Snoozing in the Rain (or out of it...)

Simon  (HM)

It may be almost summer, but here in BC we’ve had our share of wet days recently.  There are always the cats who like to be out and about, whatever the weather, and they vary from those who seem to shed the rain like ducks, to those who get soaked through.   But sensibly, most of the cats find somewhere cosy, and curl up, shutting out the weather.

With inspiration from Henrie Morgan, whose lovely photos from the New AIDS pen got me started, here are some of the not-so-soggy moggies!

Mozart likes to sprawl (AG)

Dahlia sleeps with one eye open  (HM)

Christina Aguilera face-plants to shut out the world   (AG)

The Kamloops colony prefers to sleep together  (BC)

Jerry, Magnus and Jim monopolize the Val Jones chair  (DW)

Ariel is a solo sleeper and prefers the shelf by the sink  (KN)

Jasper is not shy about his sleeping positions (KN)

Woodie is another upside-down boy   (KN)

Sharing breath   (KN)

Rocket prefers outside - but under cover   (HM)

Marble's favourite thing is sleeping - whatever the weather  (KC)

Blog (minimal) by Brigid Coult

Photos by Katy Cobb, Brigid Coult, Akira Graham,

Henrie Morgan, Karen Nicholson, Debbie Wolanski

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

....aaaand.... ACTION!

In every area of the Sanctuary, there are boxes or pots filled with cat-toys.

Tyson chomps on a commercial toy - KN

And I think most cat-owners are probably in the same space – we think “I’ve not been playing enough with Chonky; I’ll get him some new toys”, and he plays with them for a bit, and then they go under the couch or behind the fridge, or wherever, nevermore to be used.

Silky - LBF

Ah, but summertime.... when the playing is easy....

Autumn - KN

It’s the season of LONG grass stalks, which are the perfect cat toy – they have exactly the right amount of spring to tempt a hunter, claws don’t get stuck in them, if they get broken, there are plenty more where they come from.

Kiwi - LBF

So big thanks to Lisa Brill-Friesen and to Karen Nicholson for some stretchy happy-cat pictures....

Leo - LBF

Used-to-be-feral Ranger reaching for his goals....

 KN

"Take that!" says Tigger, getting unusually energetic!

 LBF

Mozart (Poptart) is just a little quicker to grab than his brother Benny.

 LBF

Dodger doesn't do the streeeeetch very well, but the intent is all there

 LBF

Christina Aguilera, who is one of our polydactyls, thinks that it's really useful to have extra toes when you want to grab some grass.

 LBF

Aphrodite, floofy as she is, can stretch with the best of them!

LBF

Even Licorice, who is rather arthritic, and not much into action, wanted in on playing with grass stalks.

KN

There was a lot of action throughout the day - and there were a lot of tired cats at the end.

 KN

Blog (minimal) by Brigid Coult
Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen & Karen Nicholson

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