Monday at the Shelter 16-12-13

Wow, what a weekend. 14 adoptions, yes 14!!  Followed by 2 more today and four pre-adoptions about to be completed too.

That brings the adoption year to an end and what a year its been, a record breaking one in fact.  When the final four planned pre-adoptions go through, that will bring the total this year to 464.

Last year the total was 408 and previously the highest adoption figure was 442 back in 2008.

These numbers would not have been possible without the sheer hard work and determination of the Shelter team.  Manager Shirley, Cat Care Managers Kim and Emma, Judith, Leanne, Hollie, Vicky, Ray and Katy.

Then there is a whole team of volunteers and foster carers, the Shelter could not manage without the time and dedication of these people.  I'll be telling you more about them over the next couple of blog posts.

Lets not forget Highfield Vets who rush cats and kittens into their surgery at a moments notice and consistently offer invaluable, trusted advice and support.

Finally you will find the Committee and Trustees working hard behind the scenes (and often on the front line too!)

All these people come together to make one fantastic team and I'm very proud to be part of it.

Here's a selection of some of the cats and kittens who are going to be spending a happy Christmas in their new homes.

Alec

Daffy

Jamie

Minto

Sukka

Squirrel

The Shelter is now closed for further adoptions until the New Year.  But that certainly doesn't mean the work ends.  With the exception of adoption viewings, its business as usual for the Staff and volunteers.

There will also be time to do additional work like painting, repairs and maintenance.  As there have been such a lot of adoptions it will free up rooms for full deep cleaning.

Rooms won't stay empty for long though.  In addition to the waiting list, there are urgent cases, such as 3 expectant mums out living on the streets.  They will be brought into the Shelter as soon as possible to have their babies in safety.

My final note this week has to be a thank you, a thank you to everyone who has donated to the shelter, to everyone who has taken a cat or kitten into their home, because without you the Shelter could never have reached this fantastic adoption figure.

Sunday at Shelter 1-12-13

There are a number of kittens in desperate need of homes at the moment.

In Room 4 we have Alfie and Archie who need to go to a new home together.  They are 3-4 months old.

Alfie

Last time I met them it was when they had a mini break while their foster parents had a weekend away :) Here they are with their Mum Fluff when they visited us.

Fluff and her kittens

Fluff was originally left on a doorstep when she was heavily pregnant.  Thankfully the Shelter had room for her as the kittens were born the very next day. 

Dora and Daloris are around four months old and were born outside.   They are very close as you can see.

Dora & Daloris

Their Mum, Doris, has now been adopted.  You might remember she was the one who had a horrible collar injury.

Mum Doris

Next we have Badger, Panda and Squirrel. Their siblings Bear and Rabbit have already been adopted. These little cuties were born outside to a Mum who was a stray.  They are also around 4-5 months old.

Panda (photo Courtesy of the Shelter)

Badger  (photo Courtesy of the Shelter)

The next 'batch' of kittens were in Room 3.  I met these little ones when they originally arrived at the Shelter in September.  They were suffering terribly with flu and had the dirtiest ears I've ever seen!!  They were all named after American States and Cities.

Here they are on that first day.

 

Poorly eyes

Now they are all grown up and ready to find their forever homes.

Sadly Michigan's eyes were damaged by the Flu and will always look sore, even though they aren't.  He seems to be able to see without any problems, but it's likely he could suffer from more eye infections than a 'normal' cat.

 
Marmaduke has been pre-adopted and is just waiting for some dental treatment before he goes to his new home.  

Marmaduke

But the BIG story this week has to be Crystal.  At the Shelter for 8 long months, prospective adopters have come and gone, but sadly Crystal remained.  

 

Crystal

Until this week!  It seems Crystal bestowed her approval on a lovely couple and they felt she was the one for them too.  The staff will really miss Crystal as she'd become such a familiar sight 'holding court' in the yard,  waiting to share everyone's lunch.  Now in her new home, updates on Facebook seem to confirm this was a perfect match, and you can't get better than that :)

Sunday at the shelter 24-11-13

Today Libby and I were working in Maternity.

Four little siblings, Amadeus, Mozart, Wolfgang and Constanze were waiting impatiently for their new Foster Mum's to arrive.

Found dumped in a box aged approximately 4 weeks old and without Mum, they had no chance to be weaned.  By this age it's very difficult to get them to accept milk from an artificial teat, so they are having a mixture of milk and food 'mush' in a bowl. Unfortunately this does have a negative impact on their little tummies. 

Now 5 weeks old they went to their new foster home today.  It's obvious they miss the comfort of Mum as they cry out for attention and cuddles. 

Fortunately there will be plenty of love and cuddles in their temporary home. :)

Poppy was perched up on the window.   She was trapped by the wonderful Friends of Ferals Maggie, close to Centertainment.  

Poppy

She is terribly frightened and the team have to take it very slowly in order to gain her trust.  She won't have really had contact with people before, so it's not surprising how scared she is.  Maggie also spotted 3 possible siblings but when she returned to try and catch them, they were nowhere to be seen.

While we were in the room she started tucking into her lunch and finished off with a wash.  All very good signs that she is starting to feel slightly less cautious around people.

Another set of four kittens are Mindy, Minnie, Mike and Maise. I love this picture of them :)

Mindy, Minnie, Mike and Maise

A little timid at the moment, they were found in garden with their Mum Mia when they were 9 weeks old.  Now 11 weeks, Mum has moved into Holding to begin her own journey to finding a new home.

And here she is, Mum Mia. 

Mia

She is very friendly, but isn't keen on other cats at the Shelter.

Also in Holding was Wilfred who wouldn't keep still long enough for a photo!  Sadly, his owner could no longer keep him.  He's around 8 months old.

Minnie and Maisy were found in woods and are about a year old.  Minnie is very protective of Maisy, who is a little timid. 

Minnie protects Maisy

She often sits in front of  the little black cat to shield her and can also be seen to put a paw around her too!

Finally, yesterday Ohio and Vegas returned to the Shelter and it was no surprise to hear they had been adopted together today.

This is how they were when I first met them.

Ohio

Vegas

And here they are now looking much more grown up!!

9 adoptions today meant that there have been 415 so far this year, which is amazing!!  This means the Shelter have already exceeded last years figure :)

They couldn't do it without all the support and donations received each and every day.  Thank you.

Sunday at the Shelter 29-09-13

I worked in Holding today and met some new cats.  

First there were Mum and Daughter,  Sophie and Sheba.  Sadly their owner could no longer afford to keep them.  Both were a little frightened to start with, but it wasn't long before Sophie was enjoying a bit of a fuss with me.  

Sophie enjoying some attention

Daughter Sheba, on the other hand, was much more timid.  Eventually she plucked up enough courage to play with the bottom of my trousers but that was as close as she wanted to be.  

Sheba

When it came to putting them back into their cage Sheba tried her best to keep on the move so I couldn't catch her!  Once she was in my arms though she was happy for a tickle.  A pair of lovely cats, I'm sure in the right environment Sheba will soon become more confident.

Flash was brought into holding while I was cleaning.  Emma started to give him his health check and fill out his record sheet. At around 4 months old, he's only ever know life on the street, no surprise then to find him covered in ticks and fleas.  

Flash

I held Flash while Emma got to work on the tick problem.  She used a special little plastic tool to remove them.  If they're not removed correctly the head of the tick will be left in the skin which will lead to infection.  Poor flash had a lot, all over his face and ears.  As you can see, some of them were quite big! 

Ticks!!! yuck

It also looks like Flash doesn't want to put weight on one of his front paws.  There is no obvious sign of injury so we'll see what the vet makes of it.

Ruby is still in holding, she is shown to potential adopters,  even though she isn't in one of the main cat rooms.

Ruby

The last cat in holding today is Tia.  She's 17 and is suffering from a thyroid problem. Her owners were considering putting her to sleep.  Now she is in the care of the Shelter where she can receive the medication she needs to make her feel better. 

Tia

Unfortunately, she is struggling to adjust to her change in circumstances and hasn't yet been tempted with any food.  I spent some time with her and found that she enjoyed being brushed but couldn't encourage her to eat.  She doesn't like to be handled and isn't keen on medical intervention which is going to make treating her difficult.  

The Staff will do everything they can to try and gain her trust and get her medical needs under control.  It might be difficult to find someone willing to adopt an older cat with medical needs, but it may be that a foster place can be found instead.  Long term foster placements can be used so that medical treatment is paid for by the shelter but the cat benefits from having a loving home.  If you are experienced in giving medication and could offer a long term foster home to Tia, please call the Shelter to discuss.

I also had a peek in Maternity.  

Texas and her kittens

 Texas and her two kittens are still here, it won't be long before they go out to a foster carer. 

Little cutie

A stray and her kittens were trapped by Maggie a few days ago and they are now at the Shelter.

Dora

Dora was in a very poor state and had her front leg through the collar she was wearing.  The collar had to be cut off as it had gone into the flesh and left deep awful sores  

Dora's collar wound

Poor Dora

The collar was one with an elasticated section, it's supposed to allow the cat to wriggle its head out should the collar become caught on anything.  Sadly, what often happens is that the cat manages to get it's front leg through and there is no way it can free itself.  One of my own cats had this experience and I haven't used these types of collars since.  

Living outside with a injury like this, she's done well to look after her kittens, the fact she had the collar shows she was owned, so life on the streets must have been awful for her.  She originally had four kittens but sadly two didn't make it. 

 

Dora's kitten

Thank goodness Maggie was able to get her and her babies to the Shelter.

There are also a number of feral kittens at the Shelter.  They are now looking for experienced cat owners to become foster carers to help these frightened animals adjust to life in a home.

Could you foster a feral??

If this is a challenge you could rise to, please give the Shelter a call any day between 1pm and 4pm.

And finally, little Ernest was at the Shelter today. Still fighting a big battle, he's underweight and has periods when his temperature goes far too low.

Ernest

I got to have a lovely cuddle before I left :)

Visit the Donate & Support page if you'd like to know how you can help.

Sunday at the Shelter 22-09-13

Ernest was visiting the Shelter today with Emma, he's still losing weight and was scheduled for another visit to the vets.  The reason for his poor progress is proving difficult to diagnose, despite numerous tests, nothing has been conclusive.  He's now just over 8 and half weeks old but is the size of a 4 - 5 week old kitten. As you can see from the photo, he also has no interest in washing himself.  Emma generally needs to clean him up several times a day.

Ernest needs his face washing again!

At the moment it's just a case of looking after him and taking each day as it comes.  It will be some time before we know if he will be available for adoption in the future.

Here's a great picture of him with his big (foster) sister Amber :)

Amber, taking care of Ernest

It was great to see some of little Percy's 'family' have been pre-adopted.  Patrick will be off to his new home shortly.

Patrick

Little Florence and Peanut were taken home today :)

Georgie and Peanut watch the world go by

So that leaves Georgie, who is very friendly and Maisie and Sid, who are a little timid, to find their forever homes.

Maisie

Sid

Its been a while since I caught up with Libby.  

Libby

Some of you may remember this little lady had to be trapped not once, but twice, when she managed to escape from her new home too soon after being adopted.

She's currently sharing a room with Shadow, Julie and Tigger.  Thankfully, she is pretty much recovered from flu now, but she's still really timid and looking for that special someone.

The 6 black kittens brought in last week have made really good progress, but are not yet flu free.  They've  been moved from infirmary into a room on their own.  

This leaves infirmary free to have a deep clean ready for any potential occupants.

Sunshine came back from foster care and was pre-adopted today :) Her kittens are still with a foster carer until they are big enough to all be neutered, vaccinated and brought back to the shelter.

Sunshine :)

I also met up with Millie and Josh, who have just come back from foster care.  They are now in one of the main cat rooms, but are still extremely timid.  

Millie and Josh

As you can see they are spending a bit of time in this carrier.  The shelter often use cages or carriers for timid cats within larger rooms.  It helps to make it a little bit better for those frightened ones, as they are able to use it as a place of safety.

Here's Tallulah using a carrier in exactly the same way.

Tallulah

There have been a lot of updates on Twitter about Ernest, but also about Marley, too.  Marley is a kitten who was in foster care and suddenly became very ill.  Since this time he's been in and out of the vet hospital  and there have been a number of touch and go moments.

Due to him being so ill he's recently been back in the care of Kim. This week a diagnosis was finally made and the news is not so good.   Marley is suffering from a blood disorder.  The disorder means his immune system attacks his own red blood cells. He can't ever be vaccinated, and has to be on immune suppressants to survive. Sadly this means if he picks up any infections he won't be able to fight them.  

In view of this prognosis, Marley will stay in Kim's care and won't be available for adoption. 

Marley

It's not certain how long this little chap will have, but you can be assured that Kim will give him plenty of love and care, making every day count.