The Front Courtyard Texans

 

Wilbur, Alyssa, Bingo - in their shared cage

Last week’s blog introduced the two Syds, Sunshine, Sophie and Oreo who arrived from a Texas cat-lover who bequeathed them to RAPS care when she passed away. The other five Texas cats were brought into the Hill House off the Front Courtyard, and housed in two adjacent cages.

Milo - very wary

The prospect of keeping cats in cages is not a welcome one – either for us, or the cats in question. No cat likes to be confined, but in the Adoption Centre, there is no alternative; newcomers have to be caged for the health of the kittens whose immune systems are not fully developed. The cages are standard vet-care ones – easy to keep clean, with room for movement – but it must be like living in a tiny studio apartment.  When the cats are transferred to the sanctuary, most of them find themselves in cages that are more than twice that size, and we have several that are larger than that.

formerly Texas Cricket - now Weevil, hiding in her bed

The Hill House, which I blogged about this time last fall, was refurbished in 2012 with funds from the family of cat-lover Stanley Hill – and many of the cats mentioned in that blog still make it their base.  The south wall is divided into three pens – a large cage in the centre that is frequently a temporary home to groups of cats arriving together; and two smaller ones on either side.  The large central cage was allocated to Alyssa, Wilbur and Bingo; the smaller one on the right to Texas Cricket and Milo. As we always do, furniture in the cages was well-draped to offer hiding places to fearful residents.

Wilbur

The three in the middle were initially cautious, but not fearful;  all three had quickly been identified in the Adoption Centre as cats that would probably adapt quickly.  There was a large drape at the entrance to dissuade passing cats from pee-ing into the cage, but on any visit to them, once past that drape the three would emerge and be social.

Alyssa - queen of all she surveys

Alyssa is the most vocal of the three. Slim and elegant, with a white locket, and a little white belly-fur, she was also the first of the three to emerge, make contact, and then claim the top of the cat-tree in a position of clear superiority.  Now that the cage is open, she is also the most adventurous, exploring freely, and making sure she’s noticed. It’s easy to confuse her with shy Pemberly, but Alyssa’s much more extroverted, and lacks the white inner-ear fur that characterizes her look-alike

Bingo

Light tabby Wilbur and long-haired darker tabby Bingo are also ranging beyond the Hill House door, but prefer to stay inside – partly familiarity, but also, I suspect, because the Hill House is cozy and warm. The centre cage has now been closed off for the use of newcomers, and the smaller one, with an open door, has become ground zero for the Texas cats. When there is human company, both Wilbur and Bingo are glad to accept attention; treats are always good, but best of all is petting and laptime, for Bingo in particular, He will settle down happily for as much time as you have to spare, eyes blinking happily, big paws opening and closing as he makes air biscuits. Wilbur seems to prefer his snuggles to be next to you; he enjoys a lap, but Bingo is pretty pushy about getting the lap first.

Alyssa & Weevil - now out and about...

Inside the cage, despite the fact that the door was wide open, Texas Cricket prefered to have solo snuggles in her own bed. This pretty tabby and white girl is now known as Weevil, since we already have a Cricket in the Front Courtyard, and one that has no boundaries for exploration – she is quite likely to saunter into the Hill House at any time. Weevil was prepared to accept a treat, and a little touching from me, but was not exactly enthusiastic about the latter; she sat and watched Wilbur and Bingo interacting with me outside the cage.  A couple of days later she was emerging with more confidence...

Milo in the heated basket

The last of the Texas cats was initially nowhere to be found. Milo is a shorthaired grey boy who has – happily for him, less so for us – discovered that one of the benefits of living in the Hill House is an easy window exit to the adjacent Old Rabbit Area, where many of the ferals hang out. Milo approves of this option, and has reverted from his original willingness to be petted to taking on the semi-feral skittishness of his new roomies, Having accepted treats and petting in a confined space, he is now looking horrified at the prospect of physical contact, and not even treats would tempt him,  However, he hovered in true semi-feral style of “you may look at me, but not touch me”, so I was at least able to get some photos.

The family stays together

We hope that volunteers working in that area will make a point of introducing themselves to the newcomers – and especially, of encouraging Weevil and Milo to learn that this may be a scary new place, but that our new immigrants have found a safe Sanctuary with us.

Blog & photos by Brigid Coult

Texans in the Single-Wide

Syd-Sr.

Most of the RAPS cats come to us as ferals or strays; some are surrendered with behavioural issues; just occasionally they arrive when their human can no longer care for them.  Two years ago, a woman in Texas reached out to us. She had probably heard of us through the Pets and Pickers show, she had done some internet research, and now she was asking for a very special partnership with RAPS. Her health was declining; she knew that she would probably have to go into hospice care, and she needed to know that her beloved cats would be in good hands.  With her lawyer’s help, she made a bequest in her will that would enable their continued care at RAPS, as well as making it possible to get them to us.

Sunshine & Syd-Jr.

That promise came due this summer when she went into end-of-life care, and it was time to bring the cats to Richmond. Mandy Lichtman, with her daughter Maya, made the journey with the somewhat stressful return, described here by Mandy, and in early September the ten Texan cats came to the Adoption Centre, where they were temporarily housed for assessment, and given a chance to assess us in their turn.  From there, they were moved into the Sanctuary proper; some into the Hill House (two large cages where five of them could move freely), one in the Connor House, and four in the SingleWide.

Oreo snoozing with Syd-Sr.

Some of the SingleWide cats are still caged – some health issues, and waiting for vaccines to take effect.  Syd-Sr is a sweet panther; he had some time in a cone with dental stuff, and the med staff removed the shelf in his cage to deter him from much jumping. (Sadly, that meant getting down and up from the floor – not such fun for us older KC’s!)  He looooves human attention and comes over to snuggle happily. 

Oreo is still suspicious of our motives...

His occasional cage-mate is black and white Oreo, who is not socially minded, and is more of a Garbo (I-vant-to-be-alone) cat.  You can offer treats to Oreo, but she is mostly disinterested – not even accepting the Churus that everyone else adores.  Beware the lightning paw – Anne tells me she can be petted – but not by me, yet!

Syd-Jr

In the facing cage by the window you will find Syd-Jr – no relation to the other Syd, and a cheerful boy who loves attention. He has obviously had a haematoma ear at some point, because though not as crumpled as the left ear of our sweet Bossanova, it bends flat (more like Little Orange’s ear). Syd is quick to jump up for cuddles, but has to compete with his roomie, who is quite clear that visitors come to visit her.

Sunshine

Sunshine is the oldest of the group, and very clearly the commanding dowager.  She will join Syd-Jr on a lap, and then turn and smack him till he gives over space to her. Both these cats have some respiratory issues, and having them in the SingleWide will help the med staff keep a careful eye on them.

Texas Sophie loves visitors

The fifth cat was initially in the Connor House, and has joined her family in the SW. Her name is Texas Sophie (to distinguish her from the Sophie in the back courtyard), and she is a sweetheart and a cuddle-bug – so much so that it’s difficult to get a good picture of her, since she’s excited when someone visits her. She’s another of those cats that has decided to remain in her cage, even though the door is open; she was taken over to the Hill House to see the other members of her family, but quickly returned.  She is over-grooming, probably from anxiety, and her legs are almost bare of fur; we may have to try some anti-anxiety meds for her. As KC coordinator Anne points out, the Single-wide is a good place for those nervous kitties; it's quieter than the courtyards and they're able to get more human attention.  

Not shaved down for surgical care - 
Texas Sophie over-grooms when she's anxious!

Under the terms of their owner’s bequest, all the Texas cats are now permanent residents of the Sanctuary, and not on the adoptable list;  you’ll have to come visit on Sunday afternoons to get cuddle time with them...

Welcome to Canada, sweeties! 

Blog & photos by Brigid Coult

Best Buds - Thistle & Fonzie

Thistle and Fonzie are the best of friends. 

Fonzie (KN)

They came to us from different places.  Fonzie was one of a trio of young males who came to us from Grand Forks last winter; we don’t know if they were related, or even if they were trapped together, but they were too feral to be easily tamed, and were sent on to us by the local rescue.  The three were very different in appearance:  tabby and white chonky Flynn, silver tabby Fletcher, and black-and-white Fonzie, whose sideburns gave him his name.  Initially they hung out together in the Double-Wide, on top of the cages, but increasingly we saw Fletcher and Fonzie exploring outside.  The Kitty Comforters earmarked them for special attention, and gradually both boys began responding to attention and to tidbits. Flynn remained indoors, and though he explores outside more now, he is still not ready for contact.

Fonzie playing with Fletcher

Quite suddenly we lost Fletcher. Feral cats know that they can be both hunter and prey, and when they are unwell, they are vulnerable and hide away. Fletcher had an inoperable tumour, and all we could do was to let him go peacefully. Fonzie was lost for awhile without his brother; the two of them had played together in the back pens, and life alone took some adjustment. But he is one of the more social cats, and was ready to go with the flow of Sanctuary life.

Thistle

At some point he encountered Thistle. Thistle had come from Vancouver Island, from Broken Promises rescue and arrived with his “sister” Daisy; Daisy was renamed as Aster (there can only be one Daisy at the Sanctuary!) and the two of them were wary of contact. Aster mostly located to the back deck, but Thistle was an outdoors boy, and enjoyed the freedom of the back courtyard.  He is an elegant dark tabby, and though he hung back for awhile, finally started to allow contact with humans.

Fonzie & Thistle

This fall, Thistle and Fonzie have discovered each other, and become very close. They can be found snuggling together on the seat outside the tea-room – sometimes just the two of them, sometimes with Tyson as a third snuggle-buddy. 

Adding black Tyson to the snuggle

They groom each other, they head-bunt, they wander through the courtyard with tails entwined. We have been saying that Fonzie might be added to the Adoptables list, but I think this is one of those times when we need to be looking for someone who would take the two of them together – adoption can be stressful for a cat (especially a former feral) and these two would take comfort in each other.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson

Nikki Sixx-Toes - an update

Nikki Sixx-Toes  (KN)

Volunteer Bev has been with RAPS for years, and spends a lot of her time in the Single-Wide building. Her own cats (Twinks & Scooter) are adopted from the Sanctuary. She’s a regular evening feeder, and has been the Saturday host for visitors to the SingleWide (we’re now open on Sundays only for the winter months). Bev knew and loved many of the cats that have now passed; the Dryer Gang, Bossanova and Mr Pink, little Nova and many others. So when she came to me with a request for a Nikki-blog, it was something I was glad to indulge in.

Nikki living feral, when he first came to us (BC)

Actually, there was a Nikki-blog already in place – but it dated from more than five years ago. Nikki came to us from the Semiahmoo reserve; he and Annie, who came with him, were both feral and began their lives with us in one of the feral pens. Unfortunately, Nikki proved to be diabetic, and monitoring and medicating him turned out to be almost impossible. He had to be netted and caged so that his blood sugars could be kept even – and in the end, he took to the caged life with great enthusiasm, learning to love the attention and the extra food that came with the insulin.

Big paws! (BC)

I don’t know whose brilliant idea it was, but he was named for Nikki Sixx, the drummer in Mötley Crüe –  our boy is Nikki Sixx-Toes. If you’ve not already met him, the first thing people notice is a wonderful pair of front paws that look like mittens. And like all good rock stars, he has his groupie – black Shadow adores him.

With girlfriend Shadow   (KN)

She has mellowed quite a bit from when she first attached herself to him; we had to be quite careful because she was initially inclined to attack people who got too close to him. And when diabetes means insulin injections and the accompanying food twice a day, we had to beware of the guard-cat.

Such a sweet face  (KH)

These days both Nikki and Shadow are getting on, and prefer to lounge about; Shadow thinks attacking people takes too much energy. She will come and “make nice” on the couch, especially if chicken is on offer, but petting needs to be her idea, and she still has razor paws. Nikki is very mellow – once he emerged from his cage back in 2020, he’s showed himself to be pretty easy-going, and now loves to come up for lap-time. Most of the year the two of them make their home on the back deck; as the weather gets colder they claim the heat lamp. Nikki may eventually move indoors; Shadow is less enthusiastic about that – or about encountering the other cats – but has a good floofy coat to protect herself.

Visiting indoors   (KH)

Bev tells me that Nikki is a favourite with visitors, as he enjoys every lap that comes his way. She was especially struck by his behaviour with an autistic girl who sometimes visits; they tend to come late in the afternoon, because she is loud and semi-verbal; she loves the cats, and both Bev and Kate monitor her carefully so the she doesn’t scare them.  She adores Nikki, and wants him on her lap.  

Gotta keep those toes in condition!  (KH)

Bev says “He never bites, scratches or hisses – maybe Shadow is doing his share. He loves chicken and treats. He is so easy to handle – I lifted him down from the shelf yesterday as the autistic girl always wants him, and he sat with her for ages. She squeezes him and snuggles; I watch nervously but he never minds.  When she left I moved him to the next lap and so on. Shadow sometimes jumps up beside him when he’s on a lap but she doesn’t get nasty when he’s such a calm companion.”  

Paws ticked under  (KH)

As always, when blogging a SingleWide resident, I had to go to Kim for photos – she comes every Monday on scoop-shift, and spends a lot of time with her SW loves. She says about Nikki: It’s funny to think that he was once a spicy feral boy. Nikki and I have lap time together every week after I finish my tasks. We usually sit on the couch on the porch, but if Nikki feels like I’m taking too long, he takes matters into his own hands (paws?) by coming inside and climbing on my lap wherever I am. Shadow always supervises our visits since she’s his #1 lady. She used to watch from afar but now joins us on the couch and accepts pets too. He is the sweetest, most patient boy and has such a gentle energy about him. No matter what’s going on beforehand, I always feel more at peace after a Nikki cuddle. 

Such a sweet old man... 

Blog by Brigid Coult, with Bev Johnston & Kim Howe

Photos by Brigid Coult, Kim Howe, Karen Nicholson