Sunday at the shelter 21-07-13

Despite today being pretty overcast and definitely cooler, the temperature in some of the cage rooms was still uncomfortable. As a way to try and keep Holding cooler, newspapers had been taped to the window. 

Unfortunately Shamus in particular, was very vocal, complaining to me about the loss of his view. There really is no pleasing some cats! :)  I did manage to hold him up so he could peer through the gaps though.

Holding residents are almost the same as last week.  We have Tootsie, Ellie, Grace, Shamus, Shadow and of course Crystal in the garden.  Shadow was very nervous last week and it was lovely to let her out today and be greeted with lots of leg rubs. She also let me gently lift her back into her little house, once I'd got it all clean and tidy.  There is little chance of any of these guys moving into the main cat rooms as adoptions have been thin on the ground.

Nev has made it out into Room 1.  Here he is looking a little more relaxed.  

The gorgeous Nev

I couldn't leave today without my cuddle and just as I came out of the room there was a phone call from a potential adopter wanting to come and see him.  I really hope they fall in love with him, its not hard to do :) He is such a sweetheart, a little shy and nervous, but nothing a bit of TLC can't take care of.

I'm going to show you a room a week and today is the turn of the cats in Room 2.

Details of the occupants

So first up here's Bella :)  Very affectionate and playful.

The beautiful and very loving Bella

Monty and Nelly have come into the Shelter together so it's important they go out as a pair. Lovely friendly cats who would make great pets for someone.

 

Monty having a snooze

 

Nelly liking her lips!

Mitsy and Tilly are Mother and Daughter and are looking for a home together.

Mitsy

Tilly

Next we have Kit.  I first met her in Maternity back in March.  Her kittens are long gone and this beautiful and very friendly little girl is still looking for her forever home.  I'm really surprised she's still here.

Kit

 And finally we have Julie as you can see, she likes to move....

Julie, well some of her

Thank goodness the Shelter are better at taking photos!  Here's a really nice one they got of her

Julie striking a pose

I made a 6 second Vine video of these guys too :)


And finally I made a little video in the garden with Crystal.

Kim (Cat Care Manager) and Emma (Deputy Cat Care Manager) popped into the shelter this morning before setting off to visit another rescue centre. Yorkshire Cat Rescue, originally Haworth Animal Welfare was founded in 1992 and is situated between Keighly and Haworth. Their facilities and set up in general is very different to the Sheffield Cats Shelter.

So how did they find their visit?  Emma explained, "Our visit to the Yorkshire Cat Rescue was very interesting. It is always eye opening to see how a different rescue does things in comparison to the shelter. Our visit has been very insightful and we have learned a great deal. We hope to act on what we have gained from the experience and hope to use the knowledge to enhance the work that we do at the shelter"

She added "A big thank you to Yorkshire Cat Rescue for letting us come and visit!"

So if you're looking for a cat or you know someone who is, please share the shelters facebook page so we can try and get these beautiful cats into a home they deserve :)

Sunday at the shelter 14-7-2013

Another hot one! In the UK I find we are always taken aback a little by a heat wave, especially one that spans a couple of weekends!  We complain when we have no summer and many of us also complain when its too hot! 

Fortunately for us, and our pets, we have options to minimise any discomfort.

Its not same for the shelter though as they battle to get as much air flow into each room as possible.

One room, in the attic, becomes pretty much unusable during hot weather as it just can't be kept cool enough.

The attic, the old bathroom and the yard outside are used to give some cats a space of their own.

These are cats who, for whatever reason, can't be in one of the main communal rooms. Crystal from last weeks blog is one such cat. By day you'll find her on her own in the yard. 

Crystal in the yard

Any other time she will need to be isolated inside the shelter. There is nothing wrong with her, she just really doesn't like other cats. To put her in a communal room would lead to upset and stress for everyone.

So if just one of these "single accommodation" area's become unavailable it causes big problems.

Maternity is a cage room, like holding and infirmary. 

Maternity

Most of the cages can be split up in different ways to make bigger or smaller areas. Currently in maternity there are three nursing mums. The heat is not helping here either. Mum's are too hot to want to nurse their babies for very long.

Nursing Mum

In the case of these little ones, who are 5 weeks old, they are nowhere near the size or weight they should be. They are being given extra formula milk to try and help build them up.

Five weeks old, but very small

A second, underweight kitten

When you first see the cage rooms you feel a little sad, but they are there for a reason and the majority get a time out by taking turns in the main part of the room. The Shelter staff always try and spend as much time with the cats as possible too.  

As can be seen, some happily play with their toys. 

Tootsie plays with her ball

Tootsie trying to play with me through the bars!

Others like nev find the cage a safe place and don't always want to come out, but will, once their confidence increases. Here he is venturing a little further. I also managed a cuddle which is always nice

Nev sitting on the steps

One of the bottom sections is always without a door. This lets the more timid cats hide away while their own cage is cleaned, or as I call them, their 'houses'.

Tootsie makes use of the open spare section

Holding was full despite Salam and Freddie, from last week,  now being in a small room together. Its hoped this will help Freddie to feel more settled.  He is also having to adjust his diet. At 3 years old he has never eaten cat food, being fed only on tinned tuna and pilchards. These are fine for the occasional treat, but not as a diet. The shelter team now have the long task of weaning him onto cat food.

As you've seen Tootsie is still here and so is Ellie, both very playful! 

Ellie also playing through the bars :)

Once out of her house, Ellie was particularly interested in chasing my feet and grabbing my ankles!

Ellie checking out the street scene

Here's Shamus, a very handsome young man, confident and curious.

Shamus

 Next we have Grace.  She's very loving and fluffy, if a little timid :)

Grace in her house

Grace checking out my gloves

Finally Shadow.  She is unhappy and with good reason. Her owner passed away recently. To add to her misery, when relatives cleared out the house, they left her behind. She was spotted by a neighbour crying to get into her home.

Shadow

Every time I hear these stories I hope they are isolated cases. Sadly they are not. There are so many cats and kittens in Sheffield needing re-homing.  But until cats are adopted no new ones cat come in.  

The larger rooms are generally home to 6 or 7 cats.  There are 3 large rooms and two smaller ones.  These are all currently at capacity.  In addition there are around 50 mum's and kittens out with foster carers. Plus there are approximately 400 other cats and kittens on the waiting list.  Some are strays, some are unwanted pets, others have suffered the death of their human.  Many of these would not be on the list, if more cats were neutered.  Sadly, many people just don't do this and just assume that the Cat Shelter will take the resulting kittens off their hands.

I popped in on Monday to drop off newspapers. In the ten minutes I was there the phone rang as soon as the previous call had ended. I mean seconds.

One caller was asking for 15 cats to be collected. They had 3 females and one male, none neutered. No surprises that there are now 11 kittens.

Others were ringing about cats they'd seen caring outside for kittens or just about strays in general.  In those ten minutes there were easily another 20 cats or kittens added to the waiting list.  With little movement in adoptions recently, no one is quite sure where these cats or kittens are going to go.

The Shelter do everything they can to take in and care for those who have been abandoned or never had a home in the first place, but if there is no room, there is no room.  

There is a small part of the solution that we can all help with.  We should think very carefully before taking on an animal.  They are for life and they deserve to be safe, loved and cared for. An animal is not something you should just give away when your circumstances change or you want an "upgrade".  And neuter!! I know it costs money, but it costs more in the long run when those kittens start appearing. Finally, if you're looking for an animal, go to a rescue.  There are so many lovely cats at this Shelter and no doubt others across the country.  Try and help them out if you can.

So for now I'll leave you with a picture of a Mum and her babies enjoying a little time outside their "house"

Mum and her kittens have some time out

If you are interested in volunteering like me, the shelter are looking for people to help out, Tuesdays and Fridays in particular. Why not call in or pick up the phone?  Contact details can be found on their web page.

 

Sunday at the shelter 7-7-13

Wow its been a hot one today! At the shelter every window was open (mesh screens prevent escapes). Despite this maternity was still in need of air so a fan was brought in to help.

We also had a fan in the kitchen which links maternity and holding. Even with that, I was close to melting in there.  In holding the air flow was a little better thanks to the large window.

As its been a couple of weeks since I was last at the Shelter all the residents were new to me.

I started with Salam, an unwanted pet. He was brought into the shelter with another younger male, Freddie.

Salam is a sweet little boy who is looking pretty unhappy at the moment.

Salam

Not surprising when you look closer. The fur on his back is thin at best and bald at worst. His under side is even worse. I'm told that he had such a bad flea infestation, that they could easily be seen on him.  Sad, very sad, but also very easy to prevent :(

Salam was quite apprehensive to start, but did let me have a stoke and then a cuddle. I do like to try and spend a little time with all the cats, but I always make extra time for the shy, scared or unhappy ones.  I like to give them a fuss if possible.

If they can cope with a cuddle we look out of the window together. Anyone overhearing would think me a little weird as I ask the cat if he or she can see the doggy or hear birdies! 

Salam after a little fuss

Next to come out was this little lady. 

Ellie having a look for those birdies!

A lovely playful little girl, she was quite happy to have a cuddle and a fuss.

The next chap was brought in as a stray.  Apart from the unhappy look on his face, he does look clean and reasonably well fed.

Nev looking a little worried!

Although nervous, he did allow me to have a stroke and also a cuddle.  We tried to look out of the window together, but he was more interested in burying his nose into the crook of my arm.  I think he'll start to come round as soon as he realises he's in a safe place.

Next up was a treat for me.  I've never actually met a Maine Coon in the 'fur'.  Still, a treat for me is bad news for the cat.  Millie is 10 and has been brought to the shelter by her owner who can now no longer afford to keep her.

Millie

She was very uncertain of her surroundings, understandably, but did respond to the opportunity of a fuss.  Millie has so much fur, but if she was feeling the heat, it wasn't obvious.

Freddie came in with Salam.  Condition wise he is in much better shape, but he's not happy, really not happy.  He hissed at me through the bars and the staff haven't been able to complete his basic checks yet either.

I did manage a slight touch, but when I tried for a second he gave me a warning lash.  I tested him out with my dustpan and brush to the side of his bed.  He lashed out again and started to get stressed.  It was obvious that if I kept pushing, he would get more and more stressed.  To do this would be counter productive and not fair on him.

Freddies body language tells me all I need to know!

I let Judith know that I wasn't able to clean his section.  She is going to try and spend some time in the room with his door open to see if he will come out to her on his own terms.

More often than not cats like this change dramatically once they get used to their surroundings and I'm sure Freddie will be no exception.

Last out was Tootsie.  She gets her name from the extra toes!  Like my Billy she has thumbs on the front and additional toes on the back.  Tootsie is currently suffering from bad eyes, but it won't be long before she's better.

Tootsies poorly eyes

She's a lovely affectionate little girl.  Have a look at those toes!!

She's got thumbs!

Finally here is Crystal.  She's a real character.  In the mornings you will generally find her playing in the yard.  She's been at Shelter for some time now.  Unfortunately, by visiting time Crystal is usually asleep and has no interest in meeting prospective parents!

Crystal in the yard

The Shelter staff make sure their lunch caters for them and Crystal as she is always very interested in what's on offer!

So that's it for today. If you're in the area on the 20th July the next yard sale is due to start at 11.00am and, as I've said before, its worth a visit just for the cakes!!!

Wee wars

If you've read my previous posts you'll probably know that Bertie has struggled to settle in.

Bertie in his room

He gets on with the humans in the house and he tolerates most of the cats, but he really doesn't seem to like Billy. 

Billy posing

I guess, from his point of view, Billy is the only male likely to challenge him.  George and Harry are over ten now and are quite happy, eating, sleeping and having the odd stroll outside.  Bertie does all of that in addition to his 'patrols'.  He can often be heard (all those extra claws on laminate floors) wandering through from the 'cat room', past the kitchen and over to the cat flap.  I'm not sure if he's defending the house from outsiders or he's just taking an innocent look out.  Billy, who is actually a timid cat, no longer comes in through the cat flap and won't come in the front door either, if Bertie is in view.

In reality it's the girls who rule in this house, but maybe Bertie isn't tough enough to take them on...

Princess Bella rules

Joking aside the situation is bringing out behaviour I'd rather not have and it shows me that two of my cats aren't happy.  Bertie has really gone after Billy on a few occasions and we've had to separate them. When this happens it's a while before Billy comes out of hiding.

We've also got a wee problem, literally. Bertie seems to leave me little patches and puddles and Billy has responded by spraying :(.

We have found wee in, on, or against a variety of places/items; my sons new PC tower, the front door, the back door, the living room door, the garage door, the cat tree, my laundry basket, my daughters laundry basket, the living room fire, the dining room cupboard, corners of various rooms, the bath mat, the downstairs toilet floor, my husbands sock drawer, the tumble dryer, my daughters art work....oh and my handbag.

Not only is it smelly, its damaging. 

I did a bit of online research and many sites suggest a trip to the vets, the idea being that your cat could have an illness which makes them urinate outside the litter tray.  I don't think this is the case for us, I know Bertie uses the trays.  To me this is all about marking to feel comfortable in the house.

During my 'travels' I came across a fab site in the US A house full of Cats  They basically run a sanctuary in their home and have multiple cats.

They give some great advice on multiple cat households and I was particularly interested in the Bach Flower remedies they go through. I'm currently giving Beech and Larch a try in the water bowls.  I'm also trying a plug in Feliway  in the living room.

I've also been trialing a number of cat litters to see if there are any preferences for owners or cats.  I'll be posting my findings shortly.

Sunday at the Shelter 16-06-13

Two weeks of news to catch up on today!

Last week I worked on my own in holding where I met Edward.  He's a beautiful white cat with one blue eye and one browny yellow.  Such a sweetie and straight on my knee for a cuddle.  It was no surprise to later hear he'd been quickly adopted.

Edward

It did get me thinking though, about how many odd eye'd cats I'd seen at the shelter recently. A bit of online research told me that its most likely to occur in white cats.  All kittens are born with blue eyes which change colour at around 8 weeks.  In the case of Edward his genes have only allowed one eye to change colour and the other stayed blue. Interesting stuff.

I went on to have an 'unfortunate' incident a little later.  One resident was upset by two of the other cats. Thanks to the bars seperating them they couldn't get to each other, but that didn't stop a lot of noise and upset.  In my rush to calm the situation and get the original cat safely away, I got a little damaged.  Still, I had been warned so it was definately not the fault of the cat, she just got spooked.  Lesson learned!!

War wounds!

Meet Libby who was named after my daughter!  She (my daughter) didn't believe me when I told her.  Libby (the cat) is around a year old and very nervous at the moment.  She looks a pretty little thing :) Here she is hiding in a carrier in one of the rooms.

Libby

Thanks to the power of Facebook little William was adopted.  He struggled to get on with the other cats and kittens and has thankfully found a home where he will be an only one.  His new family have called him Ozzy and, after just a week, say they can't imagine not having him in their home.  I'm so pleased that all my fosters have had a happy ending :)


This week Libby (not the cat) and I were in holding again.  In there was one of Emma's most recent hand rears.  Hope and her siblings have just returned to the shelter after being vacinnated and neutered.  Her siblings have been pre-adopted, but sadly this is unlikely to happen for Hope.  When the Vets spayed her they found a lot of fluid in her abdomen area and what looks like serious kidney problems.  Emma is waiting for results of tests, but the outlook is not good. It's such a shame for this sweet little kitten.

Hope enjoys a cuddle with Libby

I also met Bella for the first time, she was looking for plenty of tummy rubs.  Sweet natured and beautiful, I sure she won't be at the shelter long.

Bella has a tummy rub :)

Finally here was a goodbye for the shelter today.  One of the long term volunteers, Alex, spent his last day with us.  He baked a cake to commemorate the occasion!

Alex is going to be sadly missed.  He's a lovely young man who gets stuck in and works hard.  I'm sure everyone at the Shelter will wish him the very best.  In September he starts 5 years of study in Liverpool which will lead him to be a qualified Vet.  I'm sure he has a bright future ahead of him.

AWOL?

Oh my, has it really been nearly a month since I blogged?

I have a number of excuses reasons for having been a little AWOL recently.

Firstly preparing for, and exhibiting my art work at,  Derbyshire Open Arts.  This year I took inspiration from my foster family and created a series of water colour illustrations.  I had a lot of fun planning, sketching and painting them.  I enjoyed talking to visitors about the stories behind them too.  I'm going to get my thinking cap on and create an original for the Sheffield Cats Shelter to use in a future raffle, so watch this space!

Here's my display at the event:-

Curious Cat Creative - exhibiting

The second excuse is; getting to grips with being a cat mummy to 9.....yes you read that correctly, 9.....  

As you know, Wendy sadly returned to the shelter at the end of last month. Thankfully there was quickly a happy ending for her as she has now been adopted :)  

The kittens stayed with me and had their final injections and were also neutered.  I liked to let them spend as much time as possible in our main room.  This gave them the chance for supervised mixing with my cats and also the oportunity to play on the big cat tree.  It became evident that little William was not fond of The Tribe. He saw no problem with trying to warn off a cat ten times his size!!

In return, The Tribe were not overly keen on him.  In contrast the girls were facinated by the big cats, especially Billy.  They watched him and tried to creep up close to get a sniff!

The girls move in....

The third thing to impact on me recently was poor Billy.  First he went lame on his front paw.  He held it right up away from the floor and was obviously in serious discomfort.  A visit to the vets was in order.  She had a good feel around to check for broken bones, but there was nothing obvious.  The next stage was an x-ray to rule out a fracture completely.  The x-ray proved inconclusive.  He was given pain killers and perscribed cage rest.  Billy was not happy.

Caged up Billy - taunted by kittens....

After a week we were back at the vets, Billy was still lame. This time she spotted something new. It turned out that he must have been bitten at the top of his leg, By now the swelling was starting to show and the vet spotted the wound.  In a way this was good news as this would be quicker to heal than a potential strain.

Once the wound opened up and the new medication got to work, the swelling receded and he was able to start bearing weight again. Two weeks of keeping him inside was a bit depressing for him, so I'm very glad it didn't have to go on for much longer.

It wasn't long, however until he was giving me cause to worry again.  This time it was when he failed to come home one Friday evening.  I'd seen him in the garden during the afternoon, but when it came to feeding time later on, he was nowhere to be seen. He was still missing on Saturday morning and we starting asking neighbours to check their sheds etc. By Sunday morning there was still nothing. We were really worried and had slept really badly.  Thankfully, our upset was short lived as Billy appeared on the front windowsill, as if nothing had happened, on the Sunday afternoon. Phew.


That weekend was extra hard as the kittens were due to go back to the Shelter the following week.  We had pretty much made our mind up to try and keep Whisper, the smallest who we have renamed Millie. With all the upset over Billy, I just didn't want to give the kittens up at all.  Unfortunately, there was no way I could keep William.  He didn't like my cats and in return they didn't like having him around.  Sadly I returned William to the Shelter and filled out my adoption papers for Whisper and Willow.

So now William waits at the Shelter for his forever home

And so to the Shelter, for the last few times I've been working in Infirmary. One week Emma's kittens were in there temporarily while she was working. When it was their turn for cleaning they took full advantage of the freedom.

Let me out!!

Her previous kittens Grace and Gabrielle were quickly adopted and itwasn't long before little George found his home too.

In infirmary this week, I met Bob and Dave!  Fab names for cats!

Bob

Bob was constantly trying to get hold of me, my cloth or my gloves through his bars.  He managed on several occasions!  Once out of his compartment he was loving and affectionate, a lovely cat who shouldn't take long to find a home.

Dave

Dave looked like he'd had a rough time, he had stiches at the top of his leg and there was a definate thinning of his fur on his back.  The good news is that he is already pre-adopted so, as soon as he's ready, he'll be off to a new home.

Two pregnant white cats were brought in last week and have now given birth.  One of the cats had a rough time and sadly not all the kittens survived. I was amazed by the eyes!  One blue and one green, such a stunning cat!

Mums and their kittens

What a beauty!

This Saturday the shelter are holding one of their yard sales, so if you're able, why not go and have a look what is on offer?  I can highly recommend the cakes! 

Right I'm off, I've got to get a new banner for this page......