All clean

 Today, for the first time, there were no bags of dirty laundry left for other folk to take home. I just brought home one bag. The clean laundry shelves are all full. And a woman rang to ask if we would like more towels. (I said yes, please despite the full shelves today.)

Dawson seems happier in Welfare. He didn't have anything to say for himself this afternoon. But when he first moved to Boarding, he was quiet. So it may not last.

Dawson enjoying a scratch

Goosy was out and about this afternoon. She was at the vet's on Wednesday. Must have had a good time because she doesn't usually come out of her sleeping box.

Goosy

A young couple came to look at black cats. They liked the sound of Midnight on line but prefered Licorice in person. Licorice needs to go to the vet to have her gums looked at again. They were a bit inflammed when she went to be desexed. With any luck she will get the all clear and the lucky couple will have the black cat of their dreams. (They were both completely dressed in black and both black haired!)

We have a new occupant of Faith's condo. She has been called Kiki. She wasn't chatty this afternoon but perhaps she will catch Faith's chat.

Kiki

Rose might be adopted this weekend. She is almost ready.

Rose

And Sybie is still putting on weight with extra bottle feeds. Gotta love those blue eyes.

Sybie

And, gotta love the Gymea lily at ground level. Probably the only chance we will ever get of being face to face with one.

 

Gracie on high

When I arrived at noon there was a great kerfuffle because Gracie had jumped out of her condo and retreated to the heights. I kept out of the way because there were plenty of vollies being directed by Irene. They caught her in a box (a favourite tool of Irene's) but when they went to put her back into her condo she took off again for the heights! 

Gracie on Wednesday

 The second capture was more efficient and she was soon back. By the time chicken came around she was behaving normally (for her). I hope she doesn't make this a regular Friday afternoon exercise.

The woman who adopted Midnight last weekend brought him back for his vaccination and to adopt his sisters Lily and Forget Me Not. She said "If two kittens is better than one kitten, then three kittens are better yet!" Midnight has been renamed Lunar and is a very relaxed kitten. Or maybe he was just stonkered to be back with his sisters. Lily didn't have a microchip even though Tim said that he gave her one. The vet around the corner checked her with his machine. None. So he added another. Let's hope that she doesn't now have two. 

And the woman came to adopt Harper. She will pick her up tomorrow when the workmen have moved out of her place and Harper can settle in undisturbed. And Clyde was adopted yesterday.

Camille was being charming when I cleaned out the condo below her that  Forget me not and Lily were in for a few days. Irene took notes and got a good photo so that Camille can go on the for adoption list. She is a lovely cat.

Joy took photos of 5 of the 6 kittens in the play place on Wednesday.

 I'll try to add their names next week. Ginger Roger and her kittens have settled into the stand alone in Incoming happily. She is a very friendly cat. Evidently she wandered into an appartment in a western suburb. The old man there was happy. She made herself at home but after a few weeks disappeared for a few days. Then she brought in her kittens, one at at time. All gingers. The man is quite old and not well so couldn't look after them. I doubt we will have any problems getting them homes.

 

 

Adoption Tails: Amber, Pumpkin and Midnight, Peach

 Amber

 1 day: She is going great. She is gaining confidence after a day to run around the house and approach them for pats. She has been eating, drinking, and using the litter tray with no trouble.

Amber, day 1

 2 days: “We are already in love with Amber”. She was very timid at first and kept her distance but now she is very talkative and will flop down for pats.

Amber, 1 week

1 week: She is going great. She is opening up more all the time and is more affectionate. She’s still a bit skittish when she is in new parts of the house, but she is really doing very well.

Amber, 1 month

1 month: She certainly is getting much more confident. She has been sleeping on their beds during the day now. “We absolutely love her”. She has picked her favourite person, their son. Probably because he plays with her the most. She has officially become an adult cat and looks a lot bigger than she did a month ago. She is super energetic and always ready to play or hunt toys. She still doesn’t really like being picked up but she purrs like crazy when they pet her and scratch under her chin. She is a lot calmer now, but she is a ball of energy and runs around the house in the evenings. She is always very curious about the outside and tries to get out when they open the door so they’ve been very careful.

Pumpkin and Midnight

1 day: They are both settling in well. They are both eating, drinking and using their litter trays. Midnight is very playful and adventurous. Pumpkin is slowly getting more comfortable with her new family and her new home. Last night, Pumpkin and Midnight were playing together.

Midnight, day 1

 1 week: They are doing really well. Both have explored further around the house. They spend their time on the couch and chairs and aren’t hiding so much. Midnight is still feeding a couple of times a day from Pumpkin when she allows him. 

Pumpkin, day 1

1 month: “I cannot believe it’s been a month, they are such a part of the family. They are very confident exploring the house and finding nooks to explore. They seem very settled and comfortable and have their favourite chill spots.”

Peach = Hinata

1 day: She has been renamed Hinata, which is a Japanese name meaning towards the sun. She ate a few treats on her first night and peed in her litter tray. On her second night, she seemed interested in the food so her owner brought wet food for her. She couldn’t wait for it to be put down before starting to eat it. Hinata didn’t mind the owner next to her while she was eating. She has a nightlight which keeps her relaxed. She has been napping with her back towards her owner.

Peach, 1 month

1 week: Hinata is doing well. She has explored her safe room and has even opened the door by herself to venture further. She met the resident cat, Bobby. She tries to cosy up to him and he completely ignores her. She has started pooping regularly and enjoys licking the gravy from her wet food. Her owner says “she’s such a cute character” and loves seeing her roll around trying to get Bobby’s attention. Hinata answers Bobby’s meows for attention with little squeaks. She looks like she wants to play with different strings and toys but is a bit shy still.

Peach/Hinata, 1 month

At Last

 The verandah is empty. When I arrived at 10am the garbage men had not yet come. So I rushed to get the last bags from the verandah out to the bins. But there weren't any there. Helen came yesterday and took away a car full. When I went out at 1pm to collect our bins, they hadn't been emptied yet. So I rushed back to get all the morning's full bags to add to the bins. So the verandah and both bins were still empty when I left! (The bins were emptied some time in the afternoon). How good it that! And a car load of litter was delivered.

Empty

Jolene has been moved to the main cattery. We let her out for a bit of exercise this afternoon. She mostly hid under the shelves at the end but when Tabby and Tibby were let out too, she couldn't resist investigating their condo. Tabby was more interested in getting food out of Vicky. But Tibby inspected the visitor.

Jolene meets Tibby

This was all watched with interest by the other cats especially the supermodels who are getting to be big girls.

Helena and Kate

Also new in the Welfare area is Leon. I will find out why he isn't in Incoming on Friday. He certainly looks older than 2 years old or he has had a very rough time so far.

Leon

On Sunday there will be a big fuss made of Midnight because he was our 1000th adoption. Don't know if Pumpkin was 999 or 1001. Neither do I know if she is coming with her son and person to have photos taken, etc for posterity.

Frantic Friday

 One result is this:

The remaining three ABBA kittens were adopted today. Agnetha and Bjorn went to an enthusiastic teenager and her parents first. They were torn between them and Pumpkin and Midnight but Bjorn had called to the daughter over the www. 

Later a family came to find a kitten to replace their dark tortie who died not so long ago. Amber looked too much like their previous cat and they wanted somebody to go with their 8 year old boy cat. So they chose Freda who was looking very sorry for herself with her siblings gone.

Alongside these adoptions there was a superfluity of vollies and trainees, folk coming with donations of such generosity that they deserved a conducted tour around all the cats, folk coming to pick up their boarding cats who were more, or less, eager to go home. Tilly/ Daphne didn't really want to go but she will be back. Fosterers came in with kittens to be vaccinated including the fosterer of Sushi and her litter. Sushi is in the small stand alone. She is very sweet and a little shy.

Sushi

Her remaining two kittens are in the stand alone beside the trolley.

Tofu

Pork Bun

Lots of cats got to wander around enjoying the visitors. Max got time in the play place (as all boarders who paid for time have had it.) He is happy to be carried there by Katie.

Max

I didn't get to eat my lunch until 3 - 3:30. At which time I decided that it was too late to hand out the chicken. But Rosanna was so horrified at the idea that the cats would go without their Friday chicken that she offered to stay late to share it out. And Katie wanted some for the Incoming cats too. I got away just as Tim came back from the vets with Coco (check up), Cleo (desex) and somebody else. Opey was let out in the hope that Tim will get him back into his stand alone when he came back from the vets. As I left Opey's expression dared me to walk past him.

Opey is all bluff

 

Overflow

 There were heaps of vollies today when I arrived at midday. And even more washing up: what with boarders leaving and all the dishes needing to be washed. Everything was washed and taken to the card table to be dried. There was too much for the table. So I suggested that a towel be spread on the floor for the overflow. Silly me. I had to lean down to pick them up to distribute in buckets, etc for tomorrow. 

And there were heaps of kittens for the vollies to caternize (= fraternze with cats).

Team caternize

Cleo's four are in the stand alone just inside the door. They look different out of the Canin stand-alone in Incoming. (Jasmine and her lot are in there now. They too look different at face level rather than on the floor.) Cleo is above Ginger George and has is rated a 1. Perhaps she will settle down when she realises that she doesn't have kittens any more.

Midnight and Pumpkin are where Kitty was. They are a bonded pair.

Pumpkin and Midnight

 

Our Rhapsody (who came in with Mia and a bunch of kittens) is back as a boarder. Her name is Silky now. She has a house mate at home but they are in separate, single condos.

Rhapsody now Silky

Silky's housemate

 

We have new signage for the Play Place that indicates which boarders should have time there. One pair should have had two turns there and they are due to leave in two days, so I popped them into the play place. They immediately hid: one in the tunnel and the other in the stratchy pole box. I understand from the owners that they don't get on too well at home. After they had been in the play place for an hour and a half without moving from their hiding places, I decided it was time for the other boarders who had paid for play. The one in the tunnel was easy enough to get back into their condo: I picked her up in it. The other in the box was NOT going to come out. I imagine that she is still there unless Katie was able to entice her out with food. But she is pretty chubby and well wedged into the hidey hole.

Christmas thanks and mood

 Earlier in the week a 6 year old boy came with a donation. He asked his friends to give money to Safe rather than to buy him a present. He gave us $350. What an entrepreneur!

And the Eleanora Heights Vets had a donation drive for us over the weekend. I picked up their Safe money box and it held $202.85. 

And thanks to all the vollies who are pulling extra shifts over the holidays.

Joy brought in some deco/toys to get the cats in a festive mood for her photo shoot.

Phantom took it lying down.

Pumpkin and Midnight have heard that he is to go to the vet  tomorrow.

Margot was at the vet today. She is to go into Wanda's condo because somebody has taken Wanda home for foster care.

Kate and Helena were not impressed

Winnie/Demi was more interested in getting out of the condo for a little wander.

Tiger was not enthusiastic.

But he did like a little wander. While he sat on the chair that gave him access to his upper condo, Ying who lives below him, got up to see what was going on. He doesn't usually bother to unwrap himself until almost dinner time. I think he needs a buddy.

And Mariko bought one fluffy tail with a bell and a hook to attach to a stick for every cat. They are laced with catnip so there was frolicking.

Suki died on Saturday. She lived at least 27 lives . . . . at full volume. She will be much missed.

Suki

 

The quiet before December

I hope we have a deluge of customers in December. Nobody got adopted over the weekend. But Taylor did die, unexpectedly. He has never looked a healthy cat but last week he happily played with his ping pong ball. 

There are more kittens in Incoming. Guess what colour. . . . black and white of course. The mum (Toni, I think) hides and hisses in a carrier in crate but the 4 kittens happily rush out to greet you. I bundled them into a carry cage (on top of Margot's crate) to clean their crate which is under Margot's crate. Margot, incidentally is just over 1 Kg. And Midnight is 0.95 Kg: not far behind although considerably younger. There will be kittens in Xmas stockings.

Midnight

Joy took some lovely photos:

Demi and Winnie are getting friendlier and more photogenic.

Demi and Winnie

Sydney is getting bold enough to come out in the morning to do his Diego imitation.

Sydney

Kate and Helena are getting to be grown up supermodels.

Helena and Kate

And Phantom is still everybody's bestie.

Phantom

Except for Pluto who has devoted slaves.

Pluto

Is there an elephant in the room?

Leo ate some chicken. He didn't eat much and he had ignored his breakfast. But I think he has enough storage to keep body and soul together until he gets whisked off to either foster or be adopted.

Leo

And Pluto ate her breakfast when I diluted it with chicken juice. Evidently the person who unadopted her is having second thoughts because they miss her purrs so much. I think we should record her purr and use it as background noise to seduce folk into adopting the nearest cat.

A couple came this afternoon to look at Yuki. And at everybody else. They like the idea of taking a difficult cat. Perhaps they will become fosterers as they already have two cats at home. All the cats liked them. They live on the other side of town but will be back.

Cocoa the sole remaining boarder has had his/her card changed to an our cat. Not happy Jan.

Cocoa

And Gia #2 has moved into the stand alone that Robyn scrubbed on Wednesday. She liked it much better in a foster home.

Gia #2

On the bright side: Mia is looking much calmer. She took chicken from my fingers.. . almost.

Mia

And Taylor looks almost clean. . . . .almost.

Taylor

Margot is almost heavy enough to be desexed. And Midnight is already 700gm at 5 weeks!

Margot above, Midnight below with Pumpkin