Cool, if not Classy

Mats necessitated a full body shave for Betsy

 

Betsy at her most beautiful - before she got matted

The Cat Sanctuary lies about as far north as it’s reasonable to consider placing a largely outdoor facility for felines.  Cats like their comfort, and most of them don’t care much for rain and wind and snow – and the rain and wind is something that we do quite well in BC winters, so cats and humans alike look forward with great anticipation to warm spring days.  Unfortunately, part of getting through cold weather, for cats, consists in growing more fur, and for some unfortunate felines, that means matting!

Kenji was not cooperative about having his much-needed haircut!

We see mats suddenly becoming more obvious in the spring, when shedding undercoats may be affected by humidity, and the hairs refuse to shed, clumping together.  This happens particularly in some of the long-haired cats, but short-haired cats can mat as well. The interesting thing is that one long-haired cat may have no problems at all, while another is a furry disaster – in the Front Courtyard Caleb remains fluffy and elegant, while Kenji is a mess (even after his haircut!)

At least Baker's back-shave is pretty smooth

Sometimes matting is a factor in feline shape – many cats will twist themselves into yoga-like postures to groom themselves, but when you’re a little on the tubby side, those contortions are just not possible.  Poor Baker is short-haired, but his stocky body meant that not only did he need a sanitary cut, so that he wasn’t walking around with a dirty bum, but he actually needed most of his back fur trimmed. Fortunately, he was due for dental surgery, and the vets did a very thorough shave job on him while he was fully sedated.

Adam & May just got spot-trims
- they look a little tattered, but the mats are gone.

With the elderly cats who are matting, we tend not to do more than make sure they are comfortable; if a mat is pulling on the skin it is removed, but otherwise, we don’t want to stress them more than strictly necessary. Some of them like being groomed; others prefer that the grooming is gentle and soothing, with a soft brush, rather than using any sort of de-shedding tool.  Volunteers are asked not to try and cut mats out – it’s too easy to damage fragile skin – but to report bad ones to the med staff.

Smithy managed to get his own mat off

The problem with mats is that they do pull on the cat’s skin, and if not spotted and removed, they can be quite painful or uncomfortable in the way they hang.  But simultaneously, we have to deal with the fact that we’re often talking about feral cats who resist human touch, let alone any attempt to groom them. In order to deal with fur problems, the cat may have to be netted and given sedation, and we have to balance that trauma against their grooming needs. When Hissy Smithy gets a big mat, we will sometimes just watch him, and see if he can get rid of it himself – and quite often someone will report finding “Smithy’s beardy bit” lying in the courtyard, without us having to intervene at all.

Bailey LOVES her haircut;
she rolls and wiggles, enjoying freedom of movement.

If the cat is handleable, there is generally someone who will take time with grooming tools to prevent most of the problems. But with so many of our cats being feral, or at the “you may look at me, but not touch” end of the spectrum, a list develops as the warmer weather approaches, and the med staff get to work. This spring, this has been particularly true of the group who came in from the Kootenays three years ago: the three little Himalayans, Betsy, Cleo and Zoe, and their larger companions Basil and Bailey. All of them have needed salon care; none of them are entirely comfortable with being handled by humans.

Cleo had a saddle trim to remove specific mats; the rest of her fur was fine!

It’s not a good idea to give full sedation to a cat without a really good reason – like necessary surgery – and most of the cats who need shaving get their haircuts while a little zoned out on gabapentin. And because this affects different cats to different degrees, some of the haircuts are a little erratic!  Some will receive a full shave, lion-cut style, given at the hospital – with others, just the mats are cut out and the remaining fur covers the gaps.  Some of them are obviously embarrassed by their sudden nakedness; others love feeling free to move without discomfort.  

Alfie always mats badly, and needs a lion-cut

With the tamer cats, we can take the opportunity to do some gentle brushing of the new short coats, reminding them how good it can feel. If they get out of the habit of grooming themselves, or refuse to allow it, the haircuts have to happen all over again next year!

Blog & photos by Brigid Coult

Three Little Maids

Betsy, Zoey, Cleo  (BC)

Although we continue to get single cats arriving into our care, we are one of the few rescues around that can take in a group of cats together. Many of the small rescues doing excellent work around the province know that when they are unable to find fostering or adopting for ferals, or they have a full clowder to accommodate, they can call us and we will do our best. The Pen 3 group from Alberta, the Kamloops cats who have largely migrated out of Pen 6, the still-scared colony from Cranbrook College – these are all cats who have come in as ferals, and are gradually adjusting to life around humans. Some are socializing well, others would rather stay out of reach – and our setup makes that possible for as long as the cats need it.

SweetPea and Owen - happily adopted to their own homes now  (LBF)

In 2022 we took in a dozen ferals whose colony caretaker had passed. They were an unusual colony,  we were told they were ragdolls, but seemed to have much more Himalayan or Siamese in appearance. A classic Ragdoll is a large cat, usually with big blue eyes, very human-orientated, and with a fine, non-matting coat. Many of these cats were small, they had never been socialized and feared humans, and matting was definitely a problem!  Only two of them reached the point of being easily handled, and both SweetPea and Owen were adopted last year.  The others remain very wary and avoid physical contact; because they don’t allow grooming, the necessary de-matting is a matter of shaving the worst knots out under gentle sedation. 

Skye, the fourth (and shyest) little maid  (LBF)

The smallest members of this group of cats all have a sealpoint colouring, and I think of them as the Three Little Maids (for those who know their Gilbert & Sullivan operettas) despite the fact that there are actually four of them. The fourth is Skye, with a slightly mottled facial pattern and a head-tilt from a bout of vestibular disease, and she joins the larger cats in preferring to hide away from human contact.

Big-eyed Betsy   (BC)

The other three are hovering in the space between wanting attention, and still being wary. Betsy (I call her Bitsy-Betsy) is a tiny girl with enormous eyes. To be accurate, it’s the pupils that are enormous, and there may be a sight problem in Betsy’s future. Pupil dilation is normal in cats when the light is dim, or sometimes when a cat is stressed. But it’s also a sign of progressive retinal atrophy, and can lead to blindness. Currently Betsy shows no signs of visual problems; she escorts me around my Friday morning back courtyard cleaning – and it’s not just following me: she leads the way, so that I have to be careful not to trip over her. 

Betsy  (BB)

She was one of the earliest cats this summer to have her mats shaved out, and the skinny little body underneath the fur reinforced just how ragdoll-like she wasn’t!  Luckily, the med-staff who shaved her were able to keep enough fur to allow for a comb-over so she didn’t appear totally naked. She’s not really comfortable with touch, but will allow the odd brief stroke as long as she doesn’t see the hand approaching.

Zoey's regal pose is offset by the crossed eyes  (KN)

Her usual companion is her sister Zoey.  You have to be looking at Zoey from the front to distinguish her from sister 3, Cleo;  Zoey has the classic Siamese cat crossed eyes squint, called Strabismus, in which the retinas are misaligned. 

Zoey and her garden-buddy  (BC)

She is the only one of the three to allow petting; she doesn’t actually solicit it, but she will sometimes come and sit within reach, and when I reach for her, the bum goes up in happy anticipation. A couple of times I have been able to scoop her into my lap, where she remained happily for some fussing.

Cleo watching warily from a distance  (KN)

Cleo and Zoey look identical from the back – or at least, they did till a couple of weeks ago, when Cleo had her visit at the Sanctuary Salon, and had her back mats shaved. Now I can do a quick ID – at least, until the fur grows back!

A little more relaxed - specially with food on offer  (BC)

These three girls have joined the chicken crowd that gathers round when I bring out a baggie of tidbits. They don’t beg and fuss, like Calvin or Pumpkin – they just sit there and give me the eye. Unfortunately, they’re a little too ladylike to grab, and when they wait a moment to pick up the offered treat, someone else is likely to get it first. They won’t accept it from my hand yet, so I need really good aim to toss the tidbit right at their feet;  at that point all of them are capable of giving Pumpkin The Look that says, “Mine!”, and he backs off.

Zoey  (BB)

I don’t think these three are going to be the sort of cuddle-bugs that Owen turned into – but patience and persistence (and treats) will have them being more comfortable with us.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Brit Burant, Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson

Finding Sanctuary

Percival & Owen  (LBF)

We are getting to know the Pen 8 newcomers, and vice versa – they are getting to know us in turn, and learning that life is not really as scary as they had thought when they arrived.

Cleo & SweetPea  (LBF)

This little clowder of 12 cats came to us all the way from the Kootenays.  They had lived semi-feral, and when their caretaker died, the local shelter knew that they would be too much to manage, and reached out to us. Some of them are touchable, but most still shy away from contact.

Owen & Bailey (LBF)

When they first came to us, they were caged in ones and twos to allow them to decompress after a stressful journey, and to give us time to make medical and behavioural assessments. We were told they were ragdolls, but they don’t have the characteristic inverted V on the face; there’s more Himalayan or Balinese in their appearance. 

Percival Snugglebutt   (KN)

Three males are at the heart of this little colony.  Handsome blond Percival Snugglebutt is also known as Big Daddy, and is responsible for some of the kittens that have gone to the Adoption Centre. He is tailless – not Manx breed, but one of those cats that just have the genetic mutation for no tail - in fact, some of his offspring are also tailless.

Owen  (BC)

Owen has settled well, and is starting to allow contact. He hangs out with Percival quite happily, but can mostly be found among all his darker girlfriends. He is easily distinguished by the little blaze on his face. He is playful and food-motivated.

Basil   (BC)

Basil is paler in colour and his blaze is more prominent. He’s a little warier than Owen and not as easily coaxed by food offerings.

Betsy   (BC)

Learning who’s who among the girls is almost as hard as distinguishing among the courtyard black cats.  Most of them have the characteristic dark face and dark stockings of a Himalayan. They tend to stay together by preference; a visitor entering the pen is often greeted by the scurrying of little sealpoint shapes.

Skye  (LBF)

Betsy, Cleo, Zoey and Skye have the classic sealpoint markings.

Bailey  (KN)

Bailey is both larger and paler – bluepoint rather than sealpoint.  She seems to prefer to hang out at the back with Basil. Myrtle is also bluepoint, but is currently under care for dental problems. The other cat missing from the photos is Kali, a very shy calico who is rarely seen.

Sweetpea & Curious  (LBF)

The smallest (and probably the youngest) two are both lynx-point – gold-eyed Curious and the longer-haired blue-eyed SweetPea.  Both arrived pregnant and had their babies in fosterage. At least some of the kittens were sired by Percival (we can tell from the missing tails), but there may be more than one father involved in creating a litter. These two have had home-care and are more comfortable with being handled than the others.

Owen, Zoey, Betsy (and Curious hiding at the back)  (KN)

The Kootenay rescuers did valiant work in keeping this colony together, and getting them to us, where they can be safe. It’s rare that “breed” cats like this come into our care, but having lived feral for so long, it is likely that the Sanctuary will be their home for the rest of their lives.

Blog by Brigid Coult

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