Big, Black & Beautiful

 Not long ago we opened Pen 6 to allow all the “god” cats – (Aphrodite, Atlas, Juno, Athena, Mercury) – to explore a bigger world. Many of them have relocated to Pen 1, but I now find there are lots of little black cats in the back courtyard that I find hard to identify quickly.

No, you may not have this chair! - MW

There’s never any problem in identifying Cole! He’s probably among the largest of the cats – and I mean large in length and leg, not in tubbiness. He came to us a few years ago with a pretty uncertain temperament and I blogged about him in February 2019.  

Soaking up the sun - KN

He’s become a much more mellow cat in the intervening couple of years. He is still largely a loner, and it is beneath him to interact with the other cats, though he’s not aggressive like Jasper or Gizmo – he just ignores them.  He still claims the clean laundry shelves as his favourite bedding, and we continue to work around him there.

Towels are the best bed - KN

Occasionally he can be found at the entrance gate, but now it’s less about gate-busting, and more about soliciting attention. There is a lot of leg-rubbing and he will quite often put his paws up and ask to be lifted.  Carrying Cole around is no light weight, and I prefer to sit with him in the breezeway, and allow him to do face-rubs – something I wouldn’t have tried two years ago. He is active in his attention – he not a cat who collapses on the lap and relaxes – when he’s finished head-bonks and rubs, he lets you know, and is off to find his laundry-corner.

Let me be...   MW

His title as Big Black Cat is challenged by another boy on the Double-Wide Deck. Denzel is a relative newcomer, arriving from the City Shelter before it closed. 

Top step is a favourite seat - LBF

It is possible that he was just dumped off in the parking lot there – we don’t know just when he arrived. He hung around for a good while, but didn’t allow himself to be trapped, so the staff made sure he had food and kept an eye on him.  Finally something tempted him too much, and the trap did its work. He came to the Sanctuary, and joined the semi-feral boys in the “red light area” at the back of the Double-Wide trailer.

Staying out of reach - LBF

Initially Denzel was very wary – staying out of reach or hiding behind the big mattress. But gradually he came to realize that nobody was out to hurt him, and that other cats were coming to us for petting and treats. He became braver, though he’s not ventured into lap-sitting, and he holds back when Chester claims the lap – Chester can be aggressive, and Denzel’s not about to challenge him. 

Handsome - and he knows it - BC

He's an active boy - it's not always easy to get pictures of him, because he won't keep still!  He still prefers to stay at platform level rather than at the floor, but he loves when people come and sit there with him and Hamlet, who also loves attention. Like Cole, he is a big solid boy, and he is a champion head-bonker; when Denzel tells you he loves you, you really feel it!  

Exploring at floor level - KN

In spite of his initial wary behaviour, it’s likely that he was a stray (or a dumped cat) rather than a feral; he has certainly grown to be a people cat, and though he’s not ventured through the building to the courtyard, his preference for the indoor surroundings may make him a more adoptable cat in the long run.

Blog by Brigid Coult

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