RAPS is short for Regional Animal Protection Society, a registered charity and operator of a sanctuary which houses and cares for nearly 500 homeless or abandoned cats in Richmond, BC, Canada. The Neko Files is a celebration of the sanctuary and all those who live and work there.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Seven

With all the cats living at the sanctuary, there's plenty of opportunity to see a wide variety of cuddle styles. Some feel threatened if you look at them while stroking them, some are deeply offended if you look at anybody else; some want to rub noses, others will bite noses; some appreciate a soft touch, others live for a vigorous rubdown...

While I'd run across her before without really knowing who she was over the course of my volunteer shifts in the doublewide, it wasn't until Ann asked me if I wanted to go see the "slappy cat" (oh Ann, you have a way with words!) that I got a proper introduction.


I wasn't initially sure if I did want to visit a slappy cat, the image coming to my mind just then being more along the lines of Dekka, where the recipient of the slaps would be me. But, as you can probably guess from the intro, Seven wants all the slappies for herself. Translation: if you pat her back and sides just by the base of her tail in the manner a toddler will try to pat a dog (palm down, fingers spread, whap, whap, whap), Seven is really, really happy. Purring, head rubbing, bum-in-the-air happy.


Seven is another one of those cats who was surrendered for inappropriate peeing. Her family managed to live with it in their previous home, but when they moved to a rental home, they knew they couldn't have her peeing on the flooring there.

And has she ceased engaging in her little bad habit since she came to the sanctuary? Oh no. Marianne says she "likes to make some kind of point by doing her business right beside a litter box!" It's too bad, since she's a lovely cat. I wish we could it explain it to her and the other pee-ers somehow: "Look, you be living in a nice home with nice people if you could Just Stop Peeing on stuff!"

It was hard for Seven's family to give her up, as is often the case when people find they have no option but to surrender a pet. People will say they plan to come and visit the cat they've given up, and sometimes they do... for a time. Seven, though, still gets her visits just as promised.

And she's got the rest of us too, available and willing to pat her just the way she likes it.
 

1 comment:

  1. Aww! Thanks Claire! She does get a bit slap happy! She's been coming down onto the floor a lot more lately. Guess the slapping feels better down there.
    Ann J

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