Adoption Tails: Maggie and her litter

 Maggie

4 days: Maggie has been under the bed in the spare room for 4 days. She is eating well, using her litter tray, and comes out at night to have her treats. Her owner talks to her and has a 5 minute playtime with a fluffy toy on a stick but she doesn’t respond. Her owner won’t be changing her name - Maggie has gotten to know her owner when she’s volunteering at SAFE. “I love her so much.”

1.5 weeks: Maggie comes out of her hiding spot since the toys are always in a different place. Maggie also finds the treats her owner hides in her room. She likes the water fountain and is eating well but isn’t coming out yet. Her owner spends time trying to entice her out with feather toys. Maggie’s owner heard all sorts of strange noises in the bedroom last night and saw it was Maggie exploring. Her owner walked into their bedroom and Maggie was lying on the bed. She became anxious when she felt cornered between her owner and the door. She meowed very sweetly and ran back to her safe room. “She is such a sweetie”. Maggie’s safe room has places for her to hide in - they're soft and fluffy and have dangly toys. 

2 weeks: “Maggie is still under the bed. She came out yesterday when I took in her breakfast then looked at me gave a little meow and went back under the bed. I hate that she is so afraid.” Her owner was considering getting a little kitten to keep her company. “I even dream about her! I will be over the moon when she walks around and knows I will do anything for her.”

5 weeks: “I am delighted with her progress. She still likes to spend her day under the bed with various toys but explores and plays around the house at night. This morning I tried feeding her in the family room but she wasn’t comfortable there so went back to her usual spot. She lets me pat her, rub her ears and back and purrs so loudly. She is very talkative and constantly rubs against me. I haven’t tried picking her up for a cuddle. I think that is a long way off. She knows her name and is so sweet and loving. I adore her.”

Loki

1 day: He is settling in very well and is also very playful. He has been introduced to other rooms in the house because he constantly stood outside the door and he seems fine with it. He is eating and drinking well too. He had some problems with his litter box but is not using it.

1 week: Loki has been exploring his environment. He has moved out of his safe room and has started to explore the rest of the house. He is hesitant to snuggle with the family, but his owner thinks he needs more time for him to feel safe.

Loki, 1 week

1 month: His owners are struggling to cut his nails. They are getting very long and he accidentally scratches our family members. His owners have tried to cut them but he doesn’t stay still and always runs away.

7 weeks: They put a harness on Loki and he’s constantly trying to take it off himself. “He is also just a tiny bit sad.” His owners want to get him used to the harness because they plan on taking him for walks. They’ve also made sure that the harness is loose so he can breathe. “He was just very curious and every time we opened the door to go outside, he always wanted to come with us and stood there meowing and watching.”

Loki

2.5 months: “Everything with Loki is going very well.”

Atlas now Casper

1 day: “Atlas seems to be settling in very well to the safe room from what we've seen! Surprisingly he's been very affectionate and meows a lot when we leave the room. He is eating and drinking but usually only in small amounts (around half the bowl of food and water is normal). He's only used the litter twice since being brought home and I'm not sure if that's normal though. He's been a bit sneezy but not today thankfully. We are planing on renaming him but we're still deciding on a name.”

Atlas now Casper

1 week: Atlas has been renamed Casper. “We changed his litter to no dust a clumping anti crystal litter and he seems to be good with it. His mood has been a bit all over the place, sometimes he's super active and VERY attention seeking and at other time hes hiding under the bed. He can't have us away in another room without him else he meows/crys a lot (it's been so worrying I had to stay back a day from college, we're very tired).” His owner is very overprotective of him and just wants to make sure Casper is alright and they’re not doing anything wrong.

1.5 weeks: Casper has been having some flu symptoms. “He's suddenly become distant from us but wants our attention for something that's not pets, play, or food (very odd) even though his appetite is fine.”

2 weeks: “We've been observing him closely and I think Casper is fine now, his runny eyes and sneezing have greatly reduced. He's been exploring outside the room so much sometimes he sometimes doesn't want to go back at all! Although I do think he's still a bit frightened/stressed/bored at times. He's been running around the house a lot and being vocal and we still don't quite understand that he's after at times but overall I think he's ok.” He hasn’t been responsive to his new name and doesn’t play with any of the mental stimulation games they’ve given him. “He's becoming very curious about the outside”

1 month: no response

Roman 

 

1 day: He is doing great. He has started exploring new rooms today. They will be keeping his name.

1 week: Roman is doing very well and has settled down. He is very happy and playful yet very vocal, just like their previous cat Chimney. “Roman is a blessing of happiness in our house and we love him immensely”.

Roman

1 month: no response

Zaria now Mochi

 

1 day: She's doing well. She is eating, has had water and a wee. The family is keeping a close eye on her. The daughter has decided to name her Mochi, after a tasty little Japanese dessert! The family thinks she's doing really well considering the change. She's been super affectionate and cuddly. Mochi has a safe space under the bed but is spending most of her time out and about in the room with the daughter or dad.

1 week: She's going really well! Eating, drinking and toileting.

1 month: Mochi is doing so well. The family absolutely loves her. She's a very brave explorer and has a lot of confidence. She's energetic and very healthy. "We are very pleased to have her!"

Astra now Delilah

1 day: She’s doing well. She is eating very well and has used her litter tray to pee and poo. “She is finding comfort in her room”. She and their resident cat, Teddy, have been talking to each other through the door. She has been renamed Delilah.

1 week: She’s doing really well and is full of energy. “She is loving the company of our dog and cat. She’s fitting in very nicely.”

Astra now Delilah

1 month: no response

Adoption drought broken!

 Eight cats were adopted over the weekend: Astra and Zaria, Arlo and Annie, Roman, Sparky, Trixie and Mabel. And one was adopted today from foster by the fosterer before it even was posted. And Kat has been posted as available so with any luck, she will go tomorrow!

Or course, there has been lots of rearrangement because of this. Mia and Hugo are the only cats out on Better Row. She demonstrated how much better it is there by staying in her condo even though the door was wide open for at least half an hour!

Ted has moved to Arlo and Annie's stand alone.

Ted

Max has moved to the other side of the smaller AWL condo block.

Max

Niether look happy. But Dexter does where he is below Tosca.

Dexter

Isolation has "new" condos donated to us from Mona Vale Vet. They have a distressing tendency to stain when poo'd on and the doors are a bit tricky to close. But Gracie and her kittens have the run of the upper layer of the one that has been put together. 

The bottom layer is marked for Sabrina and her kittens and across the way is another set to be installed for Elsa and her lot. We might have to rename this room the Nursery. Elsa and her kittens are on medication and have to be separated into a cat carrier to eat their dose. Only two of the six ate voluntarily. Sue and I had to spoon feed the others. Made me feel as though I was force feeding suffragettes.

Lola got back into her stand alone with the encouragement of soft food. (Thank you Paris)

Lola

And the three boys were happy when I installed a hammock big enough for all three of them. They spent the night in the play place because they couldn't be enticed back into their stand alone. They did it for dinner tonight.

Just a reminder not to leave rolls of paper towel on top of stand alones.

Oh, and I forgot to mention. The mop died. It fell into two pieces. It is an ex-mop.

Time for somebody to go to Bunnings to buy a new one.

Another way out

 This afternoon Blossom's kittens were put into the play place so that Blossom could have a break from them and so that they can get some more handling. They had a lovely time. They figured out how to run on the treadmill and played with all the toys. Blossom curled up on her ledge and didn't bother with afternoon tea. They weren't hard to catch when it was time to take them back to their mum. They immediately lined up for a good drink from her and then lazed around in a satisfied stupor until dinner time. 

I moved Maggie's three into the play place to stretch their legs lengthwise. They get plenty of vertical movement in the Palace. While I was feeding the main room cats and Kat was having a wander, suddenly there was Zaria (or Astra) wandering with her. I had put the bottom tie on the door to keep them in. I took her back and put a weight against the bottom of the door to keep it closed. 

Later, when I was feeding Incoming, there she was again at the door. She must have swung from the multi-storey climbing thingy, pushed the top of the play place door and jumped through (to land on the floor 6 feet below!) I moved the bottom tie to the top and put a heavier weight against the bottom of the door. That kept her in. Later I moved them back to the palace so that somebody else can have a go tomorrow in the play place.

Astra, Zaria and Roman back in the Palace

Lola loved sitting on a cuddle rug on the printer this afternoon. She is holding it still with her mouth while she kneads it.

Lola

No adoptions today.

Short visit

 I had to take the husband to the eye doc for another injection today. And the traffic was terrible so the regular staff/vollies arrived late. But we made it in time and he is having a lie down now.

Just like Trude and Prue after their early breakfast.

 tortie Trude and Prue

The R kittens/cats were moved to Incoming. They are not happy. But, at least I know who is whom now.

Raven

Raya

Rocky

I thought they were all girls. But Rocky is a boy.

And Maggie's kids much prefered their old digs in the play place to the Palace.

Astra, Zaria in foreground. Roman lurking on the top shelf (just a pair of ears)

Max and Ted have settled down. They are both in dire need of a good hair brushing.

Max

I have never seen a tail as flexible as Ted's. He carries it on his back.

Ted of the Tail

Reluctant Louise

 Now we know who is who of Thelma and Louise who have been on Better Row for months. They are ready to be adopted and have been moved to Leon's condo. Thelma (the friendly tortie) was no trouble to move. Louise escaped to under the food shelves. She came out from under for chicken. Gradually I enticed her back into her condo and put the carrier in there just in case she fell for that old trick. No way. When Tim tried to grab her she escaped to under the food shelves again.

We let her settle down and did something else. 

Eventually she was in a place where Tim could grab her with the big blue gloves. She managed to bite through the gloves to his finger. 

We let her settle down and did something else.

Then she escaped into the main room behind Sparky's stand alone. We encouraged her to move towards her new condo. Eventually while she was looking at me in front of her, Tim grabbed her from behind and hoisted her up into her condo. She fell into Thelma's arms. 

It may take her a while to trust us again. Chicken will help.

Thelma and Louise moved

 

Davo was not trouble to move below Billy. He was having a lovely play just before I snapped this photo.

Davo

 Astra and Zaria who were in Davo's condo are now in the stand alone by the filing cabinet with Roman.

Lola has another new position. This one has a bankie. She looks like she is winking at me but I think she has a sore eye.

Lola

I learned Hugo's history. He was a street cat who had trouble breathing. A pair of kind souls took him to a vet who discovered that he had a diaphragmatic hernia. . . . ie a hole in his diaphragm which let his guts move into his chest. The vet operated. The incision was from pubic bone to breast bone. His innards were put back where they were supposed to be and he was sewn up. The two kind souls paid the astounding vet bill but didn't have anyway to keep him. So we took him. 

He LOVES chicken.