Farewell to Hope

Hope was a gentle presence  (MW)

There are a number of cats who have lived with us since they were feral kittens, since the days when the focus of the Sanctuary was rescue alone, and adoptions rarely happened. Many of those cats grew old with the Sanctuary as their home, and in their later years, it was considered better not to uproot them unless they clearly bonded with a specific person.

Hope was definitely one of those cats.

brother GusGus with Hope (BD)

She came to us with her family from Marpole – papa-cat was named Hudson, for the street where he was trapped. Mama was a shy feral called Joanie who was never very comfortable around people. She lived in the back courtyard, but Hudson and the three kittens were front courtyard cats.  The other two kittens were boys – shy Domino, with his striking ‘tache markings, and beautiful GusGus, who was one of my sponsor cats, and dearly loved, till he passed of feline leukemia.  

The younger Hope was a solid cat!  (MW)

Hope, in her teenage years, got into everything – she was described as the fastest cat in the Sanctuary, and you had to watch the gates when she was around. She was one of the cats who loved grass, and looked longingly at the clumps of greenery just outside the entry. All her life she had the softest fur – velvet-smooth and a pleasure to touch. But petting her was all about her timing – if she didn’t want it, you couldn’t get her up on your lap!  Luckily, as she aged, the agenda changed, and Hope went looking for laps and for petting.

with age, she became more frail,  and her eyes a darker topaz  (KN)

She always attracted the visitors, who were drawn by the big eyes and the pink nose and that plushy fur – repeat visitors would ask for her, and nervous newcomers would become cat converts under her attention. You could count on Hope for visiting days – sometimes visiting laps on the benches, sometimes holding court in the Connor.

Carly made a comfy cushion  (CT)

She was one of our more social cats. We have our share of loners, and cats who prefer to be by themselves, but Hope loved her girlfriends, Carly and Celine, and could often be found sharing a bed with them, or waiting hopefully with them for dinner to be dished up.

Dropping a hint to Celine (JR)

They will miss her, as we will

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Barbara Doduk, Melanie Draper,
Karen Nicholson, Jill Rabin, Cheryl Townsend, Michele Wright

Tails from the Front Courtyard

Happy tails (TS)

The volunteer or visitor who enters with special treats in hand is welcomed by a crowd of eager cats, many of them with tails in the air – one sign of a happy cat.  But five of our front courtyard cats have to find another way to demonstrate their happiness – you see, they’re a little short in the tail department!

Carly (KN)

One of them has already been introduced – her name is Carly Simon, and she came to us as one of a bunch of farm cats. She’s among sweet Hope’s closest friends, and right now she is caged and recovering from a case of vestibular disease that has left her feeling wobbly and nauseous.  She’s making steady progress, but it may be awhile before we’re ready to let her jump and climb.

Carly's tail  (BC)

Carly looks as if her tail was broken and reset at an angle. It’s a little stumpy tail that goes in two directions, and though we wondered at first if it was an injury, when she first came to us, this little pregnant mama produced a litter of kittens, some of whom also showed the same tail mutation.

Bowie  (BC)

Jett  (KN)

The other “stumpies” in the front courtyard are Bowie and Jett. Bowie and his “rocker” buddies came in to us from  Kamloops back in 2021, and they don’t live up to their “out there” human models – they’re all very shy, and are of the dawn-and-dusk variety of cats. Bowie is a floofy black boy, with a floofy stump of a tail; Jett is shorthaired, with a short tail  They can often be found around the YellowDoor area, hiding behind the flower beds – any hint of moving in their direction, and they scuttle to find somewhere to hide.

Cheech (BC)

The other two are “rumpies” rather than “stumpies” – not true-breed Manx (who tend to be very chonky and rump-heavy) but just cats with an accidental no-tail mutation.  Chicharron (known as Cheech) is one of those “who IS that black cat?” boys, who becomes instantly identifiable when he turns his back. He has chubby cheeks, and a little splash of white on his bib. He is one of a group of cats that trappers Lisa and Ken brought in from a nearby industrial complex. We think he’s less than two years old.

Rolling over for petting  (BC)

Cheech is quite mobile, and visits all over the front courtyard.  I’ve mostly found him in the porch of the Connor, though I’m told he likes to be on the cage-tops. He’s quite shy on first acquaintance, but the more he’s petted, the wigglier and more relaxed he gets. His name (Chicharron is a Mexican-style dish of crispy pork rinds) belies his gentle nature. I think Lisa was into food names; we also have Tamale, and there’s a whole group of Thanksgiving cats to be introduced later: Cornbread, Tater, Creampuff, Truffle and others...

Hiding on her shelf in the early days with us  (BC)

The last of the group is a very distinctive dark young calico who came in as Butterflower, and had her name changed to Butterfinger. We were concerned at first that we had another Manx Syndrome cat here, because initially she didn’t use her litter box regularly, and soiled her bedding. But as she became more used to us, that eased off, and we think it was mainly a stress thing. Her name change linked with her habit of upsetting her litter-box and handing the volunteers a regular mess to clear up!

Off to hunt the flies  (BC)

Butterfinger was one of those cats who at first refused to come forward, and huddled fearfully on the shelf of her cage out of reach.  However, like Eddie, the release from the cage changed her attitude, and when approached with gentleness, she is happy to accept caresses. She is happier still to play; she is a dedicated fly-chaser when she has the opportunity, and a good feather toy has her leaping and stalking in company with the other three calicos. She’s a social girl, and seems to enjoy the company of other cats.

"Will you play with me?"  (BC)

At the Sanctuary, it’s not necessary to have a tail in order to live the good life!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson, Tim Stocker

Hope and her BFFs

Hope  (MW)

Just as we tend to self-identify as extrovert or introvert, so many of the Sanctuary cats appear to be cat-social or loners – and all quite independent on how they interact with the humans around them. In the front of the Connor House, in the front courtyard, there’s a particularly bonded little group that centres on sweet Hope.

Carly grooming Hope  (DW)

Hope has lived with us most of her life. She came in about 14 years ago with her family: mama Joanie, brothers GusGus and Domino, and separately, dad Hudson. The three kittens were past the easy socialization stage, and took a long time to settle with us – GusGus was one of my beloved sponsor cats, and shy in all his dealings with us. Hope came to enjoy human contact, and was routinely introduced to visitors as “the cat with the softest fur” – her coat is very smooth and soft, and especially now that she enjoys coming up for lap time, she’s a pleasure to stroke!

Hope (KN)

The Connor is Hope’s home, and in recent years she’s laid claim to the table at the window – so much so that we’ve all got in the habit of setting up “Hope’s bed” once everything’s been scrubbed down in the morning cleaning. She gets the best light, the view through the window into the porch area – and a quick way out when the window’s open – the first encounter with people entering the building, and the first chance at the plate at feeding time.

Carly being Hope's bed (CT)

The advantages of this position haven’t been missed by a couple of other cats, and Hope usually has feline company. Interestingly, it’s usually an either/or situation – it’s rare that we’ll see all three cats together.  It reminds me the trio of Capilano, Chinook and Walker, who lived in Pen 5 – Walker was attached to both his buddies, but Capilano and Chinook didn’t care much for each other. In the Connor we will often find Hope with Celine or Carly – but only rarely with both together. 

Hope & Carly, watching the action outside  (GT)

Carly and Celine came to us from the same farm-cat situation in the summer of 2016; both were pregnant and had their kittens under fosterage, and then came to us in the fall. Caged in the Connor, when released they decided to stay in the area that had become familiar.

Sometimes the buddy is the bed - 
or is this a quick snack?  (CH)

Carly (Carly Simon) was the more daring of the two, and explored her way around; Celine (Celine Dion) retreated to the cage-tops and lived with the shyer cats. Neither girl was much interested in human contact initially, but over the past seven years, both have opened up to us.

Hope & Celine on dinner-watch  (JR)

On visiting days Carly is frequently found out on the north side of the courtyard, and defends her place on the bench from other cats; she will come for lap-time, but doesn’t much like the competition. Given her reluctance to share bench-space with other cats, it’s interesting to see that Carly likes to share with Hope – I guess in this case, the space is clearly identifiable with Hope, and Carly can’t claim it, so she might as well share peaceably!

Carly & Hope (GT)

Celine is less social, but can often be found sharing Hope’s bed, and the petting from visitors that results from the position. She’s come a long way from the wary girl who used to peer down at us from the cage-tops; she will still visit up there from time to time, but now prefers being in reach for treats and attention.  

Hope & Celine  (KN)

All three are former ferals who are now “tame” – but not adoptable: Hope, because of her age and the fact that she has lived here nearly all her life; Carly and Celine because though pettable, they prefer feline company to that of humans, and a change in situation would almost certainly revived the scared ferals within.  For these three Best Feline Friends, the Sanctuary is home.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Colin Hume, Karen Nicholson, Jill Rabin, Gurpreet Tagger,
Cheryl Townsend, Debbie Wolanski, Michele Wright

Front Courtyard Tabbies

Speckle   (MW)

Last November, I introduced shy lynx-point Chai on the blog, and mentioned that she came in to us with other cats from a local trapping operation. All of them went to the Adoption Centre, but were not ready for taming, and were transferred to us at the Sanctuary. Tabby & white Speckle is the most easily identified by her markings, but I’ve struggled to sort out the other two from all our other front-courtyard "plain" tabbies. Some of them have already had their blog moments in the sun; here they are again, with our newcomers.

Freya (BC) & Cricket (KN)

Freya and Cricket are well-known to us all – affectionate and confident girls. Freya, who was initially surrendered for aggression, is likely to be the greeter and leg-rubber at the gate (and occasionally a gate-buster); she likes to sleep on top of the 6’ broom closet.  Cricket endears herself by jumping up to meet the petting hand; we keep a careful eye on her because she occasionally shows a limp, though it never seems to last long. Floofy Autumn with her highlighted ruff usually hangs out on the top level of the climbing frame. Cookie Hill has mostly moved her location from the Hill House to the Yellow Shed, but is anxious for pets when someone comes to visit. In the Connor we have the more torby girls: Carly Simon, Celine Dion and Christina Aguilera and of course, pretty dilute Chirpy

Lorelei & Libby (BC)

Libby was introduced as part of a feral group that came to us from VOKRA. Her brother, grey Solar, has settled well, and particularly loves Carol Porteus, who comes to feed twice a week – he knows she’s always good for particularly tasty offerings. Libby, though, is not comfortable with humans and hovers between the feral Old Rabbit Area and the Hill House. The draw in the Hill House is tubby little torby Lorelei, who Libby loves, but even loving Lorelei is not enough to tempt Libby into human contact. She looks on disapprovingly as other cats accept attention.

Kahlua (LBF) when she first came to us

Libby has the same identifying chest dot as Kahlua, who arrived last April with Chai and Speckle – but Libby’s fur has more of the classic-tabby whorls, whereas Kahlua shows the tabby stripes. Kahlua began in the Old Rabbit Area with the ferals, but has graduated to the Hill House, where she knows she can flirt with visiting humans. 

Kahlua today (KN) - confident and happy

From her beginnings with us as a feral, she has gained immensely in confidence, both on the table or shelves, and at floor level – some cats are ready to be petted in one place but not the other; at waist-height they can be fussed, but on the floor they are daunted by our size unless we get down to their level.  Kahlua just enjoys the attention, wherever it happens. She and Libby look alike, but their behaviour is very different!

Goose (KN)

Another tabby who is easily confused with Kahlua is Goose. She came to us more than a year ago from a local rescue; I believe she was originally from Manitoba. At about 8-10 months old, she was in the teenager space where she was past her best-by date for taming. Cage time was longer than usual, because she was so timid; many hours of Kitty Comforter attention  were spent just sitting and talking with her to accustom her to our presence. And, typically, once released, she still believed we were big scary monsters, and avoided being noticed.  And because she’s a very ordinary little tabby in appearance, it was easy to miss her.

Goose (LBF) in her favourite place

She loves to play, even if she still isn't sure of humans. Laser pointer, ping-pong balls, feather toys.. you name it, she'll probably play with it – in fact, she’ll wake out of a deep sleep to come play. She also LOVES cardboard boxes. She can mostly be found in the Gazebo in the centre of the front courtyard, where she hangs out with the boys – Mozart, Benny, Caleb (she is particularly attached to Caleb!) and enjoys the comfort of the heat lamp.

Dominique (MW)

The last little tabby came to us a little later than her buddies Speckle, Chai and Kahlua, because it turned out that she was pregnant, and she went into fosterage to have her kittens. They tamed and were adopted, but she remained wary, and was brought to join the others. She had originally been named Domino, but since we’ve had two Dominos (one adopted) and currently have another Domino (male) in New Aids, she was renamed as Dominique.  Rather than joining the other ferals, she stayed near Chai in the Connor area, and can often be found near the gate.

Dominique (KN)

Though clearly tabby-marked, her fur is more agouti-patterned, with torbie hints of orange in it. Dominique is very food-motivated, and the offer of treats is a major incentive to hang around certain humans!

Most of us struggle to identify all our black cats correctly. The tabbies, too, tended to get lumped into “the tabbies” group – but there are enough differences in appearance that a little detective work has helped ID them, and allow their personalities to shine through!

Blog by Brigid Coult

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

Extra toes!

A group of cats who were placed in the front courtyard were all given singers’ names by the med staff.  I introduced Carly Simon and Celine Dion back in January, and in June Cher had her moment in the sun. Somehow I’ve missed the fourth cat named after a singer – Christina Aguilera!

Christina came in at the same time as Cher, surrendered by a man who told us that the two ferals had been hanging around his home. When they came to us, they were caged for a while, as usual, to acclimate them to the space and the other cats around. Once the cages were open, Cher quickly emerged and made her presence felt, but Christina remained hidden behind her drape, hissing and swatting at anyone who dared peek at her.  It took her a little while to decide that we really weren’t as dangerous as all that, but once she started to feel secure she progressed by leaps and bounds

We have our share of cats with the manx tail mutation – from the totally tail-less rumpy (and the cats with manx syndrome) to cats like Abby with a tail that’s slightly shortened. Christina has another mutation common in cats – she’s a polydactyl, with extra toes on both front feet. This can be a result of breeding or it can occur spontaneously. I understand that it’s most common in western England and Wales, and on the US eastern seaboard.  That would make sense, since apparently polydactyl cats were popular on ships – the theory was that their bigger feet made them more secure on a ship, and therefore they were better mousers!

Polydactyls are sometimes known as Hemingway cats, because one of the areas that they are more commonly found is in Key West. The writer Ernest Hemingway was given a white six-toed cat by a ship’s captain, and his house, now a museum, is home to 40-50 polydactyl cats – many of them likely descendants of that first cat.  It’s been a while since we’ve had a polydactyl cat at the Sanctuary; the last one was Danny, a beloved favourite, who passed in 2010.

Christina tends to be the cat that walks by herself – she’s not aggressive in any way to cats or humans, but she’s still a little wary. However, that’s improving all the time, with attention from volunteers and visitors. Just don’t try to touch her paws – she’s not yet ready for that degree of intimacy!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Michele Wright

Silent Singers - Carly & Celine

In the summer of 2016 thirteen cats were trapped at a farm not far from the Richmond Nature Park. Many of them displayed signs of likely inbreeding – abnormalities in tails (both “rumpy” and “stumpy” manxes) and in facial structure – and possibly also in internal physiology. Two of them were young females – they may have been sisters or mother and daughter: we don’t know.  As with the majority of young females cats that come to RAPS, both were pregnant, and were handed into the tender care of one of our dedicated foster-moms, Kati.  Kati already has a houseful of animals, but doesn’t hesitate to take on the round-the-clock work of tending young kittens, dropper-feeding runts and orphans, and shedding blood drawn by protective moms.

A very pregnant Carly Simon - JD

The two were named as part of the “C” litter with which they came. Carly, named for Carly Simon, is a light-coloured tabby with orange shades in her fur (generally known as a torbie) and Shelter Manager Julie reports that she put up a horrible fight during intake, scaling the walls, biting, and attacking.  With Kati, once she’d settled, she proved to be friendly, if shy – until she had her litter of kittens in mid-August, at which point she became very defensive of her little family of five. They were the “F” litter, and named Farley, Finlay, Freyja, Fini and Finnegan. The latter was the runt of the litter, and in spite of extra care from Kati, he didn’t survive – always a heartbreaking experience for a foster-mum.

Carly's kittens - JD

Celine (named for Celine Dion) had her kittens at the end of August, and the surviving ones became the “I” litter – given musical names to match their mom: Ives (Burl), Idol (Billy), Isaac (Hayes) and Issa (Isabel Bigley). Though Celine had not been as friendly as Carly, she had allowed Kati to offer treats and petting until the babies arrived when she too became a hyper-protective mama.

Celine & kittens - JD

By mid-October the kittens were sufficiently old and socialised to be moved to the RAPS Shelter. Julie tells me that Carly’s Freyja turned out to have a heart defect, and didn’t make it, but her brothers were all adopted out.  Celine’s kittens have proven to be a sickly litter, catching every bug that goes around the shelter.  Julie says “We all feel terrible for them because they have struggled for their entire lives with upper respiratory infections, eye problems, bacterial outbreaks anddiarrhea.  Poor Isaac has had the worst go of it - he has a huge hernia and he is now suffering from a severe eye issue.”  Ives and Idol are up for adoption and Issa has been approved to go home with a cousin from another litter.

Ives (L) has just had a neuter and is a little wary;
Issa (R) is waiting for her new human to claim her

These two little stubby-tailed kittens originate from the same farm:
these girls are KitKat and Kaos

The two moms, who were not so tame, came to us at the Sanctuary.  For some time they were caged side-by-side in the Connor building; they permitted some attention from the Kitty Comforters, and when their cages were opened, they opted to stay in the area they knew – the cold weather was an added incentive to stay safely in the warmth of the room.

Carly - out and about - MW

Carly is now more confident and ready to interact with staff and volunteers. Her stumpy little tail, rather like Chimo’s, makes her easily identifiable, and she seems to enjoy hanging around with Hope and Shady in the open cages; a favourite place is on the steps in the centre. A lot of her aggression is probably about being trapped in a small space, and it’s an issue the med staff will need to bear in mind when she has to make vet visits.

Curious Carly

Julie says, “At the Shelter, surprisingly enough, the staff formed a stronger bond to Celine because she was calmer than Carly and would respond to baby-talk by purring.  She spent a lot of time in the office with me and she reached the point where she would welcome petting."  At the Sanctuary, Celine is more wary; she has joined the cats who prefer the top of the cages, and prefers to stay just out of reach. A challenge for the Kitty Comforters!

Celine up top - MW

Celine has something of her namesake's reserved demeanour

Given a little time to relax and realise that the humans who are around bring good things and petting, we hope that she too will join the more sociable crowd who welcome visitors

Blog by Brigid Coult, with thanks to Kati Degraaf and Julie Desgroseillers

Photos by Brigid Coult, Kati Degraaf & Michele Wright