CataBlog

Chipper the Brave

Hi all. Sorry it's been such a long time between posts. Not a lot to report last weekend - a few people through but no homings.

Sadly Kenny has come back to us today. He was doing really well to start with, but seemed to find a big two story house more than a little overwhelming and really wasn't coping, so he's come back to the shelter for now.

R's immune system is still finding Meowff-fur pretty overwhelming, so also not looking so good there for our wee white deaf heroine. They're still persisting, but the whole trouble breathing with our girl in the house is a definate problem.

And our Chipper's nose continues to grow. Took him down to see Aunty Kerry at Central Wgtn vet again last night and she was quite concerned. So back to see Aunty Rochelle this morning - she being the cancer guru amongst vets! He was a real angel today, and she managed to get a couple of really good samples from his nose. Results back tuesday, so fingers crossed people! Could just be a cyst, so that's what we're hoping for!

In breaking news - Tottie (of Famous Five Fame) has been taken hostage by very cross urban terrorists! Protesting the (totally ridiculous) resource consent given to the aquarium on the south coast, Teeny tiny Tottie McTabby has been taken hostage and access to the cat biscuits have been cut off from the remaining Famous Five until the ransom is paid!

Cat lovers and all sensible people who think that a large business run by an american shark (funded by OUR rates!) should not be able to wreck our wonderful south coast should check this out.

I don't like mondays! (But now it's wednesday, so that's OK)

Hi all. Just the one homing on the weekend, but a goodie! Little Kenny has gone to live with what sounds like a lovely couple and is starting to settle in, so here's hoping for some nice updates on him.

Dear Meowff is probably going to be coming back to us in a couple of weeks unless there's a miracle and R's immune system can get the hang of Meowff-fur. Bless them, they're still trying really hard to make it work, but R has this unreasonable expectation of being able to live with a cat and still breathe! So guys, cross fingers/pray/whatever it is that you do and here's hopeing that somehow things will improve enough that these guys can keep our wonderful wee girl.

On a more upbeat note, here's yet another wonderful update on the adventures of Cheeky and Boris :o)

"I thought I would just send you a quick up date on the boys. Cheeky is being very good, he has taken to eating alfresco, each morning I let him out our bedroom door when I get up and he runs around to the front of the house and sits on the deck, he had been coming into breakfast but he would munch a few bites and then walk back outside to look at the day, so I now put his bowl on the deck and luckily he eats it all very quickly as I’ve noticed more flies appearing with the warmer weather in the last couple of days.

Have you ever noticed that he runs a bit like a rocking horse, kind of leaping – front paws then back paws instead of one front and one back? After breakfast he does his fur rug impression, lying and rolling all over the deck and has a brush. He did loose a collar at the start of the week, but he didn’t seem to have any scratches so we assume it must have got caught under the hedge and the safety snap released. He now has Boris’s collar on, as Boris gave up wearing it long ago. Cheeky has a new trick, he’ll recline on his back and if you tap his left side he will roll left and tap his right and he will roll right, four paws sticking up on the air, rolling all over the place for ages. I’m very happy to report that since we rolled up the rug in the kitchen we have (touch wood) had no more accidents :o) Maybe the rug still had Fritz’s smell on it or something, any way moving it seems to have worked.

Boris now wakes at about 4:30am! At which time he thinks its great fun to give Carl and me both kisses. If we try and hide under the covers a little grey paw pushes its way under, followed by a small grey face, for a small fellow who resembles a possum he really does have a lot of determination. Surprise, surprise, when it is time to get up for breakfast at about 6:30 Boris is sound asleep and prefers to dine at about 7:30.

Cheeky is so good though, he never touches Boris’s food, though Boris often checks out all the bowls in the house. Boris is not a big fan of being picked up, unlike Cheeky who seems to enjoy the view when being held, Boris will let out a ‘mep’ which sounds so forlorn if he’s lifted up, so if he doesn’t go somewhere under his own steam, we work around him :o)"

Sammy's settling in really well with her first people up in Auckland. We sent Gizmo's ashes up too, as they really wanted their boy's remains with them. This from S:

"Sammy is doing GREAT:) She is free to go outside and once her tummy says it is dinner time, she is always waiting at the door - funny that:) Gizmo is sitting on top of our cupboards looking down on us!"

TJ was looking like she might have to come back to us. She was still hiding after over a month, and when she did come out was beating up on the resident (very timid) cat. However it looks like there's been a breakthrough this week! Out and about during the day and touching of noses and no fighting! J let her out today on the theory that perhaps she's been going stir crazy and that's all gone well, so any fingers that are left, please cross them.

Patch (now renamed Reggie Kray) and his new person are starting to get on very well after a bit of a rocky start. A. was (and is) still grieving for her beloved cat who she lost not long ago. I know from experience that having another cat in your home who's not her/him - well, the contrast can be quite profound. Even if you think you're ready, it can be very difficult to adjust to cat-that's-not-my-cat in your home. Happily the two of them are starting to bond really well, and they're both getting rather attached to one another :o)

Hey, Shyla sent me this link today that you might enjoy. Her neighbour's cats have their own blog - and it's a cracker. Check out www.thefamousfiveinwellywood.blogspot.com/

And on that note, I think that's all for tonight. Here's hoping for lots of cat lovers who have decided that the upcoming long weekend is the perfect time to adopt a cat (or cats) from the CPL.

Weekend's homing news

2 great new homes for two of our cats last weekend. Mischief has finally gone off to her new home with M, one of our volunteers. At last report she was settling in nicely - eating/drinking/peeing/pooing and purring!

And dear little Aaliyah was adopted by a lovely couple on Sunday and is also a very very happy cat. As you can tell from reading this....

"Hi Kris,

We are super happy to say that Aaliyah has been living it up since she got to our place! It only took 10 minutes for her to start exploring the whole upstairs. She seems like a totally different cat! She follows us around everywhere, has a nonstop motor going, watched TV and slept with us last night. I think she's very happy to be away from the other cats and have her own home now. And we're happy to have her!

Thank you so much!! and we will keep you updated."

And..
"Aaliyah is doing great! She has really settled in. We are getting more love everyday! She has been enjoying lying in the sun, scratching on her scratch pad, playing with her toys and waking us up at 5:30 in the morning for scratches. She is very vocal and responds well to us when we call her, or tell her not to drink out of the toilet."

You can check out photos of our lovely girl on her new people's blog here.

Since that update they got a bit worried about her straining to pee, so she's off to the vet tonight for a checkup. Could be a urinary tract infection and if so, a course of antibiotics and she should be just fine.

Sadly her previous person is not. R died suddenly last Friday having given Aaliyah back to us as he was struggling to cope with caring for her due to his ill health. Our thoughts go out to him and his surviving family. I hope where ever he is, he knows his beloved Aaliyah is now very happy and well loved.

And another lovely update from Rhiannon's people :o)

"Well, we took our girl outside for a sniff of fresh air and wander for the first time last night, we used the body harness, she didn’t mind it so much, only when she went to take off and realised she couldn’t. She just sniffed around the door and then sat on the porch area taking everything in. She eyed up a cat walking down the road, but no trouble there. Really just sat out while Cam rubbed her chin and belly, she sniffed the air lots and took it all in, stayed out for about 15minutes and didn’t wander much further than the porch this time. We’ll just keep doing that for a while I think, don’t want to rush her.

She joined us in the lounge for the first time the other night, and because she’s never been in there with us she’s never seen the big TV on, she seemed a bit frightened by the ‘extra people’ in the room and kept looking back at the TV to make sure they were still there."

Our 4 little newbies who joined us on Sunday, Lucky, Oliver, Sooty (III) and Panic are all settling in well. They've all been to the vet to be deflead and wormed and a couple of them are on antibiotics, but all doing just fine.

OK - my boy is demanding attention, so if I want to keep my blood where it belongs this had better do for now.

Oh - one more thing. It's garage sale time at the Cats Protection League this Saturday from 9am - 2pm,, 361 Ohiro Rd, Brooklyn. All you cat loving garage salers out there - come along and have a look. Not only are you likely to get some damn fine bargains, you'll be supporting the CPL and our cats at the same time!

Rusty - now known as Buster. And a letter from the Snoopster!

Happy weekend everyone. We've got an update in from Rusty's new people. He's been renamed Buster and is settling in brilliantly to his new home...

"All is good here, Buster has settled in very well and is very loving. He still seems very wary of S, who has now been back over a week, but he is fine if S is sitting down or still, and will go and sit on his lap and lie down to be fussed, but if Stu walks towards him he runs away. He doesn't do this with me so I guess he just needs to get used to S.

Muppet and Buster seem to get on well, they are not together all the time but alway look for the other one when they're not there and seem to tolerate each other. They don't spend much time relaxing together, but are getting better at sitting near each other. One of them occasionally gives chase but there is no fighting or hissing so I'm happy that they are OK.

They both come and go now freely during the day but are in at night, and we think S has managed to chase off the 3 legged tabby cat who was coming in and terrorising Muppet. It has been in a few times since Buster got here, but only after it has seen him leave, and it did come in one night while I was out and scratch Muppet enough to draw blood, but no sign of it for at least 5 days so that's good.

The main problem at the moment is keeping Buster off Muppet's food but he does know he's being naughty. I think we'll get there and I may take him to the vets in a couple of months and see if he's lost any weight.

Thanks for everything,

K, S, Buster and Muppet"

And more on the adventures of Pansy and Poppy...

"Pansy & Poppy are getting more relaxed each day. They came out from under the bed at 1pm yesterday which is a big step, they ate some nuts and went back after a nap on the beds.

Poppy is definitely the more confident one during the day, but Pansy loves attention at night, even the early hours when she is on the bed with us.

Our son A found out Poppy comes to a whistle, which he finds amusing. It doesn't work for me, must be a mans whistle she likes.

So all is going well with our little darlings they are both loveable girls.

Good luck for your garage sale and we hope you make heaps of money for all the cats at the Shelter."

Shyla reports that wee Meg is doing great in her new home, and Carol's tells me that Rosie, who was homed last weekend is also doing just fine.

I hope to have an update this weekend on how R's immune system is going adjusting to Meowff-fur, but so far this week there doesn't seem to have been much progress. :o(

But to finish on a brighter note, I got a lovely letter from Snoop this week that I'd like to share with you all...

"Dear Kris,

I'm sorry that I haven't been in touch for a while (since I left you) but I've been having such fun in my new home - I'm sure I'll be here for the rest of my years as Lisa and Johnny are giving me so much love and cuddles!

It's really cool - I wake Jonny up at 6:30 and he gives me my breakfast and medicine, then it's off outside my specially-adapted cat door and into my garden for my daily ablutions - no litter box for me any more!

I then, after a wee wander, come in for a nap and some attention before Lisa and Johnny go to work. Initially I was a bit upset to be on my own, but the house is so sunny and there are so many rooms to explore. I love just sitting on my rug in the sun and having a sleep.

At night, Lisa and Johnny come home, give me my evening meal (I have biscuits for lunch) and then I sit in my favourite seat by the fire - more cuddles, great!

Night time is great as well. I go for a quick visit outside, then into Lisa and Johnny's bedroom where my beanbag and blanket are within easy reach of their bed.

Sometimes when it's cold, Johnny puts a merino sweater over me - think he's a bit over-protective eh?

Have to go now because we are all going into the garden to do some weeding.

Much love,

Snoop"

Awwwwwww.