Adoption Tails: Thanks for the photos Sue

 

Schnitty at home

Maple at home: 1 day

Fawny

Fawny at home

Scrat

Puss

Scrat loves Puss

It was the usual busy Friday trying to get everything ready for lots of kitten adoptions over the weekend. There was a delivery of large litter trays for sale. Each litter tray comes wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in its own box. It took 3 vollies ages to unpack them all and stow them away. Thanks to you all. I brought the flattened boxes home for recycling but left the metres and metres of bubblewrap in the store room. Please take some home.

Another mum plus kittens arrived.

On Thursday, the naughty row was brought back from next door. The nurse there said today how nicely cleaned their condos were. We can come and stay whenever we like according to her! Remi seemed happy to be home. Lucky is out of the corner so should be more engaged. Taylor is in the top row which she seems to like. Casper is in the main cat room and is sulking mightily.

Adoption tails: Happy New Year

 Fawny was adopted on Dec 1, 21

Fawny needed a home

There was no follow up until 18/12:  When his owner said that he was doing just fine.
At 1 month: He gets on well with the family. They have bought him many toys and that he is a lucky cat. He has a tall scratching post which he uses, he rolls around on his back, relaxes on the back of the couch and interacts with the family.

Puss and Scrat were adopted on Nov 24, 21
1 day: Scrat and Puss are doing great, eating and pooping like normal and very affectionate. They've been exploring and seem quite relaxed! The first night Scrat was wailing a little but nothing since then.

Puss above, Scrat below

1 month: We heard nothing until 1 month when the owners just sent photos no words. They both look really at home, relaxed & happy. 

Schnitty 693 Adopted on Nov 26, 21
1 day: Schnitty is going well, eating and drinking. He has his own room as is very, very cuddly.
1 week: Beautiful photos have been sent. 

Schnitty

2 weeks: Schnitty sneezes every now and then. His owner says she was advised that he is clear of cat flu. We told her that every rescue cat has most likely been exposed of cat flu but that a few sneezes here and there are nothing to worry about.
1 month: Schnitty only has discharge and sneezes every now and then. In the photo sent Schnitty looks comfy.

It would be nice to see the after photos.

Pipped at the post

I thought I was going to outdo Terry today with 6 adoptions. 

First an author came from Northbridge (and from north America some time before that). Her previous cat died recently and she is bereft. When she saw Tiger's profile, she decided that a second toothless cat was just what she needed. She brought a young couple with her: an Asian woman and a middle eastern looking man. They too were enthusiastic. Tiger liked them all and drooled. So they know she drools and there were no complaints. They look forward to brushing her daily. She brought a box of food that her previous cat turned up her nose at.

Tiger

Then a young couple came from Earlwood. . . . by public transport with shopping for cat beds and carriers on the way. They had met Scrat and Puss last week and have decided that they cannot live without them. I had softened up Scrat by having lunch with them. It was good to have a couple to do the paperwork: it halved the time it took even though he didn't know her mobile number off by heart. But who can remember more than one 10 digit number! They took a uber home. Scrat and Puss were the easiest cats EVER to get into carriers.

Puss on top of Scrat

 And another woman arrived with a pile of cat food that her cats won't eat.

I quickly cleaned and fogged the play place and put Schnitty there overnight. He wasn't so happy initially but will probably settle down. While I was processing Puss and Scrat a couple of Chinese women came in to visit the cats. They asked where all our cats had gone. Adopted, said I. Hurrah, said they.

After quickly seeing the visitors out and feeding everybody, I took off to Bilgola Plateau to process the adoption of 3 fostered kittens. That would make my daily tally 6 cats. A record! 

On my way I thought that perhaps tomorrow morning might be a better time than at 6pm. When I got there the mum (the adopter) was still collecting the kids from after-school sports. The dad agreed with me that it might all go better when the kids were at school, or at least fed and out of the way. So we made a date for tomorrow morning.

Then, almost home, I had to drop off some Bravecto for Lasagne/Laurie who is now called Rory. I was instructed to phone the son when I got there. I couldn't quite figure out if the cat lives at the house I was at or somewhere else. It would have been great to see him.

PS There are two kittens in Incoming with Dusty's kittens' names. But they are not grey kittens. So something has happened. Dusty is nowhere to be seen. My guess is that she and her kittens have been put out to foster and the only sign with "2-4months" was put on these new kittens. One is unwell. The other, a ginger, purrs like a trooper.

Wet outside and inside

 There was a thunderstorm this morning and torrents expected further north. But that all stayed outside. I created the wet inside by putting the emptied food tins in the sink to give them a bit of a clean before putting them into my rubbish tin for a fortnight. I turned on the tap, took the spoon back to the feeding desk and got distracted. Later when I went to go to the toilet before the vollies arrived, I discovered the sink overflowing and water streaming down the corridor. Oh dear! The floor there is now clean and my shoulders are tired from mopping. Thank goodness for the centrifugal mop!

Lots of cats were adopted over the weekend including Jumi, Sammy with Daisy, Garfield, Cherry (still with us waiting to be picked up) and Leo. I tried to get brownie points to counter the flood deficit by putting together 5 cat carriers.

Cherry waiting to be taken home

The man who adopted Jumi rang to say that his housemate (temporary) is allergic to Jumi. I did not say "Tough luck, get rid of the housemate." I said he should talk to Tim tomorrow.

Amy has a neighbour whom she loathes. That seems to be the usual reaction with Amy. She loathes us who feed her. She is sitting on her tummy so that her kittens can't feed from her while we are around. But she is not nearly as attacky as she used to be. I gave her kittens a dry bed (they made the flood by jumping on their water bowl) Two of them have claimed it. The third is on the outer.

Amy's kittens

I took this photo after I had carefully unfolded the bed that the kittens had carefully folded in half so that only two kittens would fit on it.

Amy's neighbour is Dusty. She has two adorable, friendly kittens who are grey, just like her.

And there is a heavenly kitten out back in Boarding called Lilly. It was very hard to get a photo of her because she wiggles with joy when a person is around. She has been desexed so will only be with us for the shortest time possible.

Lilly

Below her is Cookie and her four kittens who have a very strange collection of names: Bianca, Raja, Violet and Evie!

Cookie with Raja, Bianca, Violet and Evie

I now know how Scrat got his name.  He and Puss are now in the play place. They need more space than a double condo. When I swept their floor he ran off to hide in a small space. Later when I mopped the floor beside the play place he again ran off to hide in a small space. So he is a Scardy Cat = Scrat.

Driving Ms Potter

 She had to go to SH to get a microchip and be vaccinated. As Bron lives 3 minutes from me, I picked up Potter on my way there early because my tennis was cancelled. Potter cried half the way there. When I turned off my windshield wipers, she stopped crying. On the way home, no rain, she only peeped once. I wonder what she can hear that I cannot. At the cattery she tucked herself into the smallest space.

Potter

One cat came in to board crying non stop. It was our Marmalade. His owner was just as upset but determined to go to the Blue Mountains for the weekend. She told me lovely stories of how happy Marmalade is at home and how in control he likes to be. His favourite toy is the feather on a string when it disappears under the edge of the rug. He has his favourite vantage points and his owner is his favourite person (everybody else gets hissed at). He settled down quietly when she left until Tim visited him when they both sobbed. . . . almost.

Marmalade

My heart almost stopped when I saw that Scrat and Puss's stand alone had a "Please Clean" sign on it. But they have only been moved to Thelma and Louise's condo. They don't seem too happy not to be able to cuddle up together in a hammock.

Puss (top) and Scrat

And Sammy has been moved to the stand alone beside Beauty who was off at the vet being desexed. I do not know where Mayka and Tinker have gone.

Sammy

Sammy is a delightfully friendly cat. But he is a bit of a chicken monster. Although not to the extent of Rebel who must have been raised on BBQ chicken from his reaction to it. Victor is much the same.

Jumi was adopted today to a young man who chose him over Daisy of the dazzling eyes.

Day Mismanager

 Everything started off well. The single bag of trash left over from yesterday actually fitted into our own rubbish bin. I eventually got to turn on the computer. And when I sat down to check the mail, etc, it had died. Frantic SMS's to Tim and frenetic head scratching at Safe finally achieved a turned on computer with the "charger" and the internet connector thingy moved from Tim's computer to the desk set up. Thank goodness for Robyn and Joy. Their computer knowledge is so much higerh than mine. . . which is not saying much.

But we have new and returned cats.

Tinker and Mayka are back from foster care. They are still shy but not as much as before.

Tinker and Mayka

Casper is back too. Not quite so retiring as she used to be but still very wary. . . so she has joined the naughty row.

Casper

We have a boarder out back. Our Miko sporting a very fancy collar with an impressive dingle dangle which clanged on her dish. So I took it off.

Miko

 

There are two new cats out back as well. Not boarders.

Jackie

Sammy

And one new cat out front who will not last long: a grey, slightly fluffy, ragdoll type Cherry.

Cherry

 Bah, humbug says her neighbor Maple.

Maple

The best news of the day is that a couple came from Haberfield to adopt Thelma and Louise. They wanted a pair to replace their single cat who died aged 18. I tried to interest them in Scrat and Puss but they really fancied T& L. Which was a good thing because I had a terrible time with the Square which kept wanting to charge them for 7 cats before I figured out a work around and then it wouldn't accept anything over the internet. Tim will  have to deal with that tomorrow. I fail computers.

Amy's kittens

A surprise

As usual when I first arrive at the cattery I check each condo and count the residents and got to 64 cats and the last one . . . . was a rabbit, named Coco. Just in case you can't tell your pussies from your bunnies, the breed on the condo card is "Rabbit". I don't know where she came from. She must have arrived after 4pm when I spoke to Katie.

Coco

Diego is the last cat still in the boarding area. I think he prefers more action, and more folk to hiss at.

Diego

 

Nada and Tabitha have been moved to the main room. They may take a while to adjust.

Tabitha

Nada

Finn has adapted beautifully to his "sister" Lucky being adopted on Saturday. He is now the lord of his domain.

Finn

Also adopted over the weekend were Oreo and Lucky together, TinTin, Jetta and Champ. Well done weekend teams!

The Wednesday team decided that Amy's kittens need names: there are 2 girls and a boy. So we decided on Angel, Annie and Andy. Angel is the lightest coloured one.

Angel, Annie, Andy

Their mum seems to have divorced them. She spent all day on the highest ledge where they can't get to her. 

I took advantage of a quiet afternoon to give Scrat and Puss clean hammocks. They thought it was the perfect opportunity to get more smooches as I had to put my upper body into their wheely cage to tie the strings. I didn't mind too much. I chose the biggest hammocks.

Puss and Scrat

Babies!!

 Robyn reports:

This morning was very exciting! Beauty had babies! Sofia called me over and said "I think Beauty has given birth". And she sure had! 

Beauty's first

Very hard to see with all the black fur but I did manage to get a pic later of the grey one. 

 

Beauty's second, perhaps

Lucky that Prue had put a hammock in on Wednesday! We didn’t want to disturb her too much. I think there were 3 when I left but Prue will know all the details by now. 

And Amy’s kittens wobbled out after a feed. I got the 3 of them second time around. 

Amy + 3

There is also Puss +Scrat sharing a hammock. Scrat’s face is priceless. 

Scrat (left) and Puss (right)

Prue, later:

Don't know how many babies Beauty had. Tim was concerned about their position in a hammock high above the floor of the wheely cage. I had put a low box with a blanket in it at ground level for her to carry her babies down to but he feared that the babies might bounce out of the hammock when she left it for dinner. So we carefully untied the bows that tie the hammock to the bars and lowered mum and bubs to the waiting box below. Beauty didn't even hiss.

As I arrived, many hours before this last task, the man who adopted Flynn and Toby rode up in the lift with me. He came to collect the pair of bowls on a stand for them. He says that they are marvelous. Nervous Toby chose to be best friends with his confident daughter and friendly Flynn has gravitated to his rather reticent son. Toby can open cupboard doors and close them with his tail. He has bought them a humongous cat tree. Everybody is very happy.

Then the women who came in August to adopt Charlie came back for a cat to keep him busy at 4am. . . . so that they can get some sleep. They chose Malabar (she being the only single, female cat available and suitable). I am sure that Malabar will keep him in line.

Foster fails hurrah

 Remember Lillian? She was in the far corner of Boarding when she first arrived with her two very handsome kittens. They got adopted, eventually, and she went to foster. Today her foster mother came to adopt her. Hurrah! She is not a lap cat yet but is very settled into her new home.

Lillian

And Daisy is back and will be adopted by her fosterer on the weekend. She is not a happy cat. Didn't eat anything all day. I think she was in Incoming briefly before having kittens.

Daisy

We are up to 75 cats in residence including Amy and her three grey tabby kittens. Doesn't her expression say "one step closer and I will rip your . . . . arm off!"

Amy + 3

So Safe Haven's kitten season has started. Irene tells me that there are at least 5 mothers and baby kittens in foster as well as several bottle baby fosterers. 

And we have more surrendered cats since last week including Finn and Lucky who are in mourning for their real home.

Finn and Lucky

Our earlier surrenders Puss and Scrat are settling in well and love any kind of attention (but not our chrunchies). The rabbits have gone to foster homes so I don't have a photo for last week's blog.

I decided that as Chris and Beauty are from the same colony and probably related, that their wheely cages could be a bit closer together. Chris played footsies with Beauty from his comfy hammock while she was on her wire shelf.

Chris and Beauty

So I strung a hammock below her shelf and tried to encourage her to get off it. Food didn't work. Time didn't work. So I had to apply the squeeze by raising one end of the shelf. 

Beauty

She got the message and moved. But by the time I left she hadn't climbed into the hammock.

Scout went first

I expected a busy afternoon because of the number of calls in the morning about Scout, Latte and Harper who were newly on our webpage. So while the team was doing all the work in the morning, I made sure that they looked clean and neat.

Latte, Scout, Harper (clockwise from the back row)

For most of the morning they were separated one to each level:-- litter level: Latte, lower hammock: Harper, top hammock: Scout. I decided, before 1pm which is OPEN for Adoption time, that I really should know who was Scout and who was Latte. I couldn't find Latte's microchip and he cringed under the lower shelf so that I couldn't run the detector over him properly.

The first folk who came for them were really more interested in something smaller. So the second folk who said "I just fell in love with Scout" adopted him. His new owner is the flat mate/great friend of the woman who adopted Sock some time ago. Sock is doing really well and they think she needs a friend. Scout is it.

The first folk really fell for Summer and Autumn and we sent a message to Steph so that she can approve that adoption. . . . or not. They liked other kittens as well.

The third folk arrived wanting a bonded pair. As they are experienced at fostering shy cats I showed them around all our potentially difficult bonded pairs. And they chose Latte and Harper who, by this time were cuddled together on the top hammock. Latte was so blissed out that I could easily run the microchip detector all over him and found the wretched thing which matched his paperwork. 

We have 70 cats in residence. No boarders. The two who arrived on Friday afternoon have recovered from the shock and horror somewhat. They Puss (B & W) and Scrat (Grey & white) are large armfuls of loving cat.

Puss

Scrat

The play place has been taken over by Leo, a Bengal. He was loud before I fed him but settled well after that. He did enjoy looking out of the window when I put him on the window shelf.

Leo

 

There are a pair of kittens under Snitty. I have only seen one. Catsie, who cleaned them, assured me that there are two squeezed into the scratchy pole.

Tinker and/or Mayka

And sad Jumi is near Tara and Bodhi who are both supposed to be 5 years old but one is twice the size of the other.

Jumi