Aggression? or Fear?

Junji - named for Junji Ito, manga horror artist! - (KN)

We’ve recently had a few cats come into the Sanctuary with a reputation for being somewhat spicy. 

The latest has been striking-looking Junji, who was transferred from the Adoption Centre when it became obvious that he was not going to make a good impression on potential adopters.  I was in the DoubleWide when he was brought across to the Sanctuary, and put in one of the large cages there. There was a great deal of feline bad language from him, and inevitably all the local big boys had to come and inspect the exterior of his cage, which probably raised his blood-pressure! 

Junji still caged and a little edgy    (BC)

The following day I visited, and with a certain amount of trepidation, went in to introduce myself to Junji. He was much calmer than I’d anticipated, allowed petting, hopped down to the floor via my knee and returned to his shelf without either bad language or bad behaviour. He was obviously happier now he had space to move, and less sense of confinement.  As the days passed, it was apparent that he was quite accepting of his surroundings, and once his vaccines had taken effect, Junji was released.

Junji the explorer  (KN)

Initially he roamed the building quite happily, avoiding the alpha cats, but exploring every inch he could reach. Within a day or two he was out in the courtyard and investigating with enthusiasm – although we put a collar on him, he has shown no aggression to humans, and only when challenged, to other felines.

Lounging happily (with a suspicious Celeste)   (KN)

Junji shows us an example of cage aggression, which is no big deal in RAPS, but which can spell a death sentence to a cat in a kill shelter. 

Bill the junkyard cat was not a happy (caged) camper 
in his early days with us    (BH)

We try to use cages sparingly. In the Sanctuary they are used when new cats arrive, to allow time for vaccines to take hold, for the cat to accept a new place, for them to get used to humans being around – and then we open the cage and let them make the decisions about living indoors or outdoors, openly or in hiding. Cages are also used when a cat needs medical treatment or restricted movement, or when it is one of several feral black cats who won’t easily be accessible for medication.   Most of our cages are large ones, allowing a scared cat to retreat right to the back. Several are 6-foot high, allowing visiting humans to sit with that scared cat. 

Honey, fresh out of her cage   (KN)

In the Adoption Centre the cages are smaller, but most of the cats are already people-social and adoption-ready. The stressor there seems to be that though the cats can have their time at large in the main room, they keep having to be returned to their cage. This was very much Junji’s problem. Another cat now in the Front Courtyard has a similar background – Honey was very reactive in the cage, and inclined to slap her visitors, but since being released and able to explore the area, she has proved to be a sweetheart, and has earned her “adoptable” bandana with her affectionate behaviour with visitors.

Honey flirting with all the weekend visitors   (KN)

Scared cats seem to have two main ways of dealing with their fear – they shrink into the smallest possible space and try not to be seen, or they decide that attack is the best defence, and make themselves as fearsome as possible. In a shelter where they may not have any option other than a cage, cats like this will be passed over for adoption in favour of a “nicer” cat, and if space is at a premium, they may not be given time to adapt. We are so fortunate that the Adoption Centre and the Sanctuary can work together in this way, and that cats like Junji and Honey have space and time to find themselves without feeling constantly fearful.

Lunette was sometimes known as "lunatic" in her early days with us.
She's a sweet girl now  (JS)

Thinking back, a lot of our cats have suffered from this cage aggression. I’m not talking about straight aggression – cats like Sophie and Parker and Gizmo have always been reactive and angry, regardless of whether they’re in a cage or not. But sweet cats like Lindor are remembered for their former cage attacks on unsuspecting staff and volunteers (several of them had warning signs on their cages) and now he looks for pets (and food) from just about everyone. 

Lindor the former cage slasher is now a love-bug   (KN)

Looking back at other blogs: Tyson, BB, Lunette, Bill, our beloved Leonardo diCatprio (RIP), and as yet unblogged cats like TicTac and Eddie – they are all cats who, in standard shelter conditions would probably be passed over and/or avoided altogether. Fear and anger came together – as they do with humans shut into cages! - and few shelters have the time and space to remedy the situation. Coming to the Sanctuary gave them time to adjust to more space, to quiet humans who were ready to allow them to work at their own pace, and finally, to explore a safe version of an uncaged world.

Eddie regularly attacked visitors to his cage
 - and then he walked out, and relaxed with everybody!  (KN)

It was routine, with Kitty Comforter visits to Eddie, that you would shed some blood – but when the door opened, it was a new, calmer Eddie that walked out into the Front Courtyard and made himself at home with us. 

It’s lovely to see it happening again with Junji and Honey. 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Brielle Hutchison, Karen Nicholson, Justin Saint

Caging Cats

Plum caged for one of her Manx-syndrome bladder infections (MW)

One of the things that visitors love about the Sanctuary – well, we do, too! - is the way that cats roam freely. They can choose whether to be in or out, hidden or in sight, alone or cuddled with a buddy.  There are limitations, of course, the Leukemia (FeLV) cats need to be kept isolated from the general population for everyone’s good, and we keep the AIDS (FIV) cats separate for similar reasons, though, strictly speaking, it’s not essential.

For BB, being in a cage is sanctuary; she's not a fan of other cats  (KN)

But the concern that so many people have before they experience the place is the thought of dealing with cats in cages – and that’s simply not the norm with us.  In fact, some of our cats have come to us from the Adoption Centre because they don’t handle the inevitable cages in that smaller space, and show shelter aggression – as happens to many animals in confined spaces. Elvis, Hunter, Mango, Lunette and many others have settled well now that they are no longer shut in, and can take their time to find the person who is right to adopt them from the Sanctuary, rather than returning to the Adoption Centre.

LittleCat & Menjosie have claimed their cage in the SW,
and do NOT want to be moved   (BC)

Cages are necessary, though. Most of our cats are caged when they first arrive. The caged period gives them a chance to settle, to hide behind a drape if they need to do so, to encounter first the highly cat-savvy med staff, then the calm, encouraging Kitty Comforters, and then the other volunteers, and to learn that no harm will come to them and they’re getting food and care.  This is the period when they get their vaccinations and health checks, and when we get to work out whether we have a scared stray on our hands or a fearful feral. Many scared or angry cats choose to stay in their cage once it's opened; it becomes a place of security for them.

Ariel took a long time to move out of her cage after it was opened (GA)

Cages are also necessary when cats need specific medical attention. For many receiving care, it’s a matter of getting a little plate of something tasty with meds in it, and you will often see the med staff around with a tray of little dishes, watching that a cat eats all its dose (or turns its nose up, because the food is chicken and it wanted fish!). But there are many cats who will not take their meds that way, or who need it syringed into the mouth, or who need eye-drops or cage rest for an injury – and each of the main buildings has cage space, so that cats who need caging can at least have it in a familiar area.

Luke and Bodhi were photographed for Valentines,
while Luke was being caged for insulin adjustments  (LBF)

Sometimes there’s even an advantage to caging. When big tuxedo Luke was diagnosed diabetic, he was one of the semiferals on the DoubleWide Deck. Because he needed twice-daily insulin, he was initially caged so that the med staff could monitor his intake, work out what his favourite foods were and give him his “treat” plate along with his insulin shot. From being a wary boy, Luke decided that he was definitely on to something, and when the cage was opened he decided to stay – after all, that was where the good food was!  And with all those humans who came and fussed over him, Luke became a lap-cat, and persuaded his pal Bodhi that he should join in too. Luke now loves lap-time and fuss – he doesn’t need food-bribery, just love.

Amelia in Pen 4 - anxious eyes, ready to swat  (LBF)

I just spent time this evening with Amelia, similarly caged. Amelia is interesting, because she’s a feral farmcat from Pen 4;  she came in many years ago with her sister Willow and was named Amelia Earheart for her flattened aeroplane-ears. Most of the Pen 4 ferals want nothing to do with us – it takes the patience of Lisa or Catherine to make any headway at all, and it’s measured in inches.  But both Amelia and her friend Annie had to come in for medical care, and while Annie preferred to hide behind the drape, Amelia would emerge at mealtimes and let us know what she thought of this restaurant and the service.  Annie is now back in Pen 4 and still hiding, but Amelia is bunting and preening and talking in a way that makes us wonder how she’ll be when she’s returned to her home pen – will she forget all about her enjoyment of human company and go and hide with her cat-pals, or will she be more like Ranger, and come looking for attention? 

Amelia loving cage-pets  (BC)

The general rule is that if you don’t tame a feral cat within a specific window of time, you probably won’t – but general rules are made to bend, and sometimes a feral will decide that humans are OK, after all.  We do often see it with the old cats – when an old feral becomes friendly, it’s often a side-effect of senility.  But though Amelia’s no spring chicken, she’s got plenty of life in her still, and we would be delighted if the rest of that life was spent enjoying more contact with humans at the Cat Sanctuary.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Graham Akira, Lisa Brill-Friesen, 

Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

BeeBoo

 Admire, but don’t touch!

KN

Actually, that’s probably not quite fair to BeeBoo – you can touch her, very carefully and briefly, or let her do all the touching, but you have to be very cautious. We’re working our way through a BeeBoo’s Victims Club...

JN

Aggression in cats is one of the reasons they sometimes get surrendered – and very often it’s human-caused. In BeeBoo’s case her family said that she’d never been good with strangers, and though obviously she coped with the humans she knew, the arrival of a very tiny, noisy human who took all the attention was not a happy experience for this cat.  Already angry and stressed by her perceived displacement by the baby, BeeBoo did not do well at the City Shelter and was transferred to the Sanctuary.

JN

She actually came to us with the name BeeBee – but we already have a BB (blogged a couple of weeks ago) in the DoubleWide, so her name was adapted.  There is certainly no way we can confuse the personalities of the two cats!

KN

BeeBoo had always been an indoor cat, and when she came to us, she was put into the SingleWide, into an indoor environment. She spent some time in her cage, and even when it was open, she defended what she regarded as her territory.  Warning signs were placed – we found that visiting her was best done with minimal contact – sitting and talking with her was generally acceptable, but touch could easily go too quickly.

KN

Now that BeeBoo is out and about, we all need to be a little more wary. It’s second nature to reach out and pet a furry back, but even our experienced staff have received their BeeBoo markings. Usually we put a collar on an aggressive cat – the current back courtyard biter is a handsome tabby called Benji and he wears his collar with pride. But nobody really wants to think about the process of getting a collar on BeeBoo – besides which, a collar on a long-haired cat inevitably means tangles.  In any case, she is a pretty distinctive cat – not easy to mistake for another one.

KN

She has the markings of a Snowshoe cat – the white paws, the inverted (but sketchy) V on her face, and the blue eyes. But the typical Snowshoe is affectionate and attention-demanding;  BeeBoo is definitely not affectionate with either people or cats, and though she appears to solicit attention, it only takes a few touches before she smacks hard!   She really dislikes other cats; she will tolerate humans if they will play with her – and she does love to play (at arm’s length!)

KN

We have had cats who have needed medication to deal with their anxiety –the late and much beloved Leland, when he first came in, was one, and I will be introducing Algy/Journey next week. In extreme situations, we give them a degree of isolation – the late “grumpy old ladies” of the Manager’s office did much better away from the other cats. What she really needs is a home of her own with a very cat-savvy person who is willing to commit to not having other cats – we’ve had our share of angry cats who changed with adoption (see Buster).  But for now, BeeBoo seems to be settling, and though APPROACH WITH CAUTION remains the warning, we hope that she’ll soon feel more comfortable with us.

MW

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Joanne & Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

BB

BB came to the Sanctuary about a year ago.

Anxious newcomer - LBF

Anxiety is an emotion with which many of us are familiar, and we don’t always know what has caused it. Perhaps we can link it to a specific event, to environmental or social factors. As humans, we can sit with a therapist and perhaps work out what causes it, and perhaps find some coping mechanisms. Animals – cats, in this case – can’t analyse, they just react. An anxious cat may hide, it may cling to its owner or poop on their bed to show its discomfort, or it may lash out, and show aggression.

If I close my eyes, perhaps you'll go away...   - KN

BB was surrendered as an aggressive cat. We understood that she had been acquired as a kitten, and we don’t know what happened in her first three years, but her owner found her impossible to manage, and we agreed to take her into our care.

What is this strange place?  -  LBF

Like all our new cats, she was caged for awhile to give her a chance to acclimate to a new residence. Her cage was marked with caution signs, but the Kitty Comforters would go in and sit with her for periods – not forcing contact, but just allowing her to know that someone was there.  Gradually she relaxed, and the hissing and spitting ceased, though we were still regarded with distrust.  The med staff gave her extra cage time to get used to new surroundings, and we think it was good for her.

JJ - that's my bed you're sleeping in...    BC

For most of the newcomers, once the cage door is open, there’s a period of caution, and then they begin exploring.  BB did not want to explore. Her cage was HERS, thank you very much, and she was staying right there!  Matters were not helped by her neighbour, tuxedo JJ, who was territorial in the extreme, and aggressive with cats and humans alike.  Occasionally BB would venture out and claim another cage;  when “her” cage was repurposed by the med-staff for a newcomer, she reluctantly relocated, and now it’s been more or less assumed that her new cage is actually hers (unless we get a flood of new cats).

You may kiss my paw...   KN

This BB is not the people-friendly girl her predecessor of a few years ago was.  BB1 struggled with health problems, but purred like an engine with the people she loved.  BB2 is something of a Garbo-cat, preferring to be left alone, She is regal without being demanding. She has warmed to people a bit more, and allows gentle petting, but she stays to her restricted territory, rarely venturing outside the Double-Wide or even onto the back deck.

She allowed dress-up as the Easter bunny...   - KN

She’s not a deliberately nasty cat in any way; we don’t see any of the aggression of JJ or Jade, for instance. She’s diffident – some cats, like Orlean or Horatio, will demand attention, and be miffed when they don’t get it. BB is often happy to receive petting as the volunteers clean cages, or do the feeds, but if it’s not the best time, she doesn’t get all snippy about it!  It’s too bad – she sort of fades into the background.  We remember the troublesome ones, the demanding ones, but the well-behaved quiet ones can easily be overlooked.  Time for a Kitty Comforter campaign for BB!

KN

Blog by Brigid Coult

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