Flat tyre

 I started the day with a flat tyre. Luckily the NRMA came a full hour before anticipated so that I wasn't too late for the breakfast feed. Although I did miss filling other folks bins because the Willoughby truck had come and gone by the time I arrived.

Several empty condos including Dylan's which will please Irene on her return. And Petal has been adopted. Mario and Luigi were picked up and I moved Annie and Lola into their place. They are next door to Bonnie who is  a gloriously soft and friendly cat. I will get a photo of A & L when they settle in.

Bonnie

Adom has been moved into Lola's stand alone. He has also mastered the wobbly bottom door latch and bursts out on occasion.

Three separate photographers tried to get photos of Bagherra and co in the the play place. The shy ones are impossible to get and the non shy ones won't sit still. It doesn't help that they are mostly black.

This is a good way of getting kittens to sit still. But not much good for telling them apart if they are black.

kittens in the Incoming Stand Alone

Their mum is still without a name. There must be some famous woman well known for being a chatterbox. . . .

Their mum.

Tim suspects that the father of the dirty grey kittens is either a Siamese or similar because the edges of their ears are getting darker by the day.

There is a new trio in Incoming from the Collaroy Vets. Chip and Cookie are friendly. But Chuck is a scaredy cat. He seems younger as well.

Chip and Cookie (? L - R)

Chuck

We had some lovely clients. A girl and her mum came to "visit." The girl would love a cat but by the time she'd spent half an hour with us her nose was stuffing up and her eyes itching. I mentioned the anti immunogenic food that we used to have. 

Then a couple came looking for a grey cat in the play place. They were happy to meet others as that lot is not quite ready yet.

Pork does the trick

 I perhaps can take a little credit that Casper was adopted today. 

A young couple who live in a flat came in looking for a cat who would suit her need for a lap cat and his preference for a cat exactly like Billy who was just like the cat he had as a kid. She didn't fancy Billy. . .. . 

Billy

 I'd say that one of those characters in the family is enough for any working girl. She was torn between Casper, Petal, Roisin and Storm. She eventually decided on Casper who I had softened up at lunchtime by sharing some of the pork from my salad with him. 

I am sure they will be happy with Casper.

So I cleaned his stand alone. Moved Prime into it because you just couldn't see him, a black kitten, in Lola's stand alone. Cleaned that one and moved Qui Qui into it. That name is mispelt according to Tim W who named him. It should be Qiu Qiu which means ball of fluff and is pronounced Chi Chi. He is the last of the Mateo batch of kittens that was in the stand alone in Incoming.

Tim W with Lilli's boy kitten now called Tank

 

There is a new family in there now. The mum is very vocal and all white. She has 5 kittens who are quite big and friendly. They, fortunately don't have Mateo's siblings' habit of leaping out of the stand alone onto your shoulder as soon as the door is opened. I will get a photo on Friday.

Dylan Did

 I offered time in the Top Cat to Darcy after Annabelle and Emily (who are in the condo below his) showed him what fun it can be. He declined to move out of his safe space.

Darcy didn't

So I moved the Top Cat to Dylan's slot and opened up to Petal and Koa who had a lovely play. Once they had had enough, I put them in and opened Dylan's door and out she came.

Dylan did

I wish I was quicker with my camera. On my way out this afternoon I checked the water bowls. Zoe had wrapped herself up in her blankie. So cute. But by the time I got the camera out of my pocket, she had untangled herself to greet me.

Zoe

Yahz

Do you remember Lola who was where Sunny is now several years ago? A friend of mine adopted her and they get on very well because Gina knows that she is number 2 in the house. Gina sent me a photo of Lola who is wearing one of our Elizabethan collars because she has a rash on her tummy that she keeps on licking. (As Gina gave me the fabric that I used to make the collars, I think that it is entirely appropriate that she can have a collar for her/our cat).

What is she thinking?

Balls galore

We had a visitor this morning on her second visit. She has three adult (6, 11 and 12) female cats at home as well as 2 doodle dogs and 3 kids from 12 up. The house is currently being worked on so her husband has said "Not this week!" and also "Not a kitten". A pity because she likes Rose ( in Incoming or Rosa in Welfare who was adopted over the weekend). She also likes Mallee. Who doesn't really like people yet but I am sure she will learn to love the person who feeds her. 

We were keen for her to like Storm. A boy, young cat would be a good idea to go with all those females and he probably met some dogs while he was living at large. 

Storm

So we opened up the Top Cat and let him out to play with Petal and Koa (Ziggy was adopted over the weekend). They had a fabulous time chasing ping pong balls. Eventually they chased them into the space between Pepper's condo and the wall. I sent Tim W to get them out. He found 11 ping pong balls there!

Later, after she left and Storm went in for a rest, we added Prime who had a fine time. 

Then added Zoe who really wanted to play with all the balls by herself but not with any other cats, thank you. I eventually put on the blue gloves to put her back she was having such a bolshie time.

If you notice a pink washer rolled into the space beside  Pepper's condo, it is to keep the ping pong balls out.

Pepper wanted to play too.

Later on Helen and I rotated Hiccup and Turbo's carrier so that the larger "window" could be opened. They are very friendly cats (especially if you have something delicious to temp them). Now they can't hide so well.

Hiccup and Turbo

Two of the stand alone kittens in incoming have been desexed. Their collars were off and wet. So I put on clean collars. I think that wink says that the collars will be off as soon as I walk out of the room!

There is another new mum in Incoming. She had four kittens yesterday. Her name is Yahtzee. What are we going to name her kittens? Yvette, Yves, Yvonne, Yosef, Yale, Yasmine. . . . not Yoel!
 

Yahtzee

And Peaches is all alone in Isolation. She has been since March 24 when her kittens were sent to the vet.

Peaches not happy

No Chicken Kitten

 For the first time a kitten refused chicken.

Thor

His brother gobbled it up.

Eddie

Thor and Eddie are in the stand alone behind Le Clerc. Their sister, Ginger was with them until spotted by a mother and her daughter who were playing with the kittens in the Play Place when I arrived. They made friends with Tallulah (not an easy task) and fell in love with Celine Dion. But Celine has a slightly mucky eye. So when they saw Ginger, it was love at first sight . . . mutually. They took her home.

And another family, Dad and 2 small daughters came in to do the paperwork for Smudge and Xena in foster. They were such nice, polite, listening girls that I am sure those kittens will have a lovely life.

Archie doesn't seem to think his life is much fun. . . . so far. We will wait to see if Geoff's magic works on him.

Tommy's pad could do with an upgrade .. ... . perhaps after he gets groomed.

Tommy

Where Suki was are a pair of mismatched cats. One, Mad. . . is loud. The other, Zoe hides.

Mad. .

There are two carriers in the double condo which is enough to make anybody mad.

Zoe

Zoe looks pretty.

And next door to Chelsea are three kittens who were quite difficult to get back into their condo after they had been let out for a run behind the flattened Top Cat. They are Petal, Ziggy and Koa. Must have come from a foster home. They liked chicken.

Petal, Ziggy and Koa (not in any order)

I let Le Clerc out for a wander. He enjoyed it. He was very  easy to bribe back into his rearranged stand alone. . . .. all it took was a bit more food.

The next day

 I went back to Bilgola Plateau and processed the adoptions of Sunny, Stormy and Sky. They are much loved kittens. Sky, the only boy, is the boldest, Sky is the sweetest, Stormy is the most agile (for example, in an attempt to keep them out of the kids' bedrooms they installed a sheet of cardboard at the top of a short flight of stairs that has clear perspex instead of railings (like modern swimming pools). Stormy can jump up to the top of the cardboard sheet (at least a meter) from the top step and then walk along the edge of the cardboard to get to where she can jump down into where she shouldn't be.

Stormy

Sky or Sunny: only difference is a spot of orange on her head

Today when I arrived Tim was introducing a couple to Schnitty. I took over when one of them wanted to meet Fawny. They need a cat to replace their rescue cat who recently died because their small, 9 year old dog needs a cat companion as much as they do. That is why Schnitty was first choice as he is used to dogs. But one partner spotted Fawny who was in the process of being added to the web page because he is the same colour as their previous cat plus their dog. Reason prevailed and Schnitty was chosen. They bought lots of stuff to go with him because they wanted to support us. 

To compensate poor rejected Fawny, I fogged the play place and put him there. He had a marvelous time, alternatively hiding, playing peek-a-boo with Mayka and racing around like a lunatic. By tomorrow he may be calm enough for somebody to choose him.

Manic mood Fawny

The mystery of Dusty and her kittens name kidnap is that the person who found them in their back shed now wants to adopt them all. She gets naming rights and has given them Indian names. So Ashleigh and Edie were left-over names. Then another couple of kittens arrived and were given those names. Ashleigh is on meds and is very shy. Edie is the purrer.

Edie up front, Ashleigh hiding

We have boarders including our Taylor renamed Tutu.

Tutu, not happy

And Heinz, so named because he was put in a Heinz box and thrown in a river and rescued. His foster carer has gone to Berrima for the weekend. She adopted Petal previously. Petal is terrified of Heinz!

Heinz

Petal in pink

 Petal has been posted as available. Expect a rush tomorrow as there are no other cats ready to be adopted. Plus, Petal has a loyal following of several families who are desperate to get her. We were rather surprised that nobody phoned this afternoon. But who looks at our website on Friday afternoon?

Petal collar free at last

This morning, before 10am, a woman arrived to surrender her friend's cat. They have to move and can't take Quinn with them. She was very upset (the cat) but eventually settled down to consider her options. I imagine that the three kids of her family will take longer to adjust to her loss. She is a gorgeous, medium haired, 2 year old, dark tortie.

Quinn

Of course, we already have a Quinn in Incoming. She is one of the four in the Cannon condo: Yin, Yang, Quinn and Sydney. They don't have microchips/ID's, just names, so it was easy to change her name from Quinn to Adelaide. 

One of Freddy, Hercules and co vomited worms this afternoon. So, they all got treated and were quite uninterested in dinner.

Two new cats, Felix and Rebel were captured and are shocked at their situation in Incoming.

Felix

Rebel

Champ has been moved to the Boarder's Row . . . . perhaps because he is an entire male and is more appropriately situated beside a window that can be opened. His left ear curls backwards. What battle over a sweet young female cat caused that, I wonder?

Champ

 

Nada has been moved below Ebony. Our two black cats are together. And a couple came in today to adopt Blacky. (Sorry, you should check the website before you come in. He went home on Wednesday).  Nada and Ebony are our only two all black cats and neither is ready to be adopted.

Adoption fervour

 By Tuesday all the cats on the website had been adopted including Marigold and Miko. So Blacky, Ganda, Archie and Maranda were posted on Tuesday night. This evening only Maranda is left.

It was a busy afternoon. I didn't get lunch until 4pm. Archie went to a young couple who just loved him on sight. She has a lion tattoo on her left forearm so I think he will be forgiven any sins. She just wants to cuddle him and he was perfectly happy with that and the bloke looked as though he could afford any vet bills if the heart murmur gets to be a problem. 

Then a single woman who has just moved into a larger, cat friendly appartment arrived to choose between Ganda and Blacky. She chose Blacky because. . . 1) Blacky the smooch and 2) she wanted to adopt a cat who would be more likely to be overlooked by others. I think they will be very happy together.

Then an older couple arrived looking for an older cat to settle into retirement with. They had hoped for Archie but their meeting ran later than they expected. But they were happy with Ganda who really does have the most rumbly purr. He will have the rec room all to himself and, eventually when he has settled, will have the choice of a sunny deck or fenced back yard. 

 And the woman who adopted Shadow 2 yesterday picked him up. She was so excited I carried him down to her car in his cat carrier. I was afraid she would drop it she quivered so with joy.

Bronwen discovered a bare patch on both sides of Tori's rump. It doesn't look like ringworm.

Tori with bare patch between the orange spots

Petal is still wearing a collar. It is difficult for her to eat with it on because her neck is not long enough to reach the bowl.

Petal

 

Thelma and Louise will go to be desexed tomorrow. They have got much more relaxed with people and lean into your hand for pats now.

Thelma and Louise

Cathy's family is being caught one by one. One arrived this afternoon. The organiser, Michelle couldn't tell if it was a female (the mother) or a male (the brother) from the photo sent to her. I couldn't tell either because the cat was more interested in trying to get away from me than to make friends. But from the size, I imagine that it is the mother. In which case we might have a pregnant cat on the premises because the brother has been desexed. Cathy, by the way, is due to have another ultrasound to determine if she is pregnant.

Soxy's second chance

 First, go to yesterday's Adoption Tails to look at the lovely photo of Collette sent by her new owners. No photo of Candy, unfortunately.

They were two vollies down this morning at Safe Haven. Robyn to the rescue. She came in and helped Sophia who is a brand new vollie. Later in the day, Sophia brought her mother by to meet the cats. She cooed at them in Hungarian and all the cats understood every word she said. Pommie was particularly receptive. She is a girl, 5 years old, no history yet.

Pommie

 

 

Archie, next door was not quite so ready to make friends although he did warm to me later (or was it to my chicken fingers?)

Archie

 

Petal is without her cone as is Magnus. They both looked more relaxed. And Wilson was in the play place all afternoon. Initially when there he walked around growling. Today he was happy enough getting pats from me while I ate my lunch with him. But when I opened the balcony door and noises came in from downstairs he was a bit grumbly. I never finished my lunch because a mother and daughter arrived to adopt Spot and Smudge. They have always had 3 cats but are down to one so wanted males to get their numbers up to normal. The finger test didn't determine which was who. And they were equally friendly to their new family. Kittens adapt so well, sometimes.

Even Harper and Scout are more relaxed. Their sibling Latte is to be brought in tomorrow "from the wild". That might set them back a bit. Or, perhaps, they will tell Latte how delicious chicken is.

Harper and Scout

There are new kittens in Incoming called Quinn, Sidney, Yin and Yang. I could only see one.

Looks like a Yang to me

But the very best news of the day is that Brandon came, sat with Soxy for ages and adopted him. He has his flat all set up with the box that his fridge came in on its side with another box with a comfy blanket in it along with a litter tray etc in his bedroom. He works from home, on the phone, so Soxy will always have somebody nearby. He has had lots of shy cats in his 21 years.

Soxy meets his new owner

Ellie stars

 I had three calls about Ellie before 10am because she was posted on our website yesterday evening. Talk about Miss Popular. But we don't reserve cats over the phone. It is a matter of first come, first served. A local woman arrived with her three school aged kids at 1:30. Good thing that she is a teacher so can decide what is most important. . . . lessons or filling the gap in the family that can only be filled by a cat. They came to look at Petal who has been desexed and is not quite ready yet. The eldest daughter used to be allergic to cats but has got better since getting bigger. They all loved Petal but she isn't ready yet. (The mother/daughter team who fell for her last week called later this morning to see how she was getting on and were hoping that they could be first to get her.)

The mum used to have a Persian cat. They knew about Ellie and asked to meet her. Ellie behaved beautifully. The oldest daughter didn't show any signs of sneezes or itches. They were tremendously excited about having her. So they took her. 

Later a woman arrived to meet Ellie. She had phoned earlier. She showed me a photo of the cat that she had to leave behind in China. He looked just like Archie so I introduced them. It was a case of mutual love at first sight. Archie has the best purr! And he has a shaved portion of his tail . . . . don't know what happened there. She will keep her eyes glued to the web page for when he is available. She lives just down the road so I invited her to come visit.

I was too busy to take photos but Robyn took some.

Nada is the new girl in Incoming. She is recovering from having her tail amputated. Why?

Nada

 

And we have a second Shadow. This one is a boy too (as is the companion of Ellie and Sasha) but he looks like a female: very fine boned. It was very clever of Robyn to include two shadows in her photograph.

Shadow 2

Robyn also took a photo of Tiger who never moves. But the food disappears from his bowl.

Tiger

 

And she had a chat with Buddy. Pete doesn't usually get involved with conversations. (I still think we should change Buddy's name to Dud so that we can call them Dud and Pete but perhaps I am the only vollie old enough to remember Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.)

Buddy (Dud)

A Fall from Grace

 When I got to Grace's condo on this morning's food delivery, it was a mess. She had pulled up the grass from its pot and then tipped over the pot so that there was dirt everywhere. I may have said something that startled her because as she jumped up to her upper box she missed her footing and fell out of her condo. To the floor. And then scurried, screaming "I AM SCARED" which got the attention of every cat in the cattery. We proceeded to have a merry dance with me trying to direct her back to her condo and her trying to hide under any low furniture. Luckily she didn't take the high way. 

Eventually she hid under the new merchandise shelves. I cornered her with the duvet cover from Mini's stand alone, put her breakfast in a carry cage that was draped with the same duvet cover. With the help of a prod or two with a bit of stick, she allowed herself to be guided into the carry cage. And got carried back to her condo. Pretty exciting for before breakfast.

We have three new cats in Boarding: Sasha, Shadow and Ellie. They are not boarders with us. They have been surrendered to us. They are really friendly with people. Ellie is a long/ish haired cat who has been shaved. It will be interesting to see how long her hair grows. Her whiskers are enormous.

Ellie

 

I tried putting Sasha into the play place with her but got the distinct impression that it was not a good idea. Katie confirmed that although they came from the same household they are not friends with each other. They just love people.

Sasha

 

 

Shadow is the third member of this trio.

Shadow

Steph dropped off Autumn and Summer. Lovely to have tortie kittens again.

Summer and Autumn

Magnus has a bare tip of tail. A bit has been amputated. There is no bandage. Let's hope this fixes his problem. He is such a loving cat.

Laurie (aka Lasagne) wins the photo of the day 

Laurie

 

As Dolly got adopted on Tuesday, the mother and daughter who fell in love with her on Sunday came to meet Petal. They promptly fell in love with her and will be back when she has been desexed. 

And another lady came in at 3:30pm to adopt Meow Meow. But she didn't do it today. She decided to go home and set up everything, buy lots of food, etc, etc, and come back tomorrow at 1pm to adopt her. (Adoption hours have been limited to from 1pm to 3:30pm to limit our volunteers' exposure to members of the public. We are not admitting people who come from hotspot LGA's)