DoubleWide Divas - Act 1

JJ - looking remarkably like the Dowager, in Downton Abbey (KN)

The DoubleWide trailer is the practical HQ for the Sanctuary, being the centre of the med-staff’s activities and one of the two laundry areas.  On Saturdays and Sundays, when we have visitors on site, the DoubleWide is kept closed, because there are generally cats caged for medical care who will do much better without people outside their cages. However, that also means that there are uncaged cats who rarely brave the cat-door, and prefer to remain inside when the main door is closed.  Sometimes that’s a good thing – a number of those cats are temperamental, and not always good about people-contact. And when we have a report of a visitor being scratched, it’s quite often one of these collared cats who is maintaining an invisible don’t-touch-me barrier.

Cleaning the murder-mittens  (KN)

The majority of these are spicy ladies; the only male that approaches their level of reactivity is grey Gizmo, who does his thing in his own way.  Three of them don’t (yet) venture out at all, and remain uncollared; the others all carry the visible warning for unwary humans.  

Jade holding court in the laundry room (KN)

The two all-black cats are Jade and Darcy – Jade wearing a red collar, and Darcy a green one. Jade, who has beautiful green eyes, usually hangs out in the laundry room beside the fridge. You approach Jade on her terms, which means that sometimes she comes and solicits petting, and is quite charming, and sometimes she smacks hard! My usual advice to visitors is “let the cat pet YOU”, and this usually suits Jade well. She can be surprisingly nice, placing herself next to the entry gate and asking for treats and attention – and then she’ll suddenly smack a treat away, and retreat to the laundry room. Jade’s behaviour has improved a lot since she first came to us five years ago, but she is not a cat that can easily be trusted. 

Darcy out for a walk  (KN)

Darcy is most often found trying to talk her way into the med-staff’s area; she is convinced that she should be taste-tester for all the best treats, and is an expert at gate-busting. Luckily, she is also better about allowing the med-staff to pick her up and eject her without shedding too much blood; she will lie on the floor outside the door and writhe dramatically, demonstrating the urgency with which she requires access.  She occasionally ventures outside while there are visitors, but usually stalks through with an “out of my way, peasants!” attitude which generally makes people leave her alone.  We believe that Darcy is the daughter of sweet tortie Dazzle – she didn’t inherit Dazzle’s love for attention and petting, but at least she’s learned that attacking humans doesn’t really get her anywhere.

JJ indulging her passion for beard-snuggling  (BC)

JJ divides her time between the laundry room and the TeaRoom. This elegant tuxedo lady looks as if she disapproves of everyone, and it is necessary to be careful with her – but a lot of it is a facade.  JJ is missing her favourite staff person, Kasha, who has moved, and with whom she loved to cuddle;  she misses the cuddles enough that she has established a select group of people who are favourite substitute cuddlers. She prefers the men: Mike, Justin, Braden and Nick are “her guys”. Beards are particularly favoured – but she will come up on other laps too.  In a particularly trusting mood, she puts her paws up on the chest and butts her head below the cuddler’s jaw; it can be unnerving, knowing how reactive she can be, but there’s also a vulnerability to her that is very appealing.  I find that like many of the touch-sensitive cats, she is more comfortable being petted above the collar – and when she’s had enough, she will just hop down. 

Sophie says, "I'm so cute - NOT!"  (KN)

Sophie is another one who’s a migrant between TeaRoom and laundry room. The former was very much her turf at one time, but is now dominated by floofy orange cats, so she can usually be found sleeping on the laundry room shelf or on the cat-tree by the TeaRoom door. Sophie really dislikes other cats, and has a very extensive personal bubble that tolerates no adjacent felines within it. She is vocal about her dislike – but she also likes to be where the activity is, so she walks a fine line!  Like JJ, she will sometime hop up on a lap, or walk from the table towards a seated volunteer; if you see someone sitting with a tabby in the lap and hands in the air, that’s probably Sophie you’re looking at.  Light head pets are sometimes acceptable; but you take your life in your hands to pet down her back.  She never stays very long in a lap - her reactivity doesn't allow her to feel comfortable with either people or cats.

She looks so sweet - but you can't trust her!  (KN)

More divas next week....

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by BC & Karen Nicholson

DoubleWide Divas - Act 2

A bundle of Gwen  (KN)

It’s interesting how specific areas of the Sanctuary develop concentrations of specific personalities. I don’t think there’s any other area where there are so many temperamental cats – and of course their temperamental outbursts feed off each other. Of course, there are many semi-ferals who prefer not to be touched, and who wear a collar as a warning to unwary visitors – Little Cat in the SingleWide, Cuddles in the YellowDoor shed, Nyla in the Connor House – but in the DoubleWide there are so many more of them. Last week I introduced Jade, Darcy, JJ and Sophie;  there are more divas, and divas-in-training.

Parker guarding the entrance to the DoubleWide  (MW)

There’s a very beautiful blonde girl who prefers the upper shelves of the laundry room, but has been venturing out onto the step to coax unwary weekend visitors within reach. Like the others, Parker wears a collar, but her long hair disguises it, and cries of “Oh, she’s so pretty!” are generally followed by “Ow!” Parker used to be exclusively a laundry room cat, but increasingly we see her surveying the courtyard and claiming more territory. When she's in the laundry room, she claims the most comfortable pile of clean bedding - and you take your life in your hands to put further laundry away in her vicinity. Occasionally she will constitute herself the quality control manager at dinner time, if she can claim the space before Cole gets there. With Parker “helping”, the feeder learns to dish up quickly, keeping hands out of her reach.  She has her moments of being sweet – but they are well outweighed by the spicy ones.

laundry only - and one particular cat!  (JK)

A lot of people will never meet tuxedo Comet, who rarely ventures outside the doors of the DoubleWide. She's not collared, because her reactivity is not tested by strangers reaching for her.  She’s not really fond of most humans, but she keeps her strongest antipathy for other cats, who have learned to avoid her. The cage-tops are her primary territory, and she will ambush unsuspecting victims, chasing them off “her” space. If Comet claims a cage, other cats stay away!  Even Delilah, who has her spicy moments, gets out of the way when Comet is looking for a victim.

Comet says "No closer!"   (KN)

Gwen aspires to be a diva. Most of her temperament centres around her love for food, and her certainty that everyone she meets is withholding tasty treats from her; she follows volunteers and staff around the building, swatting at ankles, getting underfoot and taking sideswipes at every cat she thinks is in her way. She really needs some grooming, but doesn’t like it; she can occasionally be touched when there is food to distract her. So far, I don’t think she’s ventured outside, either through the laundry room, or from the back deck cat-door. I suspect most of it is FOMO – missing out on food, that is. Other back deck cats enjoy the gardens and fresh air; Gwen’s afraid she might be cheated out of something tasty.

Watching for treats and competition   (KN)

I am including Bugle in the diva list, only because she might be a diva-in-training.  “Diva” is a Latin word for a goddess; it has also become a pejorative term for a temperamental female – which covers most of the cats in these two blog entries. But it’s a term that’s applied mostly to singers – and that’s certainly our Bugle. This feisty little girl has learned who the people are who carry tasty tidbits, and she sings for her supper – a high-pitched and surprisingly long-lasting wail of longing for the next offering  of chicken or tuna. She’s still at least semi-feral, and wary of new things; her buddies Velma and Ryan (Ryanne?) have long since found their way outdoors and explored the back courtyard, but Bugle prefers to stay inside, though she’s doing some interior exploration, and has discovered the joys of the upper levels. But in spite of her feral roots, she takes food gently from the hand without snapping, and then she waits and sings for the next taste.

Bugle - "Anything for me?"  (SM)

There are other cats in the DoubleWide who will shed blood if you come too close; unlike the ferals who just get out of the way, cats like Mitzi and Crinkle, on the back deck, DO want the attention and the treats – just not enough to tolerate any physical contact.  But that’s not diva-behaviour – it’s just an  “I’m not ready yet” signal, and they enjoy each other’s company (as Bugle does with her friends).  Most of the divas I’ve introduced here are anti-social with cats as well as with humans. They might be OK as a solo cat in their own home – but it’s quite likely that in other circumstances their aggression would have them being put down. Living at the Sanctuary, we can allow for the occasional psychotic episode, the preference for isolation – and be grateful when a cat like JJ or Sophie trusts us enough to ask for gentle attention. 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Jennine Kariya, Selena Marchetti, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

Feline Daddies

Biggie is happy to snooze his days away  (KN)

We have our share of Mom-cats who arrived into our care with kittens on board or already born, and who have remained in the Sanctuary because they’re too feral or too shy, while their kittens go on to being socialized and finding their own homes.  It’s harder to ID the Dad-cats when fatherhood for most cats is a moment’s urge and not accompanied by any real bonding with the female in question – in fact, a fertile female cat can be impregnated by more than one tomcat, and her litter of kittens may have multiple sires.  So celebrating Father's Day at the Sanctuary is not as easy as celebrating Mother's Day! Having said that, there are a few instances where we’re pretty sure about both parents – and the certainty comes down to genetics.

Domino still has a tom-cat attitude;
he's probably sired his share of kittens! (BH)

Most of the cats in both New AIDS and the Val Jones are male, and most of them have come to us as unneutered tomcats – that, of course, being the reason they carry the FIV virus, which is conveyed in blood from bites. These boys lived their pre-Sanctuary lives fending for themselves, struggling to establish their territory, their food sources, and their potential mates – and, still ramped up with testosterone as they were, that inevitably involved fighting. It’s likely that many of them have sired litters of kittens before they came to us, but typically, cats are deadbeat dads, and have no concern for their offspring. The first thing that happens when they come into our care is that crucial vet appointment when they’re neutered – which means no more kittens, as well as reducing their urge to fight with each other. 

Simon & Biggie having a private son-and-father moment  (JS)

We’re pretty sure that Biggie, in the New AIDS pen, is the father of Simon and Smalls. The three of them, with female Marble, came to us last year from the Island. We think Marble is the mother of Simon and Smalls;  Biggie is older than the two boys, and likely sired them, but it’s possible that he may be both Marble’s son and her baby-daddy – cat colonies being what they are, there is often a lot of in-breeding. The orange colouring is a strong genetic marker, and Smalls’ black colouring is the most common alternative to a dominant orange gene.

Zeus (MD) and Pax (LBF)
both now adopted.

When in 2019 we brought in a large colony of cats created by someone who was feeding ferals, it was obviously a multi-generational affair – pregnant moms, kittens, teenagers, and a couple of older males who had clearly sired most of the younger ones.  These two males proved to be FIV+, but both were friendly and handleable; probably strays rather than ferals;  Pax and Zeus settled in easily to the Val Jones area, and both ended up being adopted to their forever homes.  

So like their dads! - Nyx & Juno (LBF)

Their genes can clearly be seen in some of the cats still living in Pen 1 – Nyx, Juno, Atlas and Mercury have a real resemblance to their sires, though all four, having grown up feral, have remained wary with people. And it’s quite likely that both Kenji and Allan, in the front courtyard, have the same genetics - though not gathered up at the same time, they came from close by.

Tamale enjoying the heat lamp (AM)

More recently, our trappers were involved in rescuing a colony from Shell Road. Most of these cats were tuxedos or blacks – and not from the same genetic pool as the earlier group, whose more pointed faces are a clear contrast to the broader heads and bodies of the newcomers. One of them proved to be FIV+ and is now living in New AIDS – he was introduced in an earlier blog as Boston. Two other males are in the front courtyard; Tamale is clearly related to Boston – father? brother? son? - and Chicharron (Cheech) has the same stocky build, though he’s tailless and all black. Staff and fosters were able to socialize many of the younger cats trapped at that site, and they were adopted, so we have no clear families to identify.

Percival Snugglebutt - also known as Daddy (JS)

Percival Snugglebutt is the other cat that we know for sure has fathered kittens. He was one of the colony of cats who came from the Kootenays in 2022, and the two little lynxpoint girls, Curious and SweetPea, both arrived pregnant. Rather than coming directly to us, they went into fosterage, where their kittens were born. Both litters had some tail-less kittens, a clear genetic link to Percival.  All the kittens were adopted out, and SweetPea also found a home; Curious is still with us because she’s not as friendly as her sister. 

Majestic (and shy) Basil  (KN)

The rest of the colony has a much more Himalayan look, though in a variety of colours; it’s likely that either shy Basil or friendly Owen (now adopted) was responsible for the younger cats. Percival is sometimes known as Big Daddy, though he has largely detached himself from the rest of the colony, and has moved on to socialize with the floofy Kamloops cats, and especially his buddy Thorne.

Percival with his best friend, Thorne  (JS)

The sentiment that powers the concepts of Mother's Day and Father's Day celebrations falters when it comes to felines.  For the majority of male cats, “love ‘em and leave ‘em!” is the primary urge – not necessarily something we want to celebrate! Whatever their paternal shortcomings, though, we love having them at the Sanctuary.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Melanie Draper, Brielle Hutchinson,
Anne Marchetti, Karen Nicholson. Justin Saint

Another Wobbly Boy

Ranger  (KN)

More than a year ago we took in our beloved Tumbleweed, who totters around, occasionally tumbling over – an example of a cat with CH or cerebellar hypoplasia, better known as wobbly cat syndrome.  Currently we have another wobbly boy on our hands – but wobbly for a different reason.  

Pets for me?   (LBF)

Ranger has been a resident of Pen 4 since he came to us – initially landing there as a feral, and gradually warming to human attention, so that he really doesn’t deserve the feral label any more.  Most of the Pen 4 cats run and hide, or at least distance themselves when we enter the pen – Ranger comes towards us, looking for acknowledgement and sometimes petting. Occasionally when I come to do the morning clean-up he will be waiting at the gate. I let him come out and do a little explore around, and usually by the time I’m done, he’ll be waiting to be let back in to Pen 4.

Out and about....   (MW)

The med staff keep an eye on where the shyer cats are, and they always check pens 4 and 7, the feral pens, so when Ranger was not around it didn’t take long for someone to investigate, and discover the poor boy struggling to get around. He was gathered up and popped into a cage for investigation, where it became clear that it was a vestibular problem. This is an inner ear condition, sometimes caused by an infection, sometimes idiopathic (meaning the vets just don’t know what makes it happen). We’ve had our share of cats like this. Carly Simon, in the front courtyard, had a run-in with it last year, and has now totally recovered;  our beloved Willow, in the back, still shows the tilted head that is a remnant of the condition.

Tumbleweed & Willow  (BC)

So now we have Ranger safely caged so that he can be medicated. He staggers around like someone who’s had way too much to drink. Initially he was in a raised cage in Newcomers, but med-staff Louise has relocated him to one of the DoubleWide cages. This gives several advantages – the cages are larger, the shelf can be taken out so that he won’t be tempted to climb and jump, and he will have more human contact, being closer to the med-staff.

on the mend   (BC)

I was working in the DoubleWide when Louise moved him, and he was not happy about it. As I did my rounds with canned food, fresh kibble and water, I could hear him protesting this new space – as we all know, cats usually don’t like change! Once work was done, I went to find him and spend time with him. Initially he was very active – awkwardly climbing across my legs, and feeling out his space. Once he was more relaxed, he went to finish off his dinner, have a drink (a pretty splashy affair!) and then proceeded to climb all over me with wet paws. It took a few position changes for him to find his comfort-space, and then he relaxed and slept for twenty minutes.

Lap time with a sweet boy  (BC)

I’m old enough that getting down on the floor with cats takes a bit of planning, and getting up definitely takes work! But Ranger was obviously calmer as I extricated myself, righted his cage and slipped out – I hope that just that bit of TLC time left him feeling less a stranger in a strange space. Now we hope that the antibiotics do their job of clearing up whatever has affected his inner ears, so that, wobble-free, he can get back to his beloved Pen 4, his pen-mates and the good life he has with us at the Sanctuary.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson & Michele Wright