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So it continues, the mass exodus of the M and B gangs, with Magic and Benson going to their home on Monday and then Barney and Minstrel on Tuesday.   Mouse and Mittens go next week.

We’ve had messages from Bella and Bailey who went a couple of weeks ago.   Bella has already established that she’s top cat  over her new step brother and is settling in happily.   Bailey is having a lovely time being an only cat and getting all the fuss.

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I took Magic and Benson to their new home on Monday …….. and drove away quickly, just in case they changed their minds once Benson was actually in the house.  He quickly worked out that he could climb up some boxes and then get hold of the tassels on the runner across the sideboard.   It’s strange how as soon as we knew these two lads were going to a new home together, they seemed to be always together, either snuggled up or play fighting.  Their closeness has continued into their new home as they spent most of the first day exploring together, then washing each other and finally snuggling up to sleep together.  I think they’ve got just the right family – well used to boisterous little boys – these two will be fine.

I was a bit anxious about Barney going.  Soooo pleased for him that he’d found himself a lovely forever home, but anxious about the disruption to him.  He’s made such progress in the last few weeks – from hiding all the time, to coming out to look but running away when you come near, to staying put and watching what you’re doing, and then in the last few days catching himself starting to run up to me for a cuddle … and then I think realising that that wasn’t what he does and backing off again.  Such a lovely cat though.   When I left him and Minstrel, Minstrel was playing but Barney was under the sofa.  Lovely understanding family who were quite prepared to deal with that and let him come out when he was ready.  I thought he’d be there for a couple of days at least.  Tears in my eyes when I got a photo of them later that evening.  Barney, bless him, still looking anxious, but up on the sofa with his new human.

Their plan for world domination is clearly developing as I got another pic from them today, showing how they’d persuaded the humans to shift the furniture round so they could have their bed just where they wanted it.

You know all those down and difficult days when things aren’t going well and you wonder however you’re going to find homes for your foster cats?  Well this isn’t one of them!

Suddenly homes have fallen into place for all the little Ms, the little B (and my goodness isn’t he just a little B!), and now Barney as well.  They’re all going to be going off to their new homes over the next couple of weeks.

Now its Meg we need to think about.   She’s been a lovely mummy to the little Ms.  I’ve no idea how many times she’s had to try to bring up a litter of kittens, or in what circumstances.   She appeared only a very young cat to me, though when the vet looked at her teeth she thinks maybe 4/5.   It could be that she’s just had a really awful diet through her life and she’s considerably  younger than that.    Poor care and diet during repeated pregnancies doesn’t do a lot of good to your teeth.

Meg has been neutered now so she’ll never have to go through all that again.   And she’s been vaccinated and micro chipped for added protection.  She’s a lovely, sweet natured, gentle and loving cat.   She was a bit ferocious with other cats whilst her little ones were tiny, but as they’e grown she’s become more ok with them and has accepted Barney as a mother’s help / baby sitter.  She’s given young Benson  a few clips round the ear … but to be fair … if you met Benson you’d understand 😉

She needs a loving home of her own now where she can start to make a life for herself and relax  and enjoy herself after all those difficult times.

Please could you share this post and see if we can get her into a lovely home soon after her kittens go?  Adoption is on condition of home check, a minimum donation of £70 (so we have something in the piggy bank to help the next poor stray) and a few pictures of them settling in their new home 😉

I think Barney kind of wished he’d not said anything about being lonely when Bailey and Bella had gone to their new homes, because the day after they left his baby brother, Benson, arrived!   I’m not sure how much of a family likeness I expected when I said we could take him but if ever two brothers were different ……..

Benson tumbled into Barney’s bedroom and immediately started playing with all his toys.  While Barney quietly and disbelievingly stalked him from the shelf above him, Benson sat oblivious with a cat nip mouse in one hand and a rattly ball in the other,   Then he squared up to Barney, quite unconcerned that he’s about quarter of Barney’s size. ……. And Barney backed away looking worried.

So we thought we’d try him in with the M family instead.  However, he started squabbling with the little Ms and trying to bully them, even though there’s 4 of them and they’re a few weeks older than him.  Meg got cross and clipped him round the ear, so he started to back chat her as well.  So we put him in the crate in the M family’s bedroom. ………. and he howled.  So we put him in back in Barney’s room ……… and he howled again ……… and then Barney started crying.

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Thankfully 4 days is a long time in kitten relationships, and although young Benson is still a bit of a monkey and needs the odd slap from Meg, he’s mixing in a lot better with the little Ms and loves his big brother.  I’m not entirely sure that’s mutual.

It’s been pretty hectic since we got back from holiday.   First of all we needed to get Meg off to the vets to be spayed.   She couldn’t possibly produce a nicer set of kittens if she had another go at it, so she may as well quit now.   I’m not sure how she felt about being separated from her kits for the first time in their lives.  Until they were big enough to climb she did enjoy sitting up on the desk in her room and having a bit of peace and quiet, but she was always able to see them and hear if they called her.   They’ve quickly learned to climb anything that’s put in front of them though so there’s been little rest for her.

The kittens had a great time though.  The three older kittens came to call for them and they all went to play out on the landing.

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They all seemed to have a good time, though the little Ms were very pleased to see mummy back again.

Barney was glad he’d made the effort with them because a few days later his brother and sister went to their new homes and the poor lad was left on his own.  He’s not liked that at all; he cries when he’s shut in his bedroom on his own.  So he’s had his door open and mixed with the Ms some more.  I’m not sure if he realises how big he is – he looks longingly at the games the little Ms are playing and eventually can resist no longer and charges in.  That’s when mummy Meg tells him off.   The little ones seem to enjoy it though and rush back to play with him again.

lovely barney

He’s such a lovely boy – gradually building his confidence around people  and changing from a timid cat who would hide most of the time, to a sweet, gentle purry boy.  He’s going to make some lucky person very happy one day.

Apologies to our regular readers for the lack of new posts just recently.  We have a list of excuses ready to hand.

For one thing we’ve had a bit of a serious birthday to celebrate – you know the ones with an 0 after them.    This has necessitated some foreign travel.    We had a lovely time and learned loads, though as this slideshow suggests, being awkward when the camera is pointing at you appears to be an inter continental, inter species phenomenon:

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We may have been several thousand miles away, but the tendency to look away just as the camera clicks, or to show ones bottom or pull a funny face doesn’t change whether you’re a naughty kitten in S8, a orang utan in singapore, or a monkey in phnom penh’s royal palace.

As Meg’s kits reach the grand old age of 4 weeks I’ve been musing on the various stages of kitten development. Not simply the “eyes open at 7-10 days” sort of stuff, but at what age they appear in my mind to become individuals. That largely came about as I was tidying up my kitten photos and naming them. When they’re very first born they’re simply “Meg’s kits” and so long as they’re breathing and feeding ok it seems fine to leave it at that.

“Meg’s kits”

We have a monochrome abundance with this little family so initially it took some effort to separate them out. Once the first excitement was over, there was a gradual process of making sure I could identify each of them from the others. So one of them has a little white moustache, another a black dot on his shoulder etc. Four weeks on this seems laughable – they’re obviously different and recognisable. The desire to name them came around two weeks old I think, when they were moving around a little more and looked a little less like disabled hamsters. During week three they began to really separate out in my mind as individuals: although Mouse was the first one ever to come out of the nest, its now almost invariably Mittens who is first out when I come through the door, followed closely by Mouse. Magic toddles along a little later, whilst Minstrel is often still fast asleep for a while after. Some days I have to wake him from his dreams when he’s meowing in his sleep. There’s another point to ponder – just what exactly does a 4 week old kit dream about?

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Today appears to have been a significant day. There’s a small puddle on the floor when I went in at tea time, and a serious faced Meg – they’ve clearly been given the litter box lecture. Kittens sniffing with extra interest around the baby litter tray. Mittens gets in, and slides around hopelessly in shallow litter. He has an almost worried look on his face. I gently lift him into Meg’s grown up sized litter tray where there’s a deeper covering of litter and he doesn’t slide about so much. Mitts sits down with a firm look of concentration on his face and stays there, quite still for several minutes. It’s as though he’s trying to remember the instructions his mum gave him. Then he stands up and kicks litter around for a while, not entirely sure about why he’s doing it, but that’s what he’s been told to do.

Despite advertising the lovely ginger tom we found with the poorly ear a few weeks ago on every website we could think of, and putting up posters all around the area, no one came forward to claim him. He was even allowed to go outside, with a collar and ID barrel on, complete with note explaining where he’d been for the last few weeks and why. However he seemed in no more of a hurry to go looking for his humans than they were to come looking for him.

When it became apparent that no one was going to come for him we got him micro chipped and vaccinated and did another round of advertising – this time for a new home for him. It didn’t take long. He’s a real charmer. Such a lovely snuggly purry cat – everyone who has met him has loved him. Loves to be picked up, arms around my neck, nuzzling into my face, purring to Olympic standard.

I took Oscar to his new home this morning. None of the usual ‘new cat’ stuff of running behind the sofa and staying there for a fortnight. Os checked out his new bed and then wandered along to the kitchen to see what food was available. After a quick snack he tried out both humans’ laps and decided they were both comfortable. Off for a brief chat with the resident guinea pig and then settled himself on the back of the sofa. I doubt he’ll have any problem settling in 😉

…. or another tail of the unexpected ….. or of two tails wrapping round each other:

Tail One:
Young Jake started coming downstairs a while ago and after a bit of hissing with the residents started to get on ok with them. That was the first step to being allowed out into the great outdoors. As we hadn’t had chance to chip him yet he was fitted with a collar complete with bell [courtesy of kitty collars] and an ID barrel with my phone number in it. He loved going out to play, would follow me up the road when I was going to the shop, and return, rattling loudly when I called him. On Sunday afternoon I was engrossed in setting up my new phone. It was nice weather, the back door was open and I wasn’t taking too much notice of the feline comings and goings.

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Tail Two:
On that very same Sunday morning, on a street not far from here a lovely young lady had been told that she could have a kitten for her 8th birthday. Her family had had cats for many years but sadly the last one had died at a good old age a while ago. They’d thought it through carefully, knew the responsibility of having a cat, had checked with a neighbour that would care for the cat if they were to go away on holiday, and then said to the birthday girl to be that they would start looking for a kitten to adopt.

Tails entwined:
About 6pm on Sunday my new phone rang. Eeeek …. I’d worked out how to check the weather forecast in Phnom Penh and listen to The Archers podcast, but I’d not got around to checking out how to receive calls. Fumble, fumble, tap, tap, slide … finally connected to a number I didn’t recognise. And a bit confused by being asking if I’d lost a cat – it didn’t help that I’d not worked out that I needed to take the plastic off the phone in order to hear properly through the receiver. Er … no … I don’t think so (rapidly scanning memory …12 + cats is a lot to keep track of … Oscar went AWOL yesterday but he’d come back). Which confuses the woman on the other end of the phone ….. um ….. he has a green collar with a name barrel and a bell …. and he’s been here since lunch time. Penny drops – JAKE!

Apparently the little monkey had been sitting on their wall when they came home at lunch time, and strolled into the house with them as though he owned the place. He’d hung out with their daughter all afternoon,, having a great time, but now they were concerned that he could be someone’s cat and they would be anxious about him. After a bit of (very pointless) gesticulating on my part (I don’t know yet whether there’s an app which translates pointing down the garden) we established that they lived on the next road …. or as Jake would have it – through our garden, through another garden, across the road and through another garden.

And so I walked round to collect him. I wish I’d had the camera … perfect picture of cat who manages to look immensely happy but slightly sheepish at the same time (ex partner take note! cats really do have facial expressions!). While cat (about 8 months old) plays with, and is carried around by girl (about 8 years old), mum and I swap stories. They’d approached a large rescue (big enough to be arrogant, small minded enough to not think out of the box) about adoption and been refused point blank because the birthday had been mentioned. Girl walks by with dangling purring cat tucked under arm. Seems a good moment to mention that Jake is up for adoption.

Long story short – we agree that Jake will come home with me that night but go to stay with them forever on Friday when they can be around to help him settle in. Jake dutifully followed me home and stayed the night, got up this morning, had his breakfast – then quietly packed his bags and left, muttering something about not actually needing any help to settle in. Bless him – I think he’s sorted.

It made me think of this picture which has done the rounds on facebook several times and I’ve always loved:

As a very new and not at all well known rescue we’re feeling very fortunate and grateful for all the things we’ve been offered recently. Scratch posts, beds, bedding, food and treats. Can’t quite believe our luck.

So thank you to:

Tasha, Renzo and Morris for a shed load of food (and cup cakes) .. and their ongoing support and friendship
‘LillyDeMorte’ for a fun scratch post and little house/cat bed …. and some fascinating info about keeping spiders as pets

‘Sand_dollars’ for offer of another bed
Meers Cattery for a load of beds and comfy fleeces … and so much more that I can’t start to list

Anthony for another great scratch post
Marie for food and treats (and chocs and flowers) …. and support in setting up 8Lives

Amber for designing our lovely 8Lives logo …. and thanks in advance for your help with 8Lives
‘Gingers’ for lots of lovely food, including upset tummy food .. which is bound to be needed sometime soon. And for the reminder that she was the person who fostered Lucy, who then became my Mog, the first foster cat I had and the start of the steady decline in cat rescue.
Keith and Jude for following up on Jake and bringing him food
Stuart and family for providing food for blacken
Diane for giving food, treats, and an impressive dowry for Meg
Millhouses vets4pets for offering us good prices for vaccinations / consultations / neutering
Sue and Danny, and Margaret, and Christine for looking after Mog on the allotments

Ceri at Sheffield council allotments for letting me have a key to access the allotments and feed Mog (just in case her other fall back arrangements don’t work) and find other cats who need care.

Thank you everyone! If I’ve forgotten anyone I do apologise.

The gorgeous Jake has been fitted with a collar in preparation for him being allowed to venture out from here for the first time. It’s a bit of slow process – first he needs to come downstairs and get to know my cats so he can then access the cat flap. He started with Jango’s cast off beastie band which is soft and comfy to wear, but has since upgraded to reflective collar with name barrel and bell. We might review that tomorrow – he’s currently rattling around the house causing everyone else to scream “the bells, the bells”.

Here’s a photo shoot of him with his beastie band ……

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…. isn’t he just one gorgeous puss?