"THEY CALL IT STORMY MONDAY/ BUT TUESDAY'S JUST AS BAD"

Once more to Carol's to pick up two young males for neutering. At her gate one of them breaks out of the carrier and shoots off down the road before I can even react. I follow him for about fifty years when he darts between houses and disappears. I'm utterly shocked and saddened. I've failed that little cat.

I get the other one to the vets and was going to go swimming then but I'm so down about the escaped cat that I just can't summon any enthusiasm or energy and instead go and deliver two neutering vouchers. This proves more complicated than I expected as in one court-like area where I'm looking for No.12, the logical place is on a corner from No.11 but the house there has no number and the house next door is 14. A couple of passersby can't help me so I approach the gate of 11 which has a 'Beware of the Rottweiler' hanging from it and as I raise the latch I find out why.

Barking loudly, a massive rotty hurtles towards the gate, plonks its paws on the top and continues barking into my face. But it's all show. Its owner arrives and tells me he just barks at strangers and within a minute I'm petting him -the rottweiler that is, not its owner. Turns out that there is no No.13 and the house without a number is in fact 12.

That done, I return home where Susan already knows about the escaped cat courtesy of a phone call from Carol. It's 9.30. Just after 10.15 I pick up Andrea and her four bunnies to take them all to the vets. Here they are. I'm the one with several chins.

The bunnies are all okay so we then go to visit a couple to finalise their adoption of Sky the 3-month old collie pup. He's a lovely friendly and lively dog in a very friendly and lively chewy stage which he proves by attempting to eat my hands and my face. And here he is.

After dropping Andrea and her bunnies off I call in at Asda on the way home to get more cat food for Carol as I every intention of spending a week in Lanzarote starting on Thursday and have to get her two weeks supply. 

Mid-afternoon and I call in at the shop to pick up some Drontol flea killer from Andrea for Carol and ring the vets about the cat as I'm intending to pick it up shortly. Turns out it's been bleeding a little and they want to keep it another couple of hours to make sure it's okay. That piece of news following on from the escape of its brother makes me feel a little flat and it's an effort to go back to Asda to pick up cat litter (which I forgot to do earlier) and then take it to Lilian at Silksworth (see earlier posts), a lady with special needs whom we gave a cat to. All is well with the cat.

Eventually I manage to get  to the vets and pick up the cat which is fine, unhappy and loudly letting everyone know it, but fine, and drop it, the Drontol, and the food off at Carol's. On the way home I treat myself to an Indian takeaway which proves to be blander than I expected.

Tomorrow morning I'm dropping the van off for a service and an MOT, the rest of the day is mine, and on Thursday I'm off to Lanzarote. Normal service will be resumed in about ten days when I hope to have photos of days-old kittens and their mother.

MONDAY (PLUS PHOTOS)

Two from StrayAid at Coxhoe just down the A1M where I went last week to drop off some food and bedding.

First thing Monday morning and off to Carol's to pick up two males for neutering and then to the Raich Carter Centre for my morning swim. Here's another photo of Chloe the heavily pregnant cat. She is such a sweet little cat, very fussy about what she eats, but otherwise totally adorable and I want to take her home and know that I can't. susan and I agreed that we are not taking in any more young cats.

Back home I sort out some paperwork, including filling in two neutering vouchers for the cats I've just dropped off. Later, Carol phones to ask if I can get two more males booked in for tomorrow morning as they are spraying and are pretty smelly -I can. It's also urgent because the van is out of action on Wednesday because of its service and MOT and I'm (hopefully) off to Lanzarote on Thursday barring more volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Then I get a call from Animal Krackers shop about two people who want neutering vouchers for their cats. Counting the two I delivered at the weekend, that's 8 vouchers in about 3 days and I've only got just over 50 to last till the end of next March. Houston, we have a problem.

This unnamed cat makes a habit of climbing down between the two cages. He's a friendly thing and I don't know why no-one has taken him yet,

A nice looking cat, recently arrived, but none too friendly yet.

Off to the bank to cash a cheque to buy cat food for Carol then off to Asda to spend cash on same. 

At home we've been having a bit of a flea problem so Susan and I spend most of the afternoon stripping the bedroom and spraying chairs, bed and floor with flea killer. I also dose the cats. In between sessions, I pick up the cats from the vets and take them back to Carol's where I also unload all the food. One of the cats howls the whole time but seems nice enough otherwise and the other is hopefully going to be rehomed that evening.

Another recent arrival, just a bog-standard black cat with a friendly nature.

THE ODD COUPLE

So I was on my rounds this morning in our van, buying cat food at Asda, dropping  of dog food to a fosterer, and (in the same area) delivering neutering vouchers to a couple of people. One of them, a chatty lady in early middle age took me through to her small back garden where I saw an enormous rabbit,  larger than the cat I'd brought the voucher for, sitting happily next to said cat. Apparently they are great friends and can often be found sleeping next to each other in the rabbit's hutch.

Wish I'd brought my camera with me, and I'd forgotten my mobile. Damn, would have made a great photo.

VOLCANIC DUST

So I didn't go on holiday after all. Despite that, it's been a quiet week on the animals front. I've done a couple of tip runs clearing out rubbish from the shop, taken some additional  food to Carol who now has a full quota of rescued cats with none going out, and taken one dog to the vet's. There'll be another food run on Saturday, probably another tip run or two over the weekend, and two cats to the vets for neutering on Monday morning and that, bar the unexpected, is that for the next few days..

I also emailed Cats Protection, the national charity which supplies us with neutering vouchers (worth up to a maximum of £30.00), to ask for some more. They only allocate us 3 pads (25 vouchers per pad) and have already sent me one in advance, so I only have about 60 vouchers to last the next 12 months which means I'll have to make sure that none are wasted and all are used.

It's possible I may yet be able to fly out to Lanzarote on Thursday 29th April but I'll believe that when the plane lands at Arecife airport.

CAT-CHUP

Not much been happening really. Couple of trips to the vets with cats/dogs. Transported furniture from our charity shop (which finally has our new sign up) to the lady who bought it. Sent off a couple of neutering vouchers and dropped another one off round the corner.

There will be no more entries for the next ten days as I'm off to Lanzarote for a week from tomorrow. See you later.

AND ON THURSDAY, I...

Pick up a young female for neutering and here she is.

A nice little thing with a faint cry.

Back home and after a swim, trip to the post office, and  to Asda for diesel, I settle in for the morning to do a preliminary sort of what I'm taking to Lanzarote but I'm interrupted by a phone call telling me that no-one can get into the shop because the shutter fob and front door key have not been left at the shop. So, a quick trip to Big Ian's to get his keys and open the new electric shutter. The new front door, however, poses a problem as no-one can get the key to turn, though someone eventually does manage.

By the time this is all sorted, it's just about time for me to pay a rare visit to a pub at lunchtime. The occasion is the 60th birthday of my ex-library colleague Ashley, a lovely man  who's also a carer for his elderly mother. It's a quickish one pint job. Home for lunch and a nap then over to Carol's with the now neutered cat where I take some photographs.

This friendly little thing has been re-homed in the three hours since I left Carol's.

Here's another photo of Ginger the shorn and neutered tom from the previous post. He's a bit depressed at the moment but should pick up in a few days. You can see his bald patch quite clearly.

Here are some more.

He's still settling in. The next one is of two semi-ferals. They won't take your hand off if you stroke them but they don't like it.

And last but not least, some else who's had his fur shaved. He's an oldish cat but a real sweetie.

ABANDONED CATS

This poor soul was dumped on Carol after he had been found wandering the streets of Southwick and was in a terrible condition. His fur had matted into thick spikes sticking off the top of his body, he smelled and he probably had fleas. I took him to Roker Park Vets on Tuesday morning where, after an examination, he was left to have his matted fur removed and then neutered. If you look carefully you can see that he had a shaven patch on the top left of his back. He also has a lot of flea dirt and has been treated for that. The vet says his teeth are good and he's probably about five. He looks and is depressed but should perk up once he's settled in at Carol's.

This morning I came back from having a coffee in town with ex-library staff to find a message from the shop about a pregnant cat being dumped with someone. I rang the someone who said that he'd found the cat in a cardboard box on his doorstep and his sister said it was pregnant but he couldn't look after it. I suspect that may not quite be the real story as it isn't unknown for us to hear porkies (pork pies: lies) from people who want to get rid of their, or maybe a friend or relative's, animals but say they'd found them. Still, it's the animal which counts.

I checked with Carol that she'd take it and called round. The cat, barely more than a kitten herself, was sitting relaxed on the top of a couch and barely reacted when I picked her up. He nipples were swollen so she was definitely pregnant (6 weeks Carol reckoned). At Carol's she was placed in a small shed with one other occupant -a four month old kitten wanting a new home. And here she is.

Pretty, isn't she?

I'll report on her progress as I can't imagine her being rehomed until her kittens are ready for homing as well. I hope to have lots of photos of her and kittens over the next few weeks.

DOGS: LITTLE LOST LURCHER

It wasn't lost, it was dumped because it was a he and no good for breeding. He was found wandering around and taken to Carol who immediately contacted me who contacted Andrea and then I went to get it to take it to Ferryfarm Kennels where the following photo was taken. Only about 12 weeks old, all legs and shaking, I gave him several cuddles before I left.

Next morning,Graham, a rep from Everest, came (at Susan's request) to sell us some double glazing and he turned out to be an animal lover who, at some point, might be interested in fostering a dog and would call in at Ferrfarm to check things out later that day.

That afternoon, Andrea and I picked up the puppy (which Andrea named -yuck!- Rupert) and took him to see Honour at Vets4Pets. He was in a happier mood than the day before, wagging his tale and jumping up at us. In the van he settled happily on Andrea's lap -on the way back, he curled up on it and fell asleep. Honour checked him out, declared him generally healthy, apart from a small heart murmur which he may well grow out of, and gave him an injection.

Back at Ferryfarm, Graham had arrived and took to the puppy immediately and yes he would foster the dog. He'd keep it with him in his car when he drove to appointments, which is nice. We sorted him out with food, a collar and bedding,noticing that Rupert was no bother at all on the lead and didn't pull. He's a sweet natured dog and we'll have no problem finding him a home. I suspect Graham would probably like to keep him but he spends most of his spare time aware from his home where he lives by himself.

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What else have I been doing?

The usual mix of taking cats to the vets, tip runs, sending out neutering vouchers, getting cat food. I visited one house where they'd just taken in a youngish stray but had never had a cat before and was able to give them some advice as well as a voucher -nice family, lucky cat.

Followng a great re-homing run, we've now had a run the other way with unwanted cats filling Carol's shed. That's the way it goes I suppose.

The shop has been shut for the last two weeks as we've been having a new front put on, electric shutter installed, massive redecoration, followed by a stock re-organisation, and a demand from the council for an application for planning permission for the shop front.