diff --git a/kibicara/platforms/mastodon/bot.py b/kibicara/platforms/mastodon/bot.py
index 8c6d9b4..a4fcfc3 100644
--- a/kibicara/platforms/mastodon/bot.py
+++ b/kibicara/platforms/mastodon/bot.py
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ from kibicara.platformapi import Censor, Spawner, Message
 from kibicara.platforms.mastodon.model import MastodonAccount
 
 from mastodon import Mastodon, MastodonError
-from asyncio import gather, get_event_loop
-import sys
+from asyncio import gather
+import re
 
 from logging import getLogger
 
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ class MastodonBot(Censor):
         self.account = Mastodon(
             client_id=self.model.instance.client_id,
             client_secret=self.model.instance.client_secret,
+            api_base_url=self.model.instance.name,
             access_token=self.model.access_token,
         )
         await gather(self.poll(), self.push())
@@ -36,22 +37,26 @@ class MastodonBot(Censor):
         while True:
             try:
                 notifications = self.account.notifications()
-            except MastodonError:
-                logger.warning(
-                    "%s in hood %s" % (sys.exc_info()[0], self.model.hood.name)
-                )
+            except MastodonError as e:
+                logger.warning("%s in hood %s" % (e, self.model.hood.name))
                 continue
             last_seen = int(self.model.last_seen)
             for status in notifications:
-                status_id = int(status['status']['id'])
+                try:
+                    status_id = int(status['status']['id'])
+                except KeyError:
+                    continue  # ignore notifications which don't have a status
                 if status_id <= last_seen:
                     continue  # toot was already processed in the past
-                if status_id > self.model.last_seen:
-                    self.model.last_seen = status_id  # save last_seen in database
-                text = status['status']['content']
-                # :TODO sanitize toot content; see ticketfrei2 for regex magic
+                if status_id > int(self.model.last_seen):
+                    await self.model.update(last_seen=str(status_id))
+                text = re.sub(r'<[^>]*>', '', status['status']['content'])
+                text = re.sub(
+                    "(?<=^|(?<=[^a-zA-Z0-9-_.]))@([A-Za-z]+[A-Za-z0-9-_]+)", "", text
+                )
                 logger.debug(
-                    "Mastodon in %s received message: " % (self.model.hood.name,)
+                    "Mastodon in %s received toot #%s: %s"
+                    % (self.model.hood.name, status_id, text)
                 )
                 if status['status']['visibility'] == 'public':
                     await self.publish(Message(text, toot_id=status_id))
@@ -63,9 +68,11 @@ class MastodonBot(Censor):
         while True:
             message = await self.receive()
             if hasattr(message, "tood_id"):
-                await self.account.status_reblog(message.tood_id)
+                logger.debug("Boosting post %s: %s" % (message.tood_id, message.text))
+                self.account.status_reblog(message.tood_id)
             else:
-                await self.account.status_post(message.text)
+                logger.debug("Posting message: %s" % (message.text,))
+                self.account.status_post(message.text)
 
 
 spawner = Spawner(MastodonAccount, MastodonBot)