No Danger in Dan

 This morning when I arrived Cypher was on top of the main room row of condos. He waited patiently for me to pick him up and put him back into his condo where Sammy sat. I had to remove the litter bin that had been propped against their door to open it. The litter bin was there because on Sunday night they both got out and had a poop party. They tore up multiple bags of crunchies that we had hoped to sell to new owners. Hence the litter bin to keep them in. But it didn't work on Cypher. Somehow???*

Because they have too much energy, I decided that they should go into to the play place to use some of it up. Easy enough. They were both in their doorless carry cage. And I added Thumbelina and Bambi because they are from the same litter and same foster home. Within no time,  Thumbelina was in with the boys. 

Thumbelina

Soon Cypher was out of the carry cage looking for some fun. 

Cypher

 Sammy happily stayed there to "protect" his sister.

Sammy

Bambi hid in full view away from everybody else.

Bambi

I took the opportunity to match their microchip numbers with their photos.

 There is a new ginger boy from a well tamed colony called Danger who is in the condo below Mia in Boarding. Mia has been with us for a week but is still in full savage, unhappy cat mode. Compared to her, "Danger" is a pussy cat. So I suggest that we rub out the -ger and call him Dan.

Dan(ger)

He is next to Cheena (of the middle ear infection) and Bubbles (the shy one). This afternoon they were "sharing" (ie maneuvering for more space each) a small bed. 

Small bed + Cheena and Bubbles

So Sandy and I decided to give them a bigger bed.

Big bed for Bubbles

We have a new kitten, Domino from the fosterer who raised Trixie. He also came in a pullover which I promptly pulled off. . . . . kittens need to learn to look after their own fur. He is a purr machine and anybody's best friend, forever.

Domino

*There was also an "escape proof device" leaning against Max and Gus' door. It worked to keep them in overnight. But during the afternoon, when the front door and the balcony doors were open, I saw a Gus shaped slink moving from the main room to Naughty row. Gus puts his paw through a hole in the mesh and pushes down the door stop. I must fill in the mesh. Luckily, he is happy enough to go back to Max who doesn't put a paw out of place.

Softies

 I didn't take any photos this afternoon because I couldn't get to my camera. Tim was training Vicky about how to negotiate the Shelter Buddy adoption process with a real client. It took ages. The poor woman looked exhausted. She will pick up Zac tomorrow. In the meantime, Zac was perfectly happy in his condo.

Vicky didn't get to practice her chicken distribution technique. I had to do it. 

I actually got to pat Gus although Max was skittish. I patted Callie but Rosie, her sister wouldn't even eat her bit of chicken. And Raffiki and A? have incredibly soft fur. Even Princess allowed a pat. Means I am continually F10-ing my hands but I don't mind.

Left over Joy photos from Wednesday:

Kitty ate her chicken while I watched which is a first.

Kitty

So did her downstairs neighbour, Ziggy. The other Ziggy above Lucky is a loving spoonfull. . . . any excuse for a cuddle!

Suzie needs a good brush, as well as a hug.

Suzie

And Sabrina is a bossy boots who doesn't want to be touched or to have Lulu touch any of the chicken.

Lulu

Sabrina

Theodore got thirds because he is still on wet food only and is starving. He sweet talks to Amelia which is very cute.

More space for poo bags

 This post is dedicated to Helen who spirits off poo bags on Tuesday so that there are not so many for me to schlepp out on Wednesday morning.

I have brought home the pots of dead grass and put the rubbish bin of dead mops in their place in the corner beyond the clothes rack. This makes more room for poo bags so that they won't be damaged and leak all over the place. (I hope).

When I arrived, Max and Gus's door was open, again. And they were inside, again. The catch is very loose and when it is tightened up, it is either too tight to move or too loose. There is a gap in the mesh beside the latch. It is my belief that the cats stick their paw through the gap to push down the latch. There used to be a wad of sticky tape there to hold the latch in place. . . I think Catsie devised that. I have added some cardboard strips stuck on with gaffer's tape to keep the latch in place. Geoff needs to devise a better way.

Max says "It wasn't me"

This morning, I moved the Supermodel kittens to the Palace. . . . very carefully and one at a time. (They were the kittens who made me bleed dramatically and get a spectacular bruise all down my forearm some months ago). They each went to a different corner of the Palace and stayed there all day. One ignored the bed I put beside her. And they all ignored the food at dinnertime. They have superstar temperaments.

Joy took some great photos.

Ricki didn't enjoy her overnight stay in the play place. She much prefers talking to the people.

Ricki

Zac has settled in to a different place since he moved from Incoming last week. He is a cat who doesn't like change.

Zac

Theodore got one of the new hammocks I made over the weekend. I tried to make some light sides for dark cats  and dark sides for light cats. Ginger cats look good on everything.

Theodore

We tried to get Diego to get into a carrier so that we could give him a go in the play place but he wasn't having a bar of it. Eventually (when he'd had enough treats) we gave up and he got a new fluffy bed instead of the carrier that Joy bought for him.

Diego is where he wants to be

Bye bye Baby

 Vicky took home Baby today as a foster to adopt. She has an old cat already and hopes that these two old ladies will get along together. And with the younger Lucky cat. And the dog. But first, everybody had to say goodbye:

I am told it was fairly chaotic this morning with lots of folk coming to fill in paperwork for kittens in a foster home. The last one was processed this afternoon. I wonder if folk have had second thoughts about going away for the school holidays and decided to get a kitten instead. Perhaps all the Coffee shop kittens will be gone by Monday!

Remember when I spoke to the man who surrendered Max and Gus. I thought that he had named them. But it was Katie who named them after her sons. But didn't apportion the names. So I decided today that the tabby is Gus (short for guts. .. . he always wants first at the food and more of it thank you). His downstairs, shyer brother is Max. Now we just have to figure out who is who of the Akela/Rafiki and Diego/Samira family.

Diego/Samira

Rafiki/Akela  one photo does for both of them

Luigi and Bambi are boarding. Bambi has been shaved because he has a skin condition. Doesn't stop him eating Luigi's medicated food. Luigi didn't want it until I laced it with chicken juice.

Luigi and Bambi

Close shave

 Hana got out of her condo yesterday evening and spent the night "on the town". There was food scattered all along Naughty Row. It gives me a shock when I arrive to a condo with both its doors opened. But I ignored them and got on with my routine of taking out the garbage bags before the garbos arrived (24 of them) and feeding the starving hordes. I was careful to keep the doors closed to out the back so was confident that she "must be here somewhere". I looked high first. No signs (and there is plenty of dust for her pawprints). Last place I looked was under the laundry shelves. Under the bottom bath mats shelf there was something fluffy. When I touched it, a growl came from the shelf. Found! I put her carrier in front of the shelf, covered and cozy and went to the next room for a while. 

Fifteen minutes later, she had moved into the carrier and got taken back to her condo. She wasn't very happy to be home.

Hana

The man who "rescued" Max and Gus from his work place rang to ask how they are getting along. He rang just when Sandy was offering them some chicken. I took some photos to send to him. I have asked him who is whom.

Max and Gus

 

 

We have another grey and white surrendered cat like Suzie who is settling down well. 

 

Suzie

The new one is Fern. She is very friendly but horrified and shocked at not being where she belongs.

Fern

Gifts from everywhere

Instead of counting cats when I arrived, I took the 18 bags of rubbish out to the garbage bins before the garbos arrived. Success! Then I counted 77 cats and 1 rabbit. Coco is back. I had buried the rabbit hutch so deeply in the store room so that she wouldn't be a foster fail but she did not get on with the other rabbit in the house so is back with us. 

Coco

Yesterday when Tim was feeding the naughties next door, Max or Gus came out of his condo and stropped against Tim's leg and generally made a fuss over him. While he was wending his way around Tim, tail raised, Tim had a good look and discovered that he is a she! We thought the white one was one of the boys! According to the bloke who surrendered them to us and just happened to phone today to find out how they are getting on, she was always friendly. So, she is now in Willow's condo.

Willow

And the tabby who we have called Willow for months is back with his brother. Neither seem too happy about it. Both are hiding.

?Max

Frankie was posted on the website last night so I had an early call for him from a mother of 3 boys who has put off getting a kitten until she got all the windows in her house screened. She wants an indoor cat. She came early with her 6 year old to meet Frankie. It was love at first sight.

But she wasn't my first visitor. A young woman and her mother arrived to find a cat for her. She asked which of the available cats had been with us the longest. I like people who ask that. She took her time and eventually decided that Tori would be best for her apartment. She liked Mr Magoo but he would have wanted to go out. And Maple was a bit stroppy. So she took Tori who was quite difficult to get into her cat carrier.

In the meantime the kid decided that Frankie was the one and I couldn't find the paperwork. I phoned Tim to ask where it could be. They decided to come back tomorrow. Just as they were walking out the door Tim phoned back with the info and I unearthed the paperwork. They took Frankie home. Small boy and small cat had very happy faces.

Later the woman arrived who had received the gift voucher that I wasn't able to process before Christmas because I had no idea how to do it and the gift voucher giver wanted it TODAY. But evidently it was done because there it was on her phone. Neither did I know how to spend it for her. But we managed it and poor Tim will have to work out the details tomorrow.  

This woman grew up on a farm in New Zealand at the end of a track where people dumped their unwanted cats. She has grown up with cats. At one stage she had 8 cats of her own. She met everybody: both the ones available now and the ones who would be coming online soonish. But that voucher was burning a hole in her pocket. And she chose Maple!

But really it was Maple who chose her. Just as in the case of Tori and her new owner. I thought I would have a struggle to get Maple into a carrier. But I put a just bought carrier into Maple's condo. She walked into it. I shut the door. Magic!

And another woman arrived with a huge pile of mostly dog food to give to us. She has a group of friends who have decided to do something charitable. Another lady rang to ask what she could send us. I said litter trays, pooper scoopers, etc. She made an online order that will be delivered to us.

And Daphne is boarding. Her name is Tilly now. She looks quite plump.

Daphne

Long Friday

 My tennis on Friday is off for Christmas holidays (because the courts are used for tennis camps for kids whose parents work during the day). So I spent all day at Safe instead of just the afternoon. 

It was nice to spend time with the Friday morning volunteers. And to meet Edward who usually works on Tuesday but volunteered for an extra shift today. (Silly me, I didn't get to tell him about this blog.)

The woman who fostered Ebony brought her in. She says that she can tickle Ebony's tummy. I believe her but there was no way Ebony was offering her tummy to me. Not Happy!

Ebony is back

The fosterer used to have Diego so I took her out back to say hello. She saw Diego and wept. . . But we think that Diego has come on well recently. Here are Joy's photos of him from Wednesday.

Diego

Imogene's kittens line up nicely. (The one who shed her collar was redressed after breakfast). They will be just right for Xmas.

Imogene's lot

In contrast to Max and Gus whom I tipped out of their box on Wednesday and gave them a new, clean box with windows. They don't much like the exposure. They wouldn't take chicken from my spoon this afternoon.

Max/Gus

Not enough players

At tennis this morning we were one player short. So some of us had to play cutthroat. After a follow on set of doubles, I and two others had had it on this, the first hot morning of summer. So I went to Safe Haven early to find that there were not enough vollies there either. Helen stepped in, a new vollie had a trial by hard work and Geoff came to save the day. I did Incoming.

While there I overheard Tim arranging a foster carer for Coco . . . . . if the partner agrees. I got Cococ a lovely Liquid amber log to chew on but she is more interested in the Chinese greens. All the grass pots have been chewed down to stubble.

I had lunch with Finn who is in the play pen. I tried to wash off the accumulated ointment on his shoulder. Don't think it worked but he liked the attention.

Finn

Tinker is back. It was claimed that he put too much emotional stress on the adopter. She wants her money back. Really! 

Tinker

He is back on the adoption list along with Aster and River who were in Boarding with their brothers who will be adopted by their fosterer on Nov 27 (?) 

Aster and River: a bonded pair

 They will all probably get adopted this weekend. I had a call asking for a kitten. . . any kitten.

At five to four a family arrived to adopt Hercules. Their preteen son had chosen him and was determined. They have not owned a cat before. I tried to talk them into Tinker. I even taught  Dad to hold him (he had never held a cat before). Then the boy who held him while Tinker purred. But the boy's mind was made up. He wanted Hercules. So I explained that it would take a long time before Hercules would settle in with them. But he wanted Hercules. They took him home.

We now have two resident Max's:

Max of the too big bed

 

 

Max and Gus, of the too small box

From their reaction to chicken, they should be called Max and Guts. Don't know who is whom.

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