Marty

Recent time spent in the Single-Wide has reminded me that there’s one little cat who has somehow missed having a blog to himself.

Marty, in his younger days   (MW)

Marty is one of a group of cats that came to us from a farm in south Richmond in the days when we were still managing colonies of cats around the city, until they were forced out by development or changed ownership. Volunteer Mary He visited and fed them regularly, and when she saw a family of kittens there, she was able to trap them and bring them in.  Some of the adults later made it to the Sanctuary – Belinda, Marilee, Alec (who was adopted and loved by long-time volunteer Stephanie), Maureen, and others. But Mitchell, Mary, Mischa and Marty all came to the SingleWide, and never left; sadly, they were all too nervous to tame up well, and we were very wary about adopting semi-ferals out.  

Wary feral Marty  (MW)

They came to us in 2008; we lost Mitchell in the fall of 2011 and Mary a few years later; Mischa and Marty hovered in the background, reluctant to accept much attention until the past few years. Mischa likes to be around people but not necessarily within reach; Marty has recently become more and more a people-cat.  

Marty  (KN)

With me, he started by sneaking up from the back of the couch while I had lap-time with Belinda and Bossanova.  I became aware of this presence behind me, wanting in on the chicken treats, but not really wanting attention – so chicken bits would make their way over my shoulder where they would magically disappear. Gradually the couch back gave way to the arm, and then to a just-within-reach spot near me.

Chicken, please?   (BC)

Marty has been having eye problems of late; one eye is quite cloudy and we don’t know how much sight he has in it; the other seems to get a recurring infection which responds to drops, and then flares up again. He’s had quite a lot of cage-time for treatment, and has become used to being handled and petted – with the result that he is now one of the most enthusiastic lap-cats in the room.  Both he and Mischa are obviously aging – at around 14 years they qualify as seniors, and as with people, some cats seem to age earlier (whereas others, like Sara Lee, go on like an Energizer Kitty).

Sharing a chair with Dodger & Mr Pink  (BC)

When the weather’s not so cold, the couch on the deck is a good place to have a feline love-in. Boxing Day cuddles this year had to be a how-many-cats-can-you-hold affair in the main room, with Marty front and centre (and active) in my lap with Mr Pink, Bossanova over my shoulder, Dodger, Paylan and Presley all hovering hopefully.  Marty, you’ve come a long way from the scared feral kitten you were!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

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Belinda

photo provided by Marianne

I was asked to write a post about Belinda by Bev, who sponsors this little black sweetie living in the singlewide.

I first met Belinda some time ago but had yet to blog about her, largely because the fact that she's very friendly and tends to do a bit of scooting around one's feet as she shows it makes her not an easy girl to get a good photograph of.

Belinda comes from the same farm where Mitchell, Mary, Alec, Marilee and others were trapped. She was initially very shy, but a bad cold early on in her time at RAPS saw Leslie having to climb into her cage regularly and sit with her while she gave her fluids.

It came as a welcome surprise to Leslie when Belinda started to purr during her visit. And then she even came over and climbed into Leslie's lap.

According to Bev, Belinda may not be into being picked up, but she does love a lap to curl up in.

Belinda turned out to be such a sweetheart that Marianne says it's a shame she's never been adopted. Fortunately, she does have friends at the shelter who love her dearly.

photo provided by Bev

Maureen

Maureen was one of the first cats trapped on the Richmond farm that Alec, Marilee, Mitchell and Mary came from. Human Mary who'd been looking after the feral colony called Maureen "the auntie" to the kittens there.

Maureen has an old front leg injury that gives her a noticeable limp, but she's had it for so long that Leslie says there's not much point in us messing with it now. Still wary enough to flee when a human comes too close, Maureen doesn't look to be in favor of us messing with her leg either.

Even without embracing the idea of human buddies, she has no cause to feel lonely at the sanctuary and is particularly fond of cat magnet Jet.

Marilee (Merrily)

This tiny, pretty girl came from the same place as Alec, a farm where a feral colony was living. It's quite possible, likely even, that Alec is her brother. Leslie named Marilee after RAPS' Mary, who'd been looking after the site. (It's "Marilee" since the actual name "Mary" was already taken.)

While the kittens at this location were brought straight to RAPS to be tamed and hopefully adopted out (Mitchell and Mary among them), the adults were trapped, neutered and released back on the farm, as the property owner was happy to have them there. What seemed like not long after, RAPS found that Marilee was back at the vet, having somehow sustained an injury to her tail that resulted in most of it having to be amputated. After this, Carol decided to bring her to live at the sanctuary where we'd know she was safe.

Marilee's made some friends among the cats in the front courtyard and Connor building, but she's still not sure how she feels about us humans. She's very curious and will often position herself so that she can peer, wide-eyed, at whatever you're doing, but she'll quickly scoot away if you get too close.

The curiosity's a good sign, though - she's at least interested in possibly, maybe, if it's not too scary... getting to know us.

Update: RAPS alumni Alec

Back in April, Alec was an anxious newcomer living in the Connor building and trying to decide if humans were really scary or just kind of scary. Marianne was able to get close enough to discover he was quite fond of tummy rubs, but with many others he preferred to stare from a comfortable distance.

Stephanie, who already had one semi-feral cat at home, was undaunted by the idea of a cat who'd need a lot of patience and love before he became trusting and loving in return. And so in July, she took Alec home to live with her and her other cat, Honey.

We've been tracking Alec's progress on Stephanie's Facebook page as he settles in and negotiates peace with Honey. Here are a few selections from her posts:

"Alec is 'home'. Doesn't appear to be upset. Sitting on the window sill."

"Honey has mounted guard outside the mesh door to where Alec is living!"

"Just had a visit with Alec and managed to tempt him with Max Cat Dry... he ate about 6 pieces, it's a start! He sat on the chair below the window and thought about jumping up to hide behind the curtains, but he resisted and he had a good chin rub.

Honey is watching him from the door again!"

"This a.m. couldn't see Alec. I wondered where he was. He usually sits in the window or on the chair. I noticed some movement under bed covers. There he was all curled up and comfy."

"I think there is a breakthrough with Honey and Alec. Honey is starting to tolerate him! She was on the couch watching him play with her toy mouse. Still chases him but not always. He is very quick on his feet!"

"Looks like I'm going to have to change furniture around in Living Room. Alec and Honey have taken up all the couch! I'm stuck sitting at the computer."

 Alec (left) and Honey (right)

photo provided by Stephanie

So it seems that Alec has settled in quite nicely. As for the Alec/Honey truce, that may be a work in progress for a little while yet. Responding to comments about the picture above, Stephanie says that at the time, "Honey was settling down for her afternoon nap and not very energetic. Both are feral, Honey about 85% tame and Alec I think is about 35% tame. Honey is ready to give chase any time now."

Alec

Alec is a relative newcomer to the sanctuary, only recently let out of his cage in the Connor House.

 above photos provided by Marianne

He's still pretty nervous - Marianne tells of how, a week or two ago, he got scared out into the front courtyard only for the windstorm to totally freak him out and send him back into the Connor and up on top of the cages.

But, she adds:

"He's a total sweetheart one he's convinced that you mean him no harm. And a real flirt too - he does this cute little head tilt and angles a coy look at you from just out of reach. If you can reach him, he LOVES to have his tummy rubbed and will stretch all four legs straight out to get maximum tummy exposure."

When I sought him out to introduce myself, I found him in here:

He climbed out when I got too close, but only went as far as the roof, where he sat peering at me, throwing me a few coy looks like the ones Marianne described.