The Cat Report (W. May 6th 2015)

Still at six cats, and the same six as last week and the week before: EMMA, SALEM, sweet LILLIAN, Mr. MUNRO, and bonded pair DAFFODIL and TULIP.

Things are settling down in the cat room, as everybody knows everybody, and what sets them off, and how to avoid it.  

We started out the morning with three walks, for EMMA, and MUNRO, and LILLIAN. Emma, who was quite insistent that she needed a walk, and Right Now, valued it more as one-on-one time than wee-I'm-outside. Munro was nervous but gained confidence as he went along. Lillian did well as well: she wants people to come up and give her lovin', and i they don't she'll go up to them and ask. 

SALEM doesn't like walks, and she spends too much time in her cage, but I've found that she likes the fenced off area just outside the room (the 'catio'), especially if I carry a small cat-stand out there (placing it in the middle so no lone uses it to jump over the fence) and put her atop it;. It's even better, she says, if I cover her with a blanket. When the catio's not available, she's perfectly will to accept as a good substitute the top of the basket, again with a blanket covering all but her head. 

EMMA has decided to ignore all the other cats, to explore all their cages, and to get as much attention and as many walks as possible. She's no longer bullying the other cats -- she'll hiss if they get too close or into her space, but there's no follow-up. She was adorable week before last: out on the cat-stand in the catio area, mewing at people who passed by asking them to pet her. 

LILLIAN is a sweetie who loves petting (especially when it's deep enough to get that loose fur off), loves walks, loves attention, and doesn't mind the other cats. She's the calmest cat in the room. That said, she does love feathers, and the laser pointer (she made little I-want-it, I-want-it mews when it disappears). A lot of visitors admire her sweet disposition and say she's a beautiful cat, but still no adoption yet.

Mr. MUNRO is the most active of all the current cats: always exploring, always looking for games, always curious to see what I'm up to, or what some other cat is doing. Be warned that, while he likes the catio, he's quite capable of jumping the fencing. My solution are (1) to keep checking on him, which he likes, (2) to make sure any cat-stand out there is poorly positioned for a take-off spot, and (3) to have a few things scattered about on the catio that get in the way of him using the floor as a launch pad (a blanket for the other cats to stretch out on, the live catnip and live cat-grass, and the like.

The Bonded Pair, DAFF and TULIP, are starting to overcome their shyness. Both tend to avoid the other cats and so stay towards the back part of the room, but both wanted out as soon as I arrived and started exploring at once. I put them both up on the cage-tops, which worked out very well: they had a fine time exploring, crawling under things, and being where they could watch the other cats without being seen.

In short, the cats like walks (well, half of them anyway), the laser pointer, fresh grass, dried catnip, feathers, the catio (four out of six), and visits from both visitors and off-cuty volunteers (they were all v. happy to see Katrina come by and give them all a good petting).

I'll be out the next two weeks, so odds are some of these will be adopted while I'm away. If so I'll miss them but be v. glad to think of that cat in a well-deserved home of her or his own.

--John R.