Torbie Twins (not!)

Aspen (LBF)

Ariel and Aspen are two pretty torbie girls who came in around the same time, and could easily be mistaken for sisters, but who in fact have no blood relationship.  Aspen is from a shelter in Shuswap, and Ariel came from Sammy’s Forgotten Felines, in Kamloops.

Ariel (MW)

Our Sanctuary Assistant Manager was one of the founders of the latter rescue, and still maintains her links in Kamloops. Sammy’s grew out of a need to help feral cats who were not necessarily adoptable. Many rescues around the province will take in cats, but if they prove not to be tamable in a fairly short space of time, they are often put down. The women who founded Sammy’s had no deadline; if a cat remained terrified or angry, they would pull strings with other rescues (like RAPS) to find alternative homes.  The important thing was to get all the cats of a colony trapped and spayed/neutered so that the cycle of continuous litters of kittens was broken.

The "home" Ariel came from (VW)

One situation outside the city boundaries proved particularly hard; it had been cleared once, but the owner continued to hoard cats and the colony grew again. The cats were also not being fed well (mostly bread!) so there were frequent stillbirths and malformed kittens. Once more, Sammy’s went in with traps, hoping to get all the cats.  Ariel was one of the last hold-outs; Valerie tells me that she would taunt the trappers by sitting on top of the trap, waiting to be fed while the door was still tied open.

Ariel (BC)

Most of the cats from that situation are very small – probably largely a result of malnourishment – and several of them had to be taught to eat cat-food now that bread was no longer on offer. Interestingly enough, most of them have also semi-tamed; Barbara, Bruley, Baxter and ZsaZsa have all been adopted; Sailor is friendly (if a little nippy!); Ursula still hangs out on the DoubleWide deck – and, now that it has a cat-door, she's exploring the courtyard.

Ariel had no time for taking it easy on the back deck – she wanted out and she wanted action!  She’s not as tame as Sailor, though she will allow a little petting, but she’s no scared feral; you work around Ariel, rather than expecting her to move!  She’s playful – bring out a feather toy or a long blade of grass, and she’ll all attention.  She’ll even tackle the big bad hose that’s out to water the gardens, and smacks it until it lies still.

Aspen braving the great outdoors (KN)

Aspen has spent most of her time with the others on the DW deck, but like them, is now using the new cat-door out to the back courtyard, and exploring more often. She’s much shyer than Ariel, and very wary of humans approaching her.

Ariel (LBF)

Both girls have the classic tabby “M” on the forehead that makes them torbies rather than calicos. Ariel has more tabby colouring; Aspen has more orange in her fur. I look for the front legs, when telling them apart;  Ariel has a tabby right foreleg, full sleeve, and Aspen’s right foreleg is all white. Their faces are very similar, with Aspen having more white on her nose than Ariel.  And now that they’re hanging out in the same area, it’s even easier to get these non-twins confused! 

Blog by Brigid Coult

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

Video by Karen Nicholson

 

Kittens from Kamloops

All over the province there are rescues doing great work to address the problem of feral cat communities.

Barbara, Bruley & Baxter - KN/BC

Life for feral cats is hard and usually short; prey may be scarce, predators are always at hand, and humans add to the danger with traffic, poisons and non-humane traps. Nature causes cats to mature rapidly so that the population is maintained – or increased. This was the situation near Kamloops last fall, just outside the city limits, where a colony of cats which had been almost trapped out in 2015 was found to have grown again. A private rescue team went to work to live-trap the inhabitants and get them spayed and neutered, in the hope that the numbers could be got under control permanently.

Bruley & Ariel - LBF

When this sort of project is applied to a colony like this, various things may happen to the cats.  The very youngest will be taken into fosterage (if possible) and given careful handling to get them used to humans. These kittens will often be adopted easily. The adults will be assessed, and either tamed if that is possible, or released in a controlled colony. They will still have to deal with many of the perils of living wild, but the colony caretaker will feed and check on them. The “teens” will vary; with luck, caging and handling will tip the balance to tame them. However, for a small rescue, it requires resources of materials and people that are not always accessible.
RAPS is the Regional Animal Protection Society – and this sort of situation is where we can sometimes help cats outside our own municipality. At the Sanctuary, large cages, attention from staff and volunteers, and time are all factors that may take a spitting kitten to a purring lap-cat.

Barbara - KN

Our first Cariboo kittens were a trio of little tabbies – Barbara, Bruley and Baxter. Barbara, in particular, caught our attention, because she has a facial similarity to our loved-and-lost Daisy – probably caused by a mild chromosomal imbalance.  All three were initially very wary, but scared-wary rather than aggressive-wary, and they soon got used to handling. Beautiful Baxter – a classic-pattern tabby – did so well with contact that he was adopted by one of our volunteers, and has himself a home and much love.  Bruley, who is shyer, had relocated to the back deck of the Double-Wide, and joined the crew who like to lounge around on the mattress.

Ruff makes a big fluffy mattress for Barbara - KN

Tiny Barbara has fearlessly ventured out all over the back area;  she has joined Sara Lee as quality-control at mealtime, she visits with the tuxedo boys on the deck, and she has made herself totally at home with us. Unfortunately, she is one of those cats that often has a low-grade cold, and frequently needs to have her face cleaned. Barbara really likes other cats, and can often be found snuggling, if she can find a tolerant body to lie on - in fact, eating and sleeping are definitely her favourite things!

Ariel supervising the morning clean-up - KN

These three were followed to Richmond by two more pretty torbies.  Ariel settled in fairly quickly, and like Barbara, explores the back courtyard. She is particularly fascinated by the green hosepipe used for watering the gardens; it obviously reminds her of Cariboo snakes, and gets slapped accordingly.

Aspen - LBF

Aspen came in about the same time, was caged rather longer than Ariel (again, for upper respiratory care) and was not happy with human attention; she’s another who’s moved to the back deck, where she can hide behind the mattress.

Sailor - KN

From the same colony, but obviously with different genetics, is Sailor. Not a big cat, but slim and leggy, Sailor’s tabby/white makes him look very different from the others. Very wary at the beginning, Sailor quickly decided that he likes humans – almost too much, because he gets so excited by attention that he bites. He’s learned that this is not appreciated, and it’s more of a mouthing of fingers these days, but if he were ever to be adopted, it’s a trait that would need to be monitored.

KN

The latest from that colony are Zsa-Zsa and Ursula, two more tiny tabbies.  Part of the size factor is genetic – some cats are just naturally smaller.  Part of it is malnutrition in both mama and kittens; a mother that is not much more than a kitten herself will probably not have the natural nutrients to grow big healthy kittens.  Zsa-Zsa and Ursula are still wary of contact; they will accept a touch, but much more than that will result in a smack – with or without claws.  Like “brother” Bruley, they have gravitated to the deck colony of semi-ferals.

Ursula & ZsaZsa - KN

We also took in four other kittens, who were rapidly transferred to the Shelter and adopted. Other shelters around the province have also taken cats from the same colony, which has now been completely cleared. We can only hope that nobody goes dumping their unwanted cats there again, to begin the cycle over again.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen & Karen Nicholson

The Tuxedo Club - part 2: The Catsino

There are various areas around the Sanctuary where cats who prefer to live “outside” can find warmth and comfort.

Now she's getting frail, this is Calista's favourite spot
in the front courtyard - BC

Often the shyer cats prefer not to be inside one of the buildings, but are willing to compromise by living on an enclosed deck.  When the weather is chilly, they can find warmth on an enclosed shelf, or, if they’re lucky, in a basket or a papasan chair under a heat-lamp.  Once a new cat is released from its cage in the Double-Wide (DW), it will often make its way to the deck, for an area with good hiding places. Draped chairs and shelves, a walk-way around the wall, and the reassurance that there won’t be many visitors gives cats the chance to settle, and eventually allow contact.

The "regulars" are joined by Hickory and Aspen - BC

The favourite place on the DW Deck is on a mattress, built out in an area that overlooks the volunteer tea-room below. The heat lamp hanging over it gives a secondary name to the area – the Cats Red Light District.  Bodhi, Hamlet and Luke were introduced last week as the core members of the feline band PURR .  But volunteer Daphne Jorgensen has been visiting with them regularly, and feels they need to push the boundaries a bit more.   Daphne posts regularly for our Staff/Volunteers closed page, but with her permission, I’ll share some of her musings on the DW deck inhabitants...

You want into this Catsino? - DJ

from Jan 28...  Everyone out there was cozy under the heat lamp. They let me know that life is good in the “Red Light District.” Wow, that’s aptly named. Apparently, what happens in the Red Light District stays in the Red Light District; it’s like Las Vegas.
Hmm, I thought, see no evil, hear no evil; that’s not always good. That’s when I noticed that Jade had followed me out onto the veranda. Oh no, the slasher had arrived. She reminded me that whatever she does to me cannot be disclosed. I looked to the others for support but found a bunch of giant lazy Mafia looking cats with faces that registered nothing. Last week was the ladder incident and now she just drove me off the armchair.
Perhaps I shouldn’t linger too long in the Red Light District. I feel like I just escaped an illegal gambling den

Waiting for refreshments - DJ

from March 17 ...    I checked in with the occupants in the Red Light District in the Double Wide. I let them know that all casinos are shut down. I asked the Hamlet if his casino was closed pursuant to the government mandate. He was eating when I was asking. It looked like his in-house restaurant was still open, contrary to the government order for quarantine.

from April 14 ...   I was visiting the Mafia cats in the Double Wide. It’s business as usual for them. I asked what was new and happening and they let me knew that they are starting a band that will always front line at their Catsino.

Barb & her Boys

Slayers - with Baxter leading -  LBF

They showed me their debut album cover, which is posted. Their band is called the Slayers. Barbara is the lead singer, Hamlet is on electric guitar, Luke on bass, Bodhi on piano, and Bubbles on drums. I asked them if they had a title for their new album and they confirmed they do. It’s called Tails of the Red Light District. Nice and hard core!
These are the songs on their album so far:
- Pandemic Blues;
- Ain’t Got No Kitty Comforters;
- JJ’s Revenge;
- Feed Me Now;
- Don’t Crap On Me; and
- Cat Slaves Are My Bitch.
They’re still working on more material. I asked who their manager and promoter is. Hamlet said they don’t have one yet.

Working on the love ballad album - LP

Hmmm...opportunity for me? But I’m not sure if my values align with theirs. I mean singing about Cat Slaves Being Their Bitch? Well, I might (ahem) resemble that remark.

Quarantine is obviously producing a variety of cultural inspirations at the Sanctuary – we’ll have to see if performers and audience alike are able to maintain interest, or if, being cats, it’s simpler just to find somewhere quiet and enjoy the required hours of snoozing.

Blog by Brigid Coult and Daphne Jorgensen

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Brigid Coult, Daphne Jorgensen, 

Karen Nicholson, Louise Parris