Creston and Banff

From Kitty Comforter Pauline Chin:

Creston & Banff

This pair journeyed all the way from Alberta where they lived in a hoarder’s house with many other animals.  Being leukemia kitties, they had no place to go, so it’s off to the Sanctuary to join the FeLV+ cats and their playground.

Creston

Cats from hoarder homes are mystery packages.  We don’t know what sort of handling, or socialization they’ve had, surprising triggers, or what their of opinion of humans is.  The least we can hope for is a clean bill of health or fast recovery.  Personality quirks are bonus discoveries.

Zanda

Walleyed Creston looks a tad rough around the edges, like the late Zanda.  Despite that, this boy has an unusually cuddly personality.  During the first 2 weeks, he spent his time camping in his tent.  He could be seen randomly gobbling down wet food or treats.  Sometimes, he greeted humans with hisses.  He acts cautious initially because he doesn’t know if your hands are going to poke and prod him or pet him.  Once he’s sure of the latter, he’ll push his head into your hand and insist on head scratches.  

Creston’s quirk is to go roly-poly and nearly tumble off the shelf while being petted.  I can’t tell if he’s looking for the most comfortable spot or if he gets enjoyment out of rolling around, making funny poses.  When he purrs, his front half vibrates.  If he doesn’t want you touching his soft belly, he’ll politely nudge your hand away with his back feet.  No claws involved.

I spent a couple minutes removing a mat from his tail.  Not once did he protest, nor whip his head around like other cats and hiss, “what are you doing, human?!”  Of course, I let him sniff test the mat to see if he was familiar with it.

Every new item in Creston’s cage warrants a sniff, but there’s a lack of engagement in toys.  Perhaps he’s not familiar with playtime?  The other cats will gladly demonstrate the joy of toys for him once he’s out of the cage. 

Banff

Across the way is Banff.  He has a very clean and bright appearance.  Most orange cats have a white muzzle.  Banff’s muzzle is orange and he reminds me of Baby, late Queen of the Moore House.  He still retains his curious kitten looks. Whip out a new toy and watch his eyes grow into saucers.

Banff and his toys

You can often hear toy balls rattling and little feet bouncing around.  He’ll hurry to the front to check out toys and then shy away when your hand starts moving.  He’s touchable, but you have to be sneaky with the petting - using a wand in one hand and petting with the other.  The challenge now is to get him used to touch before his release day.  It would be a tragedy for a youngster like him to spend his time hiding in a corner of the playground.  Quite the opposite of Creston!

Daphne (now adopted)

I predict he’ll be another Daphne - shy in the first month and an attention hog thereafter.  He’s also fond of treats.  It wouldn't be surprising if he started asking for them regularly.  

Anything for me?

Banff has an odd habit of vocalizing when we’re interacting with other cats - they're a mixture of wind-up chirps, coos, meeps, and rolling meows.  Yet, when we turn towards him, he goes silent.  

Banff exploring

The med staff have decided that it's time to let these two face the wider world of the Leukemia kitties, and perhaps make some new friends. 

happy together

Those of us who devoted time to socializing this pint-sized panther and tiny tiger are eager to have them roam their new kingdom.  They’re far from feral and enjoy interactions.  Two quirky new kitties are more than welcome here.

Blog and all photos by Pauline Chin

Baby and Bangles

The Moore House is unfamiliar to many of our Sunday visitors because it’s off-limits to them – many of the inhabitants do much better with the people they know, rather than strangers. But it’s home from home for many of the Kitty Comforters.

Bangles - BC

The KCs’ primary task is working with the cats who are caged for medical reasons, or with the ones who are very new or very shy. But almost all of them end their shift in the Moore House. Cuddles with Chanel and Shaggy, with Rufus and Tikki and Earl, are a pleasant way to end the day. But the Moore House isn’t all sweetness and light. Cranky Smoky is very clear that she is at the top of the feline hierarchy here. And we have two newer females who have their own diva-like tendencies.

Baby - BC

Orange Baby arrived first. She’s a large girl who suffers from arthritis – as usual, with that condition, it’s a vicious circle – you hurt, so you don’t move, so you don’t get enough exercise, so you put on weight, so you don’t want to move.....  When she came to us, Baby had a hard job reaching the shelf in her cage, and need a half-way step to get higher.

Baby - IM

Once out of her cage, Baby took over Lou’s favourite place by the heater in the small room, and made herself comfortable, holding court with visitors. She’s not actually that cranky, but occasionally she must hurt, and is more reactive with humans.  She has to be encouraged to get up and move elsewhere – we have found that Moore House peace is best maintained by giving the cats their own individual dishes of wet food, but at least for crunchies and water, she has to leave her comfy spot and move a bit.

Sitting pretty - LP

Shelter Manager Lisa says “My favourite story about Baby is when we realized she preferred not to move and it became essential to get her going.  Walking would help out her stiffness and arthritis and inevitably it would become easier. I would pick her up, put her on her feet and lightly tap her butt from behind to get her to walk. She would walk - but she would yell at me and tell me off the whole time. And as soon as she could, she would flop onto the ground to lay down again wherever she was. I would pick her up again and put her on her feet and we would start all over again. Me poking her butt and her telling me off - lol. We did this every day for a while. And Karen helped keep it up when she was in there. I can't help but laugh at all the "swear" words she muttered at me .”

Can I come out? - LL

Baby’s initial cage space was taken over by Bangles, who is a most beautiful long-haired dark calico. In many ways she’s a tortie rather than a calico – the white that makes her calico is just her front bib and paws; her attitude is all tortitude!  Bangles was not happy about coming to us, and who can blame her? she was dropped off in a big taped-up box with the words "please look after her, I can't look after her anymore".

Acting coy - BC

We don’t know the rest of her back story- whether her behaviour got too much for her owner, or whether whatever happened has created her behaviour. Whatever, there was a steady string of complains about the service in this hotel – noisy neighbours, wrong food, limited space, etc. etc. Now the cage door’s open for her, and she’s starting to explore a bit. If you encounter her in a good mood, it’s quite possible to get in a pet or two, but her usual greeting is a growl. She reminds me of a senior home resident whose family insists she has to be in care, and she Doesn’t Want It, and wants everyone to know she’s here under duress.  I hope that, like many of her human equivalents, she will discover that it’s really not so bad, and that the care staff want her to be happy and comfortable.

Bangles - JK

Neither girl is particularly sociable with other cats – but then, it’s really only Shaggy and Chanel who spend much time together; all the others maintain social separation from each other.  We just hope that neither Baby nor Bangles gets any ideas from Smoky on how to interact with humans!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Jennine Kariya, Leslie Landa, Ish Manji, Louise Parris

As Cats Age....

This is Adopt A Senior Pet Month....

Anxious Tikki, when he first came to us - LBF

Any month is a good one to adopt a senior cat, to my mind.

All over the Lower Mainland (probably all over the world) we’re dealing with the aftermath of kitten season, and shelters – the RAPS City Shelter as well – are full of kittens. And as we all know, kittens are CUTE, and people respond to them easily.  What cat-parent neophytes don’t always realise is that they have to get through the equivalent of the terrible teens to emerge with a cat who you can settle down and live with for the next 15-20 years.

Rufus, enjoying the sun - MW

When you adopt an older cat, you know what you’re getting, personality-wise; you’re past the destruction-just-for-fun stage that kittens rejoice in, and you can be pretty sure that if your cat “misbehaves”, it’s either for health reasons, or it’s because something in your life is stressing it. Most older cats have settled to the sleep-most-of-the-day pattern that is so common to cats, and are happy to sit quietly with you – though play-time is welcome (and necessary, to keep your indoor cat active).

ZeeZee has health issues we need to watch - MW

What constitutes “senior”? A cat of 7-10 years is considered “mature” - the equivalent of someone in their 50’s, perhaps. Seniors are those over 10, and a cat of 15+ can be considered a Super-Senior. And like humans, some senior cats are active and engaged into their golden years, while other are getting frail and need more tending.

Kiko's distinctive bass voice can be heard in pen 6;
she can still be a bit cranky! - KN

At the Cat Sanctuary we have several categories of senior cats, some of which are adoptable, while others will continue to do better in our care. A lot of our seniors have grown old with us; they are cats who came in as young ferals, who have gradually acclimated to human care and attention, and are now friendly – but also regard the Sanctuary as their home. They are not cats that we would adopt out unless they made the decision to bond with someone, and even then, a transition to a new home can be stressful.

We recently marked what we think is the 20th birthday
of our sweet Jody - MW

The cats who have come to us as owner-surrenders are often with us because they’re poop-ers, pee-ers or biters!  But we also have cats come in because their owner is no longer alive, or has gone into a care-home – and the transition can be very hard on a cat. Sweet Krissy took a whole year to emerge from hiding, and is only in the last year becoming really sociable with people in general.

Krissy actually loves attention now! - MW

Tikki is still grieving the loss of his home, and the owner who loved him and had to go into care; Tikki is now starting to respond to staff and volunteer approaches, though he does not like other cats coming into his space. It’s good to see him finally venturing out of his “safe” place, and enjoying cuddles with the people he likes.

From being scared and shut down, Tikki now enjoys cuddles - LBF

Baby is an elegant lady in the Moore House, who came to us very angry at the disruption of her life, but who has now settled down to be admired and petted.  She is a little arthritic, but there is medication for that, and she is feeling much better about life.

We love Baby's casually elegant pose! - LP

Also in the Moore House are Rufus and Wink;  each came in as one of a bonded pair, and then had their partner pass.  Wink is still a little wary around people;  Rufus loves attention and he loves to eat!

Tootsie on the prowl - KN

Two other cats in the DoubleWide are senior adoption prospects – both tuxedos. Tootsie had actually been adopted and was returned because she showed a persistent skin infection which is now well under control; she’s a very sweet girl who loves attention and reponds well to petting.  And Survivor – now known as “Sir”, has a sad back-story; his owner died, and nobody in the family was a cat-person. Sir was left in the apartment, with someone coming in to feed him every few days. Unfortunately, the feeder was also not a cat-person, and just tossed food at him and left. As funeral time approached, the family decided to euthanize the cat and put him in with his owner. Luckily one of our contacts was able to say, “Sign him over to us; we’ll care for him”, and Sir came to us.. The poor boy was pretty shut down for a while, but time in an open cage with the undemanding company of Tugboat and Oliver, and he’s now exploring and responding to human contact.  Sir would love to find someone to be his person again.

Survivor - now known as "Sir" - KN

In taking on a senior cat, of course, you take on potential heartache;  anytime we adopt a pet, we know that heartache will come because they live shorter lives than we do, but with seniors it also comes sooner. But balance that against the love they give, and what we can give to them in their final years, and it feels to me like a great bargain.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Karen Nicholson, Louise Parris, Michele Wright