Gone in 2018 - but still loved

Merlin (Jan) was a resident of the leukemia area   (MW)

One of the things that always seems to come with a New Year is a retrospective of the one just past – and inevitably that includes recollections of the big personalities and celebrities who have died during the year.

Jake (Aug) waiting anxiously for visitor attention   (MW)

At the Sanctuary we try to focus on the positive – to think of the love that has been shared with our cats, and of the fact that many of them have lived longer and healthier lives with us than they might otherwise have done.

Gunther (Feb) was one of our sad-eyed tabbies     (MW)

But we grieve their passing, even when we know that that final trip to the vet is the most loving gift we can give them at the end.  And that journey is always made with a loving hand to ease the last moments and let them know just how much we cared for them.

Romeo (Jan) liked to be in the tea-room where he might beg human food.   (DW)

There are many conversations full of memories – remembering Romeo and the Timbits, Splotch and his shift from feral to lover, Gregory and how bonded he was with our beloved Dell....

Abby (June) was a small cat with a big personality  (MW)

Here are just a few of the friends we lost in the past year.

Orange Daniel (Oct) is greatly missed by his buddy Cloverleaf    (MW)

Bengal Jinx (Feb) was surrendered for peeing - but we loved her  (MD)

Front courtyard Jinx (Dec) loved her sunbathing    (MD)

Handsome Simba (Aug)  took every opportunity to snuggle  (PH)

Kiddie (Nov) has gone to be with his sister Sadie    (MW)

Bonnie Boy (Nov) knew how handsome he was!   (MW)

Emo Pickles' (Sept) flattened ears belied his loving nature   (PH)

Sweet Peppercorn (Oct) loved to have attention from humans   (MW)

We don’t have a finite amount of love to share – every cat that walks into our hearts leaves a little bit of itself there, but there is still much love to be given to the newcomers who continue to come into our care.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Melanie Draper, Phaedra Hardman, Debbie Wolanski, Michele Wright

Presley

The single-wide trailer has an assortment of cats that lurk on top of the cages or behind furniture on the deck, and choose not to interact much with volunteers and visitors.  One of these wary individuals is a striking Siamese who goes by the name of Presley.

Presley is definitely not human-oriented.  He is happy enough to be around when plates of food are being offered to the general population, but he doesn’t much care for individual attention, even when accompanied by bribery.

Clyde (L) & Bonnie Boy (R)

I was surprised to learn that Presley is apparently the brother of friendly Bonnie Boy and his sister Clyde – not much family resemblance there, except perhaps around the eyes. They all came in to us in the fall of 2006, trapped by Carol Reichart.  It’s a reminder to us all that unspayed female cats may mate with more than one male, and a litter of kittens may come from several toms.  It would be interesting to know what Bonnie Boy, Clyde and Presley’s mother looked like.

Having had little luck in getting to know Presley, I turned to Phaedra. Phaedra is one of the staff that is working first thing in the morning – she’s a real early bird! – and she’s a true cat-whisperer. She knows the cats on an individual basis and is frequently the source of information on a cat with whom  nobody else has been able to interact.

 

Phaedra says, “Presley is one of the first cats to greet me in the wee hours of the morning, rubbing up against my legs and begging for pets with plaintive meows. As soon as I put my kneepads on and start picking up dishes he heads for higher ground. I think he's one of those early morning kitties that don't like too much activity around them. I enjoy the morning time he allows me as he's such a soft handsome boy. He was very fearful when he first came in and has been caged a lot for various reasons, so that didn't help.”

She points out that the volunteers who can pet Presley are very quiet and gentle. This is obviously a boy who needs a lot of patience and love, and is likely always going to be wary about new people.

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult & Michele Wright

Wherefore art thou, Romeow?





At the back of the single-wide trailer is a small room, used as the Sanctuary office, but known to all as the Leukemia Room. Most of our feline Leukemia cats now live in what’s called the Old Aids / Val Jones complex, and there’s usually a little juggling around to get the best combination of cats that will get along together: who can cope with bossy Merlin? who can stand up to aggressive Jerry?

But the Leukemia Room is home to just a few very quiet cats, who benefit from the calm space, and also from the removal from all the feline cold germs that get passed around. They get no casual Sunday visitors, though on other days there are always volunteers who will go in and spend time with them.  Smoochie has lived there for some time; he was joined by our lovely Harry and most recently by big fluffy Bear. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get a glimpse of shy Marlowe.

Smoochie - Harry - Bear (MW)

Marlowe (MW)

The single-wide trailer has no access to the courtyard for the cats – these are all essentially indoor cats, though on the east side there’s an extensive covered deck where cats can get their fresh air and a little separation from the activity inside. And the Leukemia Room, too, has its little deck, with a double-locked entrance from the main deck.
Volunteers know that working with leukemia cats means careful hand-washing before and after – but Leukemia Room volunteers also know that working here means watching carefully for a small black cat, who paces the floor outside the doors of both entrances.

Harvest (DW)

Harvest  is usually a pretty easy-going guy who gets on well with the other cats – especially his buddy Babylon. But he REALLY wants in to the Leukemia Room, and we think that the attraction is Marlowe, who lives on the other side of the door. And the two can never be together; she’s leukemia-positive, and leukemia cats can transmit the virus through their saliva. For his own safety, Harvest must stay out. Every now and then he tries to do a jail-break in the wrong direction; he has actually managed it once, and had to be quarantined until his blood-tests showed him to be leukemia-free.

Harvest & Marlowe (DW)

That was the simple beginning to a thwarted love-story I was going to call Romeow and Julicat.  But it’s not as simple as that,
I had finished my Single-wide shift last week, and was sitting in the outside area of the Leukemia room, cuddling with Harry – who, as volunteers know, is a very single-minded cuddler!  Marlowe emerged from her bed on the shelf and sat glaring at me; Marlowe is not a cuddler, and doesn’t see why anyone else should be.

Marlowe (DW)

There was a flurry of activity from the deck beyond the door, where a plate of food was being served, and then a little black cat detached itself from the crowd and came over to the door.  Marlowe perked up; eyeing me cautiously, she descended the ramp to the door, and the two cats had a rubbing-and-posing conversation for about five minutes.

Harry was miffed – my attention was clearly divided, and he went off to do something else. I took a chance and slipped through the door, hoping to get some pictures from the other side.

 

 

At this point it became obvious that it wasn’t Harvest that was weaving and flirting and saying “I want to be in there” – Harvest has a white spot on his front, and this was an all-black cat. I got some pictures and went to find med-staff Leslie, who knows all the cats. Who was this, taking Harvest’s place in Marlowe’s heart?

 

It turns out that the alternate black cat is Clyde, the sister of our beautiful Bonnie Boy (check his link for the story of their names).

So does Marlowe swing both ways? Is she just a sucker for any black cat? (though she’s not particularly interested in either Smoochie or Bear). Is she the feline equivalent of a sailor with a date in every port? – she has a flirt at each door…   It’s certainly not the simple love-story I’d envisaged.

Whatever lies behind it, black cats pace at both the Leukemia Room entrances, and volunteers entering have to keep a wary eye open for a shadow trying to slide through on their heels.

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Debbie Wilcox Wolanski & Michele Wright

Oh, graceless kitties of autumn!

Yes, it's that time again - time to share a few photos of our furry sanctuary friends taken on occasions where they opted not to sit pretty.

Here's what I was able to round up for the October blooper reel:

Bonnie Boy

photo by Michele 

Logan, post shave (so the graceless part, really not his fault)

photo by Michele 

Who can resist a little pink tongue shot?

photo by Michele 

Salty making is own fun

photo by Michele 

Morgan

photo by Michele

Sadie vs. plant

photo by Phaedra 

Mario takes his followers' well-being very seriously

photo by Phaedra

"What?"

Melvin, caught between poses

Zander. Not exactly an unusual pose for him, but still - funny!

Renee, giving the ever-popular back paw salute

Salty, once again just doing his thing

Bonnie Boy

A while back, two feral kittens, sister and brother, were brought in to the sanctuary together. They were given the names Bonnie & Clyde. One, Bonnie, tamed up quite readily, while the other wasn't so interested in fraternizing with humanfolk.

It was only after returning from a trip to the vet that staff and volunteers realized the friendly girl kitty they'd been thinking of as Bonnie was actually the boy, Clyde. By that time, though, the name had stuck. And so Bonnie came to be known as Bonnie Boy.

photo by Michele

Bonnie Boy lives in the single wide trailer and continues to be a most personable cat.

photo by Phaedra

Recently, he's decided I'm to be one of his buddies and has launched a campaign of determined friendliness. He is more than willing to follow, weave, dance and pose for photo ops if there's a chance it might get him on my "must visit" list for the single wide. Somehow, I suspect I'm not the only person he's suckered into being a fan and regular visitor....

photo by Michele