Spud

Spud Buddy - new to the Connor  (AM)

A lot of our kittens in the last year, mostly trapped by Ken and Lisa, have come from Surrey and Langley, where the feral cat problem is a continuous struggle for rescue organizations.  But we still have cats coming to us from closer to home.  Four of them arrived this past June – listed as “owner surrender” with the owner moving out of town, but I think there was also a litter of kittens found at that site under a bush, so there may have been elements of hoarding; certainly there was carelessness.

Watching activity in the room (JS)

The four cats came in to the Adoption Centre with the names of Meg, Brian, Lois and Buddy – the first two were adopted out very quickly; Lois is still in the AC, but we hope will go soon. Buddy was renamed Spud (we’ve had a number of Buddy-cats) and he had been largely an outdoors cat; he did not handle AC life well – he was very fearful, and cage life was very stressful for him. It was decided that he might do better in the Sanctuary and he was transferred to the Connor building. 

Solemn boy  (BC)

It took very little time for Kitty Comforter coordinator Anne Marchetti to fall in love with him and alert the KC team to give him some extra attention, and Spud handled living in the larger cages of the Connor much better than the Adoption area – and positively blossomed when allowed access to the courtyard.

Waiting by the gate for visitors  (AM)

Spud is a medium sized tabby boy with a proportionately large head - possibly a late-neuter. He has added himself to the greeting team, and can often be encountered at the gate, looking for attention. We were concerned about his health initially; he has a rather stiff-legged walk and was occasionally observed to be limping – cage rest did little other than frustrate him, but when the vets checked him, he was found to have bone spurs, and there’s little to be done about that other than pain meds when needed.  Spud’s probably no more than four years old, so if there’s osteoarthritis involved, as is common, it’s not age-related but possibly genetic.

Enjoying the winter sun  (KH)

He looks like a very serious little cat, but he loves attention from humans, and likes to come up for lap-time with the right people. In fact, the lap is less the target than the chest – Spud is one of those cats who prefers to be held upright, with his head at face-level. And that in turn requires an awareness of his body-language;  he is very happy to be petted until suddenly he isn’t... I suspect that his rear end is sensitive, and too much stimulation is painful. 

Come sit with me?  (KH)

Spud is OK with a few cats around him, but when the crowd gathers, he takes himself out of the way until things are quiet again. He tolerates other peaceful cats like Reef, but we have recently been joined by more assertive ones like Mayday and Sparrow (blogs to come) and Spud prefers to avoid them. Unlike them, he’s not strongly food motivated, and prefers a quiet one-one-one with his favourite people.

Spud  (AM)

Watch for this sweet boy when you visit, and make the most of a little Spuddle-cuddle time!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Kim Howe, Anne Marchetti & Justin Saint