Adoption Tails: Bambi, Thumbelina, Cypher, Sammy

Bambi and Thumbelina

1 day: Bambi and Thumbelina ate some wet and dry food overnight and are out and about in their room, sleeping in separate boxes. Unfortunately, they peed on the bed. The owner suspects it was because he had put a lid on the bed and the kittens have mistaken the bed as the litter. He has since removed the bed and put in its old place the litter box.
3 day: The owner is pleased to find Bambi and Thumbelina using the litter as intended and have not had any accidents since the first time. He affectionately calls Thumbelina a little "nerd" as she was hiding inside a computer when he was in their room cleaning up and feeding.

Thumbelina the nerd

 He also found her staring for hours at the door leading to the rest of the house when spending some time in the same space as them. The owner has tried to give both Bambi (hiding in a box) and Thumbelina (perched on a windowsill) a scratch but neither were particularly keen though Bambi did accept it. He has provided lots of cardboard boxes as hiding spots for the two and bought a cat tower for them to survey their new kingdom.
1 week: The owner has had a little bit of success with Thumbelina (Lina) when initiating interactions. Bambi is still in hiding when he is around. He left the door open last night and now they are hiding under the couch which is where the owners sit so they are starting to get used to their presence. He will coax them back into their room later.

1 month: The owner has jokingly remarked that Bambi and Thumbelina "hate him" as they still run away from him at times. B&T have made some great progress and have started to wander around the house while the owner is still there, doing his own thing. They still freak out a little when he moves suddenly though. He has recently been able to start picking them up without "getting destroyed" though Lina is still not very keen but Bambi enjoys a little cuddle with petting. Lina is an "absolute food junkie" whereas Bambi just watches the owner throw snacks at her, giving him a good stare. Lina will happily eat snacks out of the owner's hands as long as he does not move much and will not even run away from him as long as he has food. The owner affectionately calls Lina an "absolute creeper" who is "plotting his downfall" with her "terrifying" stare down techniques from a distance. The brave Lina has started to wander down the house behind the owner very recently. She scrams off when the owner makes a move towards her but comes back less than a minute later. Both love to watch the litter robot, especially Lina who will jump up and stare at it while it does its thing. Since exploring the house, B&T have found a little outdoor enclosed area and love spending time there for a little sun baking.

 

Sammy & Cypher

In their foster home

1 day: Both Sammy and Cypher have been eating well and have used the litter tray for wees. They are definitely enjoying the few toys the owner has set up in the laundry room.
1 week: Sammy and Cypher are going really well. they seemed keen to explore the house and they have been let out of the laundry room for a little while and they have since been doing zoomies and playing together. They are the best of friends and the owners find it so sweet. They woke her up at 4-5am playing together and running through the cat tunnel. She is very glad that they have each other and the two are definitely very entertaining. Sammy's purrs are very loud and the owner loves it! She has so much love for them already and feels that the boys have already come such a long way in just a week of staying with her.

2 week: Sammy has started to come out of his shell a lot more recently, shadowing the owner into the kitchen for food and playing with the toys. The boys are doing really well, becoming a lot more comfortable with the owner. They constantly beg for treats (which the owner guiltily admits they definitely get a lot of), playing lots with their toys. Cypher has started to come onto her bed and cuddling when she is half asleep.

cuddle time

1 month: Sammy and Cypher are so comfortable at home. Cypher loves the owner but wants to play constantly with her visiting boyfriend. She identifies herself more with Sammy... a lot more chilled out and want snacks all the time. Both boys always get her undivided attention, especially for playtime. She did not realise how hard it is to entertain two playful kitties. They keep her up some nights being crazy together when she is trying to sleep and waking her up way before she wants to get up. The owner usually gets up and cleans their litter and feeds them, returning to lay in bed for a while until they wake her up again. "Cats are a good alarm clock." The boys have definitely given her a new reason to live since the passing of her previous cat Lilith. Sammy and Cypher are very loved here and she feels so lucky to have given them this second chance to life! She is writing this at 1am because the boys have woken her up for treats despite the endless dry food provided throughout the day and wet food in the morning and night. The owner thinks the boys are a bit spoilt!

play time

Nada nada

 Jacqui's cats have gone home so the play place is available for our cats as none of the boarders are inclined to move. I put Tiger in after Diego and Dora had a play. He liked it. Strolled about and did a big, smelly poo. Then Opie went back in overnight,

Tiger

There have been adoptions. Sampson and Kit Kat have "adopted" on their condos but are still with us. Luigi has gone. He didn't even make it to the "for adoption" list! One of Mia's and Cindy of the Supermodels have also gone. So has Betty White from foster.  And SOOTY has gone to a family whose previous cat hid for 9 years. They like a quiet cat. So Helena and Kate have moved into Sooty's condo. They were not happy but they will get used to it. 

Whitney and Mary will be next to go as soon as they recover from being desexed. Whitney tried the Top Cat this afternoon. She was not keen. And went back to bed.

Whitney

Later I set it up next to Nada. And she wasn't impressed (while I was watching). I hope she comes out overnight.

No Nada

But Yin did unroll himself this afternoon and posed for Robyn.

Yin

And I gently held Tibby still while he ate his dinner. He pecks at the food like a bird rather than hoovering it up as most kittens do.

Tibby

There is a new mum, Ruby in Incoming. She has 5 jewel named kittens about 2 weeks old. One of them has a eye that hasn't opened correctly. It needs to be bathed and anointed 3 times a day. This kitten will get very used to being handled. The mum is completely friendly. Don't know her story. 

We will have to inspect all volunteers who wear black tops as they leave to make sure that they are not trying to smuggle Margot out with them.

Margot gets first prize in the Cuteness Class

Things to do with stuffed animals

. . . . the toy version of stuffed animals. We seem to be the recipient of many of these most of which are too big for cats to play with and they aren't much use for cushions for them either. But today Rosanna collected all the biggest, boldest critters to put in her new vegetable garden because she has been told that they scare the brush turkeys away. 

I decided that the left overs would look cute on the humongous cat tree just inside our front door.

And the laundry shelves still look amazing.

And the stand alones have been rearranged because of the vollie traffic jam around the cleaning trolley. Now Opie can be entertained by Mia's kittens across the doorway. And Dexter is where they were and the trolley is where he was next to the filing cabinet.

Except that Opie is enjoying the play place overnight. Jacqui's cats had to be moved out into Boarding condos because some new boarders have paid for play place time.

When I went to hand out chicken in Naughty Row the lower one by the fridge was not secured. I stuck my camera in to see if there were two cats in the carrier. Luckily they were both there. Later I tried to take out the door. Luckily I had the forethought to put on the big blue glove. They did NOT want it moved.

Winnie +

Tabby loved the chicken especially when I held the dish for her. She managed to lick it all clean despite her wobbles at the end. So we gave her a dish on a non slip stand from the merch shelves.

Tabby cleaned the bowl

We didn't have any adopters today but did have a couple of phone calls. One wants a cat who won't be underfoot and will be happy on a farm. We suggested Max, or Opie. Geoff set Max up in the Top Cat after he installed the board that he cut to link the upper condo to the top level of the scratchy pole. Max used it and settled into the hammock.

Then an older lady rang to ask about Sampson. She wants an adult, male cat who won't cling but will be a good companion. She will come in on Monday morning to meet him. Fingers, toes and eyes crossed!

Sampson

Adoption Tails: the Boozy kittens

Booze kittens at Safe Haven

Whiskey

1 day: Whiskey was taken home on Thursday and he has settled well already. He is drinking and eating well as well as toileting regularly at the right place. He is currently staying in just one room and loves to play with his owners and new toys.

Whiskey wants to see

1 week: Whiskey is settling well in his room for the past week, playing well with the family and is very familiar with every corner of the room. The owner has not let him out but will start as it looks like Whiskey is very curious and wants to come out.

Whiskey loves laps

1 month: Whiskey is gaining more weight now and settling and playing very well. He has explored more rooms of the house and the owners are still keeping him inside and have not yet allowed him to go outside.

Brandy (the owner adopted Matteo the iPad kitten just a few months ago)

1 day: Brandy is doing well, staying in the 17 year old daughter's room for the next two weeks, maybe longer depending on how she goes with Matteo (kitten they have previously adopted from SAFE). She is eating and drinking and have used the litterbox for a big wee. Brandy is very sweet and the whole family loves her already.

Brandy

 1.5 weeks: The owners have started to introduce Brandy to their resident puppy and kitten. Brandy met the puppy today again, no hissing or growling like the first few times. She played with Matteo today, chasing ping pong balls. Neither hissed or growled though there was a little bit of pawing.

Matteo and Brandy

 1 month:        Matteo and Brandy absolutely adore each other and spend much of their day near each other! The family absolutely adore both Matteo and Brandy. The kittens have very different personalities but get along so well. The family love the cats so much, they have filled their home with so much joy. 

Brandy and her puppy

Saruman (previously Martini)

1 day: The owner picked Martini up yesterday and he is already settling in well. He is very comfortable in the bedroom and has his own little enclosure to go into if needed.

Martini/Saruman

1 week: Martini is doing well. He is very comfortable in his room and loves exploring the rest of the house. He is still a bit nervous when there is a loud noise from outside but otherwise very confident. He is super cuddly and affectionate and loves his food!

lap time

 1 month: Saruman is doing well and he has loads of kitten energy. He and Merlin (the resident cat) are building a sweet and playful bond. Saruman loves to play and cuddle with the owners or Merlin. His safe room is still set up but he barely goes in there so the owners think they will get rid of it soon. Saruman and Merlin are both sweet boys who seem to enjoy each other's company.

Saruman and Merlin

Maomao (previously Scotch)

Scotch/Maomao

1 day: Scotch adjusted quite well on his first night, having eaten and toileted already. The owner will rename him to Maomao (hat in Mandarin) because of his patch of black fur on his head resembling a little hat. Maomao ran out of his safe room this morning when the owner went into change his food and water and is hiding under the couch of the living room. She has since closed all doors to other rooms and left only his room door open for him to walk back in while she stays inside her study, out of his sight. The room has been set up with hiding boxes and spaces for Maomao. He made his way back inside his room eventually and the owner is now much more careful when she is bringing food and water in.
4 days: Maomao has started purring when the owner goes into his room with food and even started rubbing himself against her leg today.

1 week: Maomao is quite energetic as he opens up to the owner. He is eating and toileting fine. He has been a purring fluffball that loves to sleep on her lap whenever she goes into his room. He is a clean boy with clear and bright eyes who seem to get friendlier every time she visits. He had his first exploration to the living room today, with all other doors shut, walked and sniffed around before deciding to stay on the couch for some belly up naptime. The owner has since left the door to his room open but Maomao likes the couch more.
1 month: Maomao's eye discharge has cleared up and he is a purring gentleman that just opens up more and more by the day! The owner felt very supported through this adoption journey and loves Maomao to bits.

Martini/Saruman

Meet Midnight

 There is another new kitten, Midnight in Incoming. This one came with his mum who is a young cat. He is only three weeks old but is enormous! As big as the four in the stand alone. It just shows what a difference it makes when you have a mum, Pumpkin to feed off continuously.

Midnight and Pumpkin

He is bigger than Margot who is still adorable and twice his age.

Margot

On Naughty Row are a pair of 6 month old kittens, Tabby and Tibby. Tabby has cerebellar hypoplasia which means that she wobbles. But she makes up for her defect by being super sweet and upstages her sister Tibby

Tibby

Tabby

Dr Chris came on Tuesday to vet check some cats. He wasn't very happy with Tiger who has bad teeth as well as his hypersensitivity to food and something hard in his tummy. But he looked tigerish this afternoon when Robyn took his photo and ate all the soft special food I gave him.

Tiger

And Kit Kat is looking much better. He got passed by Dr Chris. He let me pat him.

Kit Kat

And Ginger smiled at me. If you look closely you can see that he has only two canines: one on top and one below, on opposite sides of his smile.

Ginger

Catsie came to tidy our laundry shelves. They look splendid! Let's keep them that way. (She actually came to keep me company because Sandy has broken her wrist. Sandy moved quickly out of the way when a woman with two dogs passed her on the street, fell over a tree's roots and . . . ouch. We wish her a speedy recovery and know that her cats will love having her lazing around at home more. Purrs heal and she will get lots of those.)

Follow up on the humungous cat tree: It is huge. I moved it onto the space by the front door where we used to have large cat trees for sale. It fills that space to the ceiling: more so than the previous ones. Great job Ark to put it together.

Humungous cat trees

 We were given (perhaps) three boxes containing "cat trees". The boxes are reasonably sized: about knee high, thigh long, forearm wide. But the constructed cat tree is tall. Thank goodness for Arch who   in put together his own cat's tree and knows how to read instructions even thought those instructions were very meager. Thank you Arch. 

Not completely erected cat tree

We decided to charge $175 for the erected one and $150 for the two still in their boxes.

 Soon after we started to put it together a customer arrived. A very nice young woman who hasn't had a cat before but her brother got one from us (renamed Remi) and she wanted her own, friendly, cuddly cat. Macy went onto the adopted list today. She was perfect for this woman. They will be very happy together.

And Geoff, who always forgets to clock on has devised the following icon for logging into Shelter Buddy. It is at the upper left corner of the main cat room computer screen.

As soon as I walked in this afternoon I was told that we had a new, adorable kitten in Incoming. Eventually I got around to her:

Not that much cuter than her next door neighbours in the stand alone: 

Cosmo, Duke, Freya, Olivia

Katie will know who is who. They lived with her for a while.

No boarders

 There weren't any this morning unless you count Jacqui's three cats in the play place. She had a problem with her roof which meant that she and the dog had to move to a B&B and the cats came to us. The roof is now fixed but the ceilings have to be dealt with. So we don't know how long her three will be with us. They were all hiding today.

And then Buffy came in to occupy the Palace. She stayed in her carry case all day. She will only be here until Friday afternoon. But the supermodels got kicked back to a double condo. 

Mia and Eric were adopted over the weekend. Mary has moved into Mia's small stand alone and has taken on her mantle of being the "cuddle cat". She just loves a good patting. 

Mary

Macy is not much better! We let her out for a wander and she enjoyed herself on the stratchy pole that Robyn bought in because she doesn't have a suitable place for it.

Macy

Earlier in the day, Opie shot out of his stand alone when I went to put his breakfast into it. He ran straight for the front door but detoured into the junk room. . . . thank goodness. I corralled him out of there after hastily shutting all the doors I could find. He decided not to hide under the merch shelves but popped into one of the cocoons in front. I covered the entry hole with a handy rug and carried him back to his stand alone. 

Which made Sandy and I think about the difficulty of the space below the merch shelves. First we thought that we could block it up with upturned litter trays. I tried it but it seemed to create more places to hide than less. Sandy came up with the brilliant idea of cutting cardboard to fit into the slots in the shelves at the top side and have an L-angle on the floor. We found suitable boxes to cut up (there is never a lack of cardboard boxes on Wednesdays!) and it looks like it works. When they get wet, we can easily replace the cardboard. We look forward to feedback.

There is a litter of kittens where Mia's used to be in Incoming. Don't know where they came from (their names are Earl, Cosmo, Freya and Olivia!) but I gave them a hammock to play in.

Mia's three have been moved to Eric's stand alone. There were only 2 hammocks so I added another so that they each have one which made them all happy.