Rita report plus

Irene heard from the folk who adopted Rita. They say that she is the BEST cat that they have ever introduced into the family. She leans into any hand that is stretched out to love her. May they be happy together foreever. Elona has come back. I think we/the cat got in the middle of a perennial mother/daughter tussle. Elona was very happy to get some chicken this afternoon and happy to be patted. (She might not have been given breakfast before she was returned which may explain her eagerness for food. But I prefer to think that she is happy to be back with us.) And Lane, one of Luna's kittens was returned.

For him, the timing was perfect. One of our Friday volunteers adopted another of Luna's kittens. She has loved being woken up at 6am with an invitation to play footsies under the doona. (She is under the doona and the kitten is on top of it). Today she realised that what her kitten needed was a brother to play with. So Lane's feet hardly touched the condo floor before he was whisked away to PLAY. Someone has booked the Palace for Easter. So I had to move Dobby back into the condo that he shared with his mum and clean (the snot off) the Palace.

His nasal congestion has improved since he has been there. It will be interesting to see if it returns when he doesn't have so much airflow. I replaced the large scratchy pole there with another from on top of the condos. It is called a "Bono Fido". Doesn't that mean "Good Dog". What a strange name for a cat scratchy pole company.

Sapphire is booked in to be desexed on Monday. I imagine the person who is keen to adopt her and Tiny Tim will be in on Tuesday to take them home.

Joy and Vi dropped by to check on Billy and she took this photo of TT and S which was much better than mine. They were more focused on chicken when I tried to photograph them. I had lovely, fresh BBQ chicken to share. Everybody went wild. Petey mistook my finger for chicken and bit me. This is Tim's finger who demonstrate how much Petey loves him, and the probably not ring worm lesion on his face.

We had a delivery of "free" food today so Irene took off the slightly out of date kitten kibble for the woman who feeds a cat colony. It will be better for them than cold noodles.

Rita liberated

Rita was adopted today by the woman who came last week, or was it two weeks ago, with her "granddaugher". Their carer didn't want a boy cat. So Salam was rejected. And she didn't fancy Luna. So they said they would come back. They did and Rita was chosen. I hope the carer has the patience to let Rita adapt to a new environment of hugs and kisses. Poor little thing hasn't had much of that since she got ringworm after giving birth, eventually, to her three kittens. Who were her colony mates who came in at the same time? All pregnant. All just big kittens themselves. . .. . Star and Zelda? (The date on the photo is September 2020.

Her three kittens are now available as they have passed their ringworm test. They are Robbie, Roger (the grey tabby) and Roxanne (the black). Today a mum and daughter came in to check out Roger (mum liked grey) and Roxanne (daughter liked black cat). They coudln't decide so went home to have a family conference. They had planned to come back within an hour or two to take somebody home. But by 5pm, they still hadn't decided. And they were in Mosman. So I said, "Come back tomorrow". There is another person who is waiting anxiously for Roger to be posted on Facebook. Another grey cat lover. There may be a frantic rush tomorrow morning.

These folk spent some time with the kittens. As there were only two of them and three kittens, I had to cuddle the third. It is such a nice thing to do. I have almost forgotten how nice since all the "Don't touch a cat because you might give it a germ" policy that definitely was not in vogue at Peggy Brown's. And I realised that I am good at it which must be because of all that practice at Peggy's. The kitten I handed off to the visitor was relaxed while the kitten I got from them was tense. I put my skill into practice with our newest litter. Three blacks (2 boys one girl) and two tabbies (one of each). They have mucky eyes. So I had to clean their faces and apply the ointment. They are sweeties (and withour names.)

Our other new resident (75 in total today) is one that Irene picked up yesterday from the vet. She had been desexed and part of her tail had been amputated. Don't know why. But we decided that her name is Bridie. She seems a gentle, shy, very young adult.

Joyful photos

I was at Safe Haven all day but only found time to photograph Faith and Bud. I made time to give them some serious cuddles because my previous neighbours adopted Sam and Sally from us at Peggy Brown's. Sally died last week. Sam died last year. I needed to cuddle some mature cats in memory of S & S.

Luckily, Joy took some photos. Our most recent arrivals are Cabbie from Cabramatta and his big sibs Uber and Taxi.

Some people have said that my choice of names is . . . lame. . . unalphabetical. . . un-catterly. But, for me, any names are better than no names. For example, when I sent off Rita and her kittens to be desexed today, I had no idea how many of the kittens were girls/boys. So I didn't know how many collars to attach to their carry cages. They all came back bare necked because the vet didn't/wouldn't dress them. I had to check the tummies. Rita has one girl (all black) and two boys. None of whom have names! (Nor photos because Joy had left by the time they returned from the vet). But Joy took a lovely photo of Miss Silky, who is just like her mum.

And of Matty and Maddie who are much happier away from Marigold. She, in turn, is much happier that her kittens have left the building (as far as she is concerned.)

The Soft Drink kids are getting bigger and more strident about meal times. This afternoon one discovered the joy of burrowing into the Kitten Kibble container. It didn't last long, but s/he will remember it.

No adoptions today but some visitors who may return.

Milking it

I sat in the play place, on the floor, to eat my lunch in the hope that Silky's kittens would sidle up to make friends. They circled around me. Sniffed at the fragment of cheese I sucked the salad dressing off. They didn't eat it. The tuxedo stayed on the highest shelf throughout. Not a very successful lunch date. Until I thought to get the carton of cat milk that has malingered in the fridge for some weeks. It tasted OK. . . not sour. So I poured out a bit in four bowls and the kittens came. They let me pat them for as long as there was milk in the bowls. It is a good start. So I gave milk to everybody else who needed a pat. All kittens loved it and got patted whether they wanted pats or not. Some cats, like Billy and Zelda and Star, wanted, and got a pat, before being offered milk. Star has been desexed and the person who wants her will come to pick her up as soon as she is good to go. Even Lucky got milk. She wouldn't let me pat her but at least stopped spitting at me for long enough to drink it.

Pearl wanted what ever everybody else was getting but didn't recognise it when I poured it into her bowl. I am not sure whether she couldn't see the cream coloured milk in her yellow bowl or she couldn't smell it with her stuffed nose. But eventually she found it and enjoyed it. Mixa let me pat her while she drank his (And I thought he was a boy, no wonder he didn't want me to pat him before!) Belle is sick to death of anything to do with milk. Robyn had to trick her into accepting a couple of her kittens to deflate her mammary glands.

We got some more kittens from Cabramatta. One is very cuddleable. I decided his name should be Cabie.

The other two, from the same household are much shyer. They can be Taxi (or Tachi) and Uber.

The really good news is that Rita and family has been deemed un-ringwormed. They have joined us by turning their (wheely cage's) back on quarantine corner.

Two new cats

First came Salam who is a very mellow fellow. He is to be boarded with us for a while but may stay. Don't know why I didn't take a photo but will do so on Friday. The person who rescued him is very attached. She rang back later in the day to ask how he had settled in. And Katy brought in Lillian who has only just been trapped. She brought in her pair of kittens last week. They are beside the desk. One is a particulary handsome tabby/Bengal-ish kitten. His sister is a pretty calico.

Once you see Lillian you can understand why the kittens are so striking.

In this photo I had just encouraged her to get out of the cat trap and she was busy trying to find a way out of Dolly's old condo in boarding. She has wonderful tabby spots. Star's kittens were desexed today as were Quincy and Jones (the pair below Tiny Tim). Star's kittens are Sarah, Shazar, Szabo, Sandra and Sophie. . . . . told you that Katy came up with great names last Friday. The sister of the three C kittens out back came in. She is very shy/nervous and the smallest C has been put in with her to calm her down. Doesn't seem to be working so far. Rita's kittens seem to have got better from their trots. Still not healthy enough to go onto ringworm meds though.

And Gracie's kittens are positively chubby and eat all their mum's food as well as their own.

And they sleep in the top-most hammock. But Leaf is Joy's choice of the new favourite kitten.

Top kitten is a C-kitten and bottom is Leaf.

Hera the hero

Yesterday I picked up a carload of litter from way out west and delivered it to Safe Haven in time to chat to Liz and Cass. They were fighting over the right to cuddle Tiny Tim. Cass lost because she had cleaned the ring wormers. Liz had a lovely cuddle. Tim (the big) told me that Gracie's kittens have ringworm. They were in their own, tight quarantine area around their condo. He was worried about how to move them somewhere else when nobody could be moved because everywhere was full. This morning I arrived to find that Hera was adopted yesterday. Lucky adoptees! Lucky us. We had a spare wheely cage. So I cleaned and reorganised so that now we have an expanded quarantine corner with better access to the scales and fogger shelf. With Rod's help I moved the humungous scratchy pole out into the foyer so that there is room to move in the Rita/Gracie quarantine quarters. A couple came to find a replacement for a cranky, unpillable cat to go with their lovely lady cat. He really liked Mia. But Mia and Bella are billed as a pair.

Another pair of young women came to look at one of Mini/RubyG's long gone greys. They rather liked Mini/RubyG.

And liked Elona except that she hides.

And REALLY liked Luna who cuddled up to both of them and is so small and sweet. But is not on the website yet.

The folk who fostered Zelda and her kittens brought in the pair that they adopted to board today. They couldn't resist spending some time (quite some time) with Zelda who loved their attention. They said that they felt angst every time that they read that one of Zelda's kittens was adopted by another family. They wanted to keep them all for themselves.

Coincidence or Psychic?

Around 10:20 this morning I thought "I should phone Tim to see if there is anything I can pick up before I go to Safe Haven this afternooon". Five minutes later he rang me to ask if I could come in early because the third vollie did not show up. I asked if he wanted anything on my way. He answered "No thanks." Soon after I arrived a family came to find a companion for their difficult cat. Irene, eventually, handed over Dobby who played beautifully with the young girl. They went away to think about it. It was a good thing they didn't put their noses into Dolly and Dobby's bed box. They were moved to below Mimi and Macey yesterday. In that time they managed to poo twice on their bed and saturate it with urine. That pretty, pink, fluffy bed is now in the rubbish. No way was it going into my washing machine! Shortly after the family, the woman who rang about Hera on Wednesday arrived with her daughter. They were going to come as soon as a parcel was delivered. It didn't come until 5pm. Hera was not very friendly until I offered her some crunchies. In the meantime the chatty couple met all the other cats available. They have been following the webpage closely and were pleased to meet Apricot's brother Marmelade.

Marmie, of course, is not interested in anybody but Tim. They loved Macey and Mimi because they are so pretty. The daughter especially spent lots of time playing tootsies with Macey. They, eventually, went away to "think about it". They know there are lots of kittens in the pipeline but want a more mature cat for the elderly mum who wants a companion who won't bolt out the door or get underfoot. And Lauren arrived with Miles to adopt one of the cats that she has been fostering. Miles was a great help keeping Mimi/RubyG's kittens inside their condo while I cleaned them.

Even the boy came back from the vet with a collar. (I put them in their carrier cage on Wed morning before being savaged by the littlest). ((My thumb is fine, thank you)). Eventually all the visitors left and I could continue to clean condos. A couple of boarders had play time in the play place. They are big cats so appreciated being able to stretch out.

I cleaned Rita and co. Only the little silver and white tabby is still poorly. The other three are full of beans. I made some towelling cloths to line their hammocks out of left overs from sewing some new hammocks. Being germy from cleaning them up, I left at my usual time.

Home alone

Mini/RubyG's day started early. She and her kittens were due to go to a vet in Manly Vale to be desexed. So that Tim could sleep in, I elected to get to Safe Haven early and drive them there. That went well. I was ready to pop them into a carry cage at 7:15am. But her smallest kitten had other ideas. S/he did not want to go. S/he refused. S/he bit and scratched me S/he ran me around the room. I dripped blood while the rest of the family sat happily in the carry cage. When s/he decided to hide behind Lucky's condo, I decided that we had both had enough. S/he won. I put some food beside this bolt hole. Gradually, I moved it towards Mini's condo. Eventually s/he followed her/his nose and I could close the door behind her/him. (Would it be OK to use "it" for a genderless preposition?) I got to Manly Vale in record time (thankyou lockdown) and they were in the dark. Yesterday's storm had knocked out their power. We decided to leave Mini and co there because the sparkies said that the power would be back by noon. I explained that they had one less kitten to desex today. Later in the morning the vet rang to say that the sparkies wouldn't be able to fix the power until 4pm. So Mini and co will stay overnight and get fixed tomorrow. . . . hopefully. Irene was scheduled to pick them up at 4:30. I emailed Peter to let Irene know but he "never reads his Safe email". So Irene arrived to be told the tale. Fortnately, she said, it was on her way home anyway. She will pick them up tomorrow. In the meantime, I hope the smallest grey kitten doesn't miss its family too much. And that my thumb stops swelling! Apart from that drama, it was the normal, frantically busy day. When Lily is home alone she shreds her corrigated couch.

I noticed that one of Rita's kittens has been playing with scissors. Half of its whiskers are short. The other half are long. How did that happen?

Robyn's news is that Isabella had five kittens on Sunday afternoon while she and hubby went out for a walk! She missed her chance at being midwife. She has changed Isabella's name to Belle because the cat is so loving it is easier to coo Belle to her. Robyn will make up lots of B names for the kittens who are very cute. She has taken at least 100 photos alreaady.

I put Mimi and Macey in the play place this afternoon. Soon thereafter a family arrived to find a kitten. We don't have any. Shadow and Elliot were adopted over the weekend. Everybody else available is bigger. But the family went into the play place and found that Mimi is much friendlier that Macey. Macey eventually learned how to play with them. They may be back, or might hang out for a younger kitten. My computer is 10 years old and suffering from age related obscelence. But I have managed to upload some photos. Would have uploaded more if I had had time to take them.

Family reunion

Now that we have a play place for our cats the logical player is Rara. He has got into the habit of reacting with frantic when food appears. But he has the reputation of being a softie. When I suggested that he go to the play place I asked Tim to carry him there because he reacts with frantic to me. But once he was there and I sat with him he was lovely. All about the pats. He ignored the few crunchies that I found on the ledge outside his condo. He was just concerned with cuddling up with me. So it seemed a good idea to introduce Mimi and Macey to the play place. I carried Mimi and Tim carried Macey who is not so used to being held. Macey immediately went up to Rara. They touched noses. He started to groom her. Awwwwwww. Then Mimi strolled by on her investigative survey of the play place. She and Rara touched noses. He started to groom her. Awwwww. We left them there. Rara and Macey hung out together.

And Mimi found a nice hidey hole.

They didn't explore much but were happy to be together or with a person (me while I ate my lunch). So we decided that they should condo together in the up/down Ingleside condo. Which meant that I had to clean their condos, move Ollie and Felix, clean their condos and then move in the M-family.

Other movements: Silky has gone into Rita's condo out back. Her kittens don't seem too pleased at the move.

And Silky is horrified.

The tiny kittens are being cared for overnight by Tim. . . he who never sleeps. They have their ups and downs.

Sue asked me to collect photos for next year's (2022) calendar. I am to save one photo a month. Please tell me which photos you like best.