Adoption Tails: Harley and Quinn, Heidi and Axel

 Harley

 1 day: She’s doing ok. She’s still a little shy and still likes her safe place. She’s eating well and using the litter box with no problems. They will be keeping her name.

Harley

1 week: “She's well and truly settled in. Definitely comfortable around the whole house now. Playing with the laser at the moment.”

5 weeks: She is doing well. The vet recommended feeding her more dry food than wet but it didn't agree with her stomach so they’re back to the way it was before but more of a balance. She's burning a lot more energy in a two-storey house.

Quinn

1 week: Quinn has done very well. She was happy to explore outside her safe from quite early. “She has a very healthy appetite.”

2 weeks: “She’s not shy anymore at all”

6 weeks: “We are doing well, Quinn is a very affectionate kitten. She loves the tunnel and scratching post playhouse they bought her. She lives inside and her owner thinks they’ll keep it that way long-term. She is now sitting on her owner’s lap while they’re studying.

Quinn

Heidi, now Cookie

3 days: “She’s settling in well.” She has used the litter tray and has been both eating and drinking. She has been renamed Cookie.

Heidi, now Cookie

1.5 weeks: “She’s settling in very well”. She explores the whole house and her safe room is now her bedroom.

Heidi

5 weeks: no response

Axel, now Popcorn

2 days: “Everything is good! His new name is pop corn and he likes sleep on my belly”. They haven’t seen him go to the toilet actively but if they put him in the litter tray, he will use it.

Axel

 4 days: They’ve bought a few scratchers and have put them on the floor. They also have vertical scratching areas on the cat tree. He doesn’t like using them and prefers to scratch on the carpet. He doesn’t seem to realise how to use the scratching post yet so they will watch him and guide him. They have already trimmed his nails when he’s sleepy. “He is a purring machine when we play with him”

1.5 weeks: He runs around in the living room every night. His owners say he is an “energetic boy”. “He plays and eats normally, and loves playing with us.”

Axel

 5 weeks: “Everything is well!”

 

No photos today

 For two reasons: I left my camera in the pocket of my jacket that is over the back of a chair in the Weaving Room at Brush Farm House after our meeting there on Saturday. Or I hope it still is!

And husband Jo used my mouse for his computer and it worked there but is not working back at my computer. So the photos I have on my computer are not available yet. Perhaps it will all sort itself out overnight.

The world is separating itself into the technologically competent and the technologically incompetent.

Eg, today a couple came in to buy the microchip controlled feeder that we had advertised. They wanted to pay cash. I don't know how to give a cash receipt and Peter (Irene's husband who was being my 2ic today) doesn't either. He talked them into giving us the $10 change as a donation and promised a tax deductible receipt. . . by somebody else.

I did manage to do the adoption of Harley to the woman who rang early to find out if she was still available and came sooner than she said that she would to do the deed. So Harley has gone. And, thanks to Charley, her condo has been cleaned for Twinkle to move into out of the stand alone where Cooper used to be. 

Twinkle in Incoming

His stand alone has been cleaned too, by Peter, and we moved Linda and her remaining 2 kittens out of the play place into it by the simple expedient of putting their dinner into it and the kittens jumped straight in. Peter had to grab Linda.

Another woman came by to check out our kittens for her family. She had been told that ginger kittens are the friendliest. I said that is probably because most ginger cats are boys (80%) and boy cats tend to be sookier that girl cats who like to rule the roost. 

Later I had a teary call from a woman who wants us to take her boy cat who attacks her and her husband for no reason. I told her to fill in the form on line which is what we tell everybody.

Next day: My mouse decided to play with my computer after being connected to it for a couple of hours. Wouldn't a cat like a mouse like that!

Some old photos:

Oscar waits patiently

Sukie likes pats but won't admit it, yet

Movement in photos

 Is not as desirable as movement in adoptions. But is inevitable. Trude and Prue were sitting at attention this afternoon, waiting for chicken. But as soon as I pulled out my camera one or the other moved.

 Miz and Riley have a "bonded pair" sign but they really don't act like a pair. Only one ever comes out for a wander when the door is open. Charlie likes them because they don't eat all of their crunchies and they let him come into their condo.

Riley and Miz

The folk who were going to come to adopt Yang either didn't come or got talked out of it. The sisters are both still here. Yang tends to hang out on a top shelf and Yin stays in a hidey hole. Both accept pats happily enough.

While Billy and Harley are not in the same condo (Billy is above Harley) they seem to have the one still/one moving vibe going:

Billy

Harley

I gave Harley a cuddle this afternoon and almost had to wash my face afterwards. She is very enthusiastic.

A bloke rang up about Cooper. He regularly looks after other folk's cats and wants one of his own because the hole in the house when the cat goes home is just too hard to live with. If he takes Cooper, he will be able to have other folk's cats visit because today Cooper, PC, Harry and Charlie all shared the front desk while Meatball frolicked in the corridor. Harry has been moved from Better Row to Betty's stand alone. I am not surprised that he preferred his bed on the desk: the stand alone was uncovered and hammock-less. It is habitable now.

Muffin and Venice were the last ones out in the Top Cat. (Sebastian and Pebbles had a fine ping pong ball game, Sparkle surveyed his domain and Abigail and Annabelle had a lovely time there too). I hope it is not too hard for Irene to take it down in the morning.

Muffin and Venice

Cat fight

 Well, after the weekend we know which one is Harley and which is Quin. Quin has been adopted so it is Harley who is still with us. I can't tell if she is the friendlier tortie or has become friendlier since her sister left her.

Harley

My camera was playing up today so it is still difficult to tell who is who.

One of our earlier vollies, Monica brought in her cat. Molly whom she adopted from us, to board while she goes to Canada for a holiday. Somebody had left instructions about the eardrops to be applied to a boarding cat called Epsilon. Turns out they changed her name. She might be the same Molly who might have been adopted on the blog of September 1, 2023. Her name has been changed to Epsilon. (Google definition: Epsilon: the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet (E, ε). the consonant sound represented by this letter. Mathematics: an arbitrarily small quantity, used to indicate that a given quantity is small, or close to zero. 

She will be with us for three weeks. She is not close to zero.

Epsilon

Later, after letting Seb and Pebbles out into the Top Cat (which they love), I noticed that Dexter's window was covered in snot. So, as he had been happy out wandering with other cats before, I let him out and cleaned his perspex. Then the screaming started. He went for Cooper. I went for him. Used my foot to separate them. Shepherded Dexter back into his condo with the rubbish tin lid and retired for bandaging.

Cooper afterwards just wanted cuddles

Dexter afterwards (when my camera went on the blink)

Ignore the blood smears on the floor. They are either mine or Adrians who got smacked by Billy earlier in the morning or Azar's who got chomped on by Betty yesterday.

Two is better than one

 On Wednesday, Irene advised me not to adopt a fostered kitten Mark to a man if he showed up because the fosterer didn't think he would be a good parent for Mark. Luckily he didn't show up. But today a nice woman and her daughter (who works with a vet) turned up to adopt Mark. On the assumption that they were quite different people I went ahead because they looked as though they would be grand owners. Later Irene turned up and agreed with my judgment. 

So Mark is off the "for adoption" list. But Florence was still there. Strange. The enclosure was empty on Wednesday. This afternoon a woman who had visited on Sunday and liked Florence returned to adopt her. "Sorry" says I "she's gone." So we looked at other black and white cats and kittens. Earlier I had let out Cooper for a wander. He ended up on the poof under the computer. I had just put him back (to have some chicken) before she arrived. So I got him out and he settled happily on her knee. Trouble is that her son wants a kitten. Sooty might suit he has got so big. Either way, she spent lots of time with a cat on her lap to test whether or not she is allergic to cats (still). And Tim removed Florence from the for adoption list.

Sooty

Sooty's new neighbours are Derek and Hansel. They intertwine.

Hansel and Derek

Tonight Harley and Quin will have a night out in the Top Cat. Jake and Josh will be so jealous.

Jake the white with tabby, Josh the champagne tabby

Harley or Quin

While Lily and Patch look on.

Lily and Patch

I think we should have a two for one special in June and July.

Coco

 Again, thank you Tuesday for schlepping out all the bags. But Willoughby council only emptied one of our trash bins! The other is full already. I put the empty one in the garage and left the full one where it was put along the pathway down the hill. Who put it there? It was with all the rest on the gutter when I arrived. The mysteries of trash collection!

Coco, our frequent boarder was in the play place when I arrived. She wasn't happy. Eventually I thought that she might be happier back in a condo where she is usually happy. I talked her out of the multi-storey climby thing to somewhere I could pick her up. I think she couldn't figure out how to get out if where she was. The story is that her owner, a SAFE member, had a heart attack on Saturday and Coco was to be with us indefinitely. Later in the day, we had a call from the owner to say that she would pick Coco up this afternoon. She duly arrived and Coco was overjoyed to see her. I held her carry case up to the condo and Coco walked straight into it. Easiest cat to crate in existence! 

Lola kept trying to get into Incoming. Eventually Sue gave her a new bed on the table in Opies Room and she was a happy cat snoozing the afternoon away.

Lola

Josie's kittens have names

Jake

Josh, no longer holding up a sore paw

Several calls came in about Ricki. All from the family of the neighbour of her foster carer. They wanted to reserve her. But we don't do that. It is "first in, first served" at Safe. But by the time I had heard the sad story of the neighbour's lovely cat having died yesterday, and how much they loved Ricki, and that they really could not get to us this afternoon, and that they will be at Safe at 10am tomorrow. . . . I said that if any other customers came this afternoon, I wouldn't show them Ricki. Luckily, no customers came.

Ricki

Sue had me writing bios of the cats who are not available for adoption that she can use when she needs instant bios. It is not easy to do. For example what do you say about Willow except that she has hidden for 4 months and seems to be coming out of her shell now.

Willow

Or about Harley and Quinn who have only been with us for a week and in that week have changed from scardey cats into coy young girls who long to flirt with you.

Harley and Quinn (or vice versa)

Or about Stardust who was one of three crazy cats in the Palace who is now a pussy cat as a single.

Stardust

More movements

 Gracie has finally moved out of Isolation. Her kittens were all adopted months ago. Now she is on Better Row and looks more comfortable already.

Gracie

The morning team was super efficient this morning and when I arrived several were wandering around asking for things to do. Luckily, there are always garbage bags to be organised. And kittens to be cuddled. Sineada came in the afternoon to learn how to be assistant day manager. She got to hand out the chicken which was her reward after she tidied up the bowl shelf (the bane of my afternoons!)

I thought to put Bonnie and Ricky into the play place which is empty. Tim said "make sure you can pick him up before you take him there". No way was he going to be picked up. Bonnie is perfectly happy to be given a cuddle though. So Sineada and I put up the top cat for them and they had a lovely time. Big Kahuna enjoyed watching their antics. All will sleep well tonight. So will Ricki who got to explore the play place.

Bonnie and Ricky below

Below Billy are Quinn and Harley. Don't know where they came from. Both are torties. I thought Quinn was a boy's name.

Harley and Quinn

Dorian and Sterling were in the Palace by themselves. Geoff said that he was happy to be able to feed them without being spat at by Starlight who was at the vet. I set up the condo above Ashley (their sister) for Starlight because he might stop his spitting if the competition of two brothers is removed.

Dorian and Sterling below

Lola gave me "the look" as I arrived. I was carrying a litter tray of grass pots from Joan. I gave her a pot.

Lola's new possie

She rewarded me by licking the chicken bowl very, very clean.

Adoption tails: Silky has stuck

 Silky came to Safe Haven from a cat colony in late October 2020. Mimi is her mother, Soxy her brother, she had a litter of kittens at Safe Haven.

She was adopted on 31/7/21.
1 day: Silky is in the office upstairs hiding under the wardrobe. At nighttime she did use the toilet. The entry of the office does not have a door rather a gate with bars.
Her owner told Irene on August 2 that Silky got out through the gates and is now downstairs under the sofa. The other cat Milly is in the same vicinity and Silky hisses when Milly comes near the sofa. Irene suggested to try and tempt Silky back upstairs, but in the bedroom, which has a proper door. She told her that Silky is very food motivated suggested using high value food. Silky is still quite overwhelmed, so it would be too early to have Silky and Milly in the same room.

Silky

 

1 week: Silky is back upstairs in the office and her owner has 'Silky proofed ' the gate.

1 month: Silky is very active, plays with her toys and approaches her owner to play but does still not like being touched. Milly, the resident cat and Silky run around together a lot. Initially it was Milly behind Silky now they also run the other way around. Silky watches everybody quite happily but runs away when anyone comes too close.

Harry and Harley Adopted 14/8/21
1 day: H & H have been hiding under the bed (as expected). They have been eating when it's dark but haven't used the toilet yet.
1 week: Harry and Harley have settled in very well and getting more confident by the day.
1 month: Harry and Harley are doing well. They love their food and that is the only time they 'talk' to their owner. Most of the time they just play and keep each other company. 

Harry and Harley

Adoption tails: Blockbuster weekend

 So many cats were adopted from Safe this past weekend:

On Saturday: Honey, Mini, Mixa, Patches with George, Sock

On Monday: Misty, Pooh

Misty

 

Pooh, Piglet and Tigger

 

Misty was still in Incoming last Friday. And I didn't get around to sorting out the Wind in the Willow kittens. It will be easier now there are only two left.

And remember the delightful Bailey? He is one happy cat now.

"Do we have to get up?"

"There is enough room for us both here"

 

His person's daughter is going to adopt Emerald who has been living with Irene and family.

News of Harry and Harley after a week in their new home:

They’re doing good. Took a little longer for Harry to come out from under the bed, but by the end of the week they’ll both play with their new owner. They also took their first steps out of the bedroom and have been exploring the rest of the apartment. 

Sudden noises or larger movements do make them retreat to the bedroom but they come back out shortly after. The owner can get quite close to them as long as s/he doesn’t touch them and they are comfortable enough to eat in the human's presence and outside the bedroom.

Looks like a shop

We have new shelves for merchandise. They look lovely when sparsely stocked. I took the rest of the items from on top of the condos where Billie was (no surprise that she was adopted on Monday at 10am!) As I dusted the top of those condos I was reminded of the cat who kept escaping from the condo he shared with his sister and retreating to the top of those condos. I cornered him there once and conned him into walking into a cat carrier. What was his name? I tried going back through the database but no names lept out at me. If I go back through this blog it will take hours. I moved all the cat beds there and they look more desirable now as a line of beds rather than a pile of beds.

Dolly and Mo were desexed yesterday. Dolly had one arm outside her collar when I arrived and she had spilt her water and rolled in the puddle so my shirt got wet when I picked her up to put her arm back where it belonged. Mo is her daughter (Why did I assume she was a boy? Was it the name? Could Mo be short for Maureen, Mouse, Monica? and not Moustache?) Mo wears her collar as a tutu. I think it will have to be cut off as she is such a skitty kitty (Mouse is a good name for her). I will take my good, sharp scissors with me on Friday. The scissors at Safe hardly cut paper).

Talking of changing names: Perhaps Sarah should be called Burrito. She wrapped herself tightly in her blanket and only came out at the end of the day. She was happy to be patted through the blankets.

Wilson has been moved to the play place because Harry and Harley were adopted on Saturday. (Well Done Terry). He is not a happy cat. When somebody goes to sit with him, he walks around growling and grumbling. I think he is telling us how unhappy he is to have been abandonned by his people. He loves pats and is very gentle. He even likes children. The bloke who works down the corridor and his daughter who lusts after a cat visited (again) this afternoon. I chucked her in with Wilson and he treated her just the same as the adults. . . . mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble, keep patting me, growl, complain . . . .

Last week Katie and I decided that Lasagne is a dreadful name for a cat and changed this ginger cat's name to Laurie on the assumption that he was a boy from a glimpse at his rear end.

But it turns out that s/he has some GI tract disease that will require 3 pills a day for a month, 2 pills for the next month and a pill a day for the last month. S/he will be with us for a while. Such a relief that s/he is such a nice cat.

Last little one

Billie was desexed yesterday. She managed to get her leg through her collar while asleep in her igloo. She has potential adopters lined up being the smallest kitten until Christmas, probably. Opal was being adopted when I arrived this afternoon. I chatted to Sandy who was trying to engage Harry and Harley with the fuzzy three string interactive toy. Harley watched it. I found the last feather toy and Harley was much more interested in catching that. [I need more feathers. The birds around here don't seem to be loosing theirs. So if you have some, please may I have them to make more feather toys.] Opal did not enjoy being in a cat carrier. We could hear her next door. Her new owners were thrilled.

By the way, Jet is settling in beautifully to her new home. Other cats who were desexed include Dolly in incoming who is the mother of Socks, Mo and Tip. Mo is still very "don't touch me" while the other two are "Whatever". Rather like George who hides in the box clutching Patches while the rest of Santa Maria's kids are as friendly as she is. She rolled over to let me tickle her tummy this afternoon. What can I say. . . . . "cats!" A couple of sisters arrived to look at Charlie. One of them couldn't get away from him while I showed the other around. They changed places and Charlie liked the other sister too. Decision made. Adoption processed. Lucky them. I will miss Charlie.

The other cat with potential adopters is Valentino. He was more interested in MORE CHICKEN this afternoon.

So was Lucky. (Isn't she a pretty pus when she is not spitting?)

Of course, Harry and Harley were most interested in chicken. Somehow their door opened and Harry ventured out as far as the wheely trolley. All I had to do was to wave the chicken in the play place and he scurried back in. Such a relief.

Harley is in front with the black elbows and Harry is in the back with the white elbows.