Not yet

 The bins have not been delivered yet.

But this afternoon the woman who adopted Tibby and Tabby on Wednesday brought back the carrier that I loaned to transport them. ( I was not prepared for them to decide that they would put off adopting the cats because they didn't bring a carrier with them!) I, momentarily, didn't recognise her. She looked younger and happier. She said that Tibby and Tabby are still a little shy but are settling in well and are delightful.

Lola had an adventure yesterday. She has been allowed out at the end of the day to explore "Opies Room". Somehow, the Thursday person locked that door. When Geoff arrived on Thursday rather than on Friday he found Lola missing. And learned that she was locked in Opies room. So he climbed through one of the moveable tiles in the passageway ceiling, wiggled through the ceiling space, dropped down into Opies room so he could let Lola out and back to her stand alone for her dinner and medication. She is on thyroid meds which come in the form of a cream to be applied to alternate ears. I discovered this afternoon when doing the night feed, that she will only let you touch her ear if there is something particularly delicious in her dish. 

There are a new pair of cats on Better Row: Tori and Mabel. Where did they come from? Horrid photo with a flash because they hide.

Tori and Mabel

But, for some reason, Hana was out this afternoon. She needs to be brushed. That is the next big challenge!

Hanna

Mothers Day was having a preview this afternoon. A father and daughter arrived to check out the cats to find one who would go with their whimpy dog. Ginger George wouldn't have any problem with a dog.

GG trying to look innocent on the filing cabinet where the treats were stashed

 

Then a mum with her two teenaged daughters arrived to look for a cat. They liked Ginger too. And Maeve. So tomorrow might just be busy.

New bins

 Tim has organised a new rubbish collection for a twice weekly pick up of the garbage: 2 bins for this. And one bin for cardboard waste. Hurrah. Except that the bins didn't arrive as promised yesterday, or today. Perhaps tomorrow!

We comforted ourselves by adopting cats.

A couple arrived at 5 to 11 to adopt Delilah who was in a foster home in Hornsby. She arrived at 5 past 11. 

Then a lady arrived to look for a cat to replace her older cat who recently died. She had picked out Libby, Ginger George and Max from the web page. She met them all but didn't click until she met Maeve who was delighted to meet somebody who was prepared to give her all the attention that she wants.

At that stage another couple (mother and daughter) arrived looking for a pair of cats. I showed them the usual suspects and they fell under the spell of Tibby and Tabby. The mum said that her daughter really needed somebody to love. Perfect! And the mum is a doctor. Perfecter! And they live in a small apartment with no stairs. Perfectest! Done deal.

Then my friend Liz arrived to get a pair of cats. She wanted somebody that she could pick up.

Ginger George likes to be picked up

But who to pair him with? After introducing her to Vivienne and Calvin, the job was done. Her grandson will be delighted. As will her husband. (Thanks for the photos Robyn).

Calvin and Vivienne

Calvin and Vivienne's stand alone was cleaned for Hank and Princess. The sign says that you can get to the litter tray through the door on the side of the stand alone. Princess just came back from the vet.

 And Chia and kittens moved into Tibby and Tabby's condo.

Meanwhile the lady who loved Maeve, moved on to Maisy and fell deeper in love with her. She will be back on Saturday to adopt her. So much for wanting an older cat! It was mutual and irresistible.

Maisy

Meanwhile, in Incoming, I asked if the stand alone by the door had been cleaned this morning. Katie and Tim assured me that it was and that one of the torties there loves to play with water and flip the wet litter all over the place. What a grub. Her sisters are not impressed.

It was you

Adoption Tails: Peanut, Simba, Chichi

Lexi (previously Peanut)

 1 day: Peanut is now Lexi. She is very relaxed and comfy at the moment. She has been very active and playful, eating and drinking really well. She has used the litter.
1 week: Lexi is a family member now!
1 month: Lexi is doing pretty well. Happy and healthy!

Grilka (previously Chichi)

1 week: She's fitting right in and have started sleeping in amongst the other cats on the bed and getting more and more confident by the day. Her initial nervousness is slowly leaving as she gets to know the other cats and she is very affectionate around us.

 1 month: Chichi, now Grilka, has been registered and is very happy at home. She cuddles up on the bed often, and will loudly greet the owners when they walk in the room. She thoroughly inspects the litter trays as they are being cleaned and enjoys snacking every now and then. She is getting along well with the rest of the cats, especially Sarek, Moogie and Cherry (the dog). She often sleeps with the last two in a room the owners have affectionately dubbed "The Grumpy Old Lady Room" which just so happens to be the owner's gaming office. "Thank you for allowing us to adopt her."

 

 Mango (previously Simba)

1 day: Things are going amazing! Simba is now Mango. His safe room is the laundry at the moment. He found the door to the rest of the house immediately and wanted to be outside though it seemed too much when he got out so the family put him back. Mango is staying in his small kingdom for now. He ate dinner AND breakfast, did a poop and drinking water. He's been giving lots of cuddles and pets. He and the owner are currently watching some youtube in his safe room. They're the bestest buds already!

1 week: Mango has settled in really really well and quite quickly too. He has access to the whole house now (with most bedroom doors closed) and is okay finding his way up and down the stairs. he gets the whole of the downstairs when the owner is off to work. He seems to the love the freedom but is still always relatively close to the owner.

1 month: Mango is doing awesome! He's super affectionate and is very comfortable around the whole house now.

Picture perfect

 Barb Webster is a great fan of Deb's paintings of cats. She asked me on Thursday to take photos of the paintings that Deb delivered on Wednesday afternoon. As I was too busy/distracted to take other photos this afternoon, this is the photo element of this blog post!

If you want one, get onto it fast because Arc has contacts with galleries that may want to hang them (and they charge much more commission than we do).

Why was I busy? 

There were visitors. A couple arrived to pick up the microchip specific feeder that Cammy tested on Wednesday and found that it worked. Somebody uploaded it on Thursday to the Facebook page. And the new owner came to pick it up this afternoon. They brought with them a bed to donate. I declined the bed (Cammy will be pleased about that). And an electronic weighing device that is accurate from 200gm. That I accepted with delight. Tim won't have to schlep the Incoming cats out back to weigh them. He will have his own scales if he can only find a free, flat area to put it on (that Opie hasn't claimed as his own)! They, of course,  wanted to visit with the cats.

Then the folk who fostered Lucky boy came to visit him. (He is in Lucky girl's condo). At that time there were various other cats wandering around and they asked why Lucky boy couldn't be out too. I said that we would let him out on his own in the Top Cat later. When I went to introduce myself to him with chicken, he hissed at me. (At least he didn't spit). I think their visit upset him.

Lucky boy

Yin and Yan have gone to a foster home. As have Charlie and Champ. Their condo has been taken by a pair of cats who came from a foster home. All the family came to drop them off (including the foster puppy who will be adopted on Sunday by somebody from Mittagong). Can't remember the names of the cats. . . do you blame me?

And a couple arrived at the same time to check out our cats for a replacement of their dear boy cat. They want a girl this time and rather fancied the Stones black cats. But who can tell who is the girl and who is the boy? I don't like your chances of getting near them with a microchip reader just yet. (At least they didn't chomp on my finger at chicken time this afternoon.)

Bassuria's left eye has gone a funny colour. Chris, the vet, thinks that it might have to be removed. He was feeling better today than on Wednesday. . . . he claimed all the chicken as his. Poor Julia is back to being No 2.

Bassuria's left eye

And boarders arrived . . . . . except for Jolene who was due to come but hadn't arrived by the time I left at 4:15pm.

And Steph visited with her foster cats. (We gave her the dog bed, Cammy).

Loose screw . .

. . .  on the right side of Virgo's condo. There is a screwdriver in a jar on top of the filing cabinet to tighten it up. Nothing wrong with Virgo that won't be cured by her kittens growing up.

Vicky wanted photos of some of the cats that need to go up on the Adoption list. Joy took some beauties. I helped Vicky find out what the cats are like.

Maxwell is a love. He chirrups and loves to play and although he looks a bit rough he is really a sweetie.

Maxwell

Maeve is out on Better Row and hides on her upper shelf. I climbed the ladder and found that she wasn't a bit interested in the creamy treat but was very interested in being patted and petted.

Maeve

Just like Jasmine who is a lovely cat and couldn't get enough attention. 

Jasmine

She can't mix with other cats in Welfare because of her infection history. Her kittens, Rajah and Genie have been moved to Welfare and have the same quarantine restriction. They are where Milo used to be. Milo is around the back in Boarding.

Rajah

Genie

McQueen and Donatella have been taken off the adoption list (I thought they had been chosen) because they have an intestinal infection that is being treated. I decided not to change their hammocks which are looking grubby.

McQueen and Donnatella

They had an interesting afternoon because Cammy decided to tidy up the merch shelves. They look much better. We decided that duplicate of cat beds can be stored elsewhere (in Opies Room). And I think we should give everybody who adopts a cat a free cat bed for the rest of the month. . . . at least.

Fingers crossed

 Yesterday a young couple came to meet Jane. And met Lucky as well. They couldn't decide.

Today they came back and adopted Lucky. Doesn't she look smug.

My finger looks like chicken

 I was late getting around to handing out the chicken this afternoon. We had a delivery of litter after we had used up the very last bag. (Thank you M). 

Just because there is a big pile, please don't use more than you absolutely have to.

Madeline was picked up. Katie always worries that Madeline will die when she is boarding with us because she is over 19 years old. And the C-kitten with possible ringworm went home as well. There is a sign on her condo that it be cleaned with bleach. Tim couldn't see any fluorescence when he shined the Wood's lamp on her lesion. But that only works 50% of the time. They should take her to the vet to have a skin scraping taken. The results won't come back for 3 weeks. In the meantime, Vivienne and Calvin are "no touch" cats.

Milo is still with us. His new person (one of our vollies) is moving house. We must warn her that he will find somewhere high to hide. I had him out for a short while this afternoon and he immediately went to the top of the condos to find a carrier to hide in.

Milo at ground level

We tried the Top Cat on Biscuit and then on Bella. Neither ventured out even when temped with treats.

Bella

But I had a first sighting of Charlie. He came out of the carry case that has been his home for the past month, at least A friend wants a pair of cats. . . . .

Charlie and Champ

The other Charlie in Incoming was at the vet this afternoon having an operation. He survived that but didn't recover from the anesthetic. 

Chicken was late with all this. One of the black Rolling Stones, who are getting much bolder, mistook my finger for chicken while I was pushing pieces through the play place mesh. Chomp. . . drip, drip, drip.