Christmas with the Cats

Nikki on his Christmas throne  (KN)

Christmas is just another day at the Sanctuary - all the usual stuff still needs to be done! 

Cat-wreath in the entry-way   (BC)

In the last month, Karen has put decorations up, hung the lights, put a tree safely behind cage-wire, and the RAPS stockings are on the gate, safely out of reach of inquisitive paws. Weekend visitors have enjoyed the sight; staff and volunteers have shifts made more fun with extra goodies in the tea-room. 

Oscar says "Can I tap it with my paw?"  (KN)

The cats don’t care whether it’s Christmas or Hanukah or Kwanzaa – all they want is to know that they will have food at the right times, and comfy places to rest. That’s made a little trickier by the fact that volunteers may be away, or have schedule conflicts, and suddenly there’s nobody to clean in one area or feed in another.

people step up to fill vacancies  (BC)

The Auxiliaries respond – an app lets us know there’s a vacancy, and more often than not, someone volunteers to come in and cover things. In fact, on Christmas Day, quite often there are more volunteers than usual, and extra hands make the work go quickly.

Gathered for cat-caroling  (BM)

My own choir has a tradition of caroling visits to the Food Bank (for clients and volunteers) and to the Hospice (for staff and patients). But we always begin our morning at the Sanctuary, gathering in the back courtyard with any volunteers around, to sing carols both traditional and fun: parodies of well-known songs with cat-words. 

Sing "We three cats", please!  (KN)

Bentley LOVES the singing, and wants in on the action; Junji is busy getting under everyone’s feet.

"You can sing and pet me at the same time!  (KN)

I came in on Christmas Eve to clean the Hill House; with a wet morning, most of the cats prefer to stay indoors, so it was mostly a case of cleaning around them. With a temporary church job, I had to work in the evening and the following morning, but I’ll be back during the late afternoon of Christmas Day to help out as needed with feeds – and to enjoy a Christmas cuddle with some of my favourites!

Abby thinks the tree is a great place to hide   (KN)

The holidays are an occasion to be grateful for all the people whose generosity in time and money helps to support this very special place, and to give the cats the gift of life and love in a world that is hard on homeless felines. 

Winston thinks it should smell more like catnip...  (KN)

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Bill Meyer & Karen Nicholson

Feeeeet!

Freya's feet   (MW)

 If you are reading this blog, you are probably one of the many people who uses social media to indulge in your feline addiction.
We post pictures of our own cats, our friends’ cats, cat-memes, famous cats like Cole & Marmalade or Maru.  If we are lucky enough to be associated with a shelter or a cat sanctuary, our cell-phones are loaded with images. Kittens and seniors, feel-good stories and sad tales of abandonment, all touch our emotions. 
And one of the never-fail images is of FEET.

Bentley paw over nose  (KN)

Paws, to be exact.  Poofy paws, usually, with claws discreetly hidden.  Poofy on the top, and with a variety of patterned toe-beans below.

Claws are useful for Plum to grab a treat  (KN)

Human feet are definitely not so interesting. Nobody wants to look at pictures of cattle or horses’ feet – impressive though they may be. Dogs – well, perhaps some of them.  But cats’ feet almost always get an “Awww” response.

Jasper demonstrates the pile of paws pose  (KN)

Cats are DIGITIGRADE – meaning they walk on their toes. This is why it is so cruel to declaw a cat – you’re taking away the top joint of the toe, and everything is more uncomfortable without it.  Many declawed cats will end up in a shelter or a sanctuary because they hate to use a litter-box – it hurts their feet. And many will lose muscle tone because they don’t like to move around so much, and are unable to give their muscles a real workout without digging their claws into something.

Akiva has no claws - but he still needs to clean between his toes  (KN)

On a hot day, they can often be found with pads exposed – when you have a fur coat, paws may be the only place you can cool off by sweating.

Lindor cooling off, with all paws exposed  (MW)

Cats use their paws for much more than just walking. They climb (sometimes having to return backwards down a tree); they dig (with luck, mostly in the litter-box), they leave scent markings for other cats to decode, they fight other cats (especially Jasper and Gizmo), they swat unwary humans, they wash up with velvet paws, and then extend their toes so they can clean between them.

Mr Binx clean-up time  (KN)

Our Sanctuary cats give us a wonderful collection of feet to admire

Alexandria is one of our very active cats, and her flexible paws are often used for climbing.

Alexandria offers the Vulcan salute  (KN)

Jackie-O is also a climber, possibly made easier by an extra “thumb” on her front paws

Jackie O's paw  (KN)

Extra thumbs help to hang on   (MW)

We have several polydactyl cats at the Sanctuary. Raymond in Val Jones, Christina Aguilera in the Front Courtyard, and NikkiSixxToes in the Single-Wide all have more than their share of toes.

NikkiSixxToes could also be called Bigfoot   (KN)

A glass table-top in Pen 3 is an irresistible tool for getting feet pictures from another angle

The models on top  (LBF)

paws from below  (LBF)

This dark tortie girl was named for her blond toes!

Toes  (EW)

Sometimes we call them “murder mittens” – but often when you see them like this, the cat is usually asking for attention

Kiefer's velvet paws reaching through from the Single-Wide (KN)

Winston says "Reach out and touch me!" (KN)

And of course, there is nothing we like better than to have a purring pile of fur in the lap, and the sensation of being kneaded gently as the paws show how much we are loved!

Roe loves a lap!  (JS)

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill Friesen, Brigid Coult, 

Karen Nicholson, Justin Saint, Erica Warren, Michele Wright

Anywhere But On The Shelf

The Sanctuary is decked for the Christmas season, even though it’s only the staff and volunteers that appreciate it – we miss our visitors!  But one visitor has been making his presence felt.

Tinker says "Who is this guy, anyway?"

Whoever came up with the concept of Elf on the Shelf has a lot to answer for – including the Christmas neuroses of many children!  But not cats...  Cats have more sense than to get freaked out because someone is watching them. They like to be watched – because as all good pet parents know, they are the central point in the home. So having an Elf around at the Sanctuary was probably more weird for staff and volunteers than for the feline inhabitants.

In some cases it was a guarded interest - who was this interloper, anyway?

Bantam photo-op

Merrin gives him the side-eye

In some cases the interest was more in the smell - could there have been a little catnip involved?

Phoebe does a little hopeful licking...

Bentley thinks Elf has been walking somewhere interesting...

The Elf made a few excursions into the back pens....

Cadbury says "Can I sit on your lap?"

...appreciated by some - but not by others

Darius is NOT happy about this visit!

He finds admirers in the New Aids pen, where he is very popular with the girls....

Amaretto sharing secrets

Holland getting quite snuggly...

..even possessive....

But the place he was most popular was in the Single-Wide, where Mya constituted herself his fan-club.

smile for the camera....

mine, all mine....

...so she said to me...

you can't leave so soon!

Shiva and Elf want to wish everyone a happy Christmas, and a joyful and safe holiday!

Blog (minimal) by Brigid Coult

Photos (and Elf) by Lisa Brill-Friesen

 

Bentley

MD

This gorgeous boy came into our care a couple of months ago – surrendered for litterbox issues and some aggression. As is usual, he was caged for his introductory period, and it became obvious that this was an introduction that was not going to go smoothly.  From inside his cage, Bentley waited to ambush any passing cats. A drape hung over the door to lessen the visual stimuli had little effect other than being a target for cat-pee (from both sides).

KN

We had been warned about Bentley’s aggression, and all volunteers were cautious around him. Though he appeared to enjoy company, he was occasionally reactive to petting, and it may be that, like Chimo, he was never taught to play nicely. When the time came to release him, we tried to restrict his movements initially to the DoubleWide, but Bentley was having none of that, and was anxious to start exploring.

TV

As you can see from his picture, Bentley has much in common with front-courtyard Puffin – an impressive appearance and a great deal of cattitude.  Visitors sometimes ask why we separate cats into different areas, and keeping potential trouble-makers away from each other is a good part of that.
If cats had opposable thumbs, many of them would be tweeting #MeToo.

Poised to leap on an unsuspecting victim - TV

Bentley is a harasser. He has no hesitation about taking on the alpha cats; our majestic Eli avoids him like the plague. But he also just likes to make a nuisance of himself – I’ve found him sitting by the cat door, swatting the backsides of all the cats who go through.  I don’t think it’s always specifically aggressive – he’s the sort of guy who probably thinks it’s funny.

Bentley being silly - PH

Within a week he was sporting a scratch on his nose – he obviously encountered a cat who wasn’t afraid to swat back. But it doesn’t appear to have dampened his enthusiasm for throwing his weight around. A number of the quieter cats are learning to keep an open eye for Bentley’s whereabouts, and he’s certainly not made many feline friends so far. But as he becomes more accustomed to life at the Sanctuary, we hope that he will relax, and find that acceptance is better than aggression!

MD

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Melanie Draper, Phaedra Hardman, Karen Nicholson, Tanisha Vincent