Split bin gone

 So we are back to 2 Willoughby bins. But they only emptied one of them this morning. Tim W phoned the council and they promised to empty it in the next day, or so. What a relief. Because I had schlepped out 22 bags of poo from the balcony, with their resident maggots, into other peoples bins there was only enough trash from today to fill one Cozens bin. I didn't fancy having to transfer bags from the Willoughby bin to the other Cozens bin. It would have been way overweight.

 No surprise, Mateo has been chosen. He will be picked up tomorrow. The woman who adopted him came for two kittens. Why didn't she choose Hui Hui and Daisy May? Put it down to Mateo's charm.

Irene wanted a photo of him for social media. He doesn't stand still long enough for a good shot.

Mateo ignoring Tim W and Sue

Wolfie sat still and watched. He had a wander time out today too.. . . . we still hope he will become an old persons' home cat.

Wolfie

So did Hui Hui and Daisy May. That woman should have chosen them.

Hui Hui and Daisy May

I think we should swap their stand alone position with Wolfie's so that they are nearest the front door and get seen by the incomers.

Wolfie only has two daughters left on the premises. I got the job of holding them while their condo was cleaned (because we were short on vollies this morning). A hard job but somebody. . . .. (gets lucky).

Wilhelmina and Wanda

Violet is off "wet food only". I think she likes the full tummy effect of crunchies.

Violet

Grumpy cat faces:

Greta in Incoming.

Greta

Mickey in Welfare

Mickey

Zoe, is more confused than grumpy now that she has moved from Incoming to Welfare. This is last week's photo of her in Incoming. Today, she wouldn't stand still for a photo.

Zoe

The A Team

 The cleaning team was in top form today. They even cleaned  the W kittens condo which was a mess. They had even thrown some poo out of their condo. I didn't see it. And I kneeled on it during the first morning feed. Luckily that was very early and I could take off my trousers, wash the poo off the knee and potter around in my knickers while they partially dried out on the balcony. They were back on well before the cleaning vollies arrived!

Later in the afternoon I let Le Clerk out for a wander. Wolfie, who is in the stand alone just inside the door was desperate to meet him. He is also deperate for food because he became accustomed to 6 meals a day while housed with his four daughters on Better Row.

Le Clerk and Wolfie

At the time, the girls were having a marvelous time in the Top Cat.

They are spectacular looking cats.

Wanda or Wynonna

Mateo had several turns at being out of his condo. He runs like a mad thing around  because he has so much energy to get out. I changed his stiff collar to an cloth collar (after consulting with Sue). That confused him for a while and he ran in circles but he soon got used to not being able to see out of the corner of his eye.

Here he is meeting the three extra kittens in the Palace. Don't know where they came from. They are shyer than the other three.

But the best news of the day is that somebody is coming to adopt Mia tomorrow, or the next
day. She has thrown a bare spot over her spine just below her shoulder blades just  because. . . . .

I hope it doesn't put her adopters off.

Working out the W's

 Joy took some lovely photos of Wolfie's kittens on Wednesday. But she couldn't work out who was whom. So I said that I would sort it out. . . . famous last words! And with Tim C's help, I think we know who is whom. They are all girls. Wolfie is their dad. Tim W held them while I took ID type photos. (Joy's will go on the website.)

Wanda

Wanda: no white fur

Wynonna

four white paws

Wilhelminna 

only 3 white paws, the back right one is a long white

Winnie

The last one: no white paws, White under nose and chin. Semi fluffy

Lovely separated spots!

I doubt that this will help Joy. But they will be adopted in a flash because they are lovely kittens.

Other things happening other than W's:

Lola's test results came back. She has a problem with her spleen. Human's can do well without their spleens. Don't know about cats. She was very happy to lick the chicken dish this afternoon.

One of Lilli's kittens is failing to thrive. She is only around 150gm and her sibling is 450gm. We tried, with varying success to give her bottle feeds, ointment for her gummy eyes, extra intraperitoneal fluid, hotties, cuddles, doxycycline.

For light relief, I let Mateo out for a run. He had a fabulous time belting around Boarding and Better Row. He stopped occasionally to touch noses with Gimli in the Play Place.

Gimli and Kiki were supposed to be picked up this afternoon. Their people have probably been delayed by airplanes or trains. Expect them tomorrow.

And a lovely lady will come on Monday to adopt Phoebe.

What happened to Linda's whiskers

 I put Linda and Yoko into the play place today. I wanted to give them a good brush. It worked last week when I brushed Bubbles (but not Cheena). They got adopted over the weekend. So I am hopeful that the brush will work its magic on L & K. Sammy and Cypher were adopted over the weekend too without any help from me. On one side of her face, Linda has a crop of short whiskers. The other side's whiskers are long and graceful. What happened?

Short ones with a few long ones

We tried Kiki in the Top Cat. She finally figured out how to get down, after I leaned the stratchy pole against her condo but wasn't very happy. She was much happier this morning playing soccer with a ping pong ball while lying in her carrier.

Long way down Kiki

Mia was happy as long as she was being cuddled. There are plenty of volunteers for that job. Mia is where Pluto was. Pluto has been adopted.

Mia with Sandy

Taylor also played soccer with his ping pong ball but he was bouncing about behind his igloo. I've never seen him so active in all the time he has been with us.

Taylor

Wanda has got over her horrors at being back in the institution and is the sweet mum cat who adopted two stray kittens along with her own and then had Midsummer added to the litter later.

Wanda

Lobster was adopted today to a family who missed out on Duke. They will probably change his name to Charles. He will come back as a boarder to delight his fans at Safe Haven.

Adoption Tails: Monica, Wanda, Oreo, Clover and Myrtle

Monica 5149 

1 day: Monica is settling in really well in the spare room. She's eaten, drunk & used the litter tray with no issues. Cuddled the blanket last night. Occasionally, she will get a little spooked with loud noises. She was let out to explore the rest of the home and has since returned to her own space. Monica was happy to cuddle with her owner. 

Monica

1 week: Monica is doing great, no concerns. 

1 month: Monica's doing really great, settled in really well. The whole family loves her.

Wanda 5096

1 day: Wanda is doing well but has tried to nip at her owner twice when she reached out to pat her. Other than that, no other incidents have occurred and Wanda is happily sleeping next to owner. 

1 week: Settling in well, Wanda has had a chance to explore her new home. Her new owner is happy so far and dealing with her grief from losing her previous cat.

1 month: Wanda is doing very very well in her new home. She jumps up for cuddles on laps. They are both very happy with each other. Her owner was able to stop Wanda from jumping into the high spots of the wardrobe and is now teaching her not to jump onto the kitchen counters. Wanda likes to wake her owner up at 5:30am to play.

Oreo 5124 (Ruby's kitten)

1 day: Oreo is doing well, she ate a little and drank quite a bit of water, she's also used the litter tray. The owner has got name ideas but still haven't decided on one yet.

1 week: Oreo's doing well, although the owner had to take her to the vet as she had an issue with her eye. They just gave an ointment to apply and it should be all good in a couple days. She's comfortable in the owner's room, but still a little hesitant to explore the rest of the house.

1 month: She's doing very well!

Violet's kittens

Clover 5076 (Violet's kitten)

1 day: Clover has had a little bit to eat last night but not today. She's used the litter tray once. The owner will keep the name. 

1 week: Clover is doing great, very cuddly and active.

1 month: Clover is great!

 

Myrtle

1 day: She has not used the litterbox. She has eaten and maybe drunk water. The owner is going to keep her name. She is currently hiding under a bed near the heating vent. She is okay and he thinks he heard her meow during the night.
1 week: She's still hiding. Her owner is leaving the door open at night because she seems to want to explore at night. He is giving her limited access and there are no potential exit points for her.

Myrtle

 1 month: Myrtle seems to come out at night when it's quiet. She eats, drinks and uses her scratching box. She has explored the whole house and seems to enjoy the upstairs rug as it is always in a muddle in the morning. She has retreated back into her safe room after he talked to her but she is making slow progress.

Flu largely gone

It worked . . . . either my blog title from last week or the antibiotics . . . . but we are largely free of flu at the moment. Ginge and Sabrina are still sneezing but Florence is clear headed and full of bounce. As is Ricki. And all the snufflers in Welfare, including Dynamo, are much better. But we almost lost Star on Saturday. Terry was in today being, as usual, our hero by delivering a full load of litter from Arundel Park. He said that at 5pm last Saturday, Star suddenly couldn't breathe. Luckily Dr Kim was in her surgery and dealt with the problem. Star is on very fancy antibiotics and looks well today. All bar one of her kittens are off flu treatment.

Akela or Rafiki

Now that these kittens are getting used to us and more friendly, I must figure out who is who.

As usual, I didn't get around to taking any photos. Luckily Joy was in. Her photos are much better than mine because I use a camera and she has a fancy phone.

Bean

Cocoa (left) and Mocha

Latte

 The coffee shop kittens were in the play place when I arrived. (Thanks to the poo bag fairy who only left 5 bags for me to schlepp out to the garbage cans). They hopped back into their wheely cage for breakfast and spent the day supervising from the front door. 

Fern, Linda and Yoko, Mayka had turns in the play place before the Coffee kittens went back overnight.

Nobody was adopted over the weekend but Myrtle and Wanda went earlier this week. Myrtle went with an older man who came in a couple of weeks ago. His was a considered choice. Myrtle came out of her shell very well in the interim. And Wanda was adopted by an older woman. Almost all of the cats in Welfare are available for adoption now. There are 36 cats and one rabbit listed on our website!

And today, there was an emailed enquiry about Coco, the rabbit. Somebody wants a companion for their lop ear boy who has lost his mate recently but plays nicely with the puppy, has full run of the house and is getting the garden rabbit proofed! Sounds perfect. So I gave her extra cuddles today . . . just in case.

Visited by poo bag fairies

 I have a very sore throat (RAT negative) so I was delighted on this very cold morning to arrive at Safe to find the balcony empty of poo bags. Many thanks to the poo bag fairies who made my morning easier. Last week there were 26 bags to take down.

No adoptions today but a young woman arrived to check out our kittens. The family cat died a year and a half ago and the family feels ready to take on another. She was taken by Ebby (being our smallest kitten available) but has to share the decision with her mother and her sister. She will be back when they get home from holidays. Some folk take a long time to get over a cat.

Ebby

On the other hand, an older woman rang to ask if we have any kittens. Her cat died of liver failure aged 17 two weeks ago and she is bereft without a cat in the apartment. She will come on the weekend when her "boys" can drive her. They can also show her our web site as she doesn't do computers.

The Supermodel litter (Cindy, Helena, etc) are getting a bit friendlier but do not like having stuff put in their eyes. Luckily only two need the uggy ointment. So the other two are getting more pats.

Kate, Naomi, Cindy and Helena

I made a couple of hammocks for the Cannin Condo. Star's kittens say that only one kitten fits at a time.

They are still sneezing although their ring worm lesions look better.

Wanda is off to be desexed tomorrow. (She is looking positively plump). Monica is off for the op as well.

Wanda

Last night Tim had to rush Adelaide to the vets because he was very sick. Didn't hear what happened. Sydney looked lonely.

More Gingers

 Since last Wednesday, Gracie, Dumpling and Matteo have been adopted from Safe Haven and Suga and Hazelnut from foster. To counterbalance that outflow, we have new cats, currently parked in Boarding but soon to be elsewhere. Like Puma who is a young (6-12 month old) ginger whose fur reminds me of a Burmese's fur. But his face is all ginger DSH:

Puma

He is a loving armful and had a fine time in the play place.

Next door is Monika who most folk would call a boy because most gingers are boys.

Monika

But poor Zoe (not the old one but a new one) in Incoming went to the vet to be checked and came back a Zack and without any teeth. He is on soft food only at the moment. The old Zoe has gone to foster along with Archie and Beckie. I had a frantic phone call at 8:30am from her fosterer to say, on a very bad line, that she had found a paw in her carrier. I called back and learned that it was a claw not a paw so explained that cats shed their claw sheaths regularly. Peach also went to the vet and came back without any teeth. She has retired to her bed box.

Back to the new kids in Boarding. There is Yoko and Linda. Don't know who named them. Or who is who.

Yoko and Linda

And there are two new mums with kittens that Joy didn't get a photo of. Next time.

In the meantime, Cheena and Bubbles are settling down with us.

Cheena and Bubbles

And Wanda's kids are ready to move to the Cat Room and get adopted. . . . but only if those blinky eyes are not flu. . . . ..

Quentin, Bingo, Pickles, Squiggle

(Can we please change Squiggle's name to Squire. Imagine how undignified the cat will be as an adult being called Squiggle!)

Fork lift

 The day started with a phone call from Rozelle from a retired nurse who is mad for Persians and wanted to come visit Luigi and Bambi. She has had Persians before and especially loves red Persians like Luigi. She wanted chapter and verse about their medical history and I said that Tim would know more than me. "I am on my way anyway" she said. And we hurried to clean up them and their condo which was in the usual state of havoc as somebody had poo'd out of the litterbox and wee'd on it to make sure. Then sat in it. I dried Luigi's legs and paws while Rod scrubbed. We got them looking splendidly fluffy and she didn't turn up. She phoned at 4pm to say that she would come tomorrow because when she set off in the morning the rain was so heavy that she couldn't see where she was going. I doubt they will look as spruce tomorrow but she is very keen.

The day ended with the delivery of something corrosive to next door. The driver called up on the intercom to ask if I had a fork lift to get it out of his truck. No. Eventually we arrived at the compromise that he would drive his truck to the basement entry (too big to drive in), unpack the pallet on which was one 20gallon carboy of 90% acetic acid (that is a lot of salads!) onto our trolley, I signed all the paperwork and trundled it up to Suite 18. I have thought of a good payback: John can come and clean the really high condos. Only he is tall enough to reach their ceilings.

This morning I noticed that Violet's kittens were having trouble getting to the upper level of their condo. She hangs out upstairs. They claw up the mesh to get to her. So I added a stratchy box downstairs and put their fluffy bed upstairs. They had a marvelous time running up and down. Quite exhausted Violet who flaked out on the fluffy bed.

Violet + 4

Wanda has been separated from "her" kittens. She is delighted that she doesn't have to share her food any more.

Wanda says "MY bowl"

She is below Ricki who might be pregnant. There was not signs of any kittens today.

Ricki

Google says: The 'ginger gene' which produces the orange colour is on the X chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes and so need two copies of this gene to become ginger, whereas males need only one. This means there are roughly three males to one female ginger cat.

 

Full of boarders

 I was going to count the number of cats today, but didn't get around to it. Another boarder arrived who has stayed with us before. He was not amused. His owner says that he has trouble with his teeth so I suggested we give him TD's instead of the harder chrunchies. He might be very happy by the time she comes back.

I was just handing out the last of the chicken (there is never enough) when a family of mum and 3 twenty-something daughters arrived for one daughter to choose a loving cat, not too young, that would be happy to be left all day while she works in retail. She rather fancied Sabrina's Mocha (Sasha has already been adopted but not picked up) but the family advised that two kittens would be happier at home alone all day than just one. She then fell in love with Trixie but really can't afford the possible expense of her gingivitis. After Tim told her all about Trixie's history past and possible future, she looked harder at Po who decided that she liked the whole family, rolled on her side, kneaded the air with her front paws, let herself be picked up and cuddled by all the daughters. Perfect match. And a bargain at $230 because she is 6 years old. We started the paperwork at 4pm. 

I took a couple of quick photos so that there would be something for the blog. (Didn't get one of Po because her new family was recording her every move.)

The D kitten with the slow heart rate who had an electrocardiogram is just fine. His heart speeds up when it needs to. He is just a super fit, athlete type of cat.

D boy, the athelete

D girl who looks scared but really isn't

Sabrina's kittens are all ready to go. This may be the last time they are all together in the Canin condo. It will probably be just Sabrina there by the end of the long weekend. They all got their vaccinations this afternoon and at one stage all escaped. I was handing out chicken at the time so they were really easy to catch.

Sabrina + 6

Wanda had time out from her four on Katie's chair.

Wanda (not winking but one sore eye still)