Thursday 26 February 2015

ALL MY CATS 26th FEB, 2015

All the cats in my house on this day: 1 adult foster, 2 kitten fosters, 7 adult residents.

1. Tash the foster cat, 7 years old, loves cuddles, frightened of other cats, off to our re-homing centre next week.



2. Rhiannon the grey tabby and Tabitha the black and white kitten, sisters, 16 weeks old, available for adoption from 3rd March.







3. The Residents.

Fifi the first to arrive.

Aelfric, the second.


Grey Girl, arrived the day after she was born.

Emma.

Arya.

Rikki, who over-grooms himself hence the collar.
Squeak, who rips open everything not in hard plastic, cardboard, or a tin.

Group shots.





Friday 6 February 2015

RESCUING CATS AND KITTENS

1.
I got a call earlier this week from a lady I'd helped a while ago. She regularly feeds strays where she lives but because she's elderly and lives in a small flat, she doesn't feel up to actually taking them in, but she does what she can. A cat she feeds had been injured in a fight and she was worried about it so I agreed to call round and, if she could get it inside, I'd take it to the vets. This she did and it turned out to be a fairly placid animal despite having been on the streets for at least two years -the period she'd be feeding him.

I got him to King's Road Vets where he was seen by chief vet Wendy. She bathed the wound and gave him a couple of vaccinations which he endured without complaint of any kind. He's about 6, hadn't been neutered and the lady -let's call her Ms A- didn't want him done because she felt he would lose his edge if he was. By the time I got him back I'd had an idea and I told her: if she'd keep feeding him I'd arrange for him to be vaccinated and then neutered and take him our Ferry Farm Re-homing Centre. This changed slightly as I had a cat in my conservatory -more about whom later- bound for there (today as it happens) and when he went, I'd take her cat in. And so, to shorten a longer story, that is what has happened and he's here now and will be for three weeks. I've also decided to apply my original plan to another cat Ms A is feeding.

I'm a little concerned about him as, before he could go in the conservatory I had to put him in a cage for a few hours. When I moved him I noticed he'd emptied bowels and bladder where he sat. He's also not eating and just sitting on the window. It's probably just nerves. Some cats take a while settling in to a new place and not eating is one of the main symptoms.


2.
I agreed to take in two 12 week old kittens (sisters) which arrived yesterday and are living in my bedroom. They'll go to the vets on Monday for a check up and first vaccination at the same time as I pick up a ginger cat which is hanging about an old people's home and which I'll also get checked and vaccinated. Incidentally, both reek of cigarette smoke. I've often wondered about the effects of passive smoking on animals but that's a subject for another time.

The grey tabby is very friendly and confident coming to me for cuddles while  her sister is extremely nervous and runs away from me. Give it time.





3.
Quite a few photos below and all taken at independent local rescuer Carole O'Brien's house. In this case I'm just the transport and always happy to help her.

The first kitten is only 5 weeks old and was founded and handed in to the local PDSA hospital where they did what they could for it and contacted Carole to ask if she'd take it. Not having transport, she asked me if I could collect it. I was going to nearby Kings Road Vets (see 1. above) to collect the cat in the photo anyway.

Once at Carole's she put it in a mother cat, the cat's sister, and mother cat's kittens which are about the same age as the new one in the hopes that MC would nurse him and kittens would accept him. It was a little awkward while I was there but I've since heard from Carole that all is well. There are no guarantees but the kitten now has a good chance thanks to the PDSA and Carole without whom he'd be dead by now.








4.

Houdini is the cat who went to Ferry Farm today. I gave him that name because he is a feline escapologist. Basically he's never seen an open door he won't run through whether you want him to or not and he combines speed with sheer determination. He's also a incredibly friendly cat who likes people but does intimidate other cats with his sheer ebullience. Anyone who takes him on should like a cat with a lot of personality and also possess fast reactions and an airlock to stop him getting outside when they want him to stay in.

By coincidence he also came via the PDSA (who removed the tip of an infect tail), then on to Carole (I collected him with her) who later begged me to take him because he needed space that he didn't have in one of her cages.

Sunday 1 February 2015

MY LIVING ROOM, SUNDAY EVENING

Rikki (who has a skin condition hence the collar) with Emma (2 photos), Arya on the cat bed, Aelfric on the cat tower, and Fifi on the top of the armchair. Squeak and Grey Girl are both upstairs on my bed so they didn't get photographed and Little Ed (soon to be name changed) the cat with the stumpy tail I'm fostering is in the conservatory and I wouldn't have been able to get a picture of him anyway because as soon as I opened the door he'd be through it.






I really should be posting more but I just don't have the energy these days, plus I'm still doing quite a few Facebook posts which are essentially condensed versions of what I write about here. You can find them on Animal Krackers FB page.