Handsome Bello

Bello - the handsome one  (KN)

I don’t remember when Bello came to the Sanctuary – usually I will meet a new cat in my Kitty Comforter shift during their initial cage-stay with us. But in late spring I started to notice a pale ghost in the back courtyard, generally around Waldie’s Hut, or on the shelves backing onto the SingleWide. Any move towards him resulted in his doing a disappearing trick, and I went to the med staff to find out more.

You can't see me, I'm not there....   (BC)

We have good relationships with a number of BC shelters, and will sometimes accept cats from them that are too feral for adoption;  they know that in our care, these felines can remain feral but safe as long as is needful.  Bello is one of those cats – in his case, he came from the Lower Mainland Humane Society in February. He had been trapped as a feral, and was consistently fearful with them, and not considered a good adoption prospect. RAPS was to be his sanctuary. We think he's around three years old.

Bello's portrait from FVHS;
crouched down with ears pinned back in fear

Because we had all his medical records, his cage-stay was brief - a short while in the Adoption Centre, a stay in Newcomers, where he remained behind his drape. And like a lot of ferals on release, his first instinct was to go and hide – generally emerging in the early morning or late evening. I tend to be an early morning volunteer (when I’m not feeding in the evening!) and found Bello was more open to contact when fewer people were around. He could often be found comfortably settled on a cat-tree where he could slide away behind the shelves if he got nervous.

Starting to be patient with an approaching human  (BC)

Bello is the masculine form of the word bella, meaning beautiful.  His name suits him – he’s really handsome, in a striking way. We suspect there’s some Siamese in him, evidenced in his lynx-tip coloring and blue eyes, but his chonky body shape is much more British Shorthair.

Coming for pets....  (KN)

Patience began to pay off; he would allow a little contact, and accept tidbits from my hand. I heard from other volunteers that they were starting to get somewhere with him.  Occasionally he would approach for a leg-rub; he started interacting with other cats, and could be found enjoying the sun with the others. He stayed well out of the way on visiting days, but would appear when things were quieter.

Lounging comfortably for visitors  (BC)

I left in mid-June for a 3-week (cat-less) vacation, and came home to the Sanctuary to discover that Bello had blossomed; he was out more, looking for attention from people, and even being around to accept petting during visiting hours – though he tends to settle himself in a chair just out of reach of the rope that marks the cats-only boundary!  

Happy smile   (KN)

It seems to me that Bello is one of those cats that is likely a stray rather than a true feral; he may well have had a home, and been so traumatized by its loss that he reverted to the terrified feral behaviour. We do have ferals that tame up in time, but both Bello and his buddy Guacamole have made the switch relatively quickly, and we hope that both may be candidates to find their own homes in due course.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult & Karen Nicholson