Ursula

Ursula (KN)

Weekend visitors are always amazed at the fact that we have 400+ cats in the Sanctuary – plus a fluctuating number of cats in the Adoption Centre and in fosterage.  And sometimes they are a little disappointed when they have those numbers, but don’t see the place actually swarming with cats. What they don’t take into account is how many of those cats are ferals, or are at the feral end of the spectrum.

Ursula lurking anxiously  (MW)

I would guesstimate that about a quarter of the Sanctuary cats prefer to have very little to do with us, at least, unless they know they can trust us as individuals. And when visitors arrive on Sundays (the last Saturday opening till next spring is October 31!), many of those cats go into hiding – in the closed pens 4, 7 and 8; behind Waldi’s Hut; out of reach in the back sections of pens 1-3; in the building that are closed to visitors.  It’s the Kitty Comforters’ job to ID some of those cats during a quiet afternoon, and coax them into accepting a little human attention.

Not a safe life for Ursula's original colony (VW)

Ursula is one of our tiny-tabbies – small perhaps purely from natural genetics, but perhaps also from malnutrition as a kitten. She originally came to us from Kamloops six years ago, from a feral colony which had grown out of control in dangerous conditions.  A group of local rescuers moved in to trap,  neuter and rehome all that they could; that operation created the organization called Sammy’s Forgotten Felines, with whom we continue to work. Some of the younger cats were fostered and adopted, but for slightly older cats who have only known a feral life, that was not a simple option. RAPS took a number of these ones from both the Cariboo cats and from a rescue in the Shuswaps, giving them time to decide whether to give in and socialize, or to stay feral.  These cats included Barbara, Baxter and Bruley, Ariel and Aspen, Sailor, ZsaZsa and Ursula.

Relaxed in play  (KN)

She and Aspen are the last of this group to remain with us – a few have passed, but most were tamed and adopted. Ursula held firmly to her feral principles: humans were treated with wariness, and smacked hard when they got too close – Ursula was a cat’s cat. 

Bodhi is a cat-magnet  (BC)

Unlike Aspen, who prefers the back of Pen 1, she opted to remain with the DoubleWide deck group, and has attached herself particularly to gentle Bodhi (who actually prefers the company of his buddy Luke, but who will tolerate having a tabby girlfriend following him around.

May I come on your lap?  (KR)

Until recently humans were mostly no-go – volunteers on the DW Deck for cleaning or feeding were avoided or ignored, unless appropriate bribery was involved. But when KC Karrie opted to spend some of her time sitting up on the level that holds the mattress and the heat lamps (both intended for cats, not for humans!), Bodhi came for attention – and where Bodhi went, Ursula followed.  Before long, Karrie’s KC vibes had done their work, and Ursula was lap-sitting and accepting gentle petting.

Enjoying garden time  (KN)

She is still pretty suspicious of most people, but we have a lot of patient KCs, and other Deck cats who can model enthusiasm about treats and petting.  She’s unlikely ever to be a really tame cat, but at least now she has accepted that we are no longer The Enemy.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson, 

Karrie Radford, Valerie Wilson, Michele Wright

The Missouri Cats

Clover & MonMon - mother and son  (BC)

Most groups of cats that come into our care do so as a result of a crisis situation – hoarding, or an existing colony being evicted. We had a variant of that in the summer of 2025, when Mandy travelled to Texas to bring back a group of cats who had been a bequest to us under the terms of the owner’s will – she had researched to find them all a good home, discovered us, and left money for their care. I introduced them that fall: first, the ones who were housed in the SingleWide, and then the group in the Front Courtyard.

Liko is still wary  (AC)

More recently we’ve had another colony come to us under similar circumstances. This group is already well travelled – they had actually originated in Hawaii but the family relocated to Missouri. A second long journey to BC, and new surroundings left them all feeling pretty disoriented. The back of the SingleWide was cleared for them – while the DoubleWide was being gutted and refurbished last year, the med-staff relocated to the small office at the back, and it had also functioned as a temporary ward for some of “the Newts” to recover from upper respiratory infections during the winter. Now it became a home for the Missouri cats.

Juju prefers to stay high up, out of the way (AC)

Initially all they wanted was places in which to hide, and KittyComforter visits to them were mostly about quiet talk, offering treats, and not pushing them too quickly into interaction with us. Family bonds are strong here. The matriarch is Clover (originally Chloe, but renamed so as not to confuse her with the Chloe living next door). Clover started out as feral, and remains wary – she would rather not have humans around, but tolerates us as long as she is with one of her youngsters.

Latte - with Liko hiding behind  (AA) 

Her four are MonMon, Juju, Liko and Latte. Juju and Latte (orange and white/orange) are both very wary and prefer to hide away, high on one of the shelves or on a cage-top. Liko is calico, and gradually becoming more accepting of our presence. Big MonMon (orange/white) is a mama’s boy, but also the most social of the four; he likes play, loves treats, but has only so much patience with petting – he’d rather be cuddled up with Clover.

Emma is not shy! (KH)

The other sibling group (not quite so bonded) comprises Scooter (M), Cora (F) and Emma (F). Scooter and Cora are both big tabby cats, but they are shy, and need lots of time and patience; their sister Emma is much more social, and loves to have attention from visitors.

Kimba (KH) and Bruno (AC)

Unrelated, as far as we know, are Kimba and Bruno. Light brown tabby Kimba is Mr Social – both with people and with cats; he loves play, petting and treats in any combination!  Bruno is less well known to most of us; he’s been in a cage for medical attention, but now he’s out, he’s making up for lost time - exploring and interacting happily.

MonMon (BC)

This week has seen a step forward for many of the group; their area of the SingleWide has been opened, and they are starting to explore. Not surprisingly, it’s Kimba and Bruno who have taken the lead in investigating; more surprisingly, shy Abby-the-tabby has taken a liking to Kimba and started following him around. We do need to keep an eye on things – Oscar and Winston persist in claiming the “new”(to them) area with copious amounts of pee, and there’s a lot of extra cleaning happening! And BeeBoo, who is generally anti-cat and anti-human, is objecting to the invasion of “her” deck area and needs a little time-out while everybody adjusts.

Mama Clover (BC)

Obviously, the shyer cats will probably do best remaining in the quiet of the SingleWide, while staff may be ready to consider homes for the more social ones. But, as we have discovered with Bello, Guacamole and Gwen, all of whom were adopted and have now returned to us, cats with feral roots may easily revert to that behaviour unless they feel a bond with their adopter. Both cats and humans will be taking time to feel settled before any relocation happens.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Alicia Almeida, Andy Chiu, Brigid Coult & Kim Howe

News of the Newts

Anjou - white with pale markings, like so many of the Newts  (KN)

Visitors to the Sanctuary – and in particular, to the back courtyard – have learned that the only pens open to cats and humans alike are the left-hand ones: Pens 1, 2 and 3. Most of those visitors are very understanding of the need to give the cats some safe space without strangers to frighten them. They accept that most of the feral cats in Pen 4 will remain totally hidden during visiting hours (oh, we miss Ranger!), and that the cats who live in Pen 8 (from a Victoria hoarding situation) are still very wary. They enjoy coaxing the semi-ferals with medical issues to the gate of Pen 7 for treats. Pen 6 is currently empty, but will soon be reassigned.  The pen that fascinates many of them is Pen 5, currently housing “the Newts”.

Muskrat (began as Muscat) likes to climb!  (KN)

These sweet cats came to us early last year, rescued from a bad hoarding situation in Newton (hence the nickname). I blogged about them last spring, when they were living in Pen 6. Our original hope was that they would become more used to us and to safe living, that some of them would prove to be adoptable, and that they could be assimilated into the general population. What we have discovered is that their upbringing has left them more fragile than we would like, and that in all likelihood, that they are immune-compromised to various degrees.

Handsome Chicago is the darkest, and the only tabby  (KN)

Sadly, their bathroom habits are pretty messy – not having learned about litter-box use in their kittenhood, they just poop anywhere. They have lots of litterboxes to choose from, but their pen needs regular patrolling (one of the less exciting part of volunteering at a cat sanctuary!). And judging from occasional offerings, there are a few of them who have gut issues – handsome tabby Chicago is currently caged and on a limited diet. 

Yarlington & Mutsu - also known as Thing 1 and Thing 2  (KN)

Last fall they began a round of upper respiratory infections (URIs), and of course, like any good family, they shared them around – no sooner did we get one cat caged, treated and returned, than another would have to be treated – and then the first cat would get another variant of whatever was going on.

Merlot's torby colouring makes her easy to recognize  (KN)

In any sanctuary, URIs are going to be inevitable, but by winter we had all the Newts in cages – some in twos and threes – monitoring their health and tracking what medication was working for them. In the meantime, their Pen 6 was scrubbed out and sanitized, hoping to get rid of all the germs from snotty noses.  Pen 6 had never been considered as a long-term home for them, but it was apparent that most of these cats were unlikely ever to be adoptable, between their bathroom habits and their health issues. Pen 5, next door, had been an open pen for years. It was initially known as Packers Pen, for the feral cats who came to us when Steveston Packers closed, then as the Five Road pen, for the influx of felines from an overflowing 5 Rd City Shelter (back when RAPS ran it), then just as Pen 5, taken over by a group of the Kamloops cats, with a number of ferals occupying the back reaches.

Sungold - from the very dark to the very pale  (KN)

Cleaning that out was a big job, but it gave us a good area to place this group of recovering invalids, and it gave them space to keep their distance if they chose, or to have room to play and interact with staff and volunteers. They have done well with this resettling;  there are still some issues, but as we get to know them better, med staff are more able to identify and isolate as needed. Many of them still show the scars of their origins: the bleach burns, the neurological issues that affect their back-end movement, and the fragility that has taken some of them away from us. But they love it when someone comes and plays with a wand toy, and there are several who are fast on their feet, and quick to catch the feather target with athletic leaps.

Kyoho is one of the most affectionate cats  (JS)

Currently we are treating them as if they are all immune-compromised, sanitizing before we go in to them as we do with the FIV cats. We may eventually allow limited numbers of visitors in under careful supervision, but for now they look on longingly as the younger cats outside have their fill of wand play as well. We try to watch out for visitors who want to reach through to them, or to poke a wand toy through the mesh, but the requests for care frequently lead to good discussions about the reasons for the rules, and increased interest among those watching.

Tobiko shows the Newts how to play;  when they
get the wand, he's the one outside the pen, looking in (JS)

With the removal of Chicago to a cage, the shoal of white and orange cats becomes harder and harder to identify as individuals. They definitely have their favourites – Sean, who cleans their pen on a Friday, generates a lot of interest; Selena will often come in and wand-play during visitor hours, much to their delight; Justin will do the same both in and out of their pen for their entertainment; most of the Kitty Comforters make regular visits. But they are unlikely to be able to join the general population, for their health’s sake, and we will do our best to enrich their lives as much as we can.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Karen Nicholson and Justin Saint