The sad in the glad

 I was delighted yesterday to notice that 5 cats had disappeared from our website's "Available for Adoption" list: Dora and Deigo, Lisa, Sophia and Scout (of Gia and Scout: the grey. . . . of course).

Sophia went with the woman who adopted Scotch not long ago.

Sophia

You can see why he wanted a grey haired cat:

Scout's adopters

And don't these folk look perfect to love Lisa as she deserves:

Lisa ready to go home

Dora and Diego were also missing from the available for adoption list. But, Terry wrote:

Sadly those adoptions and the amount of merchandise we sold yesterday was soon forgotten when Diego had a seizure late yesterday afternoon.  He and Dora had been playing around the office as usual when he went back to his condo, layed down and started gasping for breath. I ran next door to see if Dr Kim was there. As I came back to our office Fiona rushed him next door. I think he died in her arms.
After quickly leaving messages for Katie and Tim I ran next door to be with him.

Dr Kim said there was nothing she or us could have done for him. He had a genetic heart problem that was going to cause his death at some point of time. Like a young athlete suddenly dropping dead she said.

It was extremely upsetting for Fiona and I. I had a really tough night as you could imagine.

Diego with Dora behind when they first came to us

 I have often said that Dora should have been called Delores to go with Diego. Now she will be Dolorous.

Adoption Tails: the Boozy kittens

Booze kittens at Safe Haven

Whiskey

1 day: Whiskey was taken home on Thursday and he has settled well already. He is drinking and eating well as well as toileting regularly at the right place. He is currently staying in just one room and loves to play with his owners and new toys.

Whiskey wants to see

1 week: Whiskey is settling well in his room for the past week, playing well with the family and is very familiar with every corner of the room. The owner has not let him out but will start as it looks like Whiskey is very curious and wants to come out.

Whiskey loves laps

1 month: Whiskey is gaining more weight now and settling and playing very well. He has explored more rooms of the house and the owners are still keeping him inside and have not yet allowed him to go outside.

Brandy (the owner adopted Matteo the iPad kitten just a few months ago)

1 day: Brandy is doing well, staying in the 17 year old daughter's room for the next two weeks, maybe longer depending on how she goes with Matteo (kitten they have previously adopted from SAFE). She is eating and drinking and have used the litterbox for a big wee. Brandy is very sweet and the whole family loves her already.

Brandy

 1.5 weeks: The owners have started to introduce Brandy to their resident puppy and kitten. Brandy met the puppy today again, no hissing or growling like the first few times. She played with Matteo today, chasing ping pong balls. Neither hissed or growled though there was a little bit of pawing.

Matteo and Brandy

 1 month:        Matteo and Brandy absolutely adore each other and spend much of their day near each other! The family absolutely adore both Matteo and Brandy. The kittens have very different personalities but get along so well. The family love the cats so much, they have filled their home with so much joy. 

Brandy and her puppy

Saruman (previously Martini)

1 day: The owner picked Martini up yesterday and he is already settling in well. He is very comfortable in the bedroom and has his own little enclosure to go into if needed.

Martini/Saruman

1 week: Martini is doing well. He is very comfortable in his room and loves exploring the rest of the house. He is still a bit nervous when there is a loud noise from outside but otherwise very confident. He is super cuddly and affectionate and loves his food!

lap time

 1 month: Saruman is doing well and he has loads of kitten energy. He and Merlin (the resident cat) are building a sweet and playful bond. Saruman loves to play and cuddle with the owners or Merlin. His safe room is still set up but he barely goes in there so the owners think they will get rid of it soon. Saruman and Merlin are both sweet boys who seem to enjoy each other's company.

Saruman and Merlin

Maomao (previously Scotch)

Scotch/Maomao

1 day: Scotch adjusted quite well on his first night, having eaten and toileted already. The owner will rename him to Maomao (hat in Mandarin) because of his patch of black fur on his head resembling a little hat. Maomao ran out of his safe room this morning when the owner went into change his food and water and is hiding under the couch of the living room. She has since closed all doors to other rooms and left only his room door open for him to walk back in while she stays inside her study, out of his sight. The room has been set up with hiding boxes and spaces for Maomao. He made his way back inside his room eventually and the owner is now much more careful when she is bringing food and water in.
4 days: Maomao has started purring when the owner goes into his room with food and even started rubbing himself against her leg today.

1 week: Maomao is quite energetic as he opens up to the owner. He is eating and toileting fine. He has been a purring fluffball that loves to sleep on her lap whenever she goes into his room. He is a clean boy with clear and bright eyes who seem to get friendlier every time she visits. He had his first exploration to the living room today, with all other doors shut, walked and sniffed around before deciding to stay on the couch for some belly up naptime. The owner has since left the door to his room open but Maomao likes the couch more.
1 month: Maomao's eye discharge has cleared up and he is a purring gentleman that just opens up more and more by the day! The owner felt very supported through this adoption journey and loves Maomao to bits.

Martini/Saruman

The portable play place

 It now has a framed top (rather than a bit of netting to throw over the top with lots of gaps for clever cats to crawl through.) Geoff tried it out on the AWL condos as well as the Palace condos.

Duke looks like he wants out

Dora and Diego love it

Rosie and Callie were amused

 

I managed to install the new play place, named Top Cat, single-handedly. Swinging the top frame (which makes a roof for the enclosure) is a bit of a trick because the hinges are double hinged. (Who Knew!) So if you push the top frame up a bit and notice that the hinges are pointing to the ceiling, just nudge them down. That will give you the necessary ceiling clearance. This needs to be done when Top Cat is perpendicular to the condos otherwise there is not enough room to swing up the top frame. Geoff has also installed a solid hinged section on the outer edge of the top frame that reaches to the top of the upper condo when you want to let out a top cat into the Top Cat. He was organising a nifty securing mechanism for that section this afternoon.

Yesterday the family with twins who came on Wednesday looking for a pair of cats came back and adopted Truffles! That poor cat is going to be pulled in three ways. And she will love every minute of it. Perhaps it was dad who said "one cat at a time". It is a pity for our pairs.

Opie was enchanted by the prospect of chicken. I think he is rubbing his nose between his wires. Each side looks a little bloody.

Opie

Thank you Gulia for giving Kit Kat's condo a thorough scrub today. He was pleased to see me (or the chicken).

As was Ziggy who even came out of his hiding box when he heard the chicken commotion from Kitty above. He went back into his hole as soon as he had gobbled it up.

Ziggy

A woman came to do the paperwork to adopt Scotch. She was delighted when I said she could go pick him up from the foster home. She thought she would have to wait until the council did the paperwork! Heavens, we would never get any cats adopted if that was the case.