Over the Bridge in 2023

Pandora - December - LBF

Pandora came to us in bad shape, but she had
nearly two years of greatly improved health with us before her aging body had had enough.

The Sanctuary is a place where we celebrate life – specifically, the lives of many cats who, in other circumstances, would have been euthanized for being unadoptable.  Many ferals have come through our hands, and though some have eventually accepted human attention, others have remained feral for much of their lives. Adopters shy away from taking cats with FIV or FeLV, diabetes or kidney disease – and we rejoice that we have been able to give them shelter and treatment. We have partnered with rescues in other places, and taken groups of cats that a smaller organization may not be able to house.

Dango - June - KN

Dango came to us from Alberta in 2019, and joined the New Aids pen; earlier this year he was relocated to the Val Jones pen so that his renal diet could be closely monitored.

But because many of our cats are with us through much of their lives, we are, time and time again, with them for their deaths. Sometimes they are unexpected, as in cancer, or FIP.  Sometimes we watch the gradual aging of a beloved friend, and know that their time is come. Many cats hide their ill-health, and occasionally we will find them already passed; most of them are taken by a staff-member to the hospital, where they will pass gently, held by loving hands.

Kiwi - December - MW

Kiwi came from the same shelter as Dango;

we lost her to FIP, which is a random mutation of an otherwise standard feline coronavirus.

The turn of the year is a time when we look back over the past twelve months, and remember more than fifty of the furry friends who have “crossed the Rainbow Bridge”. So once again, this is less a blog, and more a photo-essay that may bring smiles and tears and memories and love of some very special cats. We can't feature them all, but here are a dozen of those who have gone ahead of us.

Tugboat - February - MW

Much beloved by all, Tugboat became very frail in his last year,
and was cuddled and comforted by humans and cats alike.

Sprint - December & Shaggy - July;  LBF

Little Sprint was a junkyard cat, very shy, and with health problems; 
Shaggy was one of the last of the “oldies” from the former Moore House.

Sara Lee - March - KN

Sara Lee had lived here for most of her 21-odd years.
Easily identified by her bi-coloured eyes and her smoke coat, she was a fixture at the coffee table, where she toured from one lap to another.

CB Lincoln - February - MW

Cinnamon Bun Lincoln was named for his curled tail,
and known for his tendency to pee on anything/anyone he wanted to claim.

Little Orange - October - KN

One-eyed Little Orange was loved by volunteers and visitors alike,
and is greatly missed by his friend Allison who visited him every week.
He’s reunited with his girlfriend, shy Merilee.

Stella - February - MW

Stella was a regal presence in the Tea-Room and the breezeway; 
she liked to sit high up and reach down a paw to those seeking her attention.

Bossanova - August - KN

Bossanova evolved from a shy boy hiding high on a shelf
to a cat who would hover hopefully, looking for treats and attention.

Jazz - September - KN

Jazz was the doorkeeper for the Single-Wide.

Originally collared as a signal that she was a reactive cat,

she came to enjoy the attention she got, and demanded that everyone stop on the way in to pet her.

Pancake - March - KN

Pancake was the son of Autumn, in the front Courtyard;
he proved too shy to be adopted, and returned to us to make his life
with his cat friends in the DoubleWide.

Tara - October - KN

Tara remained a scared feral most of her life with us,
only allowing contact in the last months when she was confused and forgetting that she was scared.

Hamlet - August - KN

Hamlet came to us as a feral, but soon developed a presence
 as a benevolent Godfather on the DW deck.

Rainbow over the Sanctuary - BC

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

The Family

Zoey & Basil  (LBF)

You would think that in a Sanctuary for unadoptable cats, most of them would be unrelated to each other. Cats, after all, have a reputation for being loners. And while that may be accurate enough for many of our furry friends, we have always had cats in our care who are in fact family, or who have bonded to become family of choice.

Percival & SweetPea  (LBF)

Currently there are three colonies that are genetically “family”. Our newest group, introduced last year, are from the Kootenays, and there’s no denying the relationships between them.  Having come into our care as a very scared bunch, they are becoming increasingly social, and hurry to the gate for attention when their pen is approached. They’re not “tame” yet, but SweetPea is enjoying petting and even occasional lap-time, and many of the others are sufficiently food-motivated that touch is not far off.

Together is good  (LBF)

The cats in Pen 6 came to us from Sammy’s Forgotten Felines in Kamloops, back in 2021. As with the Kootenay cats, there is a strong family resemblance among them, and they like to be together, emerging from their pen like a shoal of goldfish. Of them all, only big Persimmon and pretty grey Chamomile are enthusiastic about human attention; by the others we’re accepted as a necessary evil, but one that does at least bring food on occasion.

Lucius, Shimmer & Sherbet  (LBF)

The biggest influx of cats at one time was the group that came from a hoarding situation in Alberta the same summer, and which has taken over Pen 3. Visually, they are less “family” than the other two groups, and there is definitely a variety of genetics at play, but there are also similarities in appearance.

Baker & Jenkins (LBF)

Jenkins and Baker are tuxedo near-twins, Holly and Reinhardt have identical pale green eyes; Cornelius’s short legs can also be seen in Dior and Jason.

Cornelius making up to Mercury  (LBF)

Cornelius is a social butterfly, and ready to be friends with everyone. He’s closest to his own colony, but he also snuggles with Cadbury, in the adjacent pen, and has an orange-boy-bonding with shy Mercury, who hangs out in the back of pens 1 & 2. Mercury tends to be a loner, so it makes us all happy to see him with Cornelius.

Juno, Atlas & Mercury  (LBF)

Mercury is also a family cat; he was part of a group of more than 60 cats and kittens trapped not too far away when someone’s feeding of feral cats got out of hand. His remaining family, Atlas, Juno and Nyx, hang out in the same area; they like treats enough to come running when chicken is offered, but they are not so keen on physical contact with humans. 

The family stare  (LBF)

The other group that comes to mind when I think “family” is mostly unrelated to each other. And to be honest, I think about them as The Family because fellow volunteer Daphne calls that back deck area of the Double Wide “the Red Light district” (for the heat lamp), and “The Catsino” with its inhabitants “the Mafia cats”. Tuxedos Hamlet, Luke and Bodhi (with occasional visits from Pancake) tend to be front and centre, with support from consigliere Denzel. But the metaphor loses power when the inscrutable stares give way to purring demands for attention and tidbits.

Best buds - Luke, Bodhi, Guthrie  (KN)

Many of our cats prefer to live in groups, whether blood-bonded, or just by affection. We love that Sanctuary life can offer them this option, and yet allow those who chose to be loners to live as feels most comfortable for them .

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen & Karen Nicholson

Crinkle

 Meet Crinkle.

Crinkle  (KN)

We don’t always know where the names of cats who come into our care come from – but there’s no question with this girl – her left ear is crinkled, and sometimes turns back on itself, displaying a good showing of fuzzy ear-hair. It may be a birth thing, or something like the haematoma ears that Bossanova and Little Orange have – but it’s enough that it makes her easily identifiable, and more than just yet another little tabby!

Crinkle mooches with the best  (BC)

Crinkle came to us from the Kamloops area; she was gathered in by Sammy’s Forgotten Felines, who do a stellar job with minimal resources, rescuing and rehoming feral colonies. I wrote about them briefly last May, when I introduced Len and Lloyd in Pen 4; what I didn’t realize was that Crinkle had arrived from the same colony, though a little later. It's pretty obvious that they're likely related.

Lloyd & Len  (LBF)

But there was a hitch; all cats coming in to us are tested for both FIV and FeLV – and Crinkle tested positive for the latter, and was sent to the Leukemia House to join the other cats there. She settled quite well, buddying up with equally shy Pewter (who came with her from Kamloops).  But when we heard that her kittens had all tested negative at six months old, the med staff suspected that her test might have been a false positive, and Crinkle was taken away from the leukemia area and brought to the Double Wide trailer, where she tested negative, and spent the next three months in quarantine in one of the large cages, before the final SNAP test confirmed her leukemia-negative in spring. 

Crinkle snuggling with sidekick Pewter  (LBF)

So where to put her? She could have gone to Len and Lloyd in Pen 4, but she’s not as feral as they are, and was used to humans around her, having had daily visits from the med staff and then from volunteers.  Catherine put her in a transfer cage out on the back deck, which gave her the chance to smell the inhabitants there, and to be investigated in return – and once released, she settled down very well with all the other tabbies.  Occasionally she would investigate outside, but as the weather has become colder, indoors is the place to be, negotiating for space on the mattress under the heat lamp.

Crinkle & Sooke, begging for chicken  (BC)

Crinkle has also joined the “gimme chicken” group.  The dominant males – Denzel, Hamlet, Luke and Bodhi, have already decided that they’re up for treats, and Pancake hurries through to join in begging. But the littles are not going to be overlooked. Fargo is getting ever braver about coming forward to ask; little Sooke dashes down to be in position on the floor, and Crinkle is getting closer and closer on the shelf by the stairs. She’s not ready to be petted yet, and her version of “taking food” is to smack it out of your hand, but she’s less afraid, and her appetite will bring her to us in the end!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Brigid Coult & Karen Nicholson

Fargo & Della

Fargo  (KN)

Cats who come into the DoubleWide are generally released there after their cage-stay is over. Some of the more feral ones are quick to make a getaway into the back pens, but there are always some who get as far as the back deck and think “this isn’t too bad!”  The back deck is full of good hiding-places. In the area overlooking the Tea-Room there’s a big comfy mattress for those who like to snuggle, and when the temperature drops, the heat lamp will go on and offer a magnetic attraction. In the rest of the room, there are draped shelves and stuffed armchairs that can be slept on or under; for the cats who want to be out of reach, there are always the runways up close to the ceiling. And there’s a cat-door in the corner for those who like the outside option.

Fargo & Della  (BC)

In the spring of 2021 we took in a group of cats who had come from a rescue in Salmon Arm. Many communities in our province are doing good work, trying to control a feral cat problem. Some of them work with fosters to tame scared kittens; some have barn-cat programs; some simply TNR (trap-neuter-release) and maintain the feral colonies. Sometimes none of those options will work, or an existing colony is under threat from urban development and an already stretched-to-the-bone rescue will turn to us for help, knowing that we can allow ferals to be ferals, and we won’t euthanize them if they can’t be tamed.

Della (BC)

Having been TNR’d and released to colonies in 2019, this group of scared, hissing cats was gathered up, arrived with us, had their cage-stay, and were released. The little black ones vanished into the back courtyard; Arwen, Keno and Orson can be found hiding around the back of Waldi’s Hut on the south side, or in the shrubbery at the east end. They are very wary of humans, and being little black cats, manage to stay mainly out of sight.  Two of the clowder, however, decided that the DoubleWide Deck offered better things. They discovered the cat door, but they also discovered more comfort, warmth and food indoors, and their outside visits rarely last long.

Fargo  (BC)

Fargo is the more courageous of the two – minimally... The DW cage in which they spent time remained open to them, and occasionally one would see a grey streak darting from it to the deck or back.  Gradually he became brave enough to stop and look, and as long as you stood still and didn’t make any moves, just talked quietly, he was ready to make visual contact.  

Fargo (BC)

He joined the group that gathers around when chicken tidbits are offered, and is ready to advance and ask for more, though not yet comfortable with coming too close. In the warmest weather, he joined the other deck cats in finding somewhere outside to relax where it was cooler.

Della on guard  (BC)

Della is much more wary. She stands out among the other little tabbies in the area because of her dark colouring – a contrast to the lighter shades of Ursula and Dior. She is not a chicken addict like Fargo, but is comfortable enough with him to share a plate at dinner time, even with a scary human watching. When I went to visit with them earlier this week, I climbed up to sit on the edge of the platform and was immediately surrounded by the bolder cats – Denzel and Hamlet, Bodhi and Luke – all wanting attention and food. Fargo couldn’t decide whether to join the crowd or to jump down to floor level, and finally made the leap, joining the equally chicken-addicted Sooke. 

Della  (BC)

Della held her ground and refused to get drawn into competition, but watched, letting me know that I should keep my distance for now.  The med staff tell me that she was used to being fed by humans as a colony cat, but has not so far allowed touch.

Dinner-time!  (BC)

The change in their behaviour in the last six months or so is notable. They are around cats who are not afraid of us, and they’re picking up the hints. They’re not ready for physical contact yet, but it will probably come – and with the winter months ahead, they will probably be joining the other former ferals in accepting our presence more calmly.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult & Karen Nicholson