The Front Courtyard Texans

 

Wilbur, Alyssa, Bingo - in their shared cage

Last week’s blog introduced the two Syds, Sunshine, Sophie and Oreo who arrived from a Texas cat-lover who bequeathed them to RAPS care when she passed away. The other five Texas cats were brought into the Hill House off the Front Courtyard, and housed in two adjacent cages.

Milo - very wary

The prospect of keeping cats in cages is not a welcome one – either for us, or the cats in question. No cat likes to be confined, but in the Adoption Centre, there is no alternative; newcomers have to be caged for the health of the kittens whose immune systems are not fully developed. The cages are standard vet-care ones – easy to keep clean, with room for movement – but it must be like living in a tiny studio apartment.  When the cats are transferred to the sanctuary, most of them find themselves in cages that are more than twice that size, and we have several that are larger than that.

formerly Texas Cricket - now Weevil, hiding in her bed

The Hill House, which I blogged about this time last fall, was refurbished in 2012 with funds from the family of cat-lover Stanley Hill – and many of the cats mentioned in that blog still make it their base.  The south wall is divided into three pens – a large cage in the centre that is frequently a temporary home to groups of cats arriving together; and two smaller ones on either side.  The large central cage was allocated to Alyssa, Wilbur and Bingo; the smaller one on the right to Texas Cricket and Milo. As we always do, furniture in the cages was well-draped to offer hiding places to fearful residents.

Wilbur

The three in the middle were initially cautious, but not fearful;  all three had quickly been identified in the Adoption Centre as cats that would probably adapt quickly.  There was a large drape at the entrance to dissuade passing cats from pee-ing into the cage, but on any visit to them, once past that drape the three would emerge and be social.

Alyssa - queen of all she surveys

Alyssa is the most vocal of the three. Slim and elegant, with a white locket, and a little white belly-fur, she was also the first of the three to emerge, make contact, and then claim the top of the cat-tree in a position of clear superiority.  Now that the cage is open, she is also the most adventurous, exploring freely, and making sure she’s noticed. It’s easy to confuse her with shy Pemberly, but Alyssa’s much more extroverted, and lacks the white inner-ear fur that characterizes her look-alike

Bingo

Light tabby Wilbur and long-haired darker tabby Bingo are also ranging beyond the Hill House door, but prefer to stay inside – partly familiarity, but also, I suspect, because the Hill House is cozy and warm. The centre cage has now been closed off for the use of newcomers, and the smaller one, with an open door, has become ground zero for the Texas cats. When there is human company, both Wilbur and Bingo are glad to accept attention; treats are always good, but best of all is petting and laptime, for Bingo in particular, He will settle down happily for as much time as you have to spare, eyes blinking happily, big paws opening and closing as he makes air biscuits. Wilbur seems to prefer his snuggles to be next to you; he enjoys a lap, but Bingo is pretty pushy about getting the lap first.

Alyssa & Weevil - now out and about...

Inside the cage, despite the fact that the door was wide open, Texas Cricket prefered to have solo snuggles in her own bed. This pretty tabby and white girl is now known as Weevil, since we already have a Cricket in the Front Courtyard, and one that has no boundaries for exploration – she is quite likely to saunter into the Hill House at any time. Weevil was prepared to accept a treat, and a little touching from me, but was not exactly enthusiastic about the latter; she sat and watched Wilbur and Bingo interacting with me outside the cage.  A couple of days later she was emerging with more confidence...

Milo in the heated basket

The last of the Texas cats was initially nowhere to be found. Milo is a shorthaired grey boy who has – happily for him, less so for us – discovered that one of the benefits of living in the Hill House is an easy window exit to the adjacent Old Rabbit Area, where many of the ferals hang out. Milo approves of this option, and has reverted from his original willingness to be petted to taking on the semi-feral skittishness of his new roomies, Having accepted treats and petting in a confined space, he is now looking horrified at the prospect of physical contact, and not even treats would tempt him,  However, he hovered in true semi-feral style of “you may look at me, but not touch me”, so I was at least able to get some photos.

The family stays together

We hope that volunteers working in that area will make a point of introducing themselves to the newcomers – and especially, of encouraging Weevil and Milo to learn that this may be a scary new place, but that our new immigrants have found a safe Sanctuary with us.

Blog & photos by Brigid Coult

Krissy

MW

We often joke about the problems of distinguishing between all the little black cats in the Sanctuary – the same is occasionally true for the tabbies – especially now that Pen 2 is open, and Calvin, Celeste and Chase are making the rounds!  In the front courtyard, most of the tabbies are a little easier to identify, but there are a few that we have to take a second look at, to be sure we have the right cat – specifically Baloo, Cricket and Krissy

Baloo (L), Cricket (C), Krissy (R) - MW

Krissy came to us about three years ago. Her owner had gone into care, and Krissy was very obviously a one-woman cat, because she was deemed unadoptable. She may well have been a feral who had bonded to her owner, but being moved into a new space was a very difficult experience for her

Krissy hiding - DW

As with all our new cats, we had her in a cage for some time, hoping to acclimate her to the sounds and scents of other cats. Krissy did not approve, and spent most of her time hiding.  When the cage opened, she still hid, and in fact for the best part of a year she stayed in the Connor building.  Other cats were not welcome in her space – she wasn’t actively aggressive, but made it quite clear that this was reserved seating only, and she wasn’t interested in social interaction.

MW

As you will see from Baloo’s blog entry, she’s also not a social cat – and nothing has changed there since she arrived! Cricket, on the other hand, is now a social butterfly, with cats and humans alike – having come to us as a feral kitten with her brother Beetle. Krissy is moving between the two – increasingly often she’s found out and about in the courtyard, and is starting to solicit petting and attention from volunteers and visitors.

MW

Krissy’s outstanding features are her beautiful smooth coat and her striking green eyes – eyes that have watched us with wariness for some time, and are now beginning to warm to us. She is listed with the adoptable cats at the Sanctuary, but would probably need to bond with a potential owner for an adoption to be a comfortable experience for her. Until then, she has a safe home with us, and many patient humans to let her know that she is well loved, and can relax and enjoy her time here.

MW

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Debbie Wolanski & Michele Wright

Beetle and Cricket

As our name implies, Richmond Animal Protection Society is focused on the needs of the animals in our own municipality, and grew out of the need to get control over the feral cat population that existed here some twenty years ago. Currently, we’re feeling good about the feral situation; many of the cats that are trapped here are escaped or dumped pets rather than “career ferals” and our expert trappers are quick to act when a stray cat is reported.  Occasionally, we will cooperate with other shelters in giving homes to cats that cannot be homed elsewhere – the FeLV cats come particularly to mind, because not every shelter can deal with the level of care needed for leukemia cats.  But occasionally cats arrive on our doorstep by different routes.

Baby Beetle

Baby Cricket

In the late summer of last year, one of our staff took a holiday in the Interior, and just before returning, was landed with two young feral kittens. Once a rescuer, always a rescuer – Beetle and Cricket got packed into the car with the rest of the bags, and brought to the Sanctuary.  Normally kittens go to a foster home where they can be handled and habituated to human touch. But these two were about three months old – just feral enough for the fear of humans to be well implanted, and unlikely to tame enough to be ready for adoption.  They took up residence in the wing of the Moore House (usually known as GeriCatrics) that gives it the alternate name of The Kitten Trailer.

For a while they have resisted human contact. But steady work by the Kitty Comforters and the cat-whisperers on staff have produced a more relaxed attitude, in tabby Cricket at least.  Beetle is still somewhat spooked by any movement, and his wariness is reinforced by another black kitten, Frisky, who looks almost identical, but is even warier.

As with Pebble and Sandy, these guys are approaching the stage when they will be released into the general population – and the question will be whether it will be a general release or whether they will join the older pair in one of the feral pens at the back.  Pebble and Sandy resisted all attempts to make contact, but in the last six months or so, volunteers have been reporting regular friendly contact with Pebble, who comes forward to investigate the human intruder, and is willing to accept petting and head-rubs.

A teenage Cricket with distinct cattitude - BC

Beetle is still wary - BC

So visits by staff and volunteers to these youngsters are encouraged, in the hope that we can overcome the fear instinct and get them to accept regular handling.  We’re careful about washing before visiting, so as not to transfer germs from other areas, and currently, we’re saying no Sunday visitors, for their protection. Both are easily coaxed with Temptations, though Beetle at least prefers not to have the hand giving them out too close.  But at some stage they will have to face the bigger Sanctuary world, and we hope they can do it more easily, knowing that humans are their friends.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult & Michele Wright