Cookie

Unlike the newer arrivals I've written about so far, Cookie is so well established at the sanctuary that he has his own advice column on the RAPS website. He's also one of the self-appointed greeters - the cats you're most likely to meet on your first visits to the sanctuary because they'll make a point of introducing themselves.

He introduced himself to me on my very first visit. I was softing a cat sitting on a table when I felt a gentle tap-tap-tap on my knee. I looked down, and there was Cookie, looking back up at me.

"Hello."

I reached down to give him a soft, then went back to what I was doing.

Tap-tap...

"Hello. Would you be interested in patting a cat a little more? Me, for example?"

 

  

Very friendly and such a polite boy! Cookie was the first cat whose name I learned and the first one I wished I could take home (this while I was still living in a place where I couldn't have pets). What I hadn't realized at first, though, is he's not as young as his aimiable demeanour may suggest. He's also one of those odd cats who's not dying to move in with someone and be a one-person feline.

Cookie came to RAPS when he was around 2 years old. Now in the neighbourhood of 11, he's been at the sanctuary so long that Leslie, our resident expert on the names and stories of the cats, couldn't tell me how or why he first came to live there.

 

 

Tired of this "being patient" business, Cookie tries a little leg climbing

Cookie's lived at the sanctuary so long that it's hard to imagine him anywhere else. In fact, when it comes to cats who are such longtime residents, RAPS staff are very reluctant to approve adoption requests simply because the animals have come to view the sanctuary as home and may have a lot of trouble adjusting to a new and very different environment.