The Divorce is Called Off

Princess & Spike are back together! - BC

Many people think of cats as solitary creatures – and we certainly have our share of felines who would be perfectly happy if every other cat at the Sanctuary disappeared.  But we also have many cats who are happy to tolerate each other’s company – and even a few who have clearly bonded relationships.

Dusty & Ridley - BC

A quick scan of past blogs will give us an array of Best Feline Friends: Adam & May, Rudolph & Salish, Samantha & Chimo, (Chimo's love, PawPaw, is gone, but he and Samantha are good buddies), Dusty & Ridley.  Some have been bonded for most of their lives with us; others have had bonds with other cats, now passed, and have sought out a new BFF.

Princess & Spike - MW

Spike and Princess have been a “couple” for some years. Though they didn’t arrive from the same place, they could almost always be found sharing a bed in the Double-Wide – preferably somewhere close to the med cage and the possibility of treats.

Princess - LP

And then at some stage in the last few months, they started drifting apart – I noticed it most often when showing visitors around, and finding Spike occupying his regular space, but Princess high up on the cage-tops, or out in the back courtyard.  Various other cats shared Spike’s bed, but Princess seemed to prefer keeping her distance.

Watching the old med-cage door - JN

About six weeks ago, the med-cage (and that’s really all it was – a walk-in cage where the med-staff could track cats and dispense medications) was enlarged to about twice its size by expanding into the space of an adjacent cage and the equivalent corridor.  And it just so happened that this bit of corridor was the home base for Spike, Buddy, Tugboat and half a dozen others.  Of course, there is no lack of available alternate space, but there was a week or so of negotiating feline realty, and of deciding who wanted to base themselves where.  During this period, little smoke-cat Sara Lee had a cage-stay for some dental care, and with her release, all the patterns seemed to change again.

Sara Lee - KN

For years Sara Lee has been my quality control assistant at mealtimes, but now her place has been taken over by Miss Parker, who is much less ladylike (though equally enthusiastic) about getting the first taste. Sara Lee normally hovered on the other side of the laundry room, but I started to find her in the space she had once shared with her friend Kiddie.

SaraLee, with her late friend, Kiddie - DW

 And then, suddenly, there were three – Sara Lee occupying the middle of a basket, and Spike and Princess flanking her.  Couple mediation?  A menage a trois? I don’t know – but the three can often be found together, with the alternate combination being Spike and Princess being lovebirds once again, with Sara Lee in an adjacent bed.

A small bowl - and three loving cats - BC

All our cats are safely spayed and neutered, of course – but, as with humans, loving relationships are less about biology and more about psychology. And these three seem to have found a balance (like Capilano, Walker and Chinook) in which they all have a part to play in making each other happy.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Joanne Nicholson, Karen Nicholson, 

Lisa Parker, Debbie Wolanski, Michele Wright

Bentley

MD

This gorgeous boy came into our care a couple of months ago – surrendered for litterbox issues and some aggression. As is usual, he was caged for his introductory period, and it became obvious that this was an introduction that was not going to go smoothly.  From inside his cage, Bentley waited to ambush any passing cats. A drape hung over the door to lessen the visual stimuli had little effect other than being a target for cat-pee (from both sides).

KN

We had been warned about Bentley’s aggression, and all volunteers were cautious around him. Though he appeared to enjoy company, he was occasionally reactive to petting, and it may be that, like Chimo, he was never taught to play nicely. When the time came to release him, we tried to restrict his movements initially to the DoubleWide, but Bentley was having none of that, and was anxious to start exploring.

TV

As you can see from his picture, Bentley has much in common with front-courtyard Puffin – an impressive appearance and a great deal of cattitude.  Visitors sometimes ask why we separate cats into different areas, and keeping potential trouble-makers away from each other is a good part of that.
If cats had opposable thumbs, many of them would be tweeting #MeToo.

Poised to leap on an unsuspecting victim - TV

Bentley is a harasser. He has no hesitation about taking on the alpha cats; our majestic Eli avoids him like the plague. But he also just likes to make a nuisance of himself – I’ve found him sitting by the cat door, swatting the backsides of all the cats who go through.  I don’t think it’s always specifically aggressive – he’s the sort of guy who probably thinks it’s funny.

Bentley being silly - PH

Within a week he was sporting a scratch on his nose – he obviously encountered a cat who wasn’t afraid to swat back. But it doesn’t appear to have dampened his enthusiasm for throwing his weight around. A number of the quieter cats are learning to keep an open eye for Bentley’s whereabouts, and he’s certainly not made many feline friends so far. But as he becomes more accustomed to life at the Sanctuary, we hope that he will relax, and find that acceptance is better than aggression!

MD

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Melanie Draper, Phaedra Hardman, Karen Nicholson, Tanisha Vincent

Best Buds - Chimo & PawPaw

Chimo & PawPaw - MW

People who are not cat people will tell you that cats are non-social, aloof – “if you want a friend, get a dog”, they will say... Cat-people know that cats are as varied as people – some are introverts, loving their own company, living life on their own terms – but others enjoy being around both people and other cats.  And nowhere do we see that more clearly than at the Cat Sanctuary.

Snuggling together: Babylon & Presley - MW

We have our share of “typical” cats – the ones I call the Garbo Cats (“I vant to be alone...”) - Leland and Timmy in the front courtyard, Blue,  Jingles and Emery in the back.  But we also have the cat-magnets – our dear departed Mario and Salty never went anywhere without their devoted followers, and Daniel in the front courtyard always has the company of Cloverleaf, Jamie or Figaro

Daniel & Cloverleaf - MW

For some cats, the presence of others is a strain, best expressed in a degree of aggression, and we now have have some of those cats, like Mindy and Spades, in a quieter area, where they will feel less challenged.  But for the most part, the majority of the cats get on very well – and in some places, “get on” goes to a whole new level.

Chimo - MW

Chimo came to us with a reputation for aggression.  His back-story will fill you in on his progress from an aggravating cat who had never learned to play nicely, to a mellow boy who rolls over to invite petting (belly-rubs, though welcomed by implication in his posture, are still too risky).  He has established the north-south wing of the back courtyard as his turf, and generally hangs out in what we call “Waldi’s Hut”, sharing space with other quiet cats: Morticia, Dusty, Quinn, and others who don’t usually welcome human attention.

Chimo - BL

PawPaw was one of the first cats to come to us from the closing shelter on the Sunshine Coast, and was part of the group established in Pen 6. Some of those cats have gone on to adoption through the 5 Road City Shelter, others are still with us. PawPaw has remained with us because he is diabetic, and needs monitoring for insulin.

PawPaw - MW

As the group settled into Sanctuary life, the pen was opened, and some of its inhabitants ventured out. Cats like Blue and Simba, full of confidence, claimed their own spaces; others, like Faith and PawPaw, preferred to stay in Pen 6 on familiar turf. But we can’t afford to keep all the pens as open ones, and with a new group coming in from another shelter, we had to evict the inhabitants in order to prepare the pen for the newcomers. Faith finally settled herself in the TeaRoom. PawPaw moved to the other end of the wing and discovered Waldi’s Hut and Chimo.

These two boys are almost always together. They snuggle and head-butt, and they both enjoy visitors (especially those bearing chicken)

Chimo is perhaps the more generally social of the two (and the more food-motivated), but together on their own shelf they will tune out the presence of Morticia and others, and revel in each other’s company.  Obviously deeply bonded now, they welcome attention from volunteers and visitors in a way that reminds me of the cats in Pen 5 – May and Adam, Rudolph and Salish – the cats that we tend to think of as pairs

Life is better when you have a friend!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Boris Lin and Michele Wright

Moody, but Cute - CHER

Cher - guard-cat at the gate - BC

Visitors to the Sanctuary are quickly accosted in the front courtyard by a very pretty little grey tabby. Cher came to the City Shelter a few months ago, stuffed in a bag with her friend, and surrendered by someone who said they’d been hanging around his home.  Both Cher and Christina were transferred to us when it was obvious that they were not socialized, and they lived in adjacent cages in the Connor building.

Cher loves to play - MD

For the first while there were warning signs over both cages, and a fair amount of growling and swatting.  In Cher’s case, the growling eased off as the curiosity increased, and she spent more and more time at the front of the cage.  Christina still prefers the safety of her cage, even though it’s open now; Cher took very little time to venture out and explore the big wide world.

A first encounter with bubbles - MW

Cher’s mood swings are pretty marked – she’s obviously prone to over-stimulation, and she transitions from cuddle-kitty to killer without much warning. We’re used to warning visitors about Puffin, who also has mood swings – now we need alarm bells for Cher!

Where did it go? - MW

Puffin typically sidles up to people and demand petting – he is particularly susceptible to young women! But you have to watch his body language carefully – he’s nice till suddenly he isn’t, and the twitching tail doesn’t give much warning.  Similarly with Cher – she will launch herself at a male visitor and demand attention, and then suddenly turn on him.

Who's the next victim? - BC

Part of it may just be her age and upbringing (or lack thereof) – we see similar behaviour from grey Gizmo in the back, who can be a very brattish teenager when he chooses.  Part of it may just be that she has never learned how to interact with humans – when Chimo came to us it was because his usual mode of interaction was attack - especially when human hands and feet were within reach. With a lot of patience from the Kitty Comforters, he's now a pretty mellow fellow.

Chimo at his most cute! - MW

But I suspect that it’s a bit more than that with Cher; she’s more in the Lumi mode. For a long time we had white Lumi wear a collar as a warning that this cat was cute but would bite. And as with Cher and Puffin, there’s little or no warning.  Orange Buster-Baby, who we lost a couple of years ago, used to have to be caged when visitors were around because something in his brain just made him attack for no reason.

Such a pretty face - but not to be trusted! - MW

Visitors very often forget that cats are carnivores who are hardwired to hunt, and moving fingers are irresistible. It’s up to us to provide cats like Cher and Gizmo with interactive toys to exercise their hunting instincts, and not offer them fingers to practice on.  And we hope that as they mature, they do so, not into the Baby/Lumi mode, but into the Chimo one of being lovable and loved.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Melanie Draper, Michele Wright

Gizmo the Grey

The Cat Sanctuary has recently welcomed several new cats who are finding their places in the various different areas.

MW

As much as possible, when a cat comes to the 5 Road Shelter, we try to find a new home for it. The staff try to match personalities with potential adopters, and mostly it works – but there are always the exceptions. Several of our cats failed adoption for reasons of aggression and were transferred to the Sanctuary because they were no longer considered adoptable.

PH

Gizmo (known as Gizmo the Grey, so as not to confuse him with the recently departed orange Gizmo in the Moore House) was trapped as a feral. The people who trapped him were willing to keep him, but Gizmo was not a happy camper, and was more than ready to attack, given the least provocation. At the Sanctuary he was caged for a while, and took a very dim view of this, swatting at other cats through the mesh of his enclosure. We were not at all certain of whether he might eventually be relocated to the feral pens at the back, and the Kitty Comforters were very wary when visiting him.

BC

As we usually do in this situation, when release time comes, we try to make it a supervised release – the cage is opened at a time when the med staff are around, so that they can observe, and react if necessary. With Gizmo, attack was the best defence – there was a lot of growling and face-off confrontations with other cats, and on more than one occasion he had to be scooped up and returned to his cage. (Med staff Mollie says he still holds a grudge against her!).  But gradually he settled; he chooses not to interact with other cats, but has become quite an explorer in the back courtyard and in the Double-Wide. 

Phaedra caught him climbing the tree during the past week's snow! 

He reminds me of little grey Amber (now gone) – he’s a climber, and shy, though he’s getting better with humans. Just as we found with Watson and Chimo, the initial aggression gave way to a more sociable personality. All three of them had more than a touch of teenage brattishness about them, and all three are maturing into really nice cats (Watson has now been adopted, and Chimo is very much a back yard greeter.)

Gizmo making off with an entire bag of treats from a visitor - ML

It is interesting that our dark grey cats (almost Russian blue) are all stand-offish or aggressive. We all know Leland in the front courtyard, but Petunia, also part of that group, is a real “don’t touch me!” girl, though she is ready to accept treats. In the Newcomers, grey Chester is another for whom attack is the best defence (with other cats, at least), and his room-mate Willi is the nervous sort. And Sylar, in the back courtyard, won’t allow a human near him, though when he was caged for treatment, he was ready to accept petting.

MW

Gizmo is becoming more willing to interact with people, and to accept a caress without returning it with a swat. He may never get to the stage of being ready for adoption – but someone who is feral-savvy and has no other competing cats might be able to give him a home. As with all our semi-ferals, for an adoption to work, there needs to be a strong bond between human and cat, and a knowledge, on the human’s part, of the reading of feline body-language – not to mention a lot of patience!  Gizmo’s not there yet, but he’s learning...

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Phaedra Hardman, Moira Langley and Michele Wright

A Tale of Several Tails

The Sanctuary plays home to more than 400 cats of a variety of types – and has been home to probably a thousand more in the course of our 16 years in Richmond. They come in all sizes and shapes, purebreed and moggies – if you want to find a cat of any description, it’s probably passed through our gates at some time. The purebreeds – cats like our Persians and Bengals – are usually here because of their bathroom habits, but those are habits that keep a number of cats from being adopted, unfortunately.

A variety of cats come with a variety of tails – everything from the long and elegant tail of Bengal Lucky, usually carried low, or the similarly slim tail of tabby Hannah, usually erect...

Lucky - MW

Hannah - PH

to the magnificent bushy fluff of Puffin or Owl

Puffin - MW

We have our share of tail-less felines, usually known as Manx cats. These vary from the totally tail-less cats like Sweet-Pea, Kilmer and Emery, (known as “rumpies”) to the cats who actually have a tail, but one which is shorter than normal, and has the last few vertebrae fused together. With the latter it’s not always possible to tell without an X-ray whether the tail deformity is genetic or the result of an accident.  Depending on the length of the tail, these are known as a “rumpy riser” (Huey), a “stumpy” (Blue, in pen 6) or a “stubby” (Abby)

Abby - MW

Sweet-Pea is at the end of the Manx spectrum, suffering as she does from what is known as extreme Manx syndrome, in which the shortness of the spine creates a form of spina bifida, making it impossible for the cat to control its bladder and bowels. Those of us who love our little trilling calico mop up after her, and cuddle her in a thick towel from time to time; she gets a daily bath, as does Kilmer, who has a similar problem – though not quite to her degree.

Sweet-Pea - PH

Sometimes we know that the shortness of the tail is not genetic. Little Marilee was one of a family of cats who were trapped, neutered and released back to the farm where they lived. Unfortunately, Marilee managed to get her tail trapped in a bit of farm machinery. The tail had to be amputated, and it was decided that the Sanctuary was the safest place for Marilee. The picture of a wary Marilee from her early days with us is in contrast to the relaxed girl she is starting to become.

Marilee - PH

Do you recognize any of these tails?

One thing you can usually be sure of – a raised tail signals a happy cat – and what can be happier than meal-time!

Dinner-time! - TS

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Phaedra Hardman, Tim Stocker & Michele Wright

Chris's Orange Kitties

It’s astonishing how many of our volunteers come on an initial Sunday visit, and can’t bear to leave the place. Many – like me – are hesitant at first; we have this nasty little suspicion that our lives are about to be taken over; and we are so right!
Volunteer Chris initially came only on Sundays, but the Sanctuary got its metaphorical claws into him, and he just kept coming back. Chris has a touch with cats – they relax around him – and it wasn’t long before he joined the team of Kitty Comforters.

DW

Snuggling with Bobby...

Many of us keep our cellphones handy to snap a picture of this cat or that – perhaps they’re up to something cute, or we need to have Leslie ID an unknown kitty for us. The real quality photos are taken by people like Michele, with a discerning eye and great lenses. But Chris gets some great shots with his cellphone, and I’m going to share some of his orange cats with you this weekend. The orange cats aren’t his only favourites – you only have to watch him with Bobby to know that – but there are some wonderful faces here!

Little Orange catching some zzzzs...

Kevin - keeping toes warm

Front courtyard Lucky

Albi and Chimo ... contemplating catnip

Gilbert - with that Mona Lisa smile

Buster Baby - contemplating how miserable life is...

and how can we have an orange-cat gallery without Garfield?

(Short) blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Chris Peters & Debbie Wolanski