Single room supplement …

Things should be much easier here at the moment. Down to single figures with cats for the first time in …. I can’t remember. And the residents outnumber the visitors by 2-1. Sadly the reality is that its harder than it was over Christmas when we had the huge gang of kittens trashing the Christmas tree. Although there were a lot of them and they were little b@ggers they all pretty much got along with each other and with the residents. Easter is a different picture (apart from the snow which seems to have lasted forever). Little Dizzy who is the last of the original gang is no trouble at all, hangs out with the others and is growing in confidence since she’s not been over shadowed by the more confident kits.

Cassie and Murphy are a different story. Neither of them are getting along very well with the other cats, so each have taken over a room of their own. But then they both badly want human company so are forever ringing the bell for room service. Murphy has probably not had other cats around him since he was a young kitten … he’s had a go at getting on with the others but his social skills need to develop a little more before he can seriously think about mingling. Poor Cassie is still full of hormones. A couple of days ago she still had her kits with her and was fiercely protective of them. Yesterday they all went to their lovely new homes. Today she’s still fiercely protective but has no little ones to defend so is also desperately lonely.

There are several aspects to fostering that are less than fun – sponging vomit off the bedside rug, and worming un co operative kittens are two of them. But at the side of listening to the pitiful cries from behind these two’s bedroom doors, its nothing. Please someone come a long and adopt them soon – its heart breaking and they both deserve so much better than this.

leaving do x2

We’re all partied out round here having had Gizmo’s leaving do last weekend and Marmalade’s this weekend. They’ve both gone to absolutely superb new homes – I couldn’t have wished for better for either of them. I do rather miss them though. They both had very distinctive characters – both very different but both adorable – and I think they were reflected in their different parties.

We started Gizmo’s party by making a cardboard box sculpture to scramble in, followed by an energetic game of hunt the dreamies, and then got down to some serious drug taking. Everyone was high on the nip and got rowdy and more than a little clumsy. Things got broken but thankfully no one was hurt.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Marmalade asked for a different kind of do. She started out by hiding in one of the boxes, then there was a wafer thin ham buffet, followed by a general hair brushing and pampering session, and then an early night.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Gizmo now has a pretty baby sister to conspire with and corrupt. Marmalade has a gentle quiet home of her own. Perfect for both of them. Bless them and wishing them long purry and healthy lives with their new humans.

Left Behind :(

Dizzy with Dunlop shortly after they arrived in foster care

Little Dizzy came into foster care in July last year when she was about 8 weeks old, along with her sister – Dunlop. Since then I’ve had about 18 other foster cats, and all of them other than Cassie (who’s kits aren’t quite ready for her to go) and Murphy (who has only been here a couple of weeks) have either gone to their new homes, or are busy packing to go to them in the next week or so. Poor Dizzy hasn’t even had a phone call to ask about her.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I’ll be honest – she’s not going to be entirely easy. She spent her earliest weeks living rough with her mummy in a garden and that has affected her. She’s less confident with humans than most of the rest of the cats in the house, though she gets on well with the other cats. The sad thing is that she makes an effort to be more friendly and most often gets pushed out by the more confident kits. She rushed onto the bed for a love this morning. It was a lovely surprise to see her there wanting a fuss but by the time I’d extracted an arm from under the duvet, Flipper had dive bombed her, pushed her off the bed and was lining herself up for what should have been Dizzy’s cuddle. She’s made more progress since there have been fewer cats around here, and has come out of her shell much more, so I’m certain that in a home where she could have more individual attention things would greatly improve.

She’s very very pretty, with lovely long fur. Long enough to look beautiful and make her special, but not so long that it gets tangled and messy. It may help to also know that she doesn’t suffer from “pooh trousers”. Fluffy cats leaving the litter tray with parts of the trays contents attached to their fur isn’t an unusual issue, but its not one that Dizz struggles with. She loves to play, always head of the pack when playing the laser game and is keen on other sports too.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

She’s spayed, micro chipped, vaccinated and has a clean bill of health. Her experience of many other cats in foster care suggests she could fit quite happily into a multi cat household. [She’s been reluctant to go out when given the opportunity so could probably also be happy as a house cat – edit 28 April – Dizzy now loves going outside along with the other cats]

Murphy’s mug shot

So young Murphy went on Monday for his family planning appointment and was also declared to have a clean bill of health. That means it’s time to start seriously advertising him and getting him into a new home. Photography session planned for the weekend, and brought forward to this evening having come home early from work because of (yet more) snow. This is one of the challenges I didn’t necessarily anticipate as a foster carer …. I’d bargained for clawed carpets, curtains and skin, and a generous amount of bodily fluids in inappropriate places, and the heartache of letting them go. But camera skills is something I discovered later that I would need.

I got a few cute distance pics of Murph on my phone last week, but having got the camera out thought we should start with a close up of his lovely face. He’s got such a gorgeous face, a good sized tom cat head and a very adoptable expression. Having explained the plan and talked through the setting and lighting options we started clicking. It was at that point that Murphy went shy, and tried every which way to hide his face.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After a while we managed to exploit the shyness into coyness:

being coy

And then as he started to relax we managed a few better photos

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We wonder which lucky person will be the one to adopt him 🙂

mother’s day

I had three unexpected presents for mother’s day – that’s quite a treat given that I don’t have any furless babies.

First Biff’s daughter sent me a lovely message and a voucher for a massage … a little pampering after all the mothering of fur babies. Various friends sent teasing messages about what my little brood had brought me for mother’s day. There haven’t been any dead bodies for months so I confidently said that they’d realised I was veggie and were respecting my principles. It was only late in the evening once I was settled down in my jimjams that they tumbled in with a gift – tossing it back and forth like a basketball team trying to agree who was going to give it to me. They’d not skimped on it – no tiny shrew or field mouse, this was a decent sized rat. I squealed with surprise and delight and dashed out to the bin with it so no one could take it back off me.

The third surprise came a little earlier in the evening. A message from CAT, an unexpected drive over to Doncaster and a frightened new young man to foster. I’d hoped an 8-10 month old tom kitten would just slot in with my rabble of older kits but he was a bit shaken when I went to get him. He backed into a corner of the bathroom when CAT and I went up to get him in the carrier, and was having none of it. CAT never ceases to amaze me with her magical skills at getting frantic, hysterical cats into carriers.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And so Murphy arrived. It was clear he wasn’t just going to slot in with the others. He even hissed when I put a food bowl in front of him. So he’s got the study to himself. He slunk around and growled a lot on Sunday night. By Monday morning he’d eaten something, been sick, but settled himself on a comfy cushion on my desk, clutching the manky catnip mouse that he’d brought from his previous ‘home’. He stayed there all day, but hissed less, didn’t growl, and gradually appeared more relaxed. Rabbit and Radish’s (two of my ex foster boys) had brought me some sensitive tum food a week or two ago and Murphy decided he liked that and wasn’t going to be sick any more.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This evening he’d decided it was safe to climb down off the desk and check out some of the toys and scratch post. We’ve had some play time, some stroking and a few head butts. Purrs to come later.

Dizzy and Gizmo

I’m getting a bit concerned about Gizmo and Dizzy … they both came here as small kittens last summer ……….. and are still here. Don’t get me wrong, I love them and they’re welcome to stay as long as they like …. but I’m thinking its about time they left the nest and made lives for themselves …. and …. er …… cleared some space for the kittens who will no doubt need to come here THIS summer.

Dizzy with her sister

Gizmo with his mum

They were both born rough in different gardens in Rotherham. Dizzy arrived with her sister Dunlop who has since been adopted. She was a bit of a spiky difficult kitten but is filling out into a very pretty, and loving cat. She’s still timid but a happy little soul who enjoys the company of other cats. Little Gizmo arrived with his mummy – if he had siblings they sadly didn’t survive – but mummy turned out to be very feral and after being spayed returned to her garden to live the ‘wild’ life. Gizzy is a loveable little rogue though – friendly, purry, and enjoys the company of other cats.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It may just be because they’re the last two kittens from the summer of 2012, or that they’re both black and white, but they seem to have developed a happy bond together. Neither of them have scored highly in the re homing stakes. No one has shown any interest in poor Dizzy, whilst someone adopted Giz and wanted to bring him back after a couple of hours (I’m assured by his adoptive humans that this was about them and not about any fault with Gizmo).

intensive training

Choc, Chip and Cuthbert have just completed week 5 of their intensive training to become apprentice cats and are progressing well.

This week’s study has included basic level modules:
“the litter tray – theory and practice”
and “an introduction to food bowls and their contents”.

food bowl module

an intro to litter trays

They’re now on intermediate level with:
“how to do stuff without falling over”
“sibling wrestling”
and “assert yourself with humans (making the most of your fluffy cuteness)”.  

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I can see we’re within a whisker of staring advanced level “exploit your potential – a short guide to advertising yourself and manipulating your way into a cosy forever home”.

Cassie is doing an excellent job as trainer but the strain is showing a little, she clearly has her paws full with his lot. Who knows how many kits she’s had to put through this training already. Thankfully this will be the last time round for her – she’s booked in to be spayed in a couple of weeks and hopefully will find her forever home very soon after that. She’s one of the friendliest, most loving cats I’ve ever fostered …. she so deserves to hang up her lesson plans, kick back and enjoy herself.

a month in a flymo box

one month old

 

Cassie’s little ones are four weeks old today.   It’s just amazing how much they can change in the space of just one month.   The Flymo box is looking decidedly crowded now as they put all their efforts into piling on the ounces.   Mummy must be putting them through some quite intensive training and they’re now all carefully practising washing themselves and scratching their heads – doing it without toppling over is probably one of next week’s modules.  They’ve not been in any great hurry to leave the nest.  It’s maybe a cat thing – but they’ve recognised the advantage of the all-inclusive deal they’ve got in there, and haven’t rushed to give it up.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Cuthbert is the biggest of them, and just in the last couple of days has managed the odd scout around, drunkenly trying to follow mum round the room, wobbling over to dip his nose in the water bowl, and then scrambling back into the box.  Choc and Chip have preferred to sit and watch him do the work, and just have the odd game of push and shove inside of their nest.  It’s only a matter of time until they’re all out and all hell breaks loose.  Until then I’m savouring every hour of the peace.