Rocky – the ‘co-operative cat’

No … not in that he’s collecting stamps and divi ….. just that it’s been a bit of a group effort sorting the lad out. One of my fellow foster carers picked the lad up as a stray in her garden last week. He wasn’t neutered, and was covered in ticks and his fur full of flea eggs. Beautiful timing as she was due to move house the following day! My good friend TC from Friends of Ferals http://www.facebook.com/LadyMischka?fref=ts loaned me her scanner to confirm that the boy wasn’t micro chipped. So we took him in – what else can you do?

After trawling every lost and found site, both to see if someone was missing him, and to post him as ‘found’ it looked like no one was going to come forward and claim him. So my lovely friends at Meers Cattery
http://www.meerscattery.co.uk/ offered him an exclusive space until he’d got rid of his passengers and sorted out his vaccinations. Friends of Ferals have sorted him an appointment discuss family planning. He opted for something permanent and irreversible since that came with the offer of a chicken supper afterwards.

Rocky

He’s a really nice guy … friendly, snuggly, purry. Just needs a new human to call his own.

Introducing …..

…. Amigo and Aminah. They arrived here last night, from living rough/abandoned in a garden a couple of days ago, via Karen’s and a swift dose of contraceptive advice at the vets.

amigo and aminah

I always find it exciting … and a little bit daunting …. welcoming new cats into my home. Never quite know if they’re going to be little spitfires and run up the walls, or “soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur”. Will they vomit on the rugs, trash my bookshelves, wage war on my resident cats? And not only “what will they be like?” but “how long might they stay?”. Little Dizzy has been here going on for a year now so length of stay is a very relevant question.

I needn’t have worried with these two. They’ve been adorable from the start. Both settled down in their carriers and slept most of the way home. And once in their new bedroom, they had something to eat, purred very loudly and started to chill out. The only concern was Aminah’s spay wound – though that has settled in the 24 hours since her op.

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They’re absolutely beautiful, very friendly and happy, and exquisitely alike and yet different. Alike to the point that they both have a tiny white edge on the right ear, different in their black and white nose. I hesitate to gender stereotype however they appear the perfect complement of male and female versions of the same thing. Aminah is smaller and more delicate, very friendly and gentle though perhaps a little more timid. Then again she’s also rather more intelligent and quick off the mark when it comes to treats and chasing things. Amigo is handsome, more solid, a little more outgoing and confident though more rough in his play.

They’ll be the purrfect pair for someone 🙂

sigh of relief

I’m delighted to report that as of this evening both the “single room supplement” cats are in their new homes. Gorgeous Cassie went last weekend and the lovely Murphy yesterday evening. It’s such a relief to know that they have forever homes where they can be themselves, away from other cats but surrounded by love and affection from their new humans.

It’s too early to have any feedback from Murphy … though when last seen he was munching Dreamies and getting ready to play with his new humans’ children’s toys. Cassie has been back in touch a few times though and is really happy. I couldn’t have wished for a nicer home for her: a human who was looking for “a second shadow” …. just perfect for Cass Cat who loves to be with you all the time.

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Its hard to find words to describe just what a relief it is to have them both in their new homes, and the joy of seeing these photos of Cassie making herself at home. My sad lonely foster girlie, checking out her new home, all loved up and getting on with her new life.

Dizzy finds her paws

Other than Cassie and Murphy who are living in splendid isolation in their en suite rooms, the only foster puss here now is Dizzy. She’s been here since June last year and for a long while just blended in with the crowd. Apart from being head of the race for the red dot from the laser pen she’s kind of been average. Not confident and in your face like Fidget and Flipper but not ferry feral like Pumpkin and Dunlop. Not naughty like Stanley and Gizmo and not shy and snuggly like Marmalade. It’s only in the last few weeks she’s had real space to be noticed and show her character. And what a character she is!

She’s decided she rather likes Jango’s hammock so spends a fair amount of time in there. Jang has plenty of other favourite places to sleep and is a real gentleman so he’s let her get on with it. But the other night he really fancied getting in there, so I moved Dizz and let him get in. She wasn’t at all daunted by 6kg of sleeping orange fur and decided she was going to get in alongside him. His snoring turned to a loud hissing, but totally un bothered she sat there until he got up and strolled off to another bed.

Jango and Dzzy discussing who has the hammok

Dizzy in hammok

I half blame young Flipper for the next episode. We have a wall cupboard in the kitchen where we keep some cat treats. They managed to climb up, open the door and steal a plastic wrapped ‘meaty stick’ and between them rip it open and demolish it. I’d moved the treats from a ground level cupboard because it was clearly too easy to break in to that.

Clearly starting to find her paws, she decided on an adventure. Over the last month or so Flipper has been going out regularly and Dizzy has had the opportunity but never the courage. One evening this week I opened the door to call Flip in as it was going dark, and Dizzy went out. Dizzy’s usual plan is to go a couple of steps across the patio, turn round and rush inside again, so I didn’t worry too much. However that evening she decided she’d rush the other way and ran up the garden. Despite a lot of name calling and Dreamie packet rattling there was no way she was coming back. So the resident grown ups went out in force. Sooty who is elderly and not very well at the moment, and Flipper who is small and crazy were grounded, but Jango, Honey and Amber did an amazing job. They combed the area, found her, pointed out all the gaps in the hedge and fence so she could get back into the garden. It was just stunning to watch them chasing around the garden like sheep dogs trying to get her back to the door. One by one they came in shrugging their furry shoulders … Dizzy wasn’t lost or stuck anywhere, she was just being a little b@gger and refusing to come in and they’d lost patience. She finally bounced home about an hour later.

Looks like Dizzy is finding her paws and starting to be the person she’s been waiting to be. Still a bit timid but ready to be herself and find her way in the world.