Loaf Cats

Blog from volunteer Pauline Chin....
You may have come across  the terms loaf cats, cat loaves, loafing kitties, platter cats… the list goes on. The key feature is the way the cat is sitting, which resembles a loaf of bread.

Dusty - MW

The cat will tuck its legs and tail underneath its body, hence the name, loaf. In the classic loaf position, no paws can be seen, through some do a partial loaf with a leg or two showing.  Sometimes, they fall asleep that way with a face plant.  Extra-large loafing kitties look closer to a turkey on a platter.  Our long-haired cats might resemble a big poof with eyes, or a certain fictional alien race.

Jobie - MW

Why do cats sit this way?
Mostly it’s because it’s comfortable.  They can relax, take a nap, stare at you from a distance, but still be on their feet in a second. Most cats refuse to expose their weak spot – the belly.  Think about it.  How tempting is it to give cats belly rubs? In cooler weather, it helps conserve body heat.  Tucking their tail and legs in prevents people from stepping on them, too.  The loaf is also a position for cats to hide injuries;  cats are masters at concealing pain.

Kramer - MW

In this time of quarantine, when baking your own bread seems to be the Thing to Do, feast your eyes on some loafing kitties:
The first kitty loaf many visitors will think of is Jay-Z.  He enjoys loafing around everywhere.  He and several cats favour the spot in front of the fridge.  Given his big, solid body, Jay-Z can easily block paths in the trailer while simultaneously looking cute.

Jay-Z - MD

Buddy prefers loafing at petting level; you'll usually find him in the laundry room or just inside the Double-Wide, where lots of people will be within reach.

Buddy - Jennine

Little Keira Knightstreet is also affectionately known as the Tiny 'Tato

Keira - PC

Our Leo is a big boy, but when he's "loafing", he can fold himself into a surprisingly small space

Leonardo diCatprio - MW

The whitest of cat-loaves, Ollie tucks himself out of the way.

Ollie - MW

Three loaves in a bowl, only Princess's tail overflows a bit.

Spike, SaraLee, Princess - BC

Petunia demonstrates one of the paw variations for loaf pose - rather than with pads on the floor, she curls her paws under her chest

Petunia - KN

Bluebell is one of the cats who combines the faceplant variation with loaf pose.

Bluebell - KN

I believe the ultimate kitty loaf king is… Chimo!  This boy has a toasty orange coat, a white center, and a short, round body, just like the perfect loaf of bread.  He likes to chill and cuddle with everyone.  Chimo would happily leave his loaf position for extra body rubs.  Just don’t touch that belly!

Chimo - PC

Although it’s extremely tempting to sneak in some petting on loafing kitties, I advise against any impulsiveness.  Always let the cat know you’re next to it first and get their permission before physical contact. Surprise the cat and it will surprise you – and, unlike bread loaves, cat loaves can bite back.    Luckily, most of our cats are open to attention - hold out your hand to them and they’ll let you know immediately whether they want your touching.

Blog by Pauline Chin with Brigid Coult

Photos by Pauline Chin, Brigid Coult, Melanie Draper, Jennine Kariya, 

Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright 

Second Chance at Love

Cats that prefer to be alone are a cliche for good reason, but at the Sanctuary we have many cats who truly enjoy each other’s company.

Plum (R)  just looooves her Tugboat!  - KN

A quick visit to the back pens reminds us that cats are well used to living together. The closed pens hold cats who are used to sharing space, but the open pens also hold colonies of cats who prefer to snuggle with each other, and who can always be found in the same cabins.

Spicer and Shaggy - VL

Cats will often have real attachments to each other – all have been spayed/neutered, but love is about much more than sex.  Often cats have come in to us as a pair, and the bond is apparent. And when one of the couple passes, there can be very real grieving.  Shaggy and Spicer came into the Moore House together, and settled very happily; an older couple, they comforted each other through the transition of moving to the Sanctuary. They were rarely apart; where you sat with Spicer, Shaggy would also come, and the deck was their favourite area.  

Shaggy with Chanel - MW

But Spicer was not well, and when she eventually passed, Shaggy was bereft. Volunteers and staff would make a point of visiting with him and giving him what comfort we could.  But comfort was also gradually offered by Chanel. She had come to us as a very scared girl, and preferred to spend her time on top of cages, though she allowed occasional petting. Increasingly, we found her in Shaggy’s company, and the two are now a settled pair. 

Samantha in her cover-girl days - MW

Samantha was, in her younger days, one of the most beautiful of the cats – you couldn’t get a bad picture of her. She’s still pretty, but a more senior lady now, sometimes a little more bedraggled – and she doesn’t always appreciate grooming.

Basket means coziness! - LP

Her guy was VanDyke, a very shy black boy with a double haematoma – both ears crinkled by burst blood vessels. He was one of our many cats with kidney disease, and it wasn’t always easy for the med staff to give him the Sub-Q fluids that made him feel better because he was so wary of us.The only times he seemed really relaxed were when he was with Samantha.

Eclipse with Samantha - how close can I get?  - KN

When VanDyke passed, Samantha retired to Waldi’s Hut, where she had the comfort of Chimo and his buddy PawPaw. She’s still there, even though PawPaw’s gone;  Chimo remains her best gay friend – but the cat she has come to love is another shy black boy, called Eclipse. Eclipse came from the same place as Jay-Z and may be his brother or his father; the two don’t interact, and Eclipse prefers his own company or Samantha’s.

Dusty with her beloved Salty  - DW

Long-term Sanctuary volunteers still talk about our Romeo cats in the back area – Mario, and Salty, both of which had a harem of both boyfriends and girlfriends.  After Salty passed, his best girl, Dusty, was bereft – like Mario’s Nelly, she seemed to be looking for him.

Ridley with Dusty - BC

Inasmuch as one cat can take on Salty’s mantle, it seems that it’s fallen to Ridley, who was also part of the Salty cuddle-puddle. Ridley is something of a magnet for our shyer boys like Ringo (who is now venturing outside more regularly). But he’s also become Dusty’s guy, and the two can often be found cuddled up together, or flirting at the Double-Wide entrance.

Lounging together - BC

At the Sanctuary they all have choice, just like humans – to be introverted and alone, to indulge a full social like without specific emotional links, or to find a soul-mate to love and be loved by. And when/if, sadly, their partner passes, if they’re open to it and lucky, someone else will fill the space in their heart.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Vicki Lo, Karen Nicholson, Lisa Parker, 

Debbie Wolanski, Michele Wright

The Cats love our Students!

Tiffany, Lauren & Karen - BC

During the summer months many of our regular volunteers are away on holiday, and managing to keep the shift board filled is often a hard task. It couldn’t be done without the assistance of our students, made possible by a government grant, for which we are most grateful. This year we were fortunate enough to have three of them at the Cat Sanctuary. Lauren, Tiffany and Karen filled in for missing volunteers as cleaners and feeders, and tackled projects that we’re normally too busy to deal with – painting the benches in the back courtyard, pulling out cages and scrubbing walls, cleaning grout between paving stones, and giving cat-trees a much-needed brush-up.

Lauren scrubbing scoops - BC

LAUREN is a long-term Sanctuary worker. Her dad found out about us when Lauren was just 11, and wanted to work with animals.  Normally volunteers have to wait till they’re 16 to do a shift, but we always make an exception for parent-child teams, and Dave and Lauren have been feeding the front courtyard cats on Sunday afternoons for nine years now.

Eva - MW

Lauren has been exploring possibilities in study and is doing wildlife and fisheries management in the fall. She says this summer’s made her really used to dirty work (which she tackles with great gusto!)
She has one cat – Kiya – at home, and at the Sanctuary, her favourite is Eva in Old Aids, who she describes as sweet and cuddly (also round, and looking like a meatloaf!)

Karen cleaning the cat-tree -
a horrid job, but it has to be done! - BC

KAREN says: I first visited the sanctuary when I was 6 years old, soon after moving into a new house. My new neighbor Stephanie Ross had introduced herself and invited me to visit the Cat Sanctuary and after that first visit, I was enthralled by cats. Unfortunately, the rest of my family is allergic to cats, so I had to wait until I was old enough to volunteer by myself, then I spent a summer volunteering at the 5 rd shelter. At the end of that summer, I convinced my family to adopt two kittens from the same litter at the shelter. Apparently I am very purrrrsuasive. Those kittens are now 3.5 years old and are two of the greatest joys in my life. I also help Stephanie rescue feral cats.

Fussing cats in the back courtyard - BC

In September, I'll be entering my 3rd year of Applied Animal Biology at UBC, while hopefully still coming to the sanctuary to lend a hand. Working at the sanctuary this summer has taught me that there are over 400 different cats with over 400 different personalities at the sanctuary and each one directly benefits from the hard work the staff and volunteers do each day.

Spirit - MW

It's difficult to choose one cat as my favourite, but I would have to choose Spirit. He's a shy but slightly mischievous boy, but once he gets to know you, he becomes very chatty and friendly. The first time I met him, I thought he had escaped his cage, but once I opened the cage door, I saw his blanket move slightly - he had burrowed under his blanket and was sleeping soundly.

Tiffany working at the litterbox "bath"  - BC

TIFFANY says:  I started as a volunteer at the cat shelter about five years ago in the Single-wide and Leukemia room. I heard about it online and was excited to check it out since I don't have cats of my own. My favourite kitties back then were Belinda, Shilo, and Butterbean. Over the next four years, I've been working as a summer student at the shelter - I couldn't get enough of the cats and kept coming back.

Pets for Tyson - BC

I'm headed to my fourth year at UBC in the fall and will graduate with a Behavioural Neurosciences major and Applied Animal Biology minor. I'm also contemplating applying for veterinary school in Saskatchewan afterwards! This summer has taught me that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Working two jobs has definitely taught me how to manage my working hours and off-time.

Chimo - Tiffany's photo

The cat I keep near and dear to my heart is Chimo (our orange little tabby with the pig tail, often in Waldie's hut). I met him when he was a little rascal when he arrived at the shelter. When I learnt he wasn't making friends - he's a little socially awkward - I spent more and more time with him and eventually fell in love with his antics. He loves belly rubs (if you're slow and careful) and playtime so please give him some love if you can. :)
Thanks for getting to know me, and many thanks to Brigid for allowing a feature of us summer students here."

Snuggles with Chimo, Romeo and Matt - BC

We are so lucky to have had these three wonderful young women working at the Sanctuary this summer!  Cats, volunteers and staff alike offer thanks to them for their energy, enthusiasm and empathy.

Blog compiled by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult & Michele Wright

From lunger to (almost) lovable: CHIMO

Brigid posted a blog about this time last year called “From Swatty to Sweetie”, in which she described several  Sanctuary cats who made the transition from being swatty ferals to sweet friendlies.   Even if new arrival Chimo had been around then,  he probably wouldn’t have made that list because he’s been doing a lot more than just swatting, and is still not quite sweet, but getting close.  He was, and sometimes still is a swatter/spitter/lunger/biter/clawer and a very scary cat!  Trapped on the streets, Chimo made it quite clear when he first arrived that he wasn’t  in the mood to be loved.  Being neutered may have improved his disposition but it was also soon obvious that he wasn’t feral.  Instead of hiding fearfully as feral cats do, he was keenly interested in what was going on outside his cage door and would happily play with a string toy or bat a ball around– not behaviour for a feral cat! 

Clearly, Chimo had human contact before but perhaps not of the most positive kind.  From a very early age,  kittens learn survival skills by having mock battles with their littermates, chasing each other and chewing on ears, paws and tails to subdue their “prey”.  To mature into a people-friendly  cat,  they need gentle handling from humans to recognize the difference between a well-meaning hand and one that has to be attacked. Encouraging rough play with a kitten allows them to keep that “attack everything and try to kill it” behaviour that Chimo has (had?).   Chimo’s lunging, hissing and spitting at anyone who entered his cage is not uncommon behaviour  for a cat who’s upset by being in strange surroundings but I believe that his grabbing hands or legs and chomping on them is at least partly the result of being allowed, even encouraged, to continue the rough way that he played as a kitten – it was all fun and games to him! 

I’ve always had a soft spot for orange cats, especially ones like Chimo with pink noses and a bit of “cattitude”, so I couldn’t resist trying to get close to this little charmer.  I started out by waving a string toy in front of him  - he loved attacking it and I was able to use it to fend him off when he tried to attack me.  We would do a little circus lion and lion tamer dance inside his cage.    After many scratches and bites in response to my attempts to get him to “play nice”, I resorted to wearing an old pair of soft, thick suede gloves to get closer to him without any blood loss.  Of course, he’d grab my hand and chew and kick at it but, in between his attempts to kill it, that hand was able to sneak in a few head and ear rubs.  He loved that and it was amazing how quickly he learned not to chew on the hand that delivers ear rubs and doesn’t fight back.  After a few sessions with me wearing the gloves,  he became calm enough for me to pet him with bare hands at least for a little while.  As long as I kept my hands out of reach of those claws and teeth, all was well.  

I’m happy to report that Chimo’s growing up and getting over his juvenile delinquent ways.  Day by day, he’s becoming more gentle and less scary.    He still frequently forgets that he’s supposed to behave and will do the “grab and kill” thing so I’m still keeping the gloves nearby but I hope to put them away for good soon.  Is Chimo lovable yet?  No, but he’s not a lunger anymore! 

Blog by Marianne Moore

Photos by Phaedra Hardman and Marianne Moore