Sheffield

There hasn’t been much time to update the blog recently … its been a bit crazy here. First the gorgeous Elsa had her kittens:

elsa with new borns

Quite a blur of ginger gorgeousness. It’s going to take a while before we can easily identify them each individually … though they are all different versions of ginger. It’s like Elsa only had one crayon to use whilst colouring them in … but has managed, using light and shade, to make each one beautifully and perfectly different.

E Team 9 days old

We’re full and over full of course … However a couple of Sunday mornings ago, as I was dozing off for a nap after a bad night on the couch, facebook pinged asking if we could take two young kittens with no mummy. Within 30 minutes I was in the car going to collect them … from the other side of Doncaster.  Things with rescue tend to happen quickly … but when its kittens who aren’t weaned and have no mummy it has to happen even faster … faster than I can logically think about where we can put them…. but hey ho ….. 

My mind going ten to the dozen about how to manage regular bottles once back at work the following day,  I was hugely relieved once I saw them, to realise that they were old enough to be eating a bit for themselves and wouldn’t need to be coming to work with me all week!  Still very needy and clingy and wanting milk though …

I can’t help but envy/admire Elsa and the ease with which she seems to manage her babies.  A snuggle, a purrrrrrrrrrrrrr, a swift lick and all seems to be well.  Meanwhile we’re boiling endless water to sterilise bottles and make up feeds, having the washing machine on almost constantly to deal with little furry accidents, and facing the challenge of kitten bathing.

Sadly little Indie (and his brother to a slightly lesser extent) were so horribly stinky that we had to brave the bath. I got it all prepared and braced myself for low flying kittens. Put Indie in the kitchen sink in warm water … fulling expecting all hell to break loose …… but he just stood there. I wet his fur, lathered him in shampoo …. and he stood there. I scrubbed a bit and then rinsed him off …… and he stood there. I picked him out, toweled him .. and he stood there. I started to blow dry him … his coat puffed out like a dandelion head … but he just stood there.

towel

and then blow dry

His brother Inky was more or less as good …but wasn’t so keen to pose for photos

A couple of weekends ago I was really excited about the prospect of sleeping my in own bed again.  You may remember I lost rights to my bedroom when we took in the D Team a couple of months ago.  Two of the B Team had gone to their new home the weekend previously …. and very happy they were too

Then on the Saturday I took the three other B kittens to their new home ….. I do hope their mummy realises what treble trouble is going to be like

button buzz and boo

On Sunday morning I prepared to take mummy Betty to her lovely new home, happily running through in my head the order I’d do things in to get the B Team’s old room cleaned, move the D Team into there out of my bedroom, clean up my bedroom and get settled back in my own bed by the evening.    Taking Betty to her new home went to plan … here she is blissed out with her new found freedom from motherhood, an hour or two after arriving in her new home.

The rest of the plan was … not so good.   As I was setting off to take Bet to her new home an email arrived about a mum and kits.  I’d heard about them earlier in the week, offered help, but not got a reply, so thought they were sorted.   They weren’t 😦    So after Betty was settled in her new place I came home, cleaned her room and went to collect the people who became the J Team.

They settled into what was the B Team’s room ……  the D Team stayed put in my bedroom …… and of course I stayed put on the sofa.  Not to worry though because the following weekend mum and one of the D Team kits were off to their new home, so maybe then we could manage the other D Team kits downstairs and I could have my bed.   We already had Shadow staying downstairs with the residents so it could be a bit of a grouchy squash.  Um ….. did I mention Shadow before?  She arrived on her own a few days before the J Team.   She’s no trouble at all so long as you have nerves of steel and don’t value your curtains.

Anyway …. back to the story.   It kind of got better because the other two D kittens had an offer of a lovely home and last Saturday was filled with taking the D Team to their 3 different homes.

Sunday was all about cleaning …. and blessedly reacquainting with our bed

It was comfy, it was blissful ..

It lasted three days … or rather nights ….

Then on Wednesday we had a call from the vets.   There was a very pregnant cat, obviously stray, not micro chippped, very desperate for a safe place to have her babies.   Scrambled home from work, dismantled bedroom and remade bed on sofa, bedroom turned into mother and baby unit, and then went to collect Elsa. (*mega thanks to aunty Jenny for helping with the quick turnaround)

Some people would say I’m crazy … giving up my bed for stray cats and their babies.  It’s true I lose a lot of sleep by not having my bed.     It’s not easy sharing a narrow sofa with all the resident cats

some of

the many people

who share the sofa

My thought is that I could never sleep knowing that there’s a cat out there giving birth in a field, that I could have helped, if only I hadn’t been so precious about my bed.

 TwistedWhiskers

Bringing you all the latest mews from 8 Lives Cat Rescue
Summer 2015

Welcome to our Summer newsletter.  Time flies when we look at the year in quarters, despite seeming to stand still at the time.  All the lovely cats we were anxious to find homes for in our last news letter have found super homes, including our beloved Jack.  Here he is, with his cold and miserable allotment exchanged for his new best friend’s princess pink bedroom.

One born every minute – three tails of un planned pregnancies

Our saddest tail this quarter in some ways is Maya.  She arrived with us, very pregnant, very poorly, and very very scared.  Our vets worked hard to find a way of treating her without harming her babies.  Sadly the babes were born  premature and Maya wouldn’t even look at them.  One died at birth, however little Max put up a fight and we tried to hand rear him.  Sadly he was just too tiny, and too premmy, and broke our hearts a few days later.

maya feeling poorly

tiny max with his teddy

Thankfully things have improved for Maya … she’s well again.   Her illness seems to have been nothing serious as such, just years of pregnancies and inadequate care.  She’s slowly gone from strength to strength … her health improving and then her confidence.  It’s a slow process, she’s clearly had a horrid experience of humans in the past.  We’re slowly getting there  … there’s a sense now that she sees humans as having the potential to be good.

looking for me for her supper

more confident

We’re hoping someone with a love and understanding of cats will offer her a forever home, someone able to let her grow her confidence at her own pace.  We’re sure she has the potential to be a lovely companion for someone.  She may never be a lap cat, but she’s full of character … and a real little sweetie.

Things were very much better for Betty.  Although she also found herself pregnant and homeless, she landed on the home of a couple of lovely young women who have done their absolute best for her.   Here she is, hanging on to their door, asking for help.

determined to get herself a home

They found her a space here in rescue where she could safely have her kits.  We’re pretty sure they’re her first litter …… unlike Maya, she’s only a very young cat.   She got into rescue 10 days  before her kits were born, had some good food and a safe space to have them.  Although rather bemused by what was happening with the birth and arrival of kittens, Betty quickly got her head around it and has made a lovely job of raising her little ones.  We’re delighted that she’s now going back to the women who found her for a furever home.

Daisy’s experience was somewhere in between Maya’s nightmare and Betty’s lucky escape.  Another youngster, barely more than a kitten herself, she ended up pregnant and giving birth in a shed.   She and her kits were discovered a few weeks later by a curious dog and his concerned human.

Daisy in her shed

with kittens

We didn’t have any space here really, but went out to scan her just to see if she was microchipped, which not surprisingly she wasn’t. It’s one (not entirely easy) thing, to reply to an email requesting help, and say “I’m sorry .. we’re full”. It’s quite another to see a young mum and three kittens in a shed, at risk of foxes, further pregnancy, and simply of boxes falling on them, and say no. So of course they came home with us. In a crate in the lounge because there was nowhere else .. they refused to eat or use the litter tray for 24 hours.    The only option was to move out of my bedroom, move the D Team in there, and sleep on the sofa.

This seems to have worked well for them …. though its been a bit tricky for me and the residents who normally like to share my bed.

And then there’s our little miracle – Gertie 

Gertie was a bit of a surprise arrival.  I was at work and a friend messaged me to say she’d been to visit her cat who was an inpatient at her vets.  Whilst there she’d seen Gertie who had been brought in as a poorly stray a week ago, and now her time was up.  Unclaimed and blind, Gertie was to be put to sleep.   I tried to ignore it and think of something else … focus on work ….. but it was hopeless … I couldn’t concentrate with the idea of  a cat we may be able to save, dying because no one could be bothered.  Somewhat recklessly I agreed to collect her from the vet on the way home from work, and then spent the gaps between appointments frantically googling for info about how to care for a blind cat.

I was stunned by how beautiful she was when I picked her up, and relieved by how easily she managed to find her food and litter tray once we got home. The next day we went off to our own vet for a check up. Gertie walked around in circles in the surgery and then crashed into the wall. However, Claire, our lovely vet, said she thought it could be high blood pressure causing her illness and blindness, and that if treated she may regain her sight. Our vets are fab and I trust their judgment …. but really?! Nevertheless Gertie stayed overnight and through next day having her bp checked, was diagnosed with hypertension … and sent home with medication. Within a couple of days there was a huge difference … her pupils were responding to light and she was no longer walking into things.

Gertie is looking for an indoor home with humans who will snugggggle her lots and help make up for the horrid time she’s had so far in life.

2016 Calendar

Some of you will already have seen our lovely 2016 calendar … put together through help from our local photography group and some excellent photographers from our adoptive families, and a wonderful local business who have funded the printing of them.   Each month features one of our gorgeous 8 Lives cats:  there’s some of our permanent residents, plus Jak, Domino, Sugar, Jack,  Molly, Dorothy, Dave and Ralph and supporting photos of Alfie & Aslan, Lenny & Lily etc.   Please buy or more .. for stocking fillers at Christmas?  Help us to keep our funds at a level where we’re able to help the more needy cats like Gertie as well as some of the more average guests 🙂

Ok, so we’re full …… we know we’re full.    It’s chaotic around here with the Zeds bouncing around, and the two oldies, and Betty trying cope with kittens who are deeply reluctant to being weaned.  Not to mention the residents with Sooty needing to be kept in still, and Flipper collecting wildlife.  And my goodness its hot, don’t know what we’d do without our Flat Cat screens to allow us to open the windows some of the time at least.

B Team refusing to grow up

However at the weekend we got a message from a lovely woman who was trying to help a mum and three kittens whom her dog had discovered living in their shed. All the other rescues were full too, she’d rung everyone ….. and finally found us on a google search. I ended up going out to check if mum was chipped. On the one hand it was a perfectly sensible first step in trying to help … on the other hand, I knew it was fatal. It’s one thing taking a deep breath and replying to an email saying “I’m sorry but we’re completely full …. here’s a list of other rescues to try …. ”    It’s quite another actually seeing a very young mum in the corner of a shed doing her best to protect her babies.   The woman had been doing her best to care for them,  had started feeding them as soon as she knew they were there, and done her utmost to protect them and get help, but the little ones were at risk of being taken by a fox and mum at risk of being pregnant again.  This lady had her own difficult personal situation to deal with and couldn’t do any more than she was doing.

mum with kits in shed

The half formulated plan to leave them there but fund mum’s spay and sort out rehoming from there just dissolved. It just wasn’t safe for them to stay where they were. We brought them home and put them in a crate in the lounge.

A day later mum hadn’t eaten or used her litter tray … too stressed with the Zeds bouncing around and the residents grumbling about the seemingly endless stream of new arrivals. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so Daisy and the little Dots are now settling very happily into my bedroom whilst I settle on the sofa.

She’s the most beautiful little girl …. gorrrrrrgeous pale green eyes and a lovely gentle nature. Vet thinks she’s not a year old yet, poor little thing. Her kits are adorable …. and thankfully arrived in rescue early enough to learn to get used to humans.

delilah

dexter

dotty

I’ve just realised that we haven’t mentioned the Zeds here on our blog.  Strange how we’ve managed to forget them when they’re mostly right here in front of us, using the keyboard as a trampoline.   They arrived about 3 weeks ago, aged 5-6 weeks, having been born in a shed.   Mum was already pregnant again and ran off when people tried to catch the family to bring them in to rescue ….. not an ideal situation but the little ones came into rescue on their own.  [Thankfully mum has since been trapped and is now in foster care]

We went to collect them, expecting some fierce hissing and spitting …. and rather a lot of fleas.  Oddly enough there was none of it.   They were a bit nervous but otherwise fine.  Their shy-ness lasted about 24 hours, at which point they emerged from their igloo ready to take on the world – despite the residents being rather less than welcoming.

I have to confess a secret preference for tom kittens, they’re somehow more easy going and affectionate than little girls.  These two are no exception … absolutely adorable little boys.    The residents have grudgingly accepted that they’re here for a while.

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In some ways they’re quite different characters – Zacchaeus is the calmer more sensible one (RELATIVELY …. we ARE talking kittens here) and more likely to do as he’s told,   whereas Zebedee is just a complete crazy live wire.    The times they just settle down to sleep are probably the best.