Adoption Tails: Midsummer happiness

1 day: The owner put Midsummer in her study room. She was very scared and shy for the first couple of hours, staying hidden under the cupboard. The owner provided her with a litter tray, toys some food, scratchy pole and a cave. She is renamed to Happy. After the owner fed Happy two teaspoons of wet food, Happy showed that she liked the owner and started to smell her and ran around everywhere. The owner showed her the cave and left her for an hour only to come back and see that Happy was already asleep in it. "She's clever, she's got it." 

2 day: The owner let Happy explore the rest of the apartment and started to play with her. She enjoyed her playtime and was very friendly with the owner. Happy tried to climb onto her owner's lap and was sitting on the chair next to the owner while she had lunch. Happy is already family to the owner. 

 

1 week: Happy has no problems at all. She is an easy, active little kitten. The owner is so happy to have her as part of her family. See attached photo of Happy after enjoying her little manicure and resting against the owner's leg.

1 month: Happy has been with her owner for a month now. She is doing very well with them, she's so cute and adorable. She gives the owner lots of fun. The owner is very happy that Happy treats the place like her home.

 

Midsummer's big day

 I picked her up from Catsie's at noon. She snoozed in the car all the way to Safe Haven. Jayde claimed cuddle rights as soon as we walked in the door. (Midsummer lived with her when she was first found as a newborn on the street). I sent them to the play place where Florence was stretching her legs. Midsummer and Florence remembered that they didn't like each other. So Flo went back to her crate.

Midsummer is four times as big now

Then her adopter arrived. She asked if she could do the paperwork today and her sister would pick her up on Monday! What? The deal was take her today because we are full. We have no space for her. She could have stayed at Catsie's until next week. The adopter was convinced to take her today for which I am very grateful because Tim was there to guide me through the Shelterbuddy maze. It seems to have lots of quirks that weren't on the practice version. . . . just press refresh (F5) says Tim.

She got the fancy cloth carrier and a bag full of litter, food samples and paperwork and set off to Burwood by bus and train, then another train and another bus. I am glad she had a run around with Florence and some lunch before she set off. 

Then a couple arrived to investigate the possibility of trying out a kitten. He was keen. She is allergic to mites and remembers sneezing mightily when she slept with a pair of long haired cats as a child. The dry food we feed the cats is supposed to decrease the allergic-ness of cat hair and dander. Will it work for her? I suggested that they foster to adopt to try it out but Tim says we don't have any cats suitable at the moment. So they talked and talked and will probably be back tomorrow to adopt Bart. He really wanted Maggie but she hasn't been desexed yet because of her heart murmur.

Bart and Lisa

Then a pair of folk came to inspect us and our procedures to make sure we are a safe place to work. They wanted to know all about our fire escape plan, if we used safety harnesses when working more than 1.6 m off the ground, if our power tools were all safety checked, etc, etc. Amazing amount of paperwork for a one roomed establishment on the first floor of a fairly new building. While she ticked the not applicable boxes, he decided that he needs a tuxedo kitten like Bean or Dynamo

Dynamo

to go with his small grey and white kitten. He might be back tomorrow too. He really fancied Oreo but somebody else might want her.

Oreo f

Or there is Violet.

Violet

Not to mention Yan and Yin. We are spoiled for choice of tuxedos at the moment.

I thought that Yoko and Linda were adopted yesterday because they disappeared from the website. But it turns out that they don't have microchips.

Shock and horror

 The shock happened half way to Safe Haven this morning. I realised that I still had my slippers on.

Luckily my tennis racket and shoes live in my car so I had something to wear and didn't have to expose the uggies to the germs in SH. There is lots of flu about. Diego leaned into my hand when I gave him his breakfast. I thought that he was just pleased to see me but he probably had a headache and wanted some comfort.

Diego last week, pre flu

The horror came from Mariko who saw Linda vomit and called for help. Sandy and I came running and said "Not to worry, it is probably only a hair ball". And sure enough, another heave and up came a 4 inch one. Mariko was impressed. We said that it is the price of being beautiful.

Linda

We found a perfect sized box for Coco. She spent the morning in it, making it shake and quiver until she had chewed a hole in one corner big enough to use as a door. She was a happy rabbit.

Because Chloe was adopted I moved Violet, all of whose kittens now have homes,  into her stand alone. And Oreo moved into Violet's condo. He was discombobulated and tried to hide under his blanket. The coffee shop kittens were in the play place all weekend. I moved them out because a boarder has paid to spend time there. It was easy. I wheeled in their stand alone, put their breakfasts in there. They hopped in. I shut the doors and wheeled them back to their place below the clock. Later Mayka had a wheel in. Sandy opened her doors. She hopped out and explored. Later, when Sandy came with treats, Mayka hopped back into her SA. What a good girl!

Adelaide was died yesterday. We hope that Sydney doesn't have the same, unexplained, possibly neurological condition. He actually came out of his sleeping box to ask for dinner this afternoon.

Adelaide with Sydney before he got sick

Florence is much better than last week. She can breath through her nose now and is eating to catch up. And Midsummer is enjoying a holiday at Catsie's house. She is one fast kitten who only stops when she is asleep.

Midsummer

Moving stand alones

 Rosanna decided that it would be nice if the Coffee Shop kittens could go into the play place for some exercise and to give them more exposure to possible adopters over the weekend. But didn't fancy carrying each one there. No probs, says I, remember those crazy cats who used to be wheeled into the play place in their stand alone. Open the doors and they went out to play. Come dinner time they rushed back into the cage when their food was in there. Close the doors and wheel them back. We could do that.

But, the Coffee Shop kittens were in the three wheeler stand alone. They regularly make a huge mess under it when the cage falls of the block that is not a wheel, the litter tray tips sideways, and four kittens dig with delight. So we decided to move them into the stand alone that Linda and Yoko moved into on Wednesday. 

Linda loved being in the play place while their cage was cleaned but Yoko hid in a hidey hole. The Coffee Shop kids were quite easy to move into Yoko & Linda's cleaned, sterilized, four wheeler. Once they had recovered from the move, they were let out in the play place and had a ball. Max will have something to watch.

A coffee shop kitten

Their three wheeler was cleaned and sterilized and Yoko and Linda moved in. (They had a short stay back in Boarding which they rather liked).

Linda and Yoko

Their three wheeler is now next to the cleaning trolley which is much easier to move out of the way to clean if the fourth wheel/block falls over. And we have wall space back beside the merch shelves while the Coffee Shop kids and their stand alone are in the play place. I even remembered a new battery for the clock.

Been a while since we've seen this wall

Midsummer was successfully desexed yesterday. Her diaphragmatic hernia has disappeared. She is staying at Catsie's until she needs to go back to the vet to have her stitches out. She will have a lovely time discovering sunshine, furniture, a courtyard, and laps. . . . . once she gets the collar off and can walk properly.

Midsummer and Catsie

And she will be out of sneezing range of Florence who enjoyed four helpings of chicken this afternoon.

New adoption proceedure

 We are now using Shelter Buddy to process our adoptions. It is supposed to be more efficient. But it doesn't add the adopted cats names to the calendar so that they can be followed up. I hope this will be done somehow or my Adoption Tails will be cut short.

Since last Friday, Dabi, three of Violet's kittens (only Orchid is left) and the pair in the stand alone by the printer have been adopted. Plus the lift is on the blink. Often the door fails to open on our floor. You have to continue up to the second floor and walk down a flight. Poor Robyn had an accident on the stairs last week. Plus the trolley has lost three of the four bolts that attach one of its four wheels. That was the only photo I took today so that Geoff can bring the appropriate bolt to fix it on Friday.

But Joy took some lovely photos especially of this gorgeous cat who has finally come out of hiding. S/he is Akela or Rafiki.

Akela or Rafiki

The rest of the family is in another condo.

Diego and Samira

Look at those furnishings!

And we have yet another Oreo who is a charmer.

Oreo

And Baby, a 16 year old, white cat in the stand alone that Wanda and her kitten family lived. She is loud (possibly deaf) but very sweet. I took Midsummer to Catsie and Michael to be delivered to the Avalon vet tomorrow morning. She will need an X-ray first to make sure that her diaphragmatic hernia is all fixed before being desexed. She certainly looks healthy enough. Not like poor little Florence who is full of flu. Her nose is completely blocked so that she can't smell the food. But if you put it in her mouth she can taste it and realizes that she is hungry. She ate well today by being hand fed by me.

I tested the "pick up a rabbit and give it a cuddle" technique demonstrated by our intern last week. It worked on Coco. But not on Lily. They have furry bottoms of their feet instead of pads.

Coco

And I took pity on the tuxedo Coffee Shop kitten who was most often on the bottom of the pile in their triangular hammock with his butt hanging half off it. I gave them a square hammock which fits much better.

All four in a hammock in comfort

Kitten clean

 I handed out the usual chicken. The Palace lot are coming further out for chicken than before. Adelaide will come up to the upper level for hers. It is interesting that when all four of them were in one condo, Yang was usually upstairs while the other three hid downstairs. The four girls from Incoming are behaving in the same way with one tortie of Kate, Naomi, Helena and Cindy curled up by herself in the bed upstairs and the rest downstairs in the cat carrier.

Kate, Naomi, Helena or Cindy

Sootie was the star performer of the afternoon. She actually ate her chicken while I sat outside her condo with her door open. She then continued and ate all her breakfast wet food with me as an audience. GOOD GIRL.

Peach has been moved from Boarding to below Yang. She is not a happy cat. No chicken thank you.

Peach

There were only 2 D kittens (Dumpling and Dawn both girls). They liked their chicken and polished off their breakfast while I held their dishes for them. They are still full of flu. Dabi, the boy was off having an electrocardiogram because he has a slow heart rate.

Dumpling and Dawn (both girls)

Midsummer LOVED her very small serving of chicken.

Midsummer wants MORE

And Oreo, the boy of Sabrina's three desexed kittens (the other three were off being "done") cleaned the bowl for me.

Oreo cleans while Sabrina misses out

Bye bye Peanut

 The person who has waited patiently while Peanut recovered from his bout of flu, etc came in this morning to adopt him before anybody else could greedy him. He was very happy to go. I suspect that he won't have to be confined to "his" room for more than two days.

I was very happy to see Midsummer looking much better this morning than on Friday. Then she was DND ("damn near dead" in the parlance of the hospital where my sister worked in the 1960's). Today she eats Baby Cat happily, especially when sloppied up with cat milk, is clear eyed, uses her litter tray, doesn't pant, hops up to greet anybody who opens her door.. . . . a very resilient kitten.

Midsummer

The rest of Wanda's kitten are a pack of play machines when they are not sleeping.

Wanda's lot

Wanda, herself, is getting to be over kittens. She was offered a vollie's arms to cuddle in today and was a happy cat. Sabrina feels the same way and mostly lies on her tummy to keep the kittens away, and hisses to keep people at bay. It doesn't work for the short haired tuxedo. He sticks by her side most of the time.

Sabrina's lot

There is a new ginger boy, Andy in Incoming to replace Peanut. Let's hope that Andy has an equally happy result.

Andy

Luigi (Gigi) and Bambi went next door on Friday because they had mistakenly been fed something with fish in it. They are both allergic to fish. There was  a poo explosion that stuck to long Persian fur and it had to come off. They both got Brazil shaves. It is a bit hard to see while I was bathing his eyes (which are much better).

Luigi

Kristine who rescued Magic, Archie and co came to visit. She is very pleased at Tabitha's progress. But was surprised that Rosie and Callie didn't seem pleased to see her. I am pleased that they now venture out of their cat carrier to hiss and spit on anybody who ventures into their space.

Rosie and Callie

Thanks for the photos Joy.