Sheffield

It’s not been a straightforward reduction in numbers of kittens. That’s what we’d planned – get it down to just the residents plus one or two others, and then hire a carpet cleaner and freshen things up before starting again. Cats however are not noted for fitting in with other people’s plans.

On Tuesday we got an anxious message from a young woman who had taken a cat in when a neighbour died some weeks ago. She’d looked after her well, realised she was pregnant and made a safe space for her to have her babies. They’d managed until the woman herself had her own baby and then it was all too much, and she was desperate to get them into rescue. So off we went to collect them. It was a bit of a shock to see how much like Chi and some of her kittens, they looked. They’re absolutely gorgeous. Mum very protective and growled a lot when she first arrived, but she’s chilling out now … so long as Albert and Aslan stay out of her room. Kittens will be 6 weeks old on Tuesday so it will be a while before they can go to new homes. Mum is already starting to think (loudly) about her next litter … so we’ll be off to Vets4Pets as soon as we can get a family planning appointment.

It’s taken some rapid adjustment to get used to counting down from 12 as I put the other rescue cats to bed. Arwen went – 11, then Lyra & Mowgli – 9, Alfie & Aoife 7, Lily & Lenny – 5. Of those five, 3 are talking excitedly about the new homes they’re going to in the next couple of weeks – they have lovely families and big feline step siblings to go to. It could be hard work to keep Aslan & Albert’s spirits up whilst they wait for new homes and feel not wanted. However, they’re such happy purry little guys, they’re coping remarkably well with it. They’re busy teaching the little Ls new things and doing their best to amuse themselves. Albert has got into the selfie taking craze:

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You have to admit …. he’s not half bad at it. It wasn’t Aslan’s idea of fun though – he was much more interested in photo bombing:

We’re hoping another lovely home comes along soon … before Albert starts to think that its because he’s black that he and his brother haven’t found a place yet.

It’s not all been about re homing these last few weeks, though that has taken up a lot of time.

Osska continues to settle in. She’s fitted in surprisingly well, given that her previous human felt she wasn’t very good with other cats, and my residents aren’t exactly welcoming.

After only a few weeks she’s living as part of the residents group … and just occasionally I forget that she isn’t a resident. She’s started to go outside now because she saw the others going, and wanted to go too. She doesn’t go far from the house. This weekend she’s been scanned into the cat flap and has commenced her cat flap lessons.

Sadly she’s cursed with being black and white and therefore less desirable than other colours. If you can look beyond her coat you will see how pretty she is, and what a lovely natured little cat she is. She’s been kind to the kittens, loves to snuggle and is no trouble at all. If you think she might be the cat for you, please adopt her soon before she learns bad habits from my lot!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

So … we’re stacked out with cats and Lyra & Mowgli’s little ones growing and getting bigger, stronger and faster.   Seventeen cats in a small house isn’t easy ……. seventeen cats divided into three separate groups who need to be kept apart, whilst 5 can go outdoors and 12 need to stay in …. starts to be a logistical  challenge.  With a bit of thought its manageable ….. until the human wants to move around the house, tidy up, and look after the cats.

Take for example the simple task of putting laundry away.   First challenge is to get through the kitchen and lounge and to the bottom of the stairs.  The five permanent residents need to be stopped from tripping the human up and following into the airlock in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs.  Lounge door firmly shut, the door at the bottom of the stairs can be opened.   Care needs to be taken that whichever gang of kittens and adults that are on the loose at that point all stay upstairs and do not sneak down into the hallway and hide under the shoe rack – thereby risking them getting outdoors when the front door is opened.  Any strays need to be put on the stairs side of the door whilst balancing the laundry basket on the stairs.  Curious kittens then need removing from laundry basket and the door closing before more of the kittens sneak under the shoe rack.  As we all know, carrying a laundry basket restricts view of feet, nevertheless stairs need to be negotiated without stepping on swarms of fast moving, unpredictable and spiky kittens.  Once the summit of the landing is reached the next challenge is to get into bedroom without swarm of felines following.   Usual strategy of opening the door just a crack and sliding through is not possible whilst carrying laundry basket.  Open door wide, kittens rush through, drop basket whilst trying to impede kittens, crawl under bed to retrieve kittens, put first kitten outside bedroom door, catch second kitten, put outside bedroom door whilst first kitten rushes back in.  Repeat this process 15 times whilst various kittens attempt access to bedroom.  Put laundry away.  Lie on bed for a moment, gathering strength and patience to reverse journey back to kitchen, and trying to decide whether to attempt to take empty laundry basket with or not.  Inevitably return journey is not without demands to be fed both by gang on the loose and the other group who are confined to their room but chorusing through their bedroom door.  Gang on the loose fed.   Door opened to the others – restrained kits rush out, loose kits rush in.  Mothers start a fight over who’s kit hissed at whom first.  Kittens climb in laundry basket.  further half hour of feeding, emptying litter trays (because whenever you go into the room someone has always just used the tray) and frantically trying to separate gingers from tabbies and mediate in arguments between parents.  Crawl back downstairs going through air lock process in reverse.

Arrive back  in kitchen to discover one odd sock lying on floor.

Seriously contemplate setting fire to sock rather than repeat journey through house.

It’s been a tough week for our love birds Lyra and Mowgli.   The honeymoon is over, and motherhood is wearing thin for Lyra.   There are still lots of nose bumps and head butts between them, but every now and then a screaming row will break out.   This was obviously causing a lot of distress to both of them, and they clearly needed some help.   My professional skills are mainly in individual psychotherapy, and most of my patients do not have pointy ears and whiskers – so couple counselling with a pair of discontented felines was a bit of a leap of faith.

It took a while, but eventually we established that the main issues were around kitcare.   Lyra described feeling as though she had 6 kittens rather than 5 little ones and a partner.   Not only did Mowgli not really pull his weight, he was too enthusiastic and rough in his play with them and didn’t seem to understand that they were only 4 weeks old.   She also felt that as the kittens were starting to be weaned her hormones were changing and that oxytocin rush that made her love everyone unconditionally was wearing off rather rapidly.    Mowgli just shuffled around a bit and said “um … er … ”  and then wandered off to play with his squeaky mouse.   Lyra shrugged.  It was easy to see her point of view.

In the end they agreed to a trial separation and poor Mowg was sent packing.    He moved into my bedroom, whilst I and the residents slept downstairs.    I say “slept” … in reality we laid awake listening to the unhappy couple discussing their difficulties across the landing, and through two doors.   “I’m sorry babe …. I’ll change …. take me back”  “Mowg I love you but I can’t have you pushing our Lenny over … he’s too little for that … how do I know I can trust you again”  “Please babe, I’m sorry”  “And anyway, what’s going on with Arwen?  You’re too interested in her kits”  etc etc.  Somewhere in the middle of this Arwen was shouting and cursing the pair of them as she was desperately trying to get the A Team settled down and off to sleep.

no appetite alone in his bedsit

Since then we’ve organised supervised access.  Mowgli is doing his best to help.  He carefully watched Largo and Legato when they were playing too near the top of the stairs, and cleaned little Lily up beautifully …. thereby earning a few brownie points.    When they’re separated they talk constantly through the door to each other.   We’re hopeful that long term this relationship will make it, despite a tricky patch whilst the children are small.

If you read “Mowgli goes visiting” a few weeks ago you’ll know that separating Mowgli and Lyra before she had her kittens didn’t go to plan. Despite Mowgli having the offer of a brilliant new home, he kept crying to be with Lyra.

At the end of his first visit to her and her kits we thought it was all very sweet but couldn’t trust it to be ok of they were together unsupervised. However, the crying continued. More frequent visits were arranged. Then he was allowed to stay in Lyra’s room more or less all the time but in a crate. My residents pushed for this because they were getting no sleep with his continual crying. Each time I wondered about moving him away from Lyra, he went and laid down quietly in his crate and I’d give in and let him stay. There came a point where I let him be out of the crate in the room but sat outside the door listening for any signs of distress, and went in every few minutes to check on them. Each time he and Lyra would be lying together near the cot with the kittens in, just chatting and watching the little ones.

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And as with many battles with cats, I ended up just giving in and letting them sort themselves out. A little while later I was confused by a friend who hadn’t met them before. She went in to see Lyra and kits whilst I was sorting out the A Team. She said something about mum and kittens together that I didn’t understand as I could see Lyra walking across the landing. Went in and found Mowgli in the cot, cuddling the babies whilst Lyra had gone for a walk. That was the point where I felt I had to have a chat with Morris’ mum. Awful as it felt to go back on an agreement to adopt (I’ve never done it before) and ridiculous as it seemed to turn down the offer of a fab home for a grown up black cat, I just couldn’t feel ok about separating them.

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Mowg is a bit of a fuss pot. If I’m doing anything to the kits – worming, bathing eyes etc – he’s on my case checking out what I’m doing and I’m not hurting them. Lyra cheerfully ignores their squeals and gets on with her supper. He may have pushed his luck a bit too far now though. He wants to play with the A Team too. They enjoy it, especially Albert, who has found a black role model in a sea of tabbiness. Unfortunately Arwen has used him as a target for all her disaffection with the opposite sex and I found him nursing a scratched ear.

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He’ll need to stay here now until the kittens are 12 weeks old and Lyra is also ready to go to a new home. It’s probably not going to be easy to find a home for two adult cats, but after the commitment they’ve shown each other I feel obliged to try.

mowg wondering what the future holds for him and his friend

No matter how often I see it, I’m amazed by how quickly kittens grow up.    Although they appear to do absolutely nothing in the first couple of weeks they more than double their weight in that time.  I could see the A Team were growing, but suddenly last weekend they seemed big.  Maybe it was because I’d been with Lyra and the little Ls before I went in to the As, but almost overnight they appeared to have changed from looking like a line of semi conscious hamsters to being small felines who were preparing to run riot.

There was a couple of days of scrabbling at the entrance to their box, and abortive attempts to break free.  Then last Tuesday the first one tumbled out, swiftly followed by the rest of the gang.   By Wednesday morning they were all fully proficient at getting in and out the box.  By the time I got home from work they were gathering speed chasing around their room, and Arwen had clearly delivered the foundation level course in jumping and pouncing.

Motherhood wearing a little thin

Thursday obviously brought level one feeding and litter tray skills.   Level one is just a basic awareness course, there’s nothing subtle about what you can eat or what you’re supposed to do in the tray once you’re in.  So there was a crowd of kits happily chewing the rim of their food bowl, and kicking sawdust at each other in the litter tray.   The few inches climb that was an enormous hurdle to get out of the box a couple of days previously became as nothing as a couple of them started their assent up the tall scratch post.  Poor Arwen, mother hood started to look like it was wearing a bit thin as she helped them work out how to get safely back down again.

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Despite the similarities between the tabbies, their behaviour gives away their identities.   When I go into the room the first on my lap is Aoife, followed closely by Ariel who comes to wrestle with her until she climbs on my shoulder to get out the way.  Aoife is the only girl and smaller than the others, its not stopped her being the first up the scratch post though.   Ariel is an adorable snuggle bug when he stops pushing his sister around.  Aslan is slower to come for a cuddle but has a purr that one can only imagine he’ll grow into in time when I start stroking him.    And Albert?  Well, he’s obviously different with him not being tabby.   I hope I’ve not put too much on him by naming him after the lovely Albert senior.  Mum seems to have fast tracked him though and he’s moved through, level two: aims and objectives of the litter tray and level three: thorough understanding and skillful use, within a couple of days.  So whilst the others are messing around and chucking wood pellets at each other, Al is squatting, producing and covering up.   He’s also the most advanced with eating, having apparently covered water lapping, food recognition and nomming within a very short space of time.   By the time the others start to get on board, Albert is doing something else ….

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