Eden & the Voids

Eden  (KN)

Sounds like a rock group, doesn’t it?  But it’s quieter, more fragile and definitely furrier!

Furgie can be identified from her rumpled fur  (BC)

The cats who live in the Feline Leukemia pen are often overlooked – the doorway is marked for No Entry, and there are protocols about sanitizing, dealing with plates and laundry and so on. FeLv is transmitted in cats’ body secretions, so we are very careful about anything from their pen that might bring the virus in contact with the cats in the Front Courtyard. Equally, the virus affects their immune systems, so we have to make sure we don’t bring in cold germs or other infections from the rest of the Sanctuary. This results in an isolation area that many volunteers never visit – but one that is loved by those of us who are in the know.

Classic voids: Athena, with Laszlo & Neptune (now passed)  (JS)

Currently we have eight cats living in the area – one little grey girl and an assortment of blacks. The slang term for a black cat is a “void” – the sort of cat that disappears in a dark corner, and is hard to photograph because the black colour swamps the features. In fact the only true void at the moment is Athena, who came to us as one of the McLeod cats in 2019. Athena was devoted to Neptune, another void who passed last fall at the age of more than 11 years – a good age for a leukemia cat – and now she seems to be taking comfort in Furgie’s company. Furgie came in with the hoarded cats from Calgary in 2021; she is nominally a void, but has a lot of little white flecks in her ruffled back fur. She was the first of that group to be identified as FeLv+. Banff and Creston, who followed her, have both passed; nobody else in that colony has tested positive.

A stack of Moons, with Athena on top (CP)

There is one cat in the pen who is rarely seen; he came to us last May from Saskatchewan, and promptly went into hiding in the outdoor area. He goes by the name of Password 123, and joins the ranks of feral cats who prefer to have minimal contact with humans. On the list, he’s marked as a black cat, but he’s actually a smoke: black on the surface and grey underneath. We don’t know how much contact he has with the other cats, but he has made himself comfortable under the heat lamp or in shelter with a heated pad.

Eden (with Cosmo, above)  (KN)

The little grey girl is Eden, and she has settled well with both cats and humans. She came to us from Winnipeg with a couple of kittens that may or may not have been her own; they were also FeLv+, taken into fosterage as we do for all kittens;  sadly for their foster mom, their immune systems failed them. This is one of the reasons we don’t bring kittens to the Adoption Centre too soon, and why we ask potential adopters to visit there first, before coming to visit the Sanctuary, so that they don’t carry infections from adult cats to juveniles.

Eden enjoying cuddles with Cosmo  (KN)

We don’t know Eden’s background, but she’s obviously had contact with people, and likes to play with wand toys. She has a clipped ear, which usually designates a feral who’s been TNR’d; I wonder if it may be a sign of a Manitoba frostbite instead; we remember Picasso (now adopted) who came to us with clipped ears and tail from a very cold winter.

Eclipse - our most beautiful void  (BC)

Eden is also very cat social, especially with the remaining four cats. Eclipse, Cosmo, Calisto and Galaxy came to us with Mama Moon from the same Manitoba rescue just over a year ago, and are probably about the same age as Eden – she certainly sees them as playmates, and the older cats mostly let them be. Moon was fostered last year by someone who was willing to take the extra care leukemia cats need; her kids are still with us. Eclipse is the only true void; his brother Cosmo has a little locket on his chest, and his fur has taken on a tint that is brownish rather than black, together with some grey..

Cosmo can be something of a goof...   (KN)

Galaxy is now the more social of the two girls; her previously orange eye colour has faded to a gentler gold, and she is the perfect little tuxie with white socks as well as facial and shirtfront markings. Her sister Callisto has a little Harry Potter zigzag streak down her nose. She likes to have her sibs’ company;  she can often be found in one of the cage-top beds, or on the overhead walkway outside. Both boys have black whiskers; their sisters' white whiskers are long and beautiful against their black coats.

Galaxy  (BC)

Callista's favourite flirting position, lounging on the cat tree  (KN)

I spent a couple of hours with them earlier this week: cleaning, scooping, dealing with kibble and water, and all the other things that go into a morning shift. For the last half hour I had all the Moons and Eden with me; Cosmo and Galaxy wanting attention; the other three just wanting to be around. Towards the end, Athena came in to join us and did some head-bunting with Galaxy, but avoided actual contact with me; that’s par for the course!

Eden gets the last laugh  (KN)

Weekend visitors are not allowed in, but volunteers who work in other areas of the Sanctuary can choose to spend some cat-time with this sweet colony, as long as all the sanitizing protocols are followed to protect them, and all the other cats, from a virus that can take them from us far too soon. 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson, Carol Porteous, Justin Saint