Apologies for going quiet but its been pretty chaotic round here over the last few weeks. On top of the everlasting round of feeding and cleaning, cuddling and playing, and trying to keep them out of trouble, we’ve had various trips out. We took a gang of 9 to the RSPCA microchipping day a few weeks ago, and a gang of 7 for vaccinations at Vets4Pets last week.
One of the best bits has been all the families coming to visit their growing kittens and bond with them prior to going to their new homes. There have been so many different groups of people coming to the door I wonder if my neighbours suspect we’re dealing in extra strong catnip. It’s absolutely lovely to see the kittens and cats getting to know their new families … as well as being brilliant for all of them to have plenty of chance to meet and greet lots of new people.
Arwen was the first to bail out. After weeks of complaining that she was fed up of kittens and couldn’t wait to have her own place, she was clearly delighted with all her smart new stuff but then had a bit of a funny turn. Her new mummy and I were so anxious about her that we rushed her off to the vet, but as soon as we’d bundled her into the car she was fine again. She had a thorough check over but nothing was found, and the second time she went into her new home she had no problem. Whilst I worried later about how she was, Arwen was busy playing football with her new daddy.
Not to be outdone, Lyra also managed to develop a last minute problem. Her spay wound healed very quickly and at her post op check a week later everything was perfect. A couple of days later, and a day before she was due to go to her new home, a lump the size of a golf ball came up on the op site. So .. back off to our lovely vets. The rehoming was delayed and her new parents came to visit in stead. After some discussion, we decided it would still be best for her and Mowgli to go to their new home sooner rather than later. Although moving to a new home is stressful, they’d built up a relationship with their new family whilst waiting for the kits to be old enough for them to leave them, and we all felt that on balance it was less stressful than staying here with a gang of kittens playing leap frog over her. It seems it was absolutely the right decision. Although the pair of them were a little anxious when they first arrived – Mowgli squeezed himself under the drinks cabinet, whilst Lyra got under the bookcase – they very quickly started to come out to eat and explore. I stayed with them an hour or two until they were looking around quite confidently. It was lovely to watch them checking out their new place, doing their usual chirruping to each other to stay in contact and re assure each other. They’ve been able to relax and enjoy themselves and Lyra’s wound is now settling and healing.
Alfie and Aoife were more straightforward. Their family have visited for several weeks and watched them growing up. I would have been very surprised if they’d had any difficulties settling in. They were confidently climbing on mum and dad’s lap whilst they were still here, so it was no big deal to meet them again in their new house. Within minutes they were exploring and playing and generally creating mayhem. I was very impressed to have an email from their mum a few days later showing how they were getting involved in family life and helping out with chores such as making the bed and clearing up the cups.
The last two tails only went to their new home this evening. Lily and Lenny have known their new family since they were wobbly 4 week old kittens. Now at 10 weeks they’re much more confident and that confidence has grown since mum and uncle Mowgli left and they’ve been playing with the bigger kits. I was a little worried that they might just hide when they arrived in their new home, however they were much more confident than I’d dared hope for. Interesting to see how much they’d learned from Lyra and Mowgli. They sang similar songs to those sung by Lyra and Mowg on their journey to new home, albeit an octave or two higher. Having been fairly quiet kits until this last week or so, it was fascinating to see them employing the same method of chirruping to each other as they explored their new home.
It’s hard to describe how grateful I am to the families who have taken these little ones in, and how delighted I am with the people they have found. I really honestly couldn’t have wished for better – either for them or for the little ones who are due to go to new homes in the next few weeks.
8 Lives: Sheffield 8 Cat Rescue 