Kamloops Catz 3: Blondes Have More Fun

Goldie  (KN)

There used to be a fallacy that most orange cats were male. We now know that that percentage is considerably less – usually cited as 80% - and I would venture to say that at the Sanctuary it’s even less than that.  The gene for orange coloration is linked to the X chromosome, and males only need one copy of the gene to be orange, while females need two. Having said that, it’s clear that in some colonies, the genetic odds for orange females are much higher, and that’s certainly the case with the Kamloops colony.  

Rapunzel & Buffy  (BC)

It may not be immediately obvious, through, because some of our orange females are so pale in colour that “orange” is not the word that leaps to mind.

Buffy  (LBF)

Buffy is the darkest of these – the same sort of colour as the late Pumpkin and Walker, who I tend to describe as “champagne”.  Goldie and Rapunzel are paler still.  These three little girls prefer to base themselves out of Pen 5; when the others migrate back to the TeaRoom for winter warmth, the blondes prefer to add their body warmth to the cosy Pen 5 cabin, sharing with Adam, May and Walker, as well as with some of their non-orange family.

Rapunzel  (KN)

Buffy and Goldie are both still very shy; they will allow themselves to be watched, and are sometimes interested in wand toy play, but they would prefer to be left alone. You can sometimes pat Buffy, if you can do so without letting her see the hand; once the petting has started, she will allow herself to enjoy it for a bit, and then scoot away. Goldie is a don’t-touch-me girl. She and Rapunzel look very similar, but one step towards them will tell you which is which - Goldie backs away quickly but her buddy is a little braver. Rapunzel sports a white bib with her blond fur, and she is the only one of the three who will approach humans to solicit attention.  When she’s in the mood, she’s a total flirt – with weekend visitors as well as with volunteers.

Daffodil   (KN)

A fourth light orange cat called Daffodil is technically part of this group; she came from the original colony and was fostered in Kamloops, but it was decided that she might do better with access to her family. In fact, she has never merged back with them; she prefers to remain in the Newcomers area, and sometimes wanders over to the DoubleWide, but she never seemed to recognize the others at all, and has made her own “family” with her Newcomers buddies. That family has been hit by the passing of Pumpkin, who Daffodil loved – we’ll see who she might bond with when her mourning is over.

Daffodil  (KN)

Blog by Brigid Coult

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

Next week: Not orange!

Oodles of Orange

Billy, Buffy, Kumquat (LBF)

Pen 6 has become an important area of transition at the Cat Sanctuary. It’s a fairly small pen, but right at the beginning of the back pen complex – so there is lots of activity around.  Five years ago it was designated as the home for a colony of cats who had come to us from a Sunshine Coast shelter that was closing. We remember those cats with love – especially sweet Simba, and PawPaw

Simba and PawPaw (MW)

As they acclimated, or were moved to other areas, or adopted, we were able to move them out, close the pen for a clean-out, and prepare it for the Candy Cats’ arrival in the fall of 2017. With the exception of sweet Skittles, who has passed, these cats are still with us.  No orange cats in this bunch – the closest we have is the hint of gold in the agouti colouring of shy Hershey.

Hershey (LBF)

Two years later, the Candy Cats were moved out to make room for another influx of cats when RAPS trapped a total of nearly 60 cats and kittens from one colony.  Most of the kittens were fostered and adopted, but we had a group of teens who were too old to tame easily.  Most of them were black or tortie, but orange Mercury proved to be a very shy twin for Sprocket, living in the back courtyard.

Mercury (LBF)

These cats were very skittish for some time and it wasn’t until the following year that the determined work of the Kitty Comforters began to pay off. Most of them have relocated to Pen 1, and will likely remain semi-feral, and wary, but Aphrodite, the boldest of them, has found her own home where she can be tortie queen.

Aphrodite (KN)

And now Pen 6 is full again – and this time it’s an influx of (mostly) orange kitties from outside Kamloops, from a situation where TNR was needed, but in the end, the rescue felt that the cats really needed rescuing – and so they have ended up in our care.

Kelvin & Billy (LBF)

For the first few weeks there were just seven of them – Persimmon, Kumquat, Billy, Kelvin, Buffy, Goldie and a lone tabby, Juniper.  

Persimmon (KN)

Persimmon is the bravest of them, coming to investigate a visitor, talking and flirting. She’s something of a show-off on the shelf along the front wall.   Where Persimmon is, Kumquat is not far behind. Though he’s not ready for me to touch him, I know he’s allowed ear scritches from other volunteers. Kelvin will come and sit beside me, as long as I don’t reach out.  

Goldie, Kumquat & Billy (KN)

The others are all still very wary; they can be touched when they're tucked away in their cabin beds, but they now prefer to take cover in the many hiding places we’ve left in the pen. They particularly like the playhouse in the southeast corner of the pen, and are equally charmed by the prospect of playing on the tarp that protects the playhouse roof

Buffy (and Kelvin) camping on the tarp (KN)

They have just been joined by another five from the same colony: Cheddar, Creamsicle, Chamomile, Barley and Chaga (two more oranges, two greys and a black) - more introductions to follow in a subsequent blog!
We're all looking forward to getting to know them better as they become more relaxed in their new home.

Persimmon is already relaxed! (VW)

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Karen Nicholson, Valerie Wilson, Michele Wright