Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas tree between the gates
where the humans can enjoy it
and the cats can't destroy it

"Ooo, is that big red thing a punching bag?"
photo by Debbie

front courtyard in the snow
photo by Debbie

George permitting a little holiday cheer
photo by Debbie

Update: Bossanova

Cats are weird.

Most of you probably knew that already.

When Bossanova came to RAPS in February of last year, he started off in a cage in the doublewide. He's long since left the cage, and has set himself up in a nice little spot on a high shelf on the covered porch behind the singlewide. His buddy Meepos joined him there.

Mr. Pink, Bossanova, Meepos

Bossanova still welcomes visits, though his high perch means that most visitors will need to find a stool to stand on to reach him for a proper cuddle.

Recently, singlewide volunteer Kim told me about this funny reaction Bossanova has if tickled at the base of his tail. Apparently he starts madly licking the shelf in front of him.

Of course I had to test this out. And yes, that's exactly what he does. During my experiment, his bed was closer than the wood of the shelf, so that's what got licked. Very odd. Perhaps too odd for me, so I returned to more conventional head and neck stroking, which he enjoyed in a more conventional purry, drooly manner.

Update: Sambuca

When Sambuca arrived at the beginning of October, she was frightened of us and would try to flee when approached. Before long, though, staff discovered that a little patience would be rewarded with purrs.

Sambuca is still a bit skittish and appreciates it if her visitors are slow and gentle when they approach her. But it doesn't take much encouragement to get her to pop out from under the chair she scoots under when the cage door is opened, have a little stretch, and present herself for stroking and tickling. She's proving to be a real sweetheart.

Sockeye

I met Sockeye earlier this week when he was in a cage in the singlewide so RAPS staff could give him treatment for a mouth problem. There was a privacy drape in the back of the cage and a sign warning "make sure he's behind drape before entering." And no visible sign of Sockeye himself. Based on this, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from him, personality-wise.

When he sensed a couple of us volunteers were watching and talking about him, though, Sockeye popped out from behind the drape to check out what was going on.

I later confirmed with Leslie that Sockeye is very motivated to not be in his cage anymore, and will take advantage of any opportunity to escape... which is a bit of a problem when staff need to give him medication.

And the name? Sockeye came in a number of years ago with a group of feral tabbies. As often happens, the group was given names on a particular theme-- in this case, fish.

it's "graceless kitties" time

And the "graceless kitties" series returns to provide a little December cheer courtesy of our cat sanctuary pals.
Enjoy.

Roly

Marmalade

and... Marmalade
photo by Phaedra

Colin

Kiddie and Darla

Huey
photo by Phaedra

Yap

Yap came to the RAPS cat sanctuary a number of years ago as one of a group of kittens who someone had been feeding in their yard. The youngsters (they were several months old when they were trapped) were given then names Spring, Summer, Yip, and Yap.

I had a chance to meet Yap at the end of November when he was in a cage in the singlewide after he'd had a couple of teeth extracted. He was so friendly that I wondered why I hadn't met him before.