"C'EST LA VIE," SAY THE OLD FOLKS, "IT GOES TO SHOW YOU NEVER CAN TELL."

Ian happily acknowledges rock'n'roll genius Chuck Berry for the title, the significance of which will become apparent at the end.

George-

-had been on his own for at least two years, surviving by being fed regularly by an elderly lady who lived in a ground floor flat just round the corner from Sunderland's bus station on the edge of the city centre. The lady -let's call her A- had been helped by me some time ago and got in touch with me again because George had been in a fight and come off badly. I was able to check him and arranged for for treatment at the vets. He seemed friendly enough and the more I thought about it the more I realised I could do for him. The wound on his leg wasn't too bad and easy to treat. I then had him vaccinated and neutered and took him home with me.

My intention was to keep for three weeks until his vaccination and then move him to our re-homing centre where he would find a permanent home. That night I wrote on Animal Krackers' Facebook page that he'd spent his last night out on the streets. Next morning those words came back to bite me on my bottom. George had burst through a locked cat flap and disappeared.

I borrowed a cat trap from a fellow cat rescuer, more in hope than expectation. But basically I felt like shit about it and never expected to see him again. I moped about for the morning then around one went upstairs for a nap.

The phone woke me after about half an hour. Social Services. A woman had been found dead in her house that morning. She had no relatives nearby and there were no friends to take her cat. Half asleep and a little depressed, I agreed to come and take him. The location was Hetton-le-Hole on the outskirts of the city about five miles from me and where I'd once managed their branch library. When I got there there were a lot of people milling around including a nurse and policeman. She'd been ill for a while and regularly visited by Mari, the nurse. Only 53, she'd been found that morning, the cat sitting outside wanting to be in. He was about 7 and called Hitler because of his moustache and, I was told, very friendly. He also only ate sliced chicken and some cheap cat food.

They were right about him being friendly but, far from picky, he ate pretty much anything I put in front of him. I had him checked out, vaccinated, given flea and worm treatment and had his knackers removed -sorry, I mean neutered. I also became very fond of him very quickly. He loved being cuddled and would snuggle into my shoulder. I would have kept him too but he was frightened of my other cats, though never aggressive towards him. 

I decided not to change his name, hideous as it was, because he'd had it for so long. I regularly posted on AK's Facebook page about his progress and got feedback, specifically (words to this effect): Change his name, you stupid sod. So I did, following a cat cuddler's suggestion of Tash.

Incidentally and much to my surprise, George turned up back at A's place. How he found his way there is beyond me but he did. I just left him where he was happy until it was time for his second vaccination when I got him done and took him to the re-homing centre where's he's been now for a couple of weeks.

Eventually the time came for Tash to go there too, the day after George as it happened. I didn't want to let him go but I had no choice. While he liked me he wasn't really happy stuck in the conservatory watched by other cats. On the sheet at his pen, I wrote that he would be best off as the only cat in the house, no kids, and best with an older person or couple. Mari, the nurse who had visited his owner and knew him, kept in touch through Facebook and asked about him regularly. Eventually she offered to take him home.

As she was youngish with another cat and a ten year old daughter, I didn't really think her home would be an appropriate environment for him. Eventually I thought, what the hell. I didn't ask for a donation or to fill in an adoption form because I was sure it wouldn't be long before Mari brought him back.

During the course of the same evening, Mari posted a series of photos of Tash in his new home. Tash eating cat treats next to Mari's other cat. Tash snuggling up to Mari's daughter. Tash resting against Mari's husband's chest. Tash not going anywhere.

This is the second time this has happened recently. Another cat I fostered went to a home I didn't think was suitable (a nice home but wrong for the cat) and she settled in immediately. It was my conservatory that was the wrong environment.

So, a certain 66 year old old folk says, "C'est..."

I'M STILL HERE, I'M STILL DOING CAT STUFF, I'M JUST LAZY

Here's a list of all the cats and kittens we've re-homed this month.

Frazzle, a kitten, adopted 01/01/15
Minnie, female, about two, okay with children and dogs but still a bit nervous but is becoming more friendly by the day. Arrived 01/12/14. Adopted 02/01/15
Timmy, male, about 3,  confident cat who lets you know where he wants to sit, best as the only cat, likes laps, arrived 01/12/14. Adopted 02/01/15 
Ted, about 3-4 years old, neutered 02/09/14. He's an abandoned cat who's been on his own for a while but, when he comes out of his shell has shown himself to be a nice natured friendly cat who’ll happy sit on your lap for a cuddle. Arrived 31/08/14. Adopted 02/01/15
Sherry, kitten, adopted 02/01/15.
Polo is 6 months old, he is very loving. Adopted 06/01/15

Cleo, 2yrs old, adopted 10/01/15.

Dandy is about 3, he is a very affectionate little man. Arrived early Dec 2014. Adopted 12/01/15.
Morrissey the kitten adopted 13/01/15.
Flipper & Dipper 2 feral kittens adopted by fosterer 13/01/15
2 semi-ferals adopted by Joanna 13/01/15.
Juno, 8 months old ginger-white, adopted 14/01/15
Bettie, 2 years old, a nice friendly cat who isn't keen on other cats. Arrived 02/01/15. Adopted 14/01/15
Mickey & Eva, 6 months, brother and sister, adopted 17/01/15
Fluffy, the adorable fluffy ginger tabby adopted 18/01/18
Neville, a nice young male around 2/3. Has had a bit of a rough life and would like a nice quiet home and lots of cuddles. Arrived 07/01/15.Adopted 20/01/15

And now here's some photographs I've taken this month.

After three weeks with me, this one moved next door and his best friend is now an elderly labrador.

This is Neville (see above) who likes sitting on people's shoulders.

Carole O'Brien rescued this mother who was living in terrible conditions and who had several kittens as soon as she arrived. About three of them died but mother and survivors are now doing well.

Carole also rescued this poor young boy who had been handed in to the PDSA who had to amputate part of his tail. If, as I'm expecting, Boots the cat in the next photo leaves my conservatory for a permanent home tomorrow then this one, who I've named Little Ed, will replace him.

Then again I've just had an email asking if I can take in another cat and as Little Ed is with Carole...

Tomas, who has lived with me for three weeks and had his second vaccination today, is a nice friendly boy who may also have a new home this weekend. If he doesn't then he's off to our re-homing centre next week.

Mickey and Eva abandoned me for a permanent home a week ago and I miss them terribly.

Back soon. (I hope).

AND NOT QUITE SUCH A GOOD WEEK

It started out well when I re-homed Polo (who had interest from three people) to a nice young woman who wanted a friend for her young ginger female, but it went downhill after that with no other cats or kittens adopted since then.

I agreed to take in an adult female which had been seen being thrown out of (a non-moving) car and had a stray kitten delivered from Seaham. Andrea took the former and Joanna the latter. Both of them were discovered to have problems with the kitten having a headful of ticks and, after being opened by the vet, to have an inflamed gut. The cat is being sick and has diarrhea. Both are being treated and will hopefully get better soon.

Here's the, lovely natured, kitten.

 On Wednesday lunchtime I got a call from Hill View Infants School (not far from me) about a young ginger-white cat which had come onto the school grounds that morning and refused to leave. As the conservatory was free -Tomas, a white with grey patches and a tabby tail, young male, having graduated to living in the rest of the house and spending time on my knee- I went round and picked it (her, probably) up. After two days she's still not eating much and varies between rubbing up against me and purring to giving me a swipe with her claws and growling at the other cats peering through the glass door. Being a young pretty little thing I put her up on Animal Krackers Facebook page with high expectations of locating her owner. No word, however, so far and I'm beginning to suspect that she's been dumped. I was told when I collected her that a teacher was interested in adopting her so if I haven't heard anything by next Wednesday and a Tuesday checkup at the vets gives her the all clear, the teacher can have her.

There is one nice thing to have happened this week. A few weeks back Adele sent me the link to the Galaxy Hot Chocolate Fund which gives small disbursements to charities which are listed on their webpage. It's designed to raise the profile of charities and encouraged more involvement in them -as well as getting good publicity for their product (and who could begrudge them that?). Anyway, after I put up Animal Krackers' profile on their page, we have been selected as one of this week's winners and we'll be getting our photo taken next week. So a big thank you to Galaxy Hot Chocolate.

Skye, a cat I rescued, fostered, and moved to the re-homing centre suddenly deteriorated and was discovered to be ill with feline leukemia and put to sleep. I had her vaccinated as soon as I got her but it was obviously already inside her. She kept to herself while in my house so I'm hoping she hasn't passed it on to any of mine. Apparently it can be passed on through the use of shared litter trays but this is rare.

GINGER CATS AND TABBY CATS AND...

Busy week. wish I could tell you everything that happened but my memory is, as usual, very patchy.

The latest thing that's happened is that nervous boy Lightning is getting more and more confident in his dealings with me and just now he came downstairs and ate in the kitchen with the big boys and girls.

Fluffy the massive and massively lovable thick furred ginger cat has provisionally gone to a new home if he can get on with the friendly but noisy little chihuahua that also lives there. As he's already sleeping on the  his new owner's bed I don't think she's going to give him any choice.

Also re-homed only a couple of hours later was Bronia the three and half year old who lived with me for a while.

As expected it was a busy week for getting calls from people who had either found stray cats or wanted their own re-homing. Luckily for some of them, the way things worked out this week I did have space. I got two calls about strays and went over to Downhill to pick up one of them. However, after hanging round for a week there was no sign of it. In the case of another I was going to set out to pick it up but got a call in time to say it had disappeared. Four days later and I still haven't heard from either lady.

I did get contacted by a lady called Sonia offering to be a fosterer. I called round to do a homecheck and was very satisfied. That gave me a little more flexibility as it turned out.

Yesterday morning I got a call about two 13 week old kittens. Kittens the magic word. It wasn't far and I was round in half an hour. Brother and sister, ginger and tabby, went into my cat cage. Didn't seem too nervous. Anyway, this afternoon, I closed the bedroom door and let them out and then went for my nap -it had been a busy morning as you'll discover below. They were okay so I left them out of the cage when I opened the door and the others flooded in to no noticeable adverse reaction. The ginger boy ventured downstairs and, apart from Timmy who can be a pain with other cats but is going on Tuesday, ginger was quite curious and even came on to my computer desk while I was at it. The tabby remained upstairs. So, both promising. I haven't decided what to do with them yet but with Timmy and Minnie going to the re-homing centre on Tuesday there's no reason why I can't keep them here over Christmas. Adele has a couple of spaces so I've some reasonable flexibility.

Later that afternoon a cat which had been re-homed for a year came back because the dog she was living with suddenly started going for her. The owner was very upset to give it up as she had looked after the cat well, making sure it got regular flea and worm treatment and its vaccinations were up to date. It seemed a good starter cat for Sonia's fostering career so I kept it in a cage overnight and took it round later this morning. Her given name is Twinkle. There's no reason, apart from lack of spaces, that she shouldn't go to the re-homing centre but, assuming there's no problems with Sonia's loveable little chihuahua (whose best non-human friend is the neighbour's cat), I'll leave her at least till the New Year.

This morning I went to do a homecheck in Grindon and met a lovely family whom I took straight round to Ferry Farm where they ended up picking the first (and as it happens couldn't possibly be more suited for them) cat they saw which was 9 month old Tomtom who only been there a week after three with me. The lady's sister (who has four cats along with partner and young son) decided to come and do some cat cuddling. So: result!

After they'd gone, I moved Smudge, a three year old b/w female, in with Ember whom TomTom had left behind, which freed up another pen.

All things considered, not a bad week in the run-up to Christmas.

And Sunderland have just beaten Newcastle United at Newcastle's home ground.

And really one last thing, here's my new t-shirt. How could it be more appropriate for me?

AMY FARRAH FOWLER (AND MARCY MAY)

These are the two cats I took in at the beginning of the week. Both are extremely nervous and hide, though both like being stroked, AFF in particular who will, with a little coaxing and a lot of patience, come to me to be made a fuss of. 

I'm not happy about the amount of food they're eating because I have to leave it in their hiding place and hope they, rather than any of the other cats, actually eat it. 

The photos are all of AFF bar one.

 Yeah, I know, a bit samey. But she is rather sweet.

And Marcy May is a bit sad.

JESS: HERE ON THURSDAY, GONE BY SUNDAY

My third trip to Peterlee in a week, this time in the charity's van. I had to use it because my car, the Toyota Yaris I only got a few months ago, was being repaired following a scrape (yes: my fault) and I couldn't have animals in the courtesy car. So: no satnav. So: I got lost. More than once. My fault. Can't read a map as well as I used to do.

The cat was owned by a couple of genuine animal lovers who were moving but could only have one cat in their rented accomodation. The one they were taking sat on my shoulder while I was talking to the couple.

Jess, I was assured, was up to date with all its vaccinations though when I contacted their vets they could find no record of anyone at the address registered. As I dimwittedly didn't get their surname, I can only blame myself as the cat may have been registered at a different address. 

Next morning I took her to Kings Road Vets as usual where Wendy checked her over and, after pronouncing her flea-free, gave her the first flu shot. Back home I added her to the needing homes web page. Although a bit nervous of the other cats, Jess seemed friendly -always happy to be stroked- and vocal -letting me know when she wanted to be stroked. Only a few hours after putting her on the list I received a show of interest and on Sunday (this) morning a nice young couple (ironically from near Peterlee) came and took her to her new home.

If only it was always that easy.

For one last time, here's Jess.

And now meet Amy Farrah Fowler.

 

But you can call her Amy.

And at the risk of spoiling a joke, the full name is that of a character in the popular geek sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Amy is a stray from Easington Lane. A young woman had been feeding her for a while and would have taken her in but her own cat kept attacking her. When I arrived (after knocking on nearly every door in the street because I'd forgotten the note with the house number, and previously getting lost on the way there) Amy was doing the best she could to hide behind the toilet. I spoke gently to her and picked her up. She didn't really struggle or even make a sound and went easily into the cat carrier.

She's been in the cage in my bedroom for about five hours now and hasn't used the litter tray or eaten anything, but that's not unusual for a newly arrived cat. Jess was the same. I'll get her to the vets as soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow, to be checked over and given her first flu jab. Initial impressions are promising: the lack of aggression, the soft smooth coat, the placid acceptance at being picked up and stroked. Hopefully I'll be able to let her loose with the others, maybe when Ted has gone to Ferry Farm on Tuesday.

Here's one last photo of her. She's bonnier than in the photo.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT -AND, NO, I'M NOT JOKING!

There have been quite a few problems with the Cats/Kittens Needing Homes page. I've solved this problem by creating a new blog solely for this page.

The URL is:

http://catsneedinghomessunderland.blogspot.co.uk/

but you can already access it via the link in the sidebar. The name has changed slightly but it's still the first one you come to. 

It's still in a basic format, that is none of the sidebars and links you get with this but that will change over the next week or so as I do some minor tweaking to the format. The content and photos are, however, up to date as of about half an hour ago. 

If you join it as a follower (facility not just yet available but will be soon) you'll automatically get it when it's updated (I hope).



.

SAME DAY, ANOTHER ABANDONED CAT

This one, apparently, was found dumped in a carrier somewhere in Peterlee earlier today. The guy who brought him here, with his girlfriend, had tried several places before I agreed to take him and had had him scanned at a vets -no chip unsurprisingly.

I'm pretty sure he's a he, though I haven't checked that closely yet. He does have fleas which I Frontlined immediately and sprayed the carrier he came in. I was told he's friendly and initial impressions are that he's quite placid but he could just be in a state of shock. He's in the cage with bedding, litter, food and water.

Although I'd agreed to drop him off at Lynn's tomorrow, I've offered to keep him a little longer and take both him and Sansa (see previous post) to the vets on Monday to be checked out.

MEET SOX

I was at the re-homing centre late this afternoon when I re-homed Gilgamesh the ocicat with two nice young women and met Sox who just arrived yesterday. I've already put him on the cats for re-homing list but I wanted to bring him to your attention because I'll be surprised if he's here for long. He is very pretty, smallish, cute and very friendly, a really lovely little thing and these photos, which aren't bad by my feeble standards, don't do him justice. If you want a young cat but not a kitten, I'd say Sox was perfect.

Incidentally, the cat with the pin in its leg is back home with me now. Wendy thinks the pin could probably be removed but can't legally do anything until I've had her a week. Hopefully she'll be back with her owners by then. Unlikely, but it does happen sometimes.

DOG RESCUING, SUNDERLAND

1. Dog Rescuing, Sunderland.

Sometimes it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

As I was at the vets with the little cat I took in last night (see below) and still had cat food in my boot from when I collected it at Asda yesterday, it only made sense to drop it off at Carole's who lives just up the road.

The moment I opened the boot a young boxer came up to me and wanted to be friendly so I made a brief fuss of it and opened Carole's gate so I could carry the cat food up to her back door. Only the dog got in there first. 

Five minutes later I was back at the vets, this time with Carole and the boxer on a spare lead she had handy. Wendy the vet scanned the dog and -ping! ping! ping! ping!- hurrah! it was chipped.We left it with Wendy to sort out.

If I hadn't decided on the spur of the moment to call at Carole's and got there just when I did, anything could have happened to the dog. Here it is. (And they are Carole's legs, not mine!)

2.1 Cat rescuing, Sunderland.

I still can't get a decent photo of the cat I took in last night.

Wendy found a lump I'd noticed on her right hind leg and decided to keep her in and take an X-ray of it. She also confirmed my initial impression that the cat was about a year old. It also had a chipped canine. I've got to ring back early this afternoon -it's noon as I'm typing this- and will put an update at the end of this post about what's happening to her.

2.2 Cat rescuing, Sunderland.

On the way back home I called in on Susan (my ex, for new readers) to drop off the dog food which had occupied the rest of my boot space and she told me that there was a cat upstairs in our charity shop which I'd have to drive past anyway so I stopped and called in to check it out.

I know absolutely nothing about the cat except that it is young, maybe a year and a bit, it's black and white, and it's very very friendly; also it's the mother of the kittens Andrea re-homed and she brought it in. It's also another bloody cat that won't stay still so I can take a decent photo. (I refuse to countenance the idea that I'm rubbish at taking photos, all evidence to the contrary).

Post Script.

Just rang the surgery and Wendy found a metal pin surgically implanted in the cat's leg which has become dislodged or something. Anyway, I'm picking her up later, about four-ish, as I have to be over that way anyway to go to my dentist to pick up my modified denture, and then it's off to Ferry Farm when, hopefully, Gilgamesh the ocicat will be adopted.

And on top of that I've got another problem. Just got a call from a lady with special needs who took a cat from us several years ago but has now gone into sheltered accommodation where other residents keep tripping over the cat. The problem being that there's no accommodating, sheltered or otherwise, for the cat right now. I said I'd call round next week but I don't know what I'm going to do yet.

ALL MY CATS TODAY

I took these photos today and in the order they appear. With one exception, they were all first shots. I did edit them slightly in Picasa -a little judicious cropping and the occasional touch of lightening.I decided to do this because the number of cats in my house can change without notice. Though the number is the same as yesterday, one cat has gone and another arrived. Brief notes will indicate the status of the various little monsters.

Jeff's kittens, 5 weeks old. Available for re-homing in three weeks time.

Jeff, 10 months old, lovely friendly cat. Status: provisionally reserved for the time being.

Aoife, 5 years old. Status: available, to be transferred to the re-homing centre in three weeks.

Emma, 8 months old. Status: currently available but may stay here.

Aelfric, 4 years old. Status: will have to be prised out of my cold dead hands.

Gilgamesh, 5 years old. Status: depends on how he gets on with my other cats, faintly promising so far.

Fifi, 5 years old. Status: going nowhere.

Tilly, 1 year old. Status: same as Emma's.

Frank, 2 years old, arrived today. Status: available. First impressions: a nice friendly young cat who hates being in the cage in the bookroom but I've got nowhere else for him. Can anyone help him?

Right, I think that speaks for itself. Time I made my tea.

BURNSIDE: AN UPDATE

(If this is your first visit, check out the previous post or this won't make any sense.)

Burnside is proving harder work than I expected. After being an outdoor/stray cat for the last three years, he's finding it hard to be stuck in a small room even when it does consist mostly of windows with a view to the garden. I tried letting him in the house only to have chased and attacked the first time by Aelfric. 

I've also been bitten by him a few times while stroking him. Not in any vicious way, more like a warning that he'd had enough. He also howls quite a lot. He'll be in the conservatory and he'll just open his mouth and go at it for a couple of minutes. 

Right now he's got the run of the house and the conservatory door is open if he wants to go back in where he feels safe. After the first couple of times, Aelfric had stopped attacking him though he does follow him wherever he goes whether to keep an eye on him or in an attempt to be friends, I don't know. Emma the kitten just wants to be friends of course and will run up to touch noses. Aoife, who doesn't like other cats, reacted exactly as I expected when Burnside jumped up on the window next to her.

Here's some photos I took a few minutes ago.

Right now he seems to be exploring the house, looking for places where he feels comfortable, so, unless he decides he wants to be back in the conservatory, I'll leave him alone and only put him back there at bedtime.

Cats are very adaptable so I'm sure he'll settle down given time and once he starts to feel secure in his changed circumstances. One thing I am certain of though and that is it isn't going to happen over night. Then again, with cats, who knows?