He was a lovely little cat with a distinctive white moustache, loads of personality, and a penchant for sleeping in unusual places, like this bowl of pot purri.

He was born to a lovely starving stray cat we took in. We gave the rest of the kittens away, but kept him and his Mum with their lovely grey and white coats. He was about 10 years old.

He was very affectionate, even demanding. Insisted on his morning cuddle before breakfast.

Had a tendency to look like a grouchy owl with really hairy ears!

Here he is with me and Charlie back in December.

He loved to sleep tucked away in shelves.

Here he was with Charlie this afternoon:

Goodbye little cat, sorry it had to be this way. RIP.

Adorable as always. Sarsaparilla is going great, very healthy and sweet, although still painfully shy around strangers. He’s taken to snuggling up to Charlie in the cold weather and keeping him company which is lovely.

Charlie is hanging in there. His ears and eyes are free of infections and his skin is clear. His pain level is down, which is wonderful, but he’s becoming quite senile and I’m afraid things are near the end for him. His inability to navigate is causing him a lot of problems, he’s never had a very good ability to ‘map’ and work out where he is (Charlie is blind). He’s been having trouble getting lost in the small garden shed outside where he sleeps, and I’ve been sleeping him indoors during the wet weather, which isn’t ideal. The incontinence means he needs access outdoors at all times, and I’m not all that happy about sleeping with the back door wide open.

So, recently when the weather started getting wetter I bought him a lovely raised dog bed.

It’s nice and big and quite sturdy. This way he wont be able to drag it into puddles the way he has a bad habit of doing with his mattress and blankets.

I’ve also used my trundle bed base to block off most of the shed so he can only walk in the door to his bed and food bowl. This means a lot less space for him to get lost in, it’s been a lot easier for him to find his way from the bed to the door, but he’s still tucked safely out of the weather.

I had to empty and mop out the shed first because he’d started toileting in there when he couldn’t find the door, but with the new smaller area he’s stopped doing that.

Here he is, lovely and dry and warm and out of any puddles. Sarsaparilla comes and sleeps in it too often, which I always consider a good sign for the warmth and comfort of any bed!

Charlie’s difficulties with navigating are steadily getting worse. He has a lot of trouble walking in straight lines as the senility progresses. He really struggles with circling when he thinks he is walking in a straight line. He can no longer find his own way into or out of a room, and struggles now even to find the shed in the backyard as he hopelessly spirals around in circles on the same spot. I’m going to talk to the vet again and of course keep him comfortable and clean and dry and well fed, but I don’t think he’s going to be with me for very much longer. I’m really glad that I’ve been able to clear up all the infections and pain for him and give him a good time with lots of company and walks and good food. He’s been such a  friendly and faithful little companion and he deserves a really good retirement.

His skin infections have also completely cleared up. That means the two medicated baths a week isn’t needed anymore either! We step down to one a week, then one medicated bath a month. Considering the cold weather we’ve been having and that blow drying him takes about 3/4 hr, this is a wonderful thing. 🙂

He can stop the antibiotics, which will give his poor digestive system a chance to rebuild a bit. His eye ointment is currently sufficient, he tested negative for any more eye ulcers. He’s like a new dog, and distinctly more bouncy and happy. Now I’ll be able to go back to walking him instead of spending so much time each day sticking stuff in his ears and eyes!

I still need to sort out a better dog bed situation – when it rains a lot my shed and backyard flood, which makes life a bit difficult. Next fortnight will be the first in a long time where, hopefully, I won’t be seeing the vet! Very happy about this. The euthanasia option was creeping onto the table as he wasn’t improving, in chronic pain, and my finances took a severe beating. Now it’s off again and we can limp on a bit longer. Nothing makes your day quite like discovering you don’t have to put down your dog!

Here he is, looking all woolly in his long winter coat and fresh from a bath this morning:

Charlie says hi. 🙂

I took him to the vet today and he came home sporting this terribly fashionable short collar. When I last had him at the vet I was told to return once his condition had started to improve for blood tests – there wasn’t much point in taking any when he was so terribly unwell with the infected feet etc. The vet also cautioned me that if his tears start to seem milky it may be an eye infection and I’d need to return. I’ve been concerned about his eyes and tears and giving them baths in warm salty water but over the weekend they seemed to get a lot worse so I took him into the vet today.

Gosh, I’m glad I did! It turns out he has ulcers on his eyes! You can’t see them unless you use a stain, apparently he’s probably scratched up his eyes bumping into things (as he’s blind now) and they’ve infected. So now he’s on drops, steroids, antibiotics, and a collar for a week to stop him scratching and clawing at his eyes. Poor little chappie.

His feet have completely healed, his skin is much better and he has dropped 2kg and is now in his ideal weight range which is fantastic. He certainly looks a lot better than when I first got him back in December. His heart condition is still pretty bad, his arthritis is severe, and despite twice daily drops I cannot get rid of his ear infections. Hopefully the new treatment will settle down all the inflammation and give him a chance to get on top of things. He also had various tests down that I will get the results for next week.

I am now painfully in debt and paying back money to cover things. Thankfully I’ve a good tinned and packaged food supply! The vets parting words are what every pensioner pet owner dreads to hear “I think we’ll be seeing rather a lot of you, Charlie”. Oh, I hope not!

On the lighter side of things – I was asked to secure a urine sample and bring it back in, fresh as possible please. So this afternoon saw me walking about the local park, wearing disposable gloves and holding a specimen jar, and optimistically trying to pretend this was perfectly normal. You know how when you’re trying to go for a good brisk walk the darn dog will lift his leg on every single bush, fence post, lamp light, street sign, and tree? Well, follow one with a specimen jar, leading him hopefully to every bush, fence post, lamp light, street sign and tree on the route and he will be completely uninterested in marking his territory. It took me 20 minutes to get 2ml which I hope is an acceptable sample size, and the outside of the container got wet too, so I ended up inverting the glove over it and tying a knot in the wrist to turn it into a handy bag then hotfooting it home. I handed that in to the vet before dashing off to my next appointment, I hope they appreciated it not leaving rings on the counter. 🙂

What a sweetheart she is! Here she is helping decorate the tree at Christmas. She slept on my bed every night and was very smoochy and cuddly. I hope she settles in quickly and enjoys being the queen of her new home. I’m going to miss her, but I’m thrilled to have helped keep her safe and loved until she could find a new family. She’s such a sweetheart, I hope they love her to bits. 


If you’re looking for a cat, please consider adopting one. The network I’m a part of is Flicks Cat Rescue, they are on facebook and also have their own website here. You can also find pets for adoption on Pet Rescue, Flick’s has a lot of pictures on that site too, such as little Patchy. If you’re interested in being a foster carer or helping with fundraising or admin yourself, hop onto the website or facebook and sing out. We can always use some extra hands!

Charlie has been getting cold in the evenings lately, funny weather we’ve been having! This is my temporary solution until I get him a proper warm dog coat. 🙂

This is my little dog Charlie:

He’s looking pretty spiffy at the moment because I just had him washed and clipped recently. He’s about 10 years old, a mini schnauzer cross maltese. He usually has big whiskers and eyebrows like a scottie dog, but they’ve been clipped so he doesn’t fill them up with prickles. His health isn’t good, he’s completely blind, has chronic ear infections and a grade 5 heart murmur which is pretty bad. He loves short walks and hasn’t really worked out he’s blind now, so he walks into things or falls off edges like the gutter a lot if he’s not well supervised. My little backyard will be perfect for him, and no steps to get back into the house. 🙂 Where I am now the backyard is accessed by a ramp, so we’ve had to border it with shadecloth otherwise he falls off:

Meet Loki:

He’s coming with me too. He was a kitten from a litter of cats born to a sweet natured stray we took in many years ago. He’s also been very sick, the vet thinks he has a virus of some kind, although he tested neg to FIV which is a relief. He’s very very thin and lethargic and being nursed along with lots of small meals and meds at the moment. When he’s sick and grumpy he kind of looks like a owl with his big fluffy ears and yellow eyes.

Meet Sarsaparilla:

He’s a lovely friendly big cat, very healthy and smoochy with a funny little yowl if he’s confused. He’s quite timid around people he doesn’t know, but gets along well with other cats and Charlie. He was also born in a litter from a stray cat we took in, I fell in love with him and adopted him. Here he is with me as a baby:

And as a little kitten:

I’m overjoyed to have him back with me again, he’s been sleeping on my bed at nights (he gets the feet, Cleo the pillow). I love his little black nose, the white whiskers and the white tip on his tail. He’ll be coming with me too.

Meet Horatio:

Horatio was another rescued stray cat, we took him in as young cat with his family. He had a brother he adored called Orpheus, who died after being bitten by a snake. He’s very fluffy as you can see, and looking pretty nice at the  moment as I comb all the moulting fur out every evening and trim any mats out his tail that he can’t fix. His health is good and his personality is the most affectionate and sweet. He’ll be living with other family.

Here’s Cleo minding my art supplies:

She’s doing well too, she’s adapted to having other cats around but really hates Charlie, so she’ll be staying with other family until she is adopted to her forever home. Charlie accidentally walks into the cats as he can’t see them and Cleo gets very offended and attacks him, which is a bit hard because he can’t work out how to get away! He’s a bit daft the funny little fella. Cleo’s been keeping an eye on my packing and checking out my new empty bookshelves and the clean bathroom. She gets lots of love and cuddles and I’m sure she’ll be relieved to be living in a dog free house again. 🙂

Last but not least is my fish – the aquarium is difficult to transport so I haven’t decided yet if she’s coming with me or staying put. No photos at the moment as I can’t get her to stay still long enough! 🙂

We moved some stuff around to find a spot for the tree and she went a little mad and had to climb over, sniff, and thoroughly re-investigate the entire lounge room as a result. 🙂

Whilst older than Tiger, Cleo still has her kitten moments. 🙂 Recently she found my toe separator (used for when you paint your toe nails) and spent a good 20 minutes pouncing on it and tossing it about, and then pretending to look innocent when I went to see what she was doing…

Wow, today we heard that someone wants to adopt my gorgeous foster cat Tiger! I’m so thrilled for him! He’s such a trooper, very stable and settled, lovely temperament and markings. He’s in wonderful condition, all healed up and fat as a pig. 🙂 He’s in excellent health, hasn’t had any issues at all except for a little hay fever on high pollen days. He’s quite content to be indoors too. He wandered out one morning when I was signing for a package, and I was able to pick him up and bring him back inside without any fuss. I’ve just dosed him and Cleo this week with Revolution flea/worm treatment.  Here he is dozing on his favourite chair:

And those lovely yellow eyes:

But he’s not so keen on the flash lol:

Awww, I’m so excited for him, but I’ll be so sad to have him go! We’ve already got another foster cat lined up, a Mum cat with four kittens who needs a peaceful safe home. Cleo will be getting lots of hugs and cuddles to cope with all the change! She sleeps on my bed every night and I won’t change that, whatever happens with adorable newcomers during the day she’s got snuggles at night. 🙂

Both eyes are almost completely clear now and she’s much happier in general. Here she is keeping me company while I blog:

A very faithful companion. 🙂 Tiger is also going great. He stretches right out on the rugs like his namesake, requiring everyone to step over him in the hallway. He’s a big, happy, lazy cat. They’ve got themselves sorted out now, Cleo sleeps by my side and Tiger at my feet. Well, no, I tell a lie. Cleo sleeps on my book/journal/hands/pillow and then gets pushed off until she settles down to sleep by my side… Neither like being under the covers (who can blame them in this weather?) and both require the bedroom door is left ajar for easy access to midnight snacks. 🙂

Tiger is still going fine, he seems to have a remarkably strong constitution for a cat with FIV. He currently alternates between trying to play with Cleo, which she’s not in the mood for, and grooming her, which also annoys her a bit. She’s a bit sooky when she’s feeling ill, needs lots of cuddles and attention and feels a bit grumpy about Tiger giving her a good licking when she’s trying to nap. She comes up and prowls my desk when she feels I’ve been on the computer too long and paying her too little attention:

Hopefully the new infection clears up quickly. It doesn’t seem as swollen as the first did, so I’m hopeful it’s not as bad and will heal quickly. She’s very affectionate, sleeps on my bed every night, loves being picked up and cuddled, and has a gorgeous purr. 

I’m bathing it regularly with salt water to help kill off any bacteria, and she’s being really good about keeping it clean. She’s feeling rather miserable and wanting lots of cuddles at the moment. I’m keeping a close eye on it and if I think it’s getting worse I’ll get a vet involved, but at the moment I think she’ll get over it herself.

Tiger is going really well, he’s been very healthy despite the FIV and no trouble at all. He’s a lovely friendly fellow, with a funny penchant for eating odd things! I’ve had to hide the cotton tips as he seems to think they’re cat snacks, and when he’s happy he licks whatever is nearby… the chair, pillow, blanket, or my fingers! Good exfoliation I’m sure, but I am having to use a lot more hand moisturiser!

The two have been all energised by the spring weather and when they’re not sleeping in patches of sunshine they enjoy chasing each other about the house. It seems to be pretty fair about taking it in turns who chases and who runs away which I’m happy about. They’re not closely bonded like litter-mates often are but they certainly seem to enjoy each other’s company. 🙂

I’m hoping down the track to create a cat shelter for them in the backyard so they don’t need to be confined to the house. They follow the sunlight about like devotees, shifting from place to place as the sun moves. They are both such good natured cats, getting quite bouncy in that funny way animals do when it’s spring, dashing randomly about the house. I’ve a little cat toy which is a fluffy heart on a string and I can keep them amused for hours with it. I’ve snapped off some pictures in a quieter moment, here’s Cleo nesting on a blanket on the couch. She has a funny way of sleeping where she lies her head right down, most unusual in a cat:

She’s settled in well, no more frantic doing laps! She loves a cuddle, preferably right up close to your face where she can gaze into your eyes. She still likes high places and can often be found asleep on top of my wardrobe or a bookshelf somewhere.

Here’s Tiger, curled up happily on his favourite green rug:

He’s a big smoochy cat, not so keen on being picked up but he does like to lay across your lap or sleep at the foot of the bed. He’s always up for a chin scratch and is still a kitten at heart, playing with bits of string or balls of scrunched up paper or the dreaded green bug cat toy – that still has the power to make him run to the other end of the house! 

Tiger’s scabs and scratches are healing up well and he’s regrowing fur over the patches that were missing. He’s incredibly confident and nothing much fazes him at all. He’s very cuddly and loves to lay on your lap while you read or watch tv. He sleeps on my bed at night by my feet, very patient and settled. He really does not at all like the cat scratching post I’ve bought. He was clawing one armchair and one rug in particular, but I’ve rolled up an old rubbish rug and encouraged him to use that instead and I’m really surprised at how quickly he’s taken it up! He really loves it, he stands on it, reaches out to his full length and claws it with great enthusiasm.

He also gets into restless moods, where he plays coy and rolls onto his bowl, mewing and pretending to  be cute. Don’t be fooled! It means he wants to play fight and if you tickle his tummy he’ll chomp your arm. I throw him a little green bug that vibrates when you pull a string, he really hates it and attacks it with a vengeance then runs away and dashes down the other end of the house. He also likes to stalk his rug, he sneaks up on it from behind an armchair then bites and claws it. Then, feeling most pleased with himself, he takes himself off to the laundry for a snack. Here he is on his rolled up green rug:

Cleo has been more nervous being moved to a new house. She can’t sit still when she’s anxious, she moves in circles instead. So the other night, I was blogging away at my computer and she wanted a cuddle. But she was feeling too anxious to stay on my lap. So she lapped me for an hour instead. She’d jump up onto the computer desk, rub her face against mine, stomp all over my keyboard, on one occasion spill my drink, and then straight off the other side of the desk. Only to circle around behind me and do it again! She was making good time too, I think the whole circle took about 10 seconds to complete and she kept it up for the hour! I tried cuddling her but she’d jump straight off. I tried sitting with her on the couch but she’d just do a new circle of the couch instead. She was purring earnestly the whole time!

She’s feeling more at home now though, yesterday she circled for about 20 minutes before she could settle down onto my lap where she stayed for the rest of the night. She also sleeps on my bed, but she likes to be either up by my face, or sometimes underneath it, where you can hear her washing herself and purring, like a kind of reverse beneath-the-bed-monster. She’s more restless than Tiger though and hops up all night long for drinks, snacks, toilet stops, and presumably, just to check that the lounge room furniture hasn’t gone anywhere. 🙂 She’s also allergic to me reading in bed and gives sleeping on any open book a really good shot!

Here she is licking her lips after dinner tonight:

They’re both such sweet cats. I hope we can find good homes for them. I’ve had to rethink the litter tray with both cats indoors, it’s just not big enough for two, and the kitty litter is very expensive! So I’ve borrowed an idea from another cat owner, and I’ve got a big low sided plastic box and put half a bag of potting mix in it. This should accommodate them both a lot better, and can be put straight out in the garden compost so they’re actually contributing to my garden and I’m putting one less thing in my bin which always makes me happy. The slight downside is that the potting mix does cling to their feet a little more so it gets walked around the laundry. But I can live with that, they were kicking the litter all over the laundry anyway. I hope that’s got that problem solved. 🙂

He’s aptly named, a huge magnificent cat with tremendous presence. He’s about 18mths, and unfortunately has FIV –Feline Immunodeficiency Virus – the cat version of HIV. This can’t be passed on to people or any other animal except other cats, usually through a bite. So, he’s now an indoor only cat so he wont infect any other cats. Cleo has been vaccinated so she’s protected. At this stage his health is good. He’s a bit sneezy which isn’t much to worry about. Early warning signs of sickness are loss of appetite and weight loss, and there’s certainly no problems there! He weighs at least 6kgs by my reckoning, he’s a huge head, big feet, no neck at all, and a solid barrel of a body. And he eats with great gusto! We may need to feed Cleo separately…

Today he polished off her lunch and his. His coat is in excellent condition, soft, thick and shiny. He’s fastidiously clean and have given himself about 4 baths so far today. His markings are gorgeous, the black spots remind me of an ocelot, well that and his size! His paws are all black and his nose is a dusty pink.

He’s obviously been in at least one major scrap, his ears are ragged and his neck is covered in scabs and missing bits of fur.

He has loads of personality. He wasn’t at all intimidated being in a new house. He’s tried lying on all the furniture, sunned himself on all the warm spots on the rugs, admired some box opening and furniture moving, and demanded many cuddles.

Here he is with Cleo, look at the size difference! I’d bet he was the only kitten in the litter. (and yes, that’s our burgeoning Pratchett collection on the shelf there – got to love Book Depository) And now to Cleo, she’s about 4 years old, slender and on the petite side. She’s a gorgeous tuxedo cat with no health issues.

She’s far more timid and antsy. She’s spent a lot of time hiding behind the couch, behind the TV cabinet, under the dresser, behind the washing machine… I’m getting used to the hiding places now which makes life a bit easier. It’s very nerve wracking when a new cat disappears for hours. Here she is looking out the living room window. 🙂

Tiger doesn’t talk at all but Cleo does if she’s confused or upset. She has a really unusual trait in a cat – when she’s very anxious or excited she holds her tail straight up and shakes it, a bit like a rattlesnake!

Her white markings are uneven, she has a white curl over her right shoulder, like she’s thrown over the tail of her scarf. 🙂 She’s also very affectionate, she likes to kiss your face and ‘pumps’ with her feet.

They’re both asleep on the floor of the living room rug at the moment, so the house is quite and contented once again. I’m neurotic about keeping the doors shut and have to be careful not to fall over new furry bodies sleeping in the hallway.

We did get some more information about Abbie after all. She was suffering from kidney failure, likely caused by extensive neglect and malnourishment. It doesn’t show up on blood tests, so that’s why no one knew what was going on. So, there was nothing else we could have done, kidney disease is irreversible in cats. She was loved and safe and kept as comfortable as possible. As will Tiger and Cleo be until we can find them new permanent owners. 🙂

Abbie had a huge seizure in the car on the way over. Flick and I sat with her, keeping her warm and talking gently to her and stroking her for the next 2 1/2 hours until she stopped breathing. We’re still very confused about what went so wrong for her. She was a lovely little cat and deserved so much better. But she was warm and clean and very very much loved.

Here are a couple of photos from the days when she wasn’t so ill:

What an absolutely precious little cat.

Then I’ve come home, finally had some dinner myself, cried my eyes out, and watched the Bondi Vet episode I’d taped. Watching Dr Chris Brown nurse a tiny mouse through a huge operation is very comforting after today. For all the terrible people who neglect, starve, abuse and abandon animals, there are so many caring people who give their hearts to every little ragamuffin needing love that comes their way. I’ve told Flick I still want to help out fostering cats. I’ll keep you posted on any developments. 

(Flick is the wonderful woman who runs this network of carers I’ve just joined, taking in strays and abused and unwanted cats and nursing them back to health to adopt them out. Her website is here. Abbie is my first foster cat.)

Here she is last night after her bath, all clean and ready for bed:

She likes sleeping in a cardboard box of skirts I keep under my bed, it must feel dark and safe there.

This morning I woke up to Abbie looking like this:

She’s also incontinent, so this morning all the bedding had to go into the washing machine and she was in such a bad state she needed a proper bath not a sponge down.

She hates water but is so lethargic she just lay down in the sink and wailed softly. 😦 I had to soap her up with pet soap to properly clean her fur, her lovely white feet were all stained. Here she is after her bath, I was able to leave most of her back dry, just her tummy, feet, tail and face needed a good clean.

I sat with her in her favourite sunny spot by the back door and dried her off with the hair dryer. She hated all of it but is too tired to fight. It takes about an hour from start to finish to clean and dry her, and at the moment she needs this twice day. Here she is at last, clean and dry and resting:

Poor Abbie, new shaved areas she’ll have to grow out. At least its not cold anymore.

She’s mouth breathing as her nose and throat are all blocked up. I’ve been told I can wash her face only twice a day else her skin will likely become irritated.

Poor little darling. We have some extra top notch kitten food, which she’s been eating and keeping down at the vets so hopefully we can replicate that. She’s curled up on my bed in a patch of sunshine dozing at the moment. Still gives a lovely lovely purr when you stroke her or scratch her ears. Such a sweet cat!