Sanctuary cats in repose

"Yawn~*"
Ninja

With hundreds of cats living at the sanctuary, it's not surprising that they've come up with quite a variety of sleeping arrangements. Here are photos of just a few.

Many thanks to everyone who's donated beds and bedding to keep them all warm and comfy. And thanks to staff and volunteers for making sure that cats who associate comfy with what we'd consider uncomfy have a steady supply of smallish boxes to squeeze themselves into.

Tang

Bingo, Elaine & Co.

It can be hard to tell where one snugglepuss ends and the other begins

Pickle and Cheetah

Wait, that sleeping buddy's not even real!

Tugboat recycles, cat style

Roly thinks he fits just fine, thanks
photo by Phaedra

Lincoln

Logan dares you to mock his basket

Mario doesn't really care what you think of his basket
photo by Ann

Cha Cha doing the upside-down cha cha

Deety lounging in his car bed

Dempster

When Leslie introduced me to this friendly black cat as "Dempster from the Dumpster," I wasn't sure what to make of the name. It turns out that the dumpster in question was simply one that Carol found the stray hanging around near while she made the rounds of her feeding sites.

photo by Barbara Doduk

Dempster has been at the sanctuary since the early days of the facility. Leslie says he tends to get overlooked these days because not everyone can easily identify which of our many black cats he is. He used to have a human friend who chose him as a favorite and would make a point of seeking him out, but the person had to stop coming regularly to the sanctuary, to the disappointment of Dempster. 

I must confess I didn't know who Dempster was myself until I was trying to photograph Cha Cha and this black cat suddenly appeared on top of the cages and kept muscling in on the action - dancing into the shot, waving his tail in my face and generally making an endearing kind of nuisance out of himself. I could do nothing but cave in, pay attention to and take pictures of him instead. Dempster was delighted... Cha Cha less so.

Cha Cha

Cha Cha originally came from a feral colony living near Princess Street in Steveston.

 photo by Barbara Doduk

After being trapped and brought to the RAPS sanctuary, she was put in one of the back pens along with the rest of the Princess Street cats. Cha Cha did not care for these accommodations, though, and managed to escape into the sanctuary proper.

With some cats, too early a departure from a space where they're obliged to regularly interact with humans can result in them never losing their feral suspiciousness. Cha Cha proved far too curious about people to stay away long. Instead, she turned out to be one of those cats who gradually but quite of their own volition become tame.

Leslie remembers how Marianne named her Cha Cha because of the way she would dance when she was feeling affectionate. Marianne adds that this dancing happened when Cha Cha was happily following her favorite person... Leslie.

Cha Cha may have settled down a bit now that she's older, but she's no less of a cutie and still likes a visit. 

photo by Barbara Doduk