cat. LOVES his soft food.

Chester

I believe this is Grayson. He dominated both double food dishes at the afternoon feed until I moved one down for Grace on the lower level. He was first in the hammock with a full tummy.

Grayson: white stripe on nose

Giselle and Grace

 Midnight has a sign "Save for Vanna" who is a friend of Sue's. She is off medication for her eye.

Midnight

Bumpabet

TIm is back at work . . . . just. He croaks and looks like he needs more sleep. But the cats are happy to have him back. Even Sootie ate all his breakfast.

I asked him if he knew who was who amongst the G's. He thinks that the tuxedo is a girl which will make one of the tabby's a girl and the other a boy. The tuxedo is definitely a lower ranked girl and the tabby girl is usually roughhousing or grooming with the tabby boy. So I propose (by what right?) that the tuxedo be "Grace" and the tabby "Giselle". If I remember my ballet stories, Giselle got up to trouble with the prince.

Giselle, Grace, Grayson

My guess is that Grayson moved as soon as I pointed the camera at them. Which means that he has the white line down the middle of his nose. We shall see in the fullness of time.

I tried to devise a cover that small kittens could use to climb up our stylish wooden ramps. The velcro is not strong enough to support the weight of a kitten on the carpet like pads that the manufacturer sticks to the front and back of it.

I used some of the quilted mattress covers that we were overwhelmed with at Ingleside and put extra bumps so the kittens could climb up it. It is secured with ties that can be tied into bows.

 It took Jaffa's kittens 10 minutes to untie the bows. And they jumped up from the lower to the upper level in a single bound. . . . . . back to the drawing board.

Jewell was returned because the person who adopted her had unrealistic expectations about the amount of time it would take for her to settle in and become a lap cat. Luckily the person returned her bed which she is happily hiding under. She does appreciate a covered cuddle.

Jewell

And Pepi is back and NOT HAPPY.

I made friends with Chester, the 20year old cat surrendered along with his doggie friend last Friday. His person can no longer look after them. The dog is in foster care.

Chester is affectionate but smells. So I got a brush and that interested him. I doubt he has been brushed for years. I could only do his face and cheeks  and when I felt down his flank there was damp. Tim says that he has ulcers all over. Poor, old guy. But he has come to the best place to get some loving attention.

Chester

Catsie and I have devised:

The Bumpabet

We started with an EB = elbow bump, moved to an FB = foot bump. What about the rest of the alphabet?

AB = Adult Bump, only to be done by consenting adults, in private

BB = Baby Bump, which there will be a lot more of in 9 months time

CB = Cat Bump, they can catch it from us but we can't catch it from them so try not to sneeze on your cat

DB = Dog Bump, they don't seem to be able to catch Covid-19 so let them slobber, you need it.

GB = Grandparent Bump, best done over the phone/email.

HB = Hug Bump, what we will do when the pandemic passes

IB=         Ignore Bump. Ignore all attempts at bumping.

JB = Jump Bump. Equivalent to Hi-5, jump up, don’t touch.

KB = Kiss Bump, only if you live with them anyhow

LB =  Long Distance Bump, for faraway friends and family

MB = Mother Bump because all kids need hugs from their own mum

NB =  No Bump. Don’t want to know about bumps.

OB =  Oldies bump are not too hard, they may fall over

PB = Papa Bump because all kids need hugs from their own dad

QB =  Quiver Bump: an exciting bump, indicating a desire for more

RB = Rather Not Bump because we have learned to respect personal boundaries.

SB = Sole Bump for those who are sitting down. The soles of your shoes can't get much dirtier.

or SB = Shout Bump: Don't do it. The louder you talk the more droplets are spread and the further they go.

or SB = Smile Bump: contagious but in a good way

TB = Tickle Bump to be performed on babies by their close family members only

UB = Underarm Bump: only to be attempted by teenagers but NOT NOW.

VB = Virtual Bump: must be an emoji for this

WB =       Wobbly Bump: beware, unsteady bumper

XB =  X-rated Bump: the after-dark bump, for very close friends

YB = Why Bump for pandemic deniers

ZB = Ze Bump pronounced with a phoney French accent

Share it with your friends rather than sharing the virus. And send us more B ideas.

Win some, loose some

The excitement was over by the time I arrived. One of Jaffa's kittens, the grey one, had got out of their upper condo. Initially she couldn't be found and Terry and Joy were contemplating clambering up to see if the kitten was on top of the condos. Then Joy saw a grey ball of fluff move under the food shelves. A happy ending but it delayed breakfast which didn't please the rest of the crew.

Jaffa's grey kitten

Blossom is back and not happy (eating). Evidently she bit her old lady . . . . twice.
After I rearranged her condo to the way it had been before she settled down to breakfast.

Jewell is not there. Her condo has been sterilized. Has she been fostered or adopted?

There is a new dark tortie called Midnight in Peanut's condo. She is friendly but shell shocked. Has she been surrendered? She has the loveliest green eyes. She settled down to her breakfast after a few pats.

Midnight

Another one who needs encouragement to eat is Katie. She really needs hands/brush stimulation to eat.

Katie

The mums have names and Joy has taken some lovely photos of them and their kittens.

Jaffa and three kittens (of 4)

Tessa's kitten (1 of 4)

Tessa

Willow's kittens (3 of 4)

Willow

Giselle, Grace and Grayson 

Terry might take Milly home to foster. His wife came in today to help with the decision.