Time for another update on our now 18 foster cats, although that may actually be 15 as it appears that 3 of them may be staying in Almerimar!
Pedro and Pablo have travelled to Germany where they were pronounced gorgeous by everyone, but our numbers have increased by little girl Chibi, whom Nicola fell for up at the dog rescue, and by another kitten rescued by Jean and George. Chibi is about 6 weeks old and is making a lovely little playmate for baby Felix. Nicola now thinks that she will give a permanent home to both. It is also looking more and more likely Ginger Jasper will get to stay with Pam as her youngish male cat Capone loves him, and has a new lease of life and energy playing with his new friend.
Since my last update Gizmo the devil kitten has successfully been caught again and taken up to vet Miguel for his chip and injections. He was singularly unimpressed, and shrieked and fought extremely hard. I need to commend Karin’s skill and bravery in managing to both extract him from the transport box, and hold him down whilst the deeds were done. He did however succeed in further registering his anger by spraying liberally all over me! The joys of animal rescue know no bounds!!!
Last week we also had a slight scare, as Gizmo’s little tabby sister, Lucy, went right off her food, became very hot and started to sneeze and cough as well as developing a bad stomach. We did manage to get some antibiotics down her, but she too had a visit to Miguel, to be checked over. This time Elka helped Miguel, holding Lucy wrapped in a towel, while she had a thermometer stuck up the usual place, her eyes and gums checked, and more antibiotics injected. She was pronounced not SO bad, with normal colour and temperature, and as Nicola is managing to get more antibiotics down her she is now eating and starting to play again. Once again I was really grateful for the help of Miguel at the Protectora de Animales (dog rescue) not only for his free consultations, but also for his skill and care in dealing with some rather feral cats.
Meanwhile love is in the air, although slightly forbidden love! Keba our rather feral siamese has decided that she is very fond of our big, softy Tomcat Tommy. He appears to feel the same way and is proving to be a calming influenced on this rather beautiful, but very nervous (and possibly previously mistreated) girl. Tommy being FIV positive is isolated, but they are chatting to one another and blowing kisses through the partition, and Tommy for one seems to be loving having another cat for company, albeit from a distance.
Alongside Keba, her 4 rather wild kittens are making slow but steady progress. Gizmo and Lucy have been with the tame kittens for a couple of weeks and Mouchou and Baloo (2 more little black devil boys) are spending some time out of the study too, and all are letting Nicola touch them. Keba we believe was the owned cat that used to be kept shut in a car most of the day, and was then abandoned. She is very nervous of humans, having probably been mis-treated, but is learning to trust again, including that she can live inside but also have freedom to move around, and chose where she wants to be.
News from Germany is that Luke and Snoopy have a definite foster, hopefully ultimately permanent home in Germany, and Gizmo’s new home has passed it’s inspection visit. These 3 will definitely be on the September transport.
My plans for this week coming include re-focussing on catching big Beau, making plans for the remaining cat on the rocks, Lucia, hopefully catching our remaining known, intact female in the port for sterilisation, and getting Keba in a transport box for her next lot of vaccinations, which are in danger of becoming overdue. I am also hoping for more news from Germany of homes for our remaining kittens, in particular Lutz, who although now castrated, is still bullying the smaller kittens.
For more information on most of the cats mentioned here, and photos, please click on their name in the Tag Cloud.