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| Bella's not sure about this white stuff |
I got up early this morning to see to Wendy, William (who my Mum refers to as Will I am!!), Willow and Whisper. After they, and the other 7 cats, had been given breakfast I ventured out to consider the car.
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| Too much snow! |
The amount of ice on the drive and roadway was enough to convince me to forget it. All I can say is thank goodness for the Supertram.
When I arrived Judith and Emma were giving worming paste to Kit's babies. She has two black and two tabby kittens. Kit's tummy is definitely going down to a more normal size, so hopefully she won't give staff any more cause for concern.
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| Kit |
I got started on the litter tray mountain with fellow volunteer Laura. We were down on volunteer numbers today, likely due to the weather, so we all took on extra work to help out.
Once the trays were washed and sterilised, Laura went to her allocated room and I got to work in Infirmary. Current occupants are Billo, Joe, Deedee, Mae and Cookie. As with Holding, cats are taken out one at a time so their compartment can be cleaned. They get fresh water bowls, toys and clean fleece bedding. Trays have already been changed earlier, but if there are any poo's I usually take them out. All sections get cleaned, even if there isn't an occupant, and then there are the walls and floor to do.
Deedee was already out of her compartment. Every time I opened the room door, she wanted to run into the small kitchen area. Once I'd cleaned her section I sat down and gave her a fuss while the cleaning solution did its thing. Deedee curled up on my knee and enjoyed a tickle and a stroke. Unfortunately, she wasn't so happy to go back into to her compartment.
Next out was Billo. An unusual name, Billo is a girl about a year old. As I need to take the cats out to clean properly I always talk softly and slowly put my hand towards them. Usually they will either have a sniff at your hand, start to back away or grumble. Billo had a sniff and let me stroke her. As soon as I started to stroke, she started to purr.
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| Billo |
I lifted her out and cleaned. We managed a nice cuddle before I put her back. She is such a pretty girl, with a tail you could use as a duster!
Joe came out without any fuss, and was happy for some attention. Mae looked like she might be frightened, so I lifted her bed out with her still in it. Once I put her down, she jumped out of the bed and explored. This worked well until it was time to put her back. Maybe this is where the term 'hissy fit' comes from? You have to remember though that these animals are out of their comfort zone and it can be very traumatic. Mae could well turn out to be a sweetie when she's less confined.
Finally there was Cookie. He had a towel covering part of the front of his compartment. I could see straight away from the position of his ears he wasn't happy.
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| Cookie looking a little scared |
Still I wanted to try and talk to him, just like the others. As I moved my hand closer to him, he didn't hiss, but it did look like he might try and move away. I talked softly to him and managed a tickle behind the ears and a little stroke. I took him out in his bed the same as I'd done with Mae. He too jumped out and hid around the corner. He was living outside in an old car before he was brought to the Shelter, so this must seem completely alien to him at the moment. He's just frightened, but at least now he is safe, warm and well fed.
When I came to putting him back in, I managed to pick him up without too much fuss and get him back away. From speaking to Judith it's likely Cookie is improving thanks to people trying to handle him, especially Paul who is at the Shelter on Saturdays.
I also cleaned room 1 today. Its been a while since I did a room so I had to remember the regime! As I was leaving I was pleased to see that some adoptions were already taking place.
I set back off to the tram stop with my foster family supplies strapped to a folding trolley, oh how I missed my car!
So, another nice day, but there was something missing, the three G's! So no new kitten pics this week, but I'm told they are doing really well. Hopefully I'll get to see them next weekend. In the meantime you'll have to make do with my foster family, more from them during the week :)
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