Lorelei & Lora - two tubby torbies

 It is interesting that there are certain cats that you only see at certain times of day – or who react differently at different times.  In the mornings I find that front-courtyard Diamond is very wary; by late afternoon he’s ready to accept petting. Handsome Quinn in the back courtyard is very shy and usually stays well out of the way; but at dusk he comes out and, though not ready for petting, is ready to accept treats. There are many cats who love the Sunday visitors – and then there’s Fiona, who hides out until 4:10pm when the last visitor’s gone, and is then ready to appear and interact with the staff and volunteers.

Lorelei - MW

One little girl who has recently joined the chickaholic crowd in the front courtyard is Lorelei. She is often found disputing wall space with Petunia – they’re both small cats who like to get an advantage in height. Lorelei is less shy than Petunia; she will come for petting, and interacts quite comfortably with the other cats. 

Lorelei - MW

She’s one of our multicolored girls – a tortoiseshell/tabby mix, hence, a torby. At a distance she looks quite like tabby Jake, and then you realise that it’s not just fluff; this is a very solid little girl.

Lorelei on Cat-TV - MW

After the evening feeding, as dusk comes on, several cats emerge from the feral-cat area on the east side of the courtyard. Among them is Lora.

Lora - BC

In size, colour and body-shape, she’s very like Lorelei, but she’s got short fur, and has obviously had some skin problems, because the fur on her back is a bit patchy. In addition to her tubby body, she has skinny little legs.

Lora - MW

Lora is very shy, both with humans and with other cats. When Michele took this picture Lora was feeling cornered in her bed, and there was a certain amount of hissing going on,  Out in the courtyard she hangs around on the edge of the crowd. If chicken is being offered, she really wants it, but hangs back from the feeding frenzy; if you toss her a tidbit and another cat goes after it, she backs off and waits until it’s not being disputed. But though she’s shy, she’s obviously fascinated too – once food’s out of the way, she hangs around just out of arm’s reach – as only a cat can do – and occasionally lies down to show her belly. She will, very cautiously, accept a little petting, but prefers to limit it.

Lorelei & Lora - BC

Lora and Lorelei didn’t come in together; Lorelei was trapped at the docks about five years ago; Lora came in from a similar area couple of years later. But in colouring and body-shape, they are very similar – and they can often be found together.  For all you volunteers who excel in working with the feral cats, Lora will make a wonderful challenge.

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult & Michele Wright

Two Grey Girls

On Sunday afternoons, many of the visitors that come in bring treats for the cats, and in fact some of our furry friends are so blasé about food by the end of the day that we have to restrict the canned food we put out. Rather than commercial dry treats, I prefer to have a little bag of chicken bits in my pocket, and before I leave, they get shared around.  Many of the cats love chicken more than anything – “chickaholics”, I call them – and they’re desperate to get their share. Cheetah and Jake lead the charge, but Paulo and Latte are right there, Tommy and Dirky, shy Gilbert and Diamond, and many others.

Often I will hear a little chirp from behind me, and find a small grey cat hopping from one foot to another in anticipation. For some time I didn’t know her name, until Leslie identified her for me as PETUNIA. It turns out she’s one of the egg-farm cats in the single-wide – from the crowd that includes April and Simone and Bantam, and she is probably a litter-mate to more than one of them.  At some stage she made a dash for the door and established herself in the front courtyard.

She’s a shy girl – she won’t allow more than the slightest touch – but is more than ready to take chicken from the hand. But the fact that she’s so food-motivated makes it more likely that the Kitty Comforters will eventually be able to tame her a bit more, and she certainly sees that there are good things that come from being around humans.

Another grey girl occasionally in the chicken crowd is SARAH. It’s interesting to me that Sarah actually used to be more active in the cat-crowd, and around people, and has now taken to hiding away in the feral cat area.  She is also very keen on chicken, and had no hesitation in swatting another cat out of the way if she thinks she can get away with it. 

Sarah was one of a group of cats brought to us by volunteer Mary He from a feeding site she tended – others in that family included Fern, Fabio and Cyrano.  It may be that Sarah’s withdrawal from a more active courtyard life is part of staying connected with her “family” who also inhabit the feral area.  She’s still a very wary cat, and like Petunia, she shies from fingers that don’t hold food, but I think she’s another cat that, with a bit of work, could become more comfortable with humans.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult & Michele Wright