Adoption tails: Silky has stuck

 Silky came to Safe Haven from a cat colony in late October 2020. Mimi is her mother, Soxy her brother, she had a litter of kittens at Safe Haven.

She was adopted on 31/7/21.
1 day: Silky is in the office upstairs hiding under the wardrobe. At nighttime she did use the toilet. The entry of the office does not have a door rather a gate with bars.
Her owner told Irene on August 2 that Silky got out through the gates and is now downstairs under the sofa. The other cat Milly is in the same vicinity and Silky hisses when Milly comes near the sofa. Irene suggested to try and tempt Silky back upstairs, but in the bedroom, which has a proper door. She told her that Silky is very food motivated suggested using high value food. Silky is still quite overwhelmed, so it would be too early to have Silky and Milly in the same room.

Silky

 

1 week: Silky is back upstairs in the office and her owner has 'Silky proofed ' the gate.

1 month: Silky is very active, plays with her toys and approaches her owner to play but does still not like being touched. Milly, the resident cat and Silky run around together a lot. Initially it was Milly behind Silky now they also run the other way around. Silky watches everybody quite happily but runs away when anyone comes too close.

Harry and Harley Adopted 14/8/21
1 day: H & H have been hiding under the bed (as expected). They have been eating when it's dark but haven't used the toilet yet.
1 week: Harry and Harley have settled in very well and getting more confident by the day.
1 month: Harry and Harley are doing well. They love their food and that is the only time they 'talk' to their owner. Most of the time they just play and keep each other company. 

Harry and Harley

Will Silky stick?

 Soxy is back. His new owner is frightened of him. He was very pleased to see me this afternoon. I think he, like Mini, is really happy to be back home.

Soxy

 

Wilson went to the vet this afternoon for his vet check. So I took Petal into the play place to see how she would cope. She was fine while I sat on the floor with her while she explored. Then I got my lunch and took off my mask and she hid under the tall scratchy pole. After lunch, Robyn arrived as did some customers. Katie was going through the paperwork with another woman who adopted Daisy. So I popped the masked Robyn in with Petal. They had a lovely time. Lots of cuddles and happy to be carried back to her condo. Do masks make us more appealing to cats?

Petal

The customers were a mum and her two kids (under 10). They have been enjoying looking after a pair of older cats that a friend left with them when she went overseas. Covid struck, the friend was stuck overseas, the kids really got used to having cats to play with. Then the friend came back and claimed her cats back. They thought initially that they'd like older cats like the ones they looked after. So I introduced them to Marigold and Mini who both behaved beautifully and let little kids pat them (Who'd a thunk it!) After lots of consultation with mum, photos taken, extra pats with Patches (who didn't behave very well and George hid) they chose Tip (because that will make more boys in the family than girls). 

Tip

Tim quickly vaccinated him and they took him home. Lucky Tip will have a great life. And perhaps Socks will accept Mo as a hammock mate now.

Alice brought in her kittens (in floods of tears). They hid in the box until I coaxed them out with a magic ping pong ball. There are two black kittens, Barrington and Hiccup. Barrington is bigger. The tuxedo is Momo and the tabby is Gia.

Momo

Gia and Barrington or Hiccup

Adoption tails: Mimi

She is back. The older man who adopted her at the beginning of July expected her to become a lap cat within 24 hours. He didn't put her into a room with a closed door with everything she needed and let her learn her new surroundings and routines gradually. He tried to force the relationship and got swiped. We all know how accurate Mini is with her swipes. He was advised to let her decide when she is ready for more contact. There were frequent phone calls between us and the new owner and his friend but the owner decided that she wasn't right for him. He had a real struggle getting her back into the cat carrier, so perhaps she didn't want to leave. It took three days. Here she is when she first arrived back in December 2020.

Talking of struggles and cat carriers: Silky gave Terry a black eye when he put her, with difficulty, into a cat carrier to be taken home. She too is hiding. So is Soxy. But their owners are being more patient with them and don't expect instant lap cat. 

Yesterday I moved Mini to a stand alone from the single condo she was in because I remembered how much she liked it in the stand alone. She let me pat her, scrunch the base of her tail and lift her into the wheely cage. She is happy to be back, I think.

Gobsmacked

Since I left on Friday at 3:30pm, Soxy, Silky, Amber, George and Lechusa have been adopted.

They have left in the order that they arrived.

I was going to clean the back windows . . .

I did a vet run with the tuxedo's in Incoming first thing. Tim told me to take Socks and Tip. Who is who? He said that Mo is the one who is hardest to catch and has the smallest moustache. But he did microchip Socks and Tip just in case I managed to catch Mo. (One of them is a girl, by the way)

I returned in the afternoon to clean windows but it got busy. A potential fosterer arrived and talked to/at Tim for at least an hour. He measured up for some more shelving. I put some cat carriers together. The first one took 20 minutes. The second one 7 minutes. The third one 4 minutes. And I had had enough and decided to share some chicken. A man brought in his daughter, when Katie was busy elsewhere, to check out Amber. I had just got to them with the chicken. They are not keen on chicken. They like hands touching them even less. The daughter is doing her HSC and has a 2 year old cat who is full of energy. The plan is to get a second cat to entertain the cat so that she can study/give her something to do while she studies from home. Amber really didn't cooperate. I introduced them to Silky who will take any amount of cuddles when there is chicken on offer. The daughter was interested even though Silky shrank away from her. And there are Santa Maria's brood who are very soft, friendly cats (except for George). They should be ready in a few days. They couldn't make up their minds so will bring Mum to help another day. I introduced them to Charlie on their way out because who can resist a Charlie. The one photo I took all afternoon was of Santa Maria standing up because this was the first time I had seen her on her feet.

(But I can share some of Joy's lovely photos from Wednesday.) Another man came in to look at Harry and Harley when Katie was busy elsewhere. He wants a pair of cats for his kids to grow up with. The kids are 4, 7 and 9. He had cats when he was a kid. I suspect that Harry and Harley would be better with older children. He agreed. I introduced Ginger and Lechusa who have just become available. He took videos of them (and Norma and Petite who will be ready really soon) and will be back after consultation with his wife. He loves cats and as soon as the kids go back to school and his shift changes at work he may come to volunteer with us.

Dolly liked her chicken but not as much as cuddles as Joy found out on Wednesday.

Sandy sideswiped

It was her car, not her, sometime during the morning when she was slaving away doing angelic deeds. Unfair! Riley was being adopted as I arrived. She is to live with a primary school aged boy and a big brother cat. They know that she doesn't like to be picked up but are prepared to play with her until she gets used to the idea. Coco and Mason were in the play place overnight. Jasmyn was sitting with them when I arrived so I grabbed the nail clippers and she held squiriming cats while I clipped off gigantic claws. Coco's in particular looked dangerous because they were large and pearly against her brown fur. Front and back paws were done so they shouldn't get caught up in their bedding and come to fistycuffs any more. After fogging the playplace, Megsy had a go. He loved it (and tolerated having his front claws trimmed: he kept getting his feet caught while exploring all over). Late in the afternoon a woman dropped by with a donation of food for cats and dogs. I popped her into the play place with Megsy and she would have taken him home because he was so loving. But her parents would "kill" her. Everybody reacted well to chicken. Some cats are getting easy to stroke, eg Silky. But others are resistant eg Marigold. Gingey just wanted the cuddles. Santa Maria too. I can see why her kittens like their box. She happily stays in her condo box all the time. Patches (or is it Snowy) was more interested in hugs than chicken and climbed all over me while I tried to engage Ginger and Snowy (or is it Patches) in the box.

I am tying to update the photos on file so that every cat has a picture. My computer refused to do it for a while but it seems to be working now. So I took photos of Romeo and Juliette. Still one in front and one behind the cat carrier.

And I tried to take a good photo of Dolly but it is impossible. She just wants to crawl into your arms and snuggle. Velcro would have been a more descriptive name for her.

Fifty barrier broken

I counted noses this morning. There are only 49 cats in residence! As I was counting, I saw that Buddy and Petey's door was open. They were sitting primly in their condo, side by side, as though butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. A little while later I went back to their corner and Silky's door was open! She looked at me as though to say "I just made it easier for you to feed me." Her sliding bolt could be a cm longer. But since Friday's clearance "sale" the following cats have been adopted: Bridie, Sabrina, Bobby, Candy and Apricot. James, who hasn't been in since last Wednesday was shocked. So I gave him this blog addy so that he can keep up, kind of. Welcome James. And Daisy, the pregnant cat has disappeared from Incoming. In her place is the marvellous Sir Dudley.

And the miniscule Billy who only does meals in bed.

Megsy is still with us but wants to break out of condo confinement. He lead Robyn a merry dance when she tried to clean his condo.

Another of Santa Maria's kittens ventured out of the box this afternoon. She is pretty. The two who are out most of the time (five kittens do not fit into one Purina box) are very friendly. I got kisses on my forehead.

Another still in hiding one is named Ginger: no prizes for guessing what colour he is. And out back, Honey, she of the two yummy kittens in Boarding last month or so, is back. She has had her flank shaved. There is a little cut with no stitch. I can only guess that it was a tubal ligation via keyhole surgery. But why shave such a swath of fur? She is not in the best of moods and bit Joy who was just trying to be friendly.

Tom and Jerry and co are in the play place. They were having a lovely time when I arrived good and early but then slept the rest of the day until I enticed them with milk. A trainee spent some time with them and only the fluffy boy would play nicely with him. The rest rested:

Chicken lick'n kittens

I defrosted the chicken that I had not finished some weeks ago in the microwave. It has a "frozen dinner" option which I tried. Mistake. I checked it after 2 minutes and the middle was frozen and the edges were boiling. So everybody who had a nose knew there was chicken and had to wait. Kendra in the Boarding area is the furthest away from the kitchen and she was keen for food/chicken. Meanie me didn't give her any because despite being on a strict ID diet, her tummy is bloated to pregnancy size yet again. All her kittens are together again, out of isolation. They didn't get any chicken either, just in case.

Everybody out back loved their chicken. I gave Silky, Petey and Pearl a good pat and Ebony and Casper ate from the dish that I held (the first step)

Ashleigh would have done the same but she has gone. . . . home with Sandy who has a spare room just waiting for a foster cat. Lucky Ashleigh. The Hungergame kittens went wild for chicken. But they go wild for any kind of food. I took advantage of having chicken sticky hands to give them all a good cuddle. They then spent 15 minutes licking themselves and each other clean. While I was with them, Mimi, who has been moved to the corner on the other side of the door, wailed for her share of chook. When I gave her some she not only let me pat her but she purred. It is the chicken, not my magic touch.

Sooty and Tammy will not play the love chicken/love me game. And Marmalade would if only I was Tim. But Soxy loved both chicken and pats, as did Bridie. And Matty and Maddie only play give me the chicken or I will rip your hand off. They are going to a foster home tomorrow. The fosterer is coming on the bus. Irene has, I hope, arranged for a vollie to drive them all back home to Maroubra.

The one small containter of chicken didn't last very long which was good because I had to leave early to attend my nephew's daughter's naming ceremony at a synagogue in Woolhara. The container was scrupulously cleaned by Harry and Harley.

Incoming welcome

Now that we do not have any sick cats who need to be isolated, the outer office has an "Incoming" area. With occupants who must have come in last night after I talked to Tim at 4:45 pm. They are Whisky and Socksie (who should have been named Scotchie with a brother named Whiskey!) They take their job of welcoming seriously.

There were 81 cats in house despite the number adopted over the weekend. I had plenty of volunteers to fill in the gaps of Rod having to leave early to get his jab, and Katey arriving late because she has been worked hard housesitting dogs. But Catsie dropped by to help so everybody was happy. The Hungergames kittens (formerly the Gooey eyed kittens) are in the play place because all bar two of Silky's kittens are left and one of them, Sage has been adopted and will be picked up on the weekend. The Hungergames kittens are great purrers so should be snapped up quickly. A couple inspected each available cat/kitten this afternoon to choose a companion for their 2yr old girl cat and he liked Dale (Hungergame boy) but she liked the grey Japanese. So they went away to think about it.

Another couple came to get a little kitten. Any little kitten. The littler the better. The grey and white fluffy Japanese kitten appealed to her but he perhaps wanted something smaller. They may come back later. I did not show them Honey's kittens who are deliciously little. Barb Webster, who visited later, would have taken them home except that she knows how much work tiny kittens are.

Robyn had a lovely time with "her" litter. Button was not interested in eating today. But Belle is.

Just in case you wondered, Ashleigh is still with us. She looked perfectly relaxed on top of her carry cage this afternoon until I put the camera against her perspex to get a good photo. Too close, Prue.

And Mia and Bella still love each other despite the fact that they really need to be adopted. They would love each other much more if they had a little more space.

Ginger Express

There was a superfluity of day managers this afternoon: Tim, Irene, Katy and me. I busied myself filling the laundry shelves. They are full. I might have to relocate the feeding puzzles on the bottom shelf under the handtowels. . . . next week. Belle's kittens are no longer in quarantine. They are back where they were, above Ashleigh. While I fed Ashleigh some chicken, they tried to pat my hair with their paws. The idea is to get Ashleigh comfortable enough to take the food from my fingers, so I have to lean in to the back of her sleeping shelf because she backs herself into a corner. Which puts my head at the perfect patting place for Belle's kittens. They don't need to be enticed to be patted. Since Wednesday Skylar and Scooter have been adopted (the littlest kittens). We cleaned their condo and moved the Japanese family in there. They, being grey, will probably go over the weekend. Mimi won't have noisy downstairs neighbours for long.

Then I cleaned the quarantine condos, again. I really will put my headlamp into my glovebox for next time. Finished that job, I started to hand out chicken. Daisy wouldn't eat it. Mako wanted cuddles before chicken. Romeo ate it out of the bowl. I still haven't seen Juliet (or is it vice versa). I got around the corner and had a lovely head scrunching with Silky (!) and a stand off with Ebony (as usual) when Tim declared that he was off to collect cats. I'll go, says I. You have more important stuff to do. I picked up Magnus who has had his eyelid stitches removed.

He made a few comments on the way home. And Caesar who had three teeth removed including a canine. He will be on soft food for a few days. While I was gone, Daisy got adopted by the perfect woman for her. They will snuggle and love each other forever. Katy did the adoption. Daisy and her new owner are both camera shy.

Laundry redo

Firstly, Katy sent photos of Suki whom she is looking after lovingly at home.

I arrived late because my morning tennis was rained off after I left home. I went home and made another hammock. When I arrived I suggested that the laundry shelves be rearranged to put all the winter woolies together. Tim said that he would prefer that the dishes be moved to the shelves in the feeding area. So I suggested that the hand towels be swapped with them. So now we have (from right to left) first bay: top shelf face towels/washers, second shelf: hammocks on top of the modesty cloths and bath mats on the right. I later moved the dirty clothes bags from the top shelf to above the dirty clothes baskets on the feeding shelves.

Second bay: cuddles and small blankets

Third bay is all towels.

Fourth bay (next to the tall bookshelf) has big blankets on the bottom shelf, just in case we need to wrap a person in a blanket. Sheets, doona covers, etc which are good for draping over a wheely cage on the second bottom shelf. Very big towels on the top shelf with space there for . . . . .

And I moved all the bowls, each of which was a different size, to the top shelf of the food shelves where the hand towels used to be. They fit very snuggly. But, of course, when more are added the space occupied will expand exponentially unless there is a organising nazi is involved. (I mention no names). How long will this splendid organisation last? In the meantime, I made myself popular by handing out bits of BBQ chicken. Even Mako, the uncle of the Japanese kittens below was seduced. Before:

After chicken (at dinner time):

I fed Silky's kittens last and they got to lick out the chicken container. While they were licking, I picked each one up and give each one a good cuddle whether they wanted it or not. They might get adopted tomorrow.

We got two new cats today: Romeo and Juliette/Juliet. One is very shy, the other is more outgoing. Neither wanted anything to do with chicken.