Belle update #2

Belle and kittens going well.

Little Buffy (the tiny one) is feeding well and has a nice plump tummy.

There is another one who is a bit of an acrobat - feeding upside down with legs hanging out. Hilarious!

Belle is coming out of her shell and comes into the other room for a play the last 2x days. Although today she heard Anthony outside the door and started growling. It was more funny than threatening. He's going to start spending short stints in there each day to help Belle adjust. And tomorrow he is giving her 2 feeds.

Belle is no longer bony all along her spine! She is so lovely and friendly.

A little birdie told me. . . .. . Rod saved the day

Last week I took two bags of dirty washing home. An occasional chirp came from a bag which was easy enough to ignore. On the way back to Safe Haven today with two bags of washed sheets, hammocks, towels, toys. . . .the same bird chirped happily all the way. It would not be quiet. It was so happy to be going home. Sandy unpacked the bag of cleans and immediately commented on the chirp. She gave it to Star's kittens in the play place and it chirped happily for as long as they were in there. A happy bird. Later, Sandy went to do the washing and found the the plug/strainer wouldn't hold the water in the sink. She couldn't fix it, I couldn't fix it, Rod couldn't fix it so he went to Bunnings while Sandy, herocially, washed up in the small sink. The bloke at Bunnings said that the washer was on upside down! Imagine designing a washer that has a right side! Must have been a plumber that thought that one up. So we now have two spare washers in the tool box and the old one is working in the sink. Thank you Rod. The three grey kittens of Mini who were desexed last week all have been adopted since then. The one that I couldn't catch, Myra, was desexed yesterday. This afternoon she would have been adopted by a young couple who missed out on the other grey kittens. They WANT her but will have to wait until she is cleared for adoption. Lunar's kittens were also desexed yesterday. Another young couple came to check out a suitable cat to go with their small dog to replace a rescue cat who died a couple of months ago. Eventually, they decided that Belle, without Mia, would be perfect. More decisions for Tim to sort out as neither are available at the moment. Rosie really liked them. But she is not on the available list either.

We have new kittens: Three from Clare who are not necessarily from the same litter.

The three who had been fostered by Bronwen are settling down:

One arrived yesterday and is called Leaf.

Last week Tim put a couple of large boarding cats in the play place. I took this surreal photo of the cat and the outside of our building from the balcony

: Soxy is growing up.

Emerald update 1: Irene reports

I just read the update on Isabella, so I thought I might just send you a photo of Emerald as well. The remaining 3 kittens are doing well, although we are a little concerned about the little Calico. Fingers crossed.

Coincidence or Psychic?

Around 10:20 this morning I thought "I should phone Tim to see if there is anything I can pick up before I go to Safe Haven this afternooon". Five minutes later he rang me to ask if I could come in early because the third vollie did not show up. I asked if he wanted anything on my way. He answered "No thanks." Soon after I arrived a family came to find a companion for their difficult cat. Irene, eventually, handed over Dobby who played beautifully with the young girl. They went away to think about it. It was a good thing they didn't put their noses into Dolly and Dobby's bed box. They were moved to below Mimi and Macey yesterday. In that time they managed to poo twice on their bed and saturate it with urine. That pretty, pink, fluffy bed is now in the rubbish. No way was it going into my washing machine! Shortly after the family, the woman who rang about Hera on Wednesday arrived with her daughter. They were going to come as soon as a parcel was delivered. It didn't come until 5pm. Hera was not very friendly until I offered her some crunchies. In the meantime the chatty couple met all the other cats available. They have been following the webpage closely and were pleased to meet Apricot's brother Marmelade.

Marmie, of course, is not interested in anybody but Tim. They loved Macey and Mimi because they are so pretty. The daughter especially spent lots of time playing tootsies with Macey. They, eventually, went away to "think about it". They know there are lots of kittens in the pipeline but want a more mature cat for the elderly mum who wants a companion who won't bolt out the door or get underfoot. And Lauren arrived with Miles to adopt one of the cats that she has been fostering. Miles was a great help keeping Mimi/RubyG's kittens inside their condo while I cleaned them.

Even the boy came back from the vet with a collar. (I put them in their carrier cage on Wed morning before being savaged by the littlest). ((My thumb is fine, thank you)). Eventually all the visitors left and I could continue to clean condos. A couple of boarders had play time in the play place. They are big cats so appreciated being able to stretch out.

I cleaned Rita and co. Only the little silver and white tabby is still poorly. The other three are full of beans. I made some towelling cloths to line their hammocks out of left overs from sewing some new hammocks. Being germy from cleaning them up, I left at my usual time.

Belle update #1

Robyn sent some photos of the new mother.

I hope she will continue to document their progress. Meanwhile, last Friday she got a classic shot of Princess Octavia.

Home alone

Mini/RubyG's day started early. She and her kittens were due to go to a vet in Manly Vale to be desexed. So that Tim could sleep in, I elected to get to Safe Haven early and drive them there. That went well. I was ready to pop them into a carry cage at 7:15am. But her smallest kitten had other ideas. S/he did not want to go. S/he refused. S/he bit and scratched me S/he ran me around the room. I dripped blood while the rest of the family sat happily in the carry cage. When s/he decided to hide behind Lucky's condo, I decided that we had both had enough. S/he won. I put some food beside this bolt hole. Gradually, I moved it towards Mini's condo. Eventually s/he followed her/his nose and I could close the door behind her/him. (Would it be OK to use "it" for a genderless preposition?) I got to Manly Vale in record time (thankyou lockdown) and they were in the dark. Yesterday's storm had knocked out their power. We decided to leave Mini and co there because the sparkies said that the power would be back by noon. I explained that they had one less kitten to desex today. Later in the morning the vet rang to say that the sparkies wouldn't be able to fix the power until 4pm. So Mini and co will stay overnight and get fixed tomorrow. . . . hopefully. Irene was scheduled to pick them up at 4:30. I emailed Peter to let Irene know but he "never reads his Safe email". So Irene arrived to be told the tale. Fortnately, she said, it was on her way home anyway. She will pick them up tomorrow. In the meantime, I hope the smallest grey kitten doesn't miss its family too much. And that my thumb stops swelling! Apart from that drama, it was the normal, frantically busy day. When Lily is home alone she shreds her corrigated couch.

I noticed that one of Rita's kittens has been playing with scissors. Half of its whiskers are short. The other half are long. How did that happen?

Robyn's news is that Isabella had five kittens on Sunday afternoon while she and hubby went out for a walk! She missed her chance at being midwife. She has changed Isabella's name to Belle because the cat is so loving it is easier to coo Belle to her. Robyn will make up lots of B names for the kittens who are very cute. She has taken at least 100 photos alreaady.

I put Mimi and Macey in the play place this afternoon. Soon thereafter a family arrived to find a kitten. We don't have any. Shadow and Elliot were adopted over the weekend. Everybody else available is bigger. But the family went into the play place and found that Mimi is much friendlier that Macey. Macey eventually learned how to play with them. They may be back, or might hang out for a younger kitten. My computer is 10 years old and suffering from age related obscelence. But I have managed to upload some photos. Would have uploaded more if I had had time to take them.

RIP Nom: Liz reports

He was collected by his owners sister and to be taken to their vet for euthanasia. He recognised the young woman when he saw her. You may already know this but Tim had rung them on Christmas Eve to tell them that Nom no longer had much quality of life and suggested that they could take him home for a week or so. They refused saying they have another cat so they wouldn’t get on together although of course Tim had pointed out that Nom could be kept in a separate room. However when she saw him the sister acknowledged that he’s not the cat he used to be in terms of attitude but I think that came too late for him.