Blue - the Loner

Blue joined us a year ago as one of a group of cats from a shelter on the Sunshine Coast.

For a while they were all in Pen 6 together, but the pen is too valuable as a limited space suitable for accepting new cats who need outdoor access, and since these cats were all used to human contact and to being handled – in fact, several of them went to the 5 Road Shelter for adoption – the gate was opened and they were allowed to merge with the rest of the back pens population.

For some cats, this sort of release is not always comfortable, and they prefer to stay around the area they know.  We see this with the Pen 5 cats: Adam and May, Rudolf and Salish and the rest – they could go anywhere, but they prefer to stay on their own turf. For other cats, this sort of release signals Opportunity – and this was the situation with Blue.  He was never a very cat-social cat with the other Pen 6-ers, and an open gate meant that he had unlimited space to explore.

I was brought up reading the Kipling “Just-So Stories”, and always loved the one about the cat. “The wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him.”
That’s Blue! He’s a true loner – he doesn’t particularly care for people and certainly not for other cats – all he’s concerned about is finding a comfy bed, and some food when other cats aren’t around.

His favoured cosy-corner is the papasan chair on the Newcomers Deck – especially in cold weather, under the heat lamp, that is a favourite bed for half-a-dozen cat to snuggle together. But when Blue claims it, everyone else backs off and goes to find somewhere else to snuggle.

I don’t think he’s a nasty cat. We have to keep a careful eye on some cats like Digby, who throw their weight around and are known to attack other cats.  But Blue just exudes the “I want to be alone” aura, and without much being said, other cats avoid his space. He will accept attention from humans, though he doesn’t really seek it out; when he’s in the right mood he likes to sit behind me and play with my hair.  But he doesn’t snuggle and he doesn’t usually come looking for petting.

He has everything he wants – comfy beds, a space to wander, food and water as needed – and all without being bugged for attention.  Life is good for Blue!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Michele Wright