kittens

We talked last time about the recent comings and goings at 8 Lives over Xmas and the New Year ….. this post is about the naughty boys who have stayed. It’s surprisingly easy to forget we have them …… “easy” because they’re living alongside the residents so just kind of blend in to what passes as ‘normal life’ round here. “Surprisingly” because they’re kittens and as such, tear around wreaking havoc. We’ve shouted to Ralph to come down from the top of the lounge curtains so many times that serious consideration has been given to renaming him – “Zacchaeus”.

You’ll not really recognise Dave – the terrified, food refuser who arrived a few weeks ago.

dave a few weeks ago

dave now

dave with ralph

He’s cleaned himself up, and with some support from Ralph is feeling much much more confident. Confident enough to be one of the first to the fridge when I open it, and to take the prize as the cat most likely to trip me up because he’s so close. He also won last week’s “Best Behaved at the Vets” award. Having carefully explained Dave’s background to Dr Tim, and prepared a safe action plan for extracting him from his carrier and doing his vaccination, Dave proceded to be the perfect patient. Unlike our beloved old resident Sooty, who called the vet all the evil names under the sun, the moment he stepped out of his carrier. You’d think it was Sooty who had been born on the street with that language, not Dave. [Ed. Actually Sooty may well have been born on the street, who knows? we have no knowledge of the first 10+ years of his life.]

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“Ralph the emotional supporter” is also “Ralph the ringleader” … and takes David into mischief which we cannot believe was designed by anyone other than our little ginger horror. In addition to curtain-eering, one of Ralph’s favourite pastimes is to steal a packet of treats, race off with it and scoff them all. We first became aware of this when we moved the arm chair and found a collection of ripped and empty Dreamie (other cat treats are available) packets. Once vigilant we were able to spot the crime in process. It all happens very quickly, the sound comes first – the very recognisable crackle of a Dreamie packet, then a streak of ginger followed by a flash of black & white, and they’re gone. The current favourite munching place is under my bed – whether I’m in it at the time appears not to be relevant. Woke the other night to the sounds of munching coming up from under the mattress. I pretended that I was asleep ….. I hadn’t the heart to tell them off.

It seems that things in rescue can change completely in minutes. It wasn’t too surprising that we had hardly any enquiries about adoption in the run up to Xmas and during it. It was lovely being off work and able to spend lots more time cuddling both residents and guests, but there was the inevitable worry that some of our guests, I’m thinking particularly of the adults – Domino and Dizzie – could be here for quite a while. Once Boxing Day was over there was a flurry of enquiries, all about Yoda or just general enquiries as to whether we had any kittens. Just one enquiry was possibly about Yoda or possibly Domino. The weather was vile, but the home was local and it was a possible home for Domino ….. so off we skated to homecheck. Couldn’t have been a nicer home, and after introductions it was sooooooooo obvious that Dom and this lady were made for each other. The next day we did a homecheck for Yoda, a very nice home for Yoda, but made blissfully purrfect by the fact that when we arrived the family said they were interested in adopting our gorgeous Dizzie too since the lads were friends. So within a few days, both cat rooms were vacant and their former occupants absorbed in getting accustomed to lives of luxury.

Domino

Dizzie & Yoda

The space meant that we were able to respond to a another very sad situation where someone was having to move home and simply could not find any rented accommodation where her cat was able to go with her. We’re fully aware that many people use this kind of situation as an excuse to dump their no longer wanted pets in rescue …… however it is also a very genuine issue for many people and one which is exacerbated by the recession. It feels so wrong that animals and the humans who genuinely love and care for them should end up separated from each other in this way. I found it quite heartbreaking to walk away with Wiccan in a basket and his treasured possessions all packaged up ….. almost too painful to think how he and his mum felt about it.

We’d just got Wiccan settled into his room when another email arrived …. needing to get a 4/5 month old kitten into rescue …. and just over an hour later Sugar arrived.

She looks like butter wouldn’t melt ….. but when I put my hand in that box she hissed and screamed, and was crawling with fleas. A week on and she’s running to me, wanting a fuss, loving to play, and almost flea free. She’ll still remind me how loud she can spit …… but we’re both a lot less wary of each other, and a little more hopeful for the future.

We’ve had a lovely Christmas with lots of extra time at home to hang out with the residents and current rescues, and also to delight in the updates and season’s greetings from our past rescue (furry) people.

First to check in were Alfie and Aoife from the A Team.  They were very excited about their first Christmas, loving the tree and looking forward to all the wrapping paper and turkey on the big day.

Then Bosca texted us a photo of her furry lights

Then lovely Lenny messaged us ….. seems he’d got a little confused about his species …… but there’s no mistaking the fact that he’s gorgeous.

On Christmas Day little (not quite so little now) Nacho sent us a photo of her with her step sister, opening their presents

And then the other two kits from the A Team – Albert & Aslan also messaged. Aslan was blissed out to have got a new toy mouse, whilst Albert was making the most of the holidays to have a snooze

Little Truffle & Toby proudly send their Christmas picture ….. newly settled in to their furever home and loving it

Lenny got more and more excited and sent in a photo of him and his sister Lily, plus their step siblings all dressed up ready for Christmas

Young Floyd rather smugly sent in this photo of him having a Christmas kiss ……. he’s come a long way in a short time has that little boy!

Just to complete the joy, the last and most important member of the A Team – Arwen mummy cat – got her staff to email us. She refused to have her photo taken next to the Christmas tree because she was busy having cuddles …… but condescended to allow a wide shot showing the crib in the background. Bless you Arwen.

These photos have really made our Christmas. It’s not simply that they’re lovely photos and happy memories of adorable furry friends. It’s the knowledge that they’re happy and safe, and having the life that they would never have had had they not come to 8 Lives. Makes all the sleepless nights, and shredded furnishings seem worthwhile really 🙂

Although we currently only have 10 cats, the number requiring single rooms means that we’re completely full.   Domino and Dizzie each have one of the cat rooms to themselves.  Poor Dizzie would be happy to share, and I think has missed his mate Edward since he went to his new home, but no one wants to share with him.  Domino is happy to nip into his bedroom at meal times and steal his dinner but hisses at him if he tries to make conversation.

Then Big Dave arrived.     Dave is one of a group of feral cats living in Chesterfield.   They’ve had a hard time as residents were threatening to poison the growing community of felines.  Some amazing women, who didn’t previously have much experience of cats, came across them and took on the huge task of sorting them out.   They trapped him for us last Wednesday and we picked him up on the way home from work (our work that is, not Dave’s) and took him straight to the vet for B & (no) B prior to his neuter op the following day.  Next day after work we went to collect him.  The vet smiled as she handed him over, and took off her gauntlets.    Gulp.

Home and into a crate in the conservatory.   Dave and I were neck and neck as to who was the most anxious about it all.  We expected hissing, growling, lashing out …….. what we didn’t quite anticipate was a point blank refusal to eat.  Several different flavours of pouches were offered, and a pick and mix selection of dried food.  Dave sat with jaws resolutely clamped shut.  Day two we resorted to sardines and Dreamies.  Still no.  Day three pushed us to cooking – fish, and then scrambled eggs with cheese …. um ……. no …… NO.  The residents checked and rechecked the calendar as what appeared to be the Christmas feast, a rolling buffet of Dave’s rejected meals, was served.   Day four brought us desperately combing the rarely trodden aisles of the supermarket (we’re veggie) looking for more treats for a carnivore.   A slice of boiled ham was seriously considered, and then rejected.   Dave and I spent a lot of time staring anxiously at each other over ever more desperately proffered meals.

Finally on the night of Day four, Dave ate just an ordinary pouch, and hasn’t looked back.  It’s become apparent that despite the tough sounding name, he’s just a timid kitten at heart.  Things have come on in leaps and bounds since then.  After a couple of misguided choices to sleep in his litter tray and pee in his bed, he’s figured out a better plan.   He’s taking an interest in his toys, calling to me when he hears me clattering around in the kitchen, and ……. to my delight, sat purring at me last night.   We’re managing a few careful strokes at meal times now too, and looking forward to Christmas holidays when we can take things a bit further.

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It’s been a busy few weeks here getting all the little Ts to their new homes, and slowly coming to terms with the death of their mum. Unfortunately … or fortunately ….. depending on how you look at it …. there’s little time to grieve for the dead when the living make so many demands.

The kittens all seem to be settling into their new homes, and even timid little Truffle is making progress.

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Once the little ones had gone, Domino and Edward went off to the vet for neutering. Ed was completely fine as all our lads have been, but things weren’t quite that straightforward for Domino. Being a stray when she came to us we didn’t know whether Dom was spayed or not. As she wasn’t pregnant, as most stray females are, if they’re not caring for tiny ones, we thought perhaps she’d been spayed already. However she very vocally came into season a few weeks after arriving and we booked her in for her op. It turned out that she had cysts on her ovaries which made it a slightly bigger op than normal. Although this wasn’t great news, perhaps it’s what saved her from pregnancy. Unfortunately she came home and started removing her stitches. We went back to the vets and she was stapled and glued together and strongly advised to wear her buster collar. She grudgingly complied with this for a few days, until one night she managed to remove the collar ….. and shortly afterwards remove the staples! A very stressful period ensued where the collar was very firmly fastened, and (heartbreakingly) no concessions were made for the collar to be removed for her to eat or wash herself …. as the minute it was off she’d dive for her wound. Poor love, when the collar finally came off she washed herself (still under careful supervision) for a full 45 minutes.

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She’s such a little sweetie …….. all she wants for Christmas is a lap of her own to snuggle on ….. such a little cuddle monster.

The T team leaving do this evening has been a bit of a sober affair, partly because Dizzie and Edward found the box of cat nip earlier this week, ripped it open and scattered it all over the stairs.

However the main reason is much more sad …. within days of all her kittens being officially reserved, and Tilly starting to be able to have some “me time” and look for the purrfect home where she could be loved and pampered, she had a completely unexpected medical emergency.  Despite rushing her to the vets and it initially looking hopeful, surgery showed that the situation was much worse than any of us had feared, and Tilly was helped to Rainbow Bridge before she woke from the anaesthetic.    It’s been utterly heartbreaking to lose her like this …. one of the sweetest cats we’ve had in rescue, so deserving of a better new life for herself, and so close to having it.   Never expected her furever home to be at the bottom of our garden.

It’s difficult to know what the little Ts make of it.  They’re growing up, getting ready for independence and hopefully haven’t noticed too much.  If the whole thing wasn’t painful enough though …. looking up from digging Tilly’s grave to see a row of little kits on their bedroom windowsill watching me was one of the most painful moments in 8 Lives history.

The comfort is that Tilly has been very loved whilst she’s been with us.  She surprised us by being pregnant and worried us by being due whilst we were on holiday.  However she was cared for during that time by a lovely cat mad friend who reminded me how excited Tilly had been to show her her kittens when they were new born, calling at the door when she heard my friend go past and running to show her the little ones.

Such a sweet and loving mum even when they became a complete handful for both of us.

So wish she could have been here for the leaving do.  We played with toys and talked about new homes, and did our best to be brave but I think you’ll see a few sad faces amongst the photos.

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Run free at the bridge lovely Tilly …. and go grab life by all four paws little guys!

Well …. not exactly … but this is the riddle this week has reminded us of: http://riddleshub.com/fox-goose-corn/ for those of you who don’t know it.

rather too many cats

After four years of rescue cats and kits trashing the carpets in their rooms we decided to arrange to have some laminate flooring laid in those two rooms.   When we ordered the laminate. things were busy bit not overly so.  Between booking it all, Domino and then Eddie & Dizzie arrived.  With a house full, 3 additional cats might not sound much, but Dom needs to be separate from all of them, and Ed n Dizz need their own space together too.

So here we are with 18 cats in the house, in 4 separate groups who need to not mix.   There’s 5 rooms in the house if you include the conservatory which is liable to extremes of temperature and a tiny bathroom which doesn’t have room to swing even the smallest kitten – you’ll need to trust me that this is worked out by mathematical hypothesis rather than practical demonstration.

With me so far?  The joiner needs access to both cat rooms one of which contains Ed and Dizz, the other with Tilly, her 6 kittens and the remaining 3 little Fs.   The 5 permanent residents need access to the cat flap/outdoors, Ed needs to not leave his unneutered tom cat scent in my bedroom, the lounge or the dining room which are the main rooms the residents hang out in, Honey and Jango must not be stuck in a room together as they hate each other, rescue cats must not be a) in any room the joiner needs access to or b) any room with an outside door/cat flap opening on to it, Domino mustn’t share with anyone because she hates them all, but particularly not with Ed who hasn’t yet been neutered because we don’t know if Dom has been spayed or not.  Jango mustn’t be able to get anywhere near the joiner as he cornered the poor guy on the landing last time he did some work on the house and its not been forgotten.   Ideally whilst we’re out at work the joiner needs to be able to use the bathroom and kitchen to make a drink if he needs to without fear of being attacked, or having escapees.

Oh … and there needs to be no furniture on the floor in either of the rooms which the laminate needs to go down in.

You have a few sleepless nights to figure it out … starting now!

We know we’re full and that things are getting tricky when there are several nights in the week where we lay awake at 2am trying to work out how things can fit together …… and are still awake at 5am but without any clear solutions. Holding down a full time job, running a home, and organising 18 cats is tricky. It’s more tricky when currently 10 of those cats need sorting out with primary course of vaccinations, 2 of them need to be neutered (requiring a day of arriving late at work and leaving early), and 3 of them need microchipping. Thirteen of them need rehoming, requiring home checks, people coming to visit and ultimately cats need to be taken to their new homes. All the time new requests to take cats and kittens are coming in.

If things had gone to plan / expectations many of our cats wouldn’t be with us:

Take poor Domino for example: we were clear that we simply couldn’t take in any more adults and then we had a phone call from the vets to see if we could take in a pregnant cat. It was getting cold outside and we’re very fond of our vets, so we caved in and agreed. When the finders finally got her to the vets they discovered it wasn’t a pregnancy but a bloated tum from eating goodness knows what whilst she was a stray. At that stage we couldn’t say no and put her back on the street. So here she is:

And she’s gorgeous … but struggling in the cold conservatory as it was the only place to put her. Hence her huge fur hat. We’ve advertised her everywhere hoping someone will recognise her and claim her – but so far the only response we’ve had is from someone who told us that she’d been straying in the centre of town for a while, hanging our around the markets to beg for food. So she’s now getting herself sorted ready for finding a new home.

Then there’s Tilly and her kits. We responded to a plea to take an adult and a 12 week old kit into rescue. We said we’d take the kit but at the time didn’t have space for an adult. Someone else was going to take the adult but somehow we ended up with both, and then Tilly turned out to be pregnant again ….. and had 6 kittens! So that’s 7 more cats we didn’t plan for.

We’re glad now that we didn’t say “no” because they’re gorgeous ….. all of them.

Then last weekend, full to bursting and we had a desperate plea to take another couple of adults who were about to end up homeless. For a while it seemed like we had found them a space in another rescue – but somehow they’re here with us. Saying “no” days before bonfire night just didn’t seem an option though we know many poor souls will have been out there through it. So the Fs bunked up with the Ts and the adults have the Fs bedroom.

They’re sweet boys but quite confused about why their lives have suddenly changed.

It’s chaos of course but then we get photos back from kits in their new homes and it all seems worthwhile. Lovely Bosca is getting …. I was going to say “her feet under the table” in her new home – but it’s more like “over the table”

Our timid little Floyd has given us regular excited updates about settling into his new home and making friends with his new step brothers and sisters. His confidence has clearly come on in leaps and bounds:

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Next week’s challenge is to work out how to juggle them around so that our long-suffering joiner can lay laminate in both of the main rescue cat rooms without: a) mixing the separated groups of cats, b) allowing un neutered tom cats into our bedroom (as it upsets the residents), c) letting any of the non-residents outdoors d) losing anyone e) anyone getting stood on and f) allowing Jango anywhere near the joiner (as he squared up to him last time he came and cornered him in the bathroom).

It’s been an exciting and scary week for Floyd. He started off being full of himself that he’d bagged a home with the human that he liked … but as time has gone on, its begun to look a bit scary. Leaving his little cousins and starting out in his new home isn’t going to be easy for such a nervous young man. It’s such a good job that he’s got a kind and understanding new human to take care of him.

The hurdle of going to the vets for his second vaccination is over, he was calm and brave throughout, though we saw him holding Fern’s hand some of the time.

This evening has been his leaving do. Perhaps laying on a “Drugs and Dreamies” party wasn’t that well advised. He’s not normally been used to doing drugs … and the cat nip high blew him away a bit

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Inevitably it started to get a bit out of hand

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In the end Tilly had to step in ….

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As she explained, it wasn’t just that the older kits were drunk and disorderly, it was that they were encouraging her little ones to get high on it too …….. and at less than 8 weeks old she felt this just wasn’t acceptable

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Let’s start at the beginning of last week. We’d had lots of requests to take cats in, and sadly had had to say no to them. Just too full with all the little Fs and Ts, and of course Bosca. Monday afternoon I had a serious talk with myself, after yet another request to take in a young man who was desperate to get in out of the cold. The only thing that was going to make us let anyone else in was if it was a pregnant cat, and even then. only if she was local (trying to remember we were set up for S8 cats) or had some other connection to us. Twenty minutes later there was a phone call from our vets – someone had found a pregnant cat in Sheffield city centre, RSPCA and Cat Protection had said “no” … could we help? Gulp …. she fitted both the connection criteria (our vets are wonderful and we’d do anything to help) ….. and she was pregnant. So we set up our bedroom as a maternity unit, moved our bedding downstairs and prepared to sleep on the floor until the as yet unborn kits had had their vaccinations and were ready to go to their new homes.

Arrived at the vets to collect puss …. to the news that once she’d arrived with them the ‘pregnancy’ had been diagnosed as ‘wind’ … with a prognosis (as she gently deflated in the consulting room) of a severe bout of diarrhea later in the day. Um …. we’d only agreed to take her because she was supposedly pregnant, but somehow just couldn’t say “no” to the sad little face poking out the top of her cardboard box. It felt a little like she’d stuffed a cushion up her jumper to get to the top of the housing queue .. but seriously …. would you just put her back out on the street?

We’re not being mean – but giving up our bedroom to a pregnant lady is one thing …. giving it up to a cat forecast to have a serious gut explosion in the next 24 hours is something else. The maternity suite was collapsed and temporary quarters established in the conservatory. ‘Windy’ settled in gratefully …. ate plain fish for a few days and slowly decompressed. She’s a sweet purry cat, who doesn’t seem to like the residents very much when they’ve seen each other. Then again, the residents are a funny lot and a bit of an acquired taste. We’ve advertised her as “found” and searched the “lost” adverts … but nothing has come up. She can’t stay here much longer as “lost” … so later next week will start the process of health checks, vaccinations, contraception and chipping.

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The good news last weekend is that Bosca, who has been with us since May, went to her new home. We didn’t try too hard with rehoming her over the summer because everyone was happy being out in the garden in the sunshine. However once the lovely weather ended and the nights started to draw in, the cracks in the relationship between Bosca and the residents started to appear. We had a few enquiries about her, but then the perfect home came up for her, and Bossy is now settling down to enjoy the rest of her life.

And here”s our second surprise. A lovely young woman came this weekend to meet Fuzzie – from the adverts he looked like he was just the right young man to fit into her family. We had little concern – he’s a confident young man who could easily charm almost any visitor into adopting him. When she arrived Fuzzie was snuggled in a bed with Floyd. All seemed well. We started talking to them and playing, expecting Fuzz to run to join in, and Floyd to run away. The strangest thing happened. Fuzzie went and hid in a cardboard box, whilst Floyd (the timid lad whom we have to chase around the room to be able to stroke) was clearly transfixed. He ran up to her, licking her arm, enjoying her strokes, and even let her rub the Floydy tum. [We’ve never been allowed to touch the Floydy tum!] Freddie and Fern played around as normal but Fuzz took himself out of the picture.

Floyd excelled himself in charming her, and has won himself a home. He’s chuffed to bits and not only wants to announce it .. he wants to shout it from the rooftops

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Discussions afterwards with them suggested that Fuzz had also really liked the lady, but he was aware that his timid cousin would find it hard to find someone he felt comfortable with. So when Floyd said that he liked her, Fuzzie tactfully hid himself away so that Floyd had a chance to woo her. Good boy Fuzzie, such a sweet thing to do. And congratulations to Floyd!