Dior

Dior  (KN)

Dior began the RAPS chapter of her life when she came to us as one of 43 felines that reached us through the Canadian Animal Task Force Society – victims of a major cat-hoarding situation in Calgary.  Tame cats went to the Adoption Centre, kittens went into fostering, and all the others came to the Cat Sanctuary. The latter are the cats that base out of Pen 3, who were featured in a series of three blogs in October and November 2021. When the Alberta cats were settled in Pen 3 last year, they were placed there because they were all young, though not kittens – they were past the easy-socialization point, and we knew we would need to give them time to get used to us.  It became obvious that some socialization had already gone on (they had come from a hoarding situation, so they weren’t all true ferals) and it wasn’t long before the tamest pair, Shimmer and Finneas, found their own adoptive home.  

brother Finneas  (BC)

Others are ready for it – Lucius, Jason and Holly are all happy being handled, and some of the remainder might manage if they went to a new home with a buddy.  Right now, we are in kitten season, and the Adoption Centre is busy, but once the kittens are gone, it will be time to focus on the slightly older ones.

The Pen 3 party-ers - Cornelius, William, Jason, Jenkins & Baker  (LBF)

But the Pen 3 crowd are not the only cats who came from that hoarding situation.  One little tabby who arrived last summer was pregnant, and taken into care by Kati, our awesome kitty-fosterer. Kati takes most of the challenging fosters, especially where babies need to be bottle-fed, and she is endlessly patient with a series of night-feeds.  This little girl was called Dior, and she had come with a litter of kittens that turned out not to be hers (more night-feeds for Kati!) but was pregnant with her own family. When the time came, all did not go smoothly, and Dior had to be rushed to RAPS Hospital for an emergency C-section. Five kittens were born and nursed through the first crucial hours. More of their story can be found here. 

Dior  (KN)

Once the kittens were independent, they went to the Adoption Centre to find new homes, and Dior came to us at the Sanctuary.  It became obvious that she was not of the same mindset as Lucius, Holly and the others – she did not want to be bothered in her cage and resisted the efforts of the Kitty Comforters to coax her into interaction.  Once the cage was opened, she retreated onto the DoubleWide Deck with the other wary ferals, and avoided any encounters with us.  Now that the Deck has its own cat-door we occasionally find Dior out in the breezeway, but she’s not found her way to Pen 3, and we don’t know if there has been any recognition of her former house-mates.

Dior enjoying the sunshine  (KN)

Cornelius, in particular, is an explorer and often found around the Tea-room; he also shares with Dior the slightly shorter legs that are probably a genetic trait in some members of the colony. He’s a very social boy, but Dior doesn’t appear to be particularly friendly with either cats or people, so it remains to be seen if she will rediscover her roots or whether she is striking out for an independent life at the Sanctuary.

Blog by Brigid Coult

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

Marmalade

(LBF)

A visit to the Back Courtyard at the Sanctuary quickly shows that there is a strong floofy orange cat presence, most of them being part of the Kamloops group that came to us last year, and which operates out of Pen 6. But in the front courtyard, orange cats are fewer and easily identified – sweet battered-looking Little Orange, with his one eye and his crinkled ear, collared Sam, handsome short-haired Mango, siblings Titan and shy short-tailed Dixie, and the newest inhabitant, little long-haired Marmalade. We’ve had several Marmalades in the past at the Sanctuary – it’s not an uncommon name for an orange cat. But this little girl is special – she’s a tripod!  

(LBF)

She came to us from Alberta early this year in what was probably a somewhat dramatic appearance. We are told that she showed up at a property where there were a number of cats that had been TNR’d and the owner spotted her dragging herself toward the house. Thank goodness for cat people! the sweet lady drove her to the Calgary vet right away. Marmalade had been shot resulting in a severe fracture with no chance of repair - the damaged leg was missing about 2” of femur from the wound. She had the leg amputated but had developed a bad infection and needed quite a lot of medicating. There was an initial concern that she might be FeLV/FIV+ but all the tests proved negative. 

(LBF)

Her caretakers told us that because she was so ill initially, they were able to medicate her and work with her; however, as she recovered, she was more than willing to tell them where to go and how to get there in best feral fashion!  They said that “She gets along well with other cats, likes her food, and isn’t horrible with people as long as you stay about 4 feet away and don’t try to touch her.”

(KN)

So what do you do with a feral three-legged cat in cold Alberta weather? Marmalade had had the “TN” bit of the usual feral Trap-Neuter-Release operation, being spayed at the same time as her amputation, but the “R” releasing her back to the colony? not a great idea...  And there are no sanctuaries for feral cats in Alberta – but rescues talk to rescues, and we’ve accepted Alberta cats before. The Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) got moving, and Marmalade came to us in late February, had the usual cage-time to assimilate the smells and sense of our place, and was then released into the Front Courtyard, where she disappeared into what we call The Old Rabbit Area (ORA) with the other ferals.  

(BC)

The ORA is perfect for scared cats – a covered courtyard surrounded by shelves and cat-trees, all of which are fully draped and could probably hide 30 or more cats. We try to stay out of it, except for morning clean-up and putting plates out in the evening. It’s a no-go area for visitors – a place the cats can feel safe when there are strangers around.  It’s not just the ferals who use it; even the social cats go and find somewhere to take time-out when they need it.

(LBF)

As Marmalade began to feel safer, we saw her emerge more often – initially awkward in her movement, as she got used to running on three legs, she’s now moving much more easily.  The Kitty Comforters have been watching for her, and Lisa Brill-Friesen has been cat-whispering with some success. We often see Marmalade out in the courtyard, where she watches with interest for human activity, especially if food is involved. Producing favourite snacks has the effect of creating a feline shadow who follows you around hopefully. We’ve not yet seen signs of friendship with other cats, but she’s not afraid to move among them, and the four-foot distancing from humans is gradually reducing.

(BC)

We’ve had many ferals who hang out in the ORA gradually warm to us – Solar, Kahlua, Jamie, Lorelei, and many others;  love and lots of patience will bring Miss Marmalade around, we hope.

Picasso

(KN)

Picasso is a relative newcomer (should we call him a mewcomer?) to the Sanctuary, but he is already showing himself ready to make it his home.

"Can I come out?" (KN)

He has come to us all the way from Winnipeg, thanks to a rescuer there, and her friendship with one of our volunteers. We hear that he was found living in a garbage dump in the middle of a Manitoba winter, and it sounds as if he was lucky to be alive. Both his ears were badly frostbitten, as well as his tail, and he had a nasty genital infection. The frostbitten ears lost their tips, the tail had to be amputated, and the infection treated, though one of the consequences of the infection was that he became incontinent, and therefore unadoptable.

Watching from the edge  (LBF)

His rescuer got him on a plane with another cat making the journey to a new home, and our volunteer picked him up at the airport and brought him to us.  As usual, he was vet-checked and popped into a cage, giving him time to settle.

"Come play with me!" (KN)

Within days his fan-club was building. His face is absurdly cute, after all – those rounded ears give him a real teddy-bear quality. But for a newbie, he was quick to welcome visitors – those who cleaned his cage or fed him, the staff, and gradually a procession of volunteers, all came in to sit with him for a bit and be charmed.  When the cage was opened he was a little spooked for a few days, and then settled down to explore the Front Courtyard and make it his own. 

Loving the climbing frame (BC)

Visiting time is sometimes hard on new cats – all these strangers standing around, not all cat-savvy... but Picasso took it all in stride. When he’d had a bit too much he’d vanish into the Hill House, and half an hour later, he’d emerge and start flirting again.  He's a friendly, sweet cat, who loves to be loved. He’s one of the few cats who likes to be picked up by the people he trusts, and he relaxes completely – perhaps a little ragdoll in there? But he also likes to explore and to play - and he might never settle down as an indoor cat.

King of all he surveys (BC)

We’re still waiting to see if his former incontinence has ceased – nobody has reported damp patches after holding him, so it’s possible that his recovery has solved that problem and he might end up being adoptable. But till we’re a lot more certain of that status, he can take the opportunity of cultivating the fine art of being a Sanctuary Cat.

Blog by Brigid Coult

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

A Match Made in Heaven?

Vesper & Kiwi  (JN)

Cats have a reputation as loners – Kipling’s story of “The Cat That Walked By Himself” is not only a great story, but also something of an archetype.  And we certainly have plenty of cats in the Sanctuary who do prefer to be alone.  

Kiwi & Vesper  (LBF)

But not always – for some of them, relationships with other cats are very important. They may be family relationships, or comfort, or just “how things are”. We will often find the same groups of cats in the same place – like the group that hang out in the space outside the SingleWide, or the Pen 3 cats who tend to operate together. And sometimes the bond is more focused than that.  All our cats are spayed and neutered, so sex doesn’t come into it – but it’s not just a matter of hormones; sometimes two cats just belong together.

Vesper (KN)

Vesper came into our care in late 2017 when he and his buddy Fable were surrendered for peeing.  The owners didn’t know who the culprit was, and we think it may have been stress peeing because of children, in any case, but they arrived together and stayed together. We talked about their “bromance”; you would occasionally encounter them apart, but they loved to snuggle.  And then Fable passed, and Vesper was left on his own.

Fable & Vesper (MD)

Kiwi came to us about a year later, one of a group of nine cats from a rescue in Alberta. Some of them proved to be FIV+ and moved to Old Aids, but the front courtyard welcomed grey Shiver (now gone), black Salem, and the calico sisters, Melon, Honeydew and Kiwi. All were pretty feral, and it’s taken time for them to learn that humans are the source of great petting and tidbits. 

Kiwi  (MJ)

The three girls are all pretty cat-social, and usually hang out in the same area, around the Connor building. Most recently, Kiwi is more frequently found IN the Connor, snuggling with Vesper. The flirt is mutual, unlike the one-sided relationship of Dusty and Lincoln (she adores him and follows him around; he just ignores her!).  Kiwi and Vesper groom each other, and it’s anyone’s guess as to which one will move first and who will follow.

Kiwi & Vesper (DW)

The two of them aren’t all touchy-feely out in the courtyard, though they’re often found close to each other.  Right now, in the warmth of the summer weather, the Connor is the cool (air-conditioned) place to be. But it will be interesting to watch and see if the snuggles continue and the relationship heats up!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Melanie Draper, Marla Jenkins, 

Joanne Nicholson, Karen Nicholson, Debbie Wolanski