Adoption Tails: Yoko and Linda

 

Yoko and Linda adoption day

 1 day: Yoko and Linda are settling in well. They have both been eating and are affectionate. There was a minor toileting incident but they have otherwise been fine with the litter box. Linda was immediately being affectionate and wanted to wander. They had some family come over in the evening of their first day so Yoko went into hiding. They didn’t know where they went and eventually found her. Yoko came around this afternoon. Both cats were next to the owners and were cuddling each other.

Linda, 1 day

 1 week: They’re both doing well. They still hide under the bed a bit. They come out for breakfast right at 7 am. Their owner has got them a scratching post and toys to play with. They are settling in well.

Yoko, 1 day

1 month: The cats are great. Yoko is settling in well and Linda is comfy. They have their spots in the unit and lots of toys to play with.

Linda and Yoko, 1 day

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.

Fresh air at last and Bye Bye Baby

 Somebody came on Sunday to install the ducting to force air into the AWL condos. It comes out of the gap around the glass fronts so the cats don't live under any extra air pressure. They just get good air circulation. The block of double condo's against the wall of Palace condos has been moved across the aisle to be beside the long double condo block. The block of single condos in Welfare will go into Incoming, eventually. They don't have the extra air yet. But the ones who do, look happier. Nada was sitting at the front of her downstairs this afternoon.

The stand alones which were behind the desk were moved across the aisle. I rearranged them so that Yoko and Linda are no longer in the major traffic way by the door. That space is taken by the cleaning trolley. They have been moved to beside the Palace condos where the double AWL condos used to be. And the other stand alone, which used to house Courtney but now has Dexter, is where the trolley used to be . . . opposite where Beauty was and where Macy is now. 

Macy

Opey was moved to Rosie and Callie's condo. (They were adopted!) As soon as I opened his door to feed him this morning he bolted out of the condo, ran around the room once and stopped in front of this old stand alone and cried to be let in. I could not entice him back to his new condo. So I moved all his stuff to his old stand alone where he grumbled and whinged but settled down by lunch time. There is a new ginger boy above where Rosie and Cally were whose name is Lobster. He is very friendly.

Lobster

 A kitten was delivered by a good Samaritan who rescued her from the middle of the road. She has 60 cats of her own at home so couldn't fit another. This kitten, Mary, is 3-4 months old, has flu, mucky eyes and the dirtiest feet that I have ever seen on a cat. She was rather overwhelmed but is friendly.

Mary

Then a nice lady came again. And chose Baby. She wants a cat who won't sit on her all the time. She was a little worried about the amount of hair that Baby was shedding. So I got a brush to see if Baby likes being brushed. Baby loves it. Sold! She had a cat carrier in the car but no litter so planned to stop at a shop on the way home. I gave her the opened bag of paper litter that we left for a vollie to take which has been on the shelf in the junk room for months. Bargain!

Whitney had a busy Sunday. She came in pregnant but her teats were not ready for kittens. Nevertheless kittens came. The smallest one, 60 gm, died but the 70 and 90 gram ones survived. But Whitney wasn't producing any milk or colostrum so it was decided that they should go to a fosterer willing to feed them every 2 hours. On Monday another mother cat in a foster home went into labour. It was obvious that she was struggling so she was taken to the vet. They discovered that she had a broken hip. Imagine the pain trying to give birth with that! Two kittens were born by Cesarean but the mother could not be help and was euthanised. These two kittens were added to the feeding foster mother. They are bigger than Whitney's. But we hope that by feeding Whitney like a lactating mum, we will be able to put all four into her capable paws soon.

Whitney

Empty boarding row

 Look at that! Completely empty after Wal-E went home today. All ready and waiting for the deluge (20 bookings) for the coming holidays. What a good thing, for me, the folk didn't realise that tomorrow is a public holiday and extend their vacation by two days. (They probably were not able to change their bookings!)

 After I finished feeding the Incoming cats their breakfast I went out back to find Cyber on top of the play place crying to be helped down. I thought I had put the clip on their condo after I fed them but can't have done it right. Where was Sammy? Not down the corridor, thank goodness, not under the merchandise shelves, not on top of the condos. Eventually I found him under the dirty washing tub shelf. . . . close to the food, of course. As I had helped Cyber down into the play place, I enticed Sammy with some food, picked him up and put him in there too. Too much excitement before 9am!

Star and Truffles had a turn in the play place too. Geoff has fixed the giant scratchy pole which Star really appreciated.

Star

Truffles

 There were three sets of visitors this afternoon, all female. The first older woman came to look at a replacement for her British shorthair who died a year ago. She wants somebody who will not sit on her too much because she has a bad back. A very experienced owner, she rather liked Duke. . . . what's not to like! She will come back in a few days when she gets back from babysitting.

Prue helping the new vollie by holding Duke

Then a young woman came looking for a friend for her 12 month old boy cat. She did fancy Pearl who is a loving armful now that she has got over the indignity of being surrendered. She needs to talk to her partner.

Pearl

Then a mum came in with her 3 daughters including twins who want a cat each. It was nice to be able to show the pairs. They had a good cuddle with Linda but Yoko didn't play nice. They will be back. The younger daughter liked Pluto but she doesn't sound at all well. . . . she gasps when she purrs. And Truffles loved the girls.

Pluto

Cleo is getting that  exhausted new mum look and eats everything given to her.

Cleo plus 4

 

Sorry

 I wasn't able to be at Safe Haven this afternoon. The kitties missed their chicken. I have a plan to give it to them next Wednesday. In the meantime, Max is back on the For Adoption list. And here are a couple more of Joy's photos from last Wednesday.

I found a really deep, high sided litter tray out back and transferred what was left of Mocka's litter  at 2:30pm into it. Most of her refilled litter was on the floor by then. I hope she knows how to use it without spreading the litter everywhere.

Mocha

Yoko and Linda mostly cuddle together in one hammock these days. Except when there is food on offer.

Up Close

 The Coffee kittens had been in the play place since we left them there on Wednesday afternoon. Nobody else got a turn. But we managed to get them back into their stand alone at dinner time and moved it to where Bean will be easy for his potential adopters to see him on Sunday.

Coffee kittens

A couple came in to meet Rikki. The girlfriend hasn't had a cat before. He is very experienced. She liked Rikki because she is an all ginger girl. He liked Mayka because she is so pretty and also Suzie because his previous cat died at 23 and he knows there is a lot of life left in Suzie besides . . . . Suzie liked him. I sent them away with all the accessories to think about it overnight. (And hope he can talk her into Suzie who would be the best cat for them). They have a ground floor flat with a fence type screen on their balcony which will be an escape route for either Rikki or Mayka.

Clyde came in with a pet shop donation. We are overwhelmed with expired food and clumping litter.

Two of the supermodel kittens have been desexed. One was wearing her collar properly. The other had hers around her hips. She might have wiggled out of it by tomorrow. 

the good supermodel kitten

Jayde reckons that the short tailed cats are Japanese bob tail cats. Dora is the tabby and white. Diego is the tuxedo. Can we give them Japanese names please? They have recovered from the shock of coming to us and are friendly.

Dora

Amelia was friendly too .

Amelia

. . . it was probably the chicken. And Mayka likes being beside the Beatle brides.

Mayka

Yoko typically more reserved

Linda, as always, in your face

Rabbit luck

 We heard the good news yesterday that Diego has been adopted by a woman who lives by herself so can give him all the attention and love that he needs. It was especially welcome news on Joy's birthday.

But nobody told me about the rabbits. They have both gone. I noticed the lack of their hutches as soon as I walked in the door but had to wait until Tammy (wrong spelling) arrived. She told me that Lily was adopted and that Coco has gone to foster. The fosterer emailed this morning to say that she was worried that Coco isn't eating and pooping enough. She sent photos of a very happy rabbit who spends most of her day out of her hutch (so I suspect that she has found somewhere else to poo.)

Coco

She sent other photos including one of Coco lying on her chest. She is Japanese so I gave her Mariko's email address and they can chat about rabbits. Mariko has been trying to plot how she could have Coco in her flat without the landlord knowing. Perhaps she will get visiting rights.

Nobody else noticed that hutches were gone. Not even Mariko who brought in greens and a bit of carrot! 

I have, of course, reorganised. Somebody put the hooded litter trays from the top of the stand alones to where Coco was. I put them where the Coffee shop kittens were. So now that wall near the entrance is all merchandise. I moved the Coffees to beside Linda and Yoko and moved the trolley to where the hutch was. Natalie did a fabulous job of cleaning and tidying it and Sandy threw out the plastic bag sausage and it's contents. Hurrah!

Later, after Mayka's play in the play place with Sandy, I swapped her and the Coffee's. She looked so much happier being out of the corner. The Coffees will just be happy not to be in the doorway and getting roused on for throwing litter all over the merchandise.

We have a new Diego on Naughty Row. Who has a Dora (should be Delores). I don't know who is who but both of them have bob cat tails! And are very friendly.

There is a Kiki where Ziggy used to be, on high. He must have got adopted too. And Chloe is back. She wasn't happy in her adopted home. She has hidden under the furniture for the past 6 weeks. But she seemed pleased to see me.

Chloe

Abby is where Theodore was. So he must have got adopted too. Abby is desperate for love. She tends to take your finger into her mouth. . .  not biting it, perhaps trying to suck. Skeley has cleaned herself up and is trying to get up the courage to be friendly.

Skeley

For the first time today Linda and Yoko shared a hammock. I was beginning to wonder if they are truely bonded but am now convinced.

Yoko and Linda

Somebody rang to say that they are coming to adopt Bean on Sunday.  . . . . OK!

Bean and bestie

Midsummer's big day

 I picked her up from Catsie's at noon. She snoozed in the car all the way to Safe Haven. Jayde claimed cuddle rights as soon as we walked in the door. (Midsummer lived with her when she was first found as a newborn on the street). I sent them to the play place where Florence was stretching her legs. Midsummer and Florence remembered that they didn't like each other. So Flo went back to her crate.

Midsummer is four times as big now

Then her adopter arrived. She asked if she could do the paperwork today and her sister would pick her up on Monday! What? The deal was take her today because we are full. We have no space for her. She could have stayed at Catsie's until next week. The adopter was convinced to take her today for which I am very grateful because Tim was there to guide me through the Shelterbuddy maze. It seems to have lots of quirks that weren't on the practice version. . . . just press refresh (F5) says Tim.

She got the fancy cloth carrier and a bag full of litter, food samples and paperwork and set off to Burwood by bus and train, then another train and another bus. I am glad she had a run around with Florence and some lunch before she set off. 

Then a couple arrived to investigate the possibility of trying out a kitten. He was keen. She is allergic to mites and remembers sneezing mightily when she slept with a pair of long haired cats as a child. The dry food we feed the cats is supposed to decrease the allergic-ness of cat hair and dander. Will it work for her? I suggested that they foster to adopt to try it out but Tim says we don't have any cats suitable at the moment. So they talked and talked and will probably be back tomorrow to adopt Bart. He really wanted Maggie but she hasn't been desexed yet because of her heart murmur.

Bart and Lisa

Then a pair of folk came to inspect us and our procedures to make sure we are a safe place to work. They wanted to know all about our fire escape plan, if we used safety harnesses when working more than 1.6 m off the ground, if our power tools were all safety checked, etc, etc. Amazing amount of paperwork for a one roomed establishment on the first floor of a fairly new building. While she ticked the not applicable boxes, he decided that he needs a tuxedo kitten like Bean or Dynamo

Dynamo

to go with his small grey and white kitten. He might be back tomorrow too. He really fancied Oreo but somebody else might want her.

Oreo f

Or there is Violet.

Violet

Not to mention Yan and Yin. We are spoiled for choice of tuxedos at the moment.

I thought that Yoko and Linda were adopted yesterday because they disappeared from the website. But it turns out that they don't have microchips.

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.

Moving stand alones

 Rosanna decided that it would be nice if the Coffee Shop kittens could go into the play place for some exercise and to give them more exposure to possible adopters over the weekend. But didn't fancy carrying each one there. No probs, says I, remember those crazy cats who used to be wheeled into the play place in their stand alone. Open the doors and they went out to play. Come dinner time they rushed back into the cage when their food was in there. Close the doors and wheel them back. We could do that.

But, the Coffee Shop kittens were in the three wheeler stand alone. They regularly make a huge mess under it when the cage falls of the block that is not a wheel, the litter tray tips sideways, and four kittens dig with delight. So we decided to move them into the stand alone that Linda and Yoko moved into on Wednesday. 

Linda loved being in the play place while their cage was cleaned but Yoko hid in a hidey hole. The Coffee Shop kids were quite easy to move into Yoko & Linda's cleaned, sterilized, four wheeler. Once they had recovered from the move, they were let out in the play place and had a ball. Max will have something to watch.

A coffee shop kitten

Their three wheeler was cleaned and sterilized and Yoko and Linda moved in. (They had a short stay back in Boarding which they rather liked).

Linda and Yoko

Their three wheeler is now next to the cleaning trolley which is much easier to move out of the way to clean if the fourth wheel/block falls over. And we have wall space back beside the merch shelves while the Coffee Shop kids and their stand alone are in the play place. I even remembered a new battery for the clock.

Been a while since we've seen this wall

Midsummer was successfully desexed yesterday. Her diaphragmatic hernia has disappeared. She is staying at Catsie's until she needs to go back to the vet to have her stitches out. She will have a lovely time discovering sunshine, furniture, a courtyard, and laps. . . . . once she gets the collar off and can walk properly.

Midsummer and Catsie

And she will be out of sneezing range of Florence who enjoyed four helpings of chicken this afternoon.

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!)