Cow

7 1/2 year old Cow is both old and new to RAPS, old in that he was adopted from us as a kitten and new as in just a couple of weeks ago he was returned.

To say that Cow is "a nice boy" just doesn't seem to cover it. "Delightful" comes to mind. Friendly and affectionate by nature, he must be feeling a little lonely now, by himself in a cage as he gets used to being at the sanctuary. Staff have put up a sign on the door saying "Needs lots of love" so volunteers know to go in and spend a little time with him. As I did this evening.

Cow was surrendered for inappropriate peeing. Some cats just develop a habit of this where they can't seem to help themselves from marking everything in range, while others start to do it in response to changes in their environment that they're having trouble adjusting to. We're thinking Cow falls into the latter category, as it sounds like a relocation or two of his place residence caused abrupt change and, more importantly, a marked reduction in his area of operation.
Moving from a house with outdoor privileges to an apartment with none can be hard on a cat.

Does this make Cow "a pee-er"? Hard to say. Not necessarily - sometimes cats who've been surrendered to RAPS for the same reason cease the behavior once removed from the environment or situation that was upsetting them in the first place. Hopefully, this lovable fellow's issue will prove a temporary one. It doesn't take more than a few moments in his company so see how much he'd love to go home with somebody.

Cara

Cara came to RAPS from a smaller, much more informal type of shelter arrangement. A lady had opened her home to in the neighborhood of 30 homeless cats including Cara and, as it turns out, RAPS alumni Moosha.

Unfortunately for this informal feline group home, the house was only rented and when the owner decided to sell, the tenant was unable to relocate both herself and her numerous charges. And so she called RAPS.

Cara was a shy girl when she first came to the sanctuary but even then, she always loved having her tummy rubbed.

Knowing her now, it's hard to picture her as a timid cat. She's become one of those cats who are tricky to photograph because with very little encouragement she's wriggling around in anticipation of a rubdown or she's in your face as she gears up for a friendly headbutt or two.

Pickles

Pickles came to RAPS as a feral kitten. According to Leslie, he was "painfully shy" and resisted all her attempts to tame him.

It's always hard (perhaps impossible) to predict when and even if a young feral will become tame, since it seems to vary so much from cat to cat. For Pickles, it took a while, but "somehow, years later, he decided to let people into his life."

Now he's a sweet, affable boy who welcomes petting from his human friends. Look for him in the tearoom or, on a warmer day, sunning himself out in the back yard.

Metis

With the large number of black shorthairs at the sanctuary, it can take a little while (to say the least) to go beyond rather generic impressions of little-black-catdom...

Metis first came to my attention among the various black cats roaming around at cage tops level with a flash of a paw and the sound of a loud slap. I looked up barely in time to see her give Leslie a solid smack in the head. Leslie's crime? She'd been stroking Metis and had the ill manners to break eye contact and look at someone else.

Some cats are sticklers for receiving a person's full and undivided attention. 

Metis was one of many cats left behind on a farm when the owners moved away. Over the better part of a year, the farm cats were slowly trapped and brought in to RAPS. In the mean time, a couple in a nearby property fed the hungry cats who regularly presented themselves at their back porch. Metis was named in their honour.

Houdini

With somewhere between 800 and 900 cats at the sanctuary, visitors and volunteers can find themselves making friends with cats whose names are a big "?"

Since I work inside, many of the cats in the front courtyard carry question marks.

Take Houdini:

This engaging, highly photogenic tuxedo cat visited and posed for me on two occasions several months apart before I finally cracked and asked Leslie just who he was.

It seems he got his name after proving a bit of an escape artist in his youth:

"When he was a really young kitten, he escaped through the bars of his cage a couple of times.  Then, when he returned to the shelter after being neutered, he somehow switched from the boys' cage to the girls' cage next door.  Since he was still feral at that point, I figured that the volunteers wouldn't have been able to handle him, so there must have been some hocus pocus involved!"

Meeting him now, it's hard to believe he came in as a feral. Leslie tells me he has two brothers at the sanctuary, Spot and Pongo, both as sweet-natured as he is.

Updated October 19, 2010: The latest in what's turned out to be a week of unfortunate passings, Houdini had to be put down this morning after his health had continued to deteriorate since late summer.

 Houdini & friend, April 2009

photo by Barbara Doduk

Mandy

I first met this little calico back in December. She was investigating Marianne's shoes at the time - Marianne having temporarily ditched them so she could climb in with a caged cat who was in serious need of some proper snuggling.

Once we were introduced, Mandy readily gave up shoe inspection for the opportunity to have a little cuddle time herself.

From what Marianne tells me, this pretty much sums up Mandy's personality. She's known to be "super-friendly, likes to cuddle and fall asleep on laps."

photo provided by Marianne

So why hasn't she been snapped up for adoption?
"She's been at the shelter for quite a few years and has always been friendly, so I don't know why she hasn't been taken home by someone yet." 

She's not a pee-er like Andy, is she?
"As far as I know, she's not a pee-er, and is well-mannered and healthy."

Problems with other cats, perhaps?
"I've never seen her cuddled up with any one cat (or cats), but have never seen her in a squabble with any either."

Hmmm... it sounds like what we have here is a pretty little girl just waiting for somebody to love.

B.B.

I'm told B.B.'s name comes from the brown bag she arrived in.

Her story (originally published on the RAPS website):

"A couple arrived at our shelter one day carrying a brown paper bag. Inside was a black female manx that they said they'd found in their yard. "She's very sick," they said, "don't touch her." The kitty we named B.B. was indeed a sick girl with pus oozing from her severely infected uterus. Our vet said he'd seen similar problems in dogs, but that her condition was extremely rare in cats. He said the prognosis was grim and predicted that our patient had less than a 10% chance of survival. Surgery was performed and the cat was put on antibiotics.

In spite of the infection, our little B.B. wasn't running a fever and, the following day, the vet was feeling much more optimistic about her future. The cat survived and has won the hearts of many volunteers."

BB is a survivor to be sure. A little while back, she was having skin problems and lost her her fur. Already tailless and now scabby, hairless and shivering, she was not a pretty sight. With lots of care and attention though, she gradually improved. Now her fur's growing in nicely and she's pretty much ditched the shiver for a good solid purr. Today she was even perky enough to throw in a few headbutts and love bites.