Feeeeet!

Freya's feet   (MW)

 If you are reading this blog, you are probably one of the many people who uses social media to indulge in your feline addiction.
We post pictures of our own cats, our friends’ cats, cat-memes, famous cats like Cole & Marmalade or Maru.  If we are lucky enough to be associated with a shelter or a cat sanctuary, our cell-phones are loaded with images. Kittens and seniors, feel-good stories and sad tales of abandonment, all touch our emotions. 
And one of the never-fail images is of FEET.

Bentley paw over nose  (KN)

Paws, to be exact.  Poofy paws, usually, with claws discreetly hidden.  Poofy on the top, and with a variety of patterned toe-beans below.

Claws are useful for Plum to grab a treat  (KN)

Human feet are definitely not so interesting. Nobody wants to look at pictures of cattle or horses’ feet – impressive though they may be. Dogs – well, perhaps some of them.  But cats’ feet almost always get an “Awww” response.

Jasper demonstrates the pile of paws pose  (KN)

Cats are DIGITIGRADE – meaning they walk on their toes. This is why it is so cruel to declaw a cat – you’re taking away the top joint of the toe, and everything is more uncomfortable without it.  Many declawed cats will end up in a shelter or a sanctuary because they hate to use a litter-box – it hurts their feet. And many will lose muscle tone because they don’t like to move around so much, and are unable to give their muscles a real workout without digging their claws into something.

Akiva has no claws - but he still needs to clean between his toes  (KN)

On a hot day, they can often be found with pads exposed – when you have a fur coat, paws may be the only place you can cool off by sweating.

Lindor cooling off, with all paws exposed  (MW)

Cats use their paws for much more than just walking. They climb (sometimes having to return backwards down a tree); they dig (with luck, mostly in the litter-box), they leave scent markings for other cats to decode, they fight other cats (especially Jasper and Gizmo), they swat unwary humans, they wash up with velvet paws, and then extend their toes so they can clean between them.

Mr Binx clean-up time  (KN)

Our Sanctuary cats give us a wonderful collection of feet to admire

Alexandria is one of our very active cats, and her flexible paws are often used for climbing.

Alexandria offers the Vulcan salute  (KN)

Jackie-O is also a climber, possibly made easier by an extra “thumb” on her front paws

Jackie O's paw  (KN)

Extra thumbs help to hang on   (MW)

We have several polydactyl cats at the Sanctuary. Raymond in Val Jones, Christina Aguilera in the Front Courtyard, and NikkiSixxToes in the Single-Wide all have more than their share of toes.

NikkiSixxToes could also be called Bigfoot   (KN)

A glass table-top in Pen 3 is an irresistible tool for getting feet pictures from another angle

The models on top  (LBF)

paws from below  (LBF)

This dark tortie girl was named for her blond toes!

Toes  (EW)

Sometimes we call them “murder mittens” – but often when you see them like this, the cat is usually asking for attention

Kiefer's velvet paws reaching through from the Single-Wide (KN)

Winston says "Reach out and touch me!" (KN)

And of course, there is nothing we like better than to have a purring pile of fur in the lap, and the sensation of being kneaded gently as the paws show how much we are loved!

Roe loves a lap!  (JS)

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill Friesen, Brigid Coult, 

Karen Nicholson, Justin Saint, Erica Warren, Michele Wright

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

Oh my gods...!!

Handsome Pax - MW

It’s one of the jobs of our med staff to find names for incoming cats arriving into our care as anonymous kitties – and this is particularly a factor when we take in a colony of ferals.  When they are very young and adoptable (like the kittens at the Shelter) the names of a litter may all begin with the same letter, or they may all have fruit names or some similar theme – we know that their adopters will probably rename them, so having the perfect name isn’t really an issue. But when they come to us as feral adults or adolescents, the names they are given are the names that they will probably carry most of their lives.

Freya - Norse goddess of love - KN

Last summer we took in a big group of semi-feral cats that were being fed by a well-meaning Richmond resident, who became overwhelmed when suddenly there were kittens everywhere. Leslie and Louise spent hours trapping cats, and our team of fosterers sprang into action.  Moms and kittens went into fosterage, knowing that early handling was likely to produce more adoptable kittens. The adults and the adolescents came to the Sanctuary to be assessed, and likely to find a permanent home with us.

Odin - (a somewhat wary) Father of the Norse gods - KN

This was a big naming proposition!  What names could they have that would link them together in some way?  Leslie decided to go for the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods of mythology, and lists were generated.

Zeus, Father of the Gods - and feeling much better after eye surgery - KN

The two big black males proved to be FIV+, as is common with feral males, who can share the virus when blood is exchanged in fighting.   They were moved into the Val Jones area, with the most people-oriented FIV cats, and named Zeus, for the father of the Greek gods, and Pax (which is actually a Roman goddess’s name – though it doesn’t seem to worry him too much.  Zeus, who proved to be very friendly,  was adopted - FIV cats are good candidates for adoption as long as they are either alone or can get on with other cats.  Pax is still with us. His distinctive pointed face and luxurious mane showed up in a number of the kittens that were adopted, and also in a few of the adolescents.

The magnificent Pax - KN

Pen 6 was turned over to this group. They were too old to be easily tamed – old enough to know that humans were scary things. Old Kiko, the only resident of Pen 6 to be left, occupied the cabin, while the young ones scattered to the many other hidey-holes we’d established. When the fall gardening took out all the vegetation that screened the pen, more screening was woven in to give them a sense of privacy. Through the fall and much of the winter we would see them early in the morning or late at night; they discovered the cabin heating and many of them moved in. With spring came new bravery and an increase in visits from staff and Kitty Comforters.

Floofy Aphrodite - LBF

The most outgoing of the bunch is long-haired tortie Aphrodite – named for the goddess of love, and very lovable she is!  She has been the bravest in daring to come forward and accept treats, and finally contact; she’s also probably the most photogenic of them all.   Her short-haired tortie sister is Vesta (Roman goddess of hearth, home and family) and is much shyer; if the others are around, Vesta may come out, but she’s rarely seen alone.  You'll quite often see her with black short-haired Athena (goddess of wisdom) or twin black Atlas

Aphrodite, Athena, Vesta and Nyx - LBF

There are two long-haired black girls – probably sired by Pax. Nyx (goddess of night) and Juno (queen of the gods). At first sight they are identical, but Nyx’s eyes are yellower and Juno’s are green.

Nyx & Juno - LBF

The shyest of all of them is Mercury (the messenger of the gods, but also the Roman patron of merchants and finance!).  You can’t mistake him if you’re luck enough to see him – other than his colouring, he has a look of Pax about him, but he lacks his dad’s confidence.

Mercury - KN

We also have, from Kamloops, Freya and Odin (from the Norse mythology pantheon) and Loki, (the trickster god) who came to us separately.  We don’t yet have one named for the Egyptian cat-goddess Bastet – but there’s plenty of time, and many as-yet unnamed cats out there.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

Freya

Freya - MW

In a recent "families" blog, we were introduced to a group that recently came to us from a trapping situation in Kamloops. Barbara, Bruley and Baxter are now well settled in the Double-Wide, as is their sister Ariel, and also Aspen, who is still caged with a respiratory virus.  We are not the only shelter helping out with the work of our Kamloops colleagues. Other cats have come to other Lower Mainland shelters, where they stand a better chance of getting used to being handled, and possibly getting adopted eventually.  One of those shelters contacted us about a another Kamloops cat from the same situation that was proving unhandlable for them – would we be able to take it and see what we could do? Shelter Manager Lisa said yes – and Freya came to us.

To swat or not to swat?  - KN

Many shelters are much like our City Shelter, with limited space – individual cages for cats, outings only when the cat has proved manageable. Cats coming to the Sanctuary come to an enclosure that can be three or four times the size of a standard cage. It’s mandatory that they are caged for the first few weeks, so that we can assess them, and they can get used to us.   Freya came to us in December, and for some time all we saw was her draped cage and a notice that warned that only the med staff were to enter.

BC

We had just transferred Mozart and his buddies to the front courtyard, and for the first week they occupied the cage next to Freya’s. She was obviously not happy about being with us at all, and the fact that she was living next to a bunch of teenagers was plainly irritating (who can blame her?) .When the teens were released to the courtyard things were a bit better for their cranky neighbour, but her tolerance level was low for anything different that affected her living conditions.

Will the neighbours just be quiet?  - EW

When the med-staff notice came down, both cleaning staff and volunteers approached Freya with caution, and were met with growls and swats. It was usually safest to make no eye contact; to scoop and get out. It took the bravest ones to attempt contact with her, and most advances were met with not just disdain but with aggression.  Any cat trying to see if anyone was at home was met with hisses and bad language, and we had to keep at least the bottom of her cage draped.

I'm very comfortable - if you'd just go away....   KN

As she became a little more used to a human presence and less inclined to hide, it became obvious that she was a very pretty cat, and many of the more experienced Kitty Comforters spent time with her, though it was not always a rewarding experience. But she was healthy, and there was no reason why she shouldn’t be released into the front courtyard – if she didn’t like human company, there were lots of other feral cats who preferred to hide in the feral area.

First day out - happiness! - KN

So the door was opened, and Madam Hyde became Miss Jekyll – she was a totally different personality once outside. She explored the whole area, she allowed herself to be petted (with caution), she established with the other cats that She Was To Be Obeyed. She’s not very good at personal space – from her perspective, it’s all her own space. I don’t know if she’s had a run-in with Leland or Tigger yet; she certainly put Puffin and Timmy in their places!

Investigating Timmy - KN

She is obviously just one of those cats who goes stir-crazy in an enclosure. We’ve had a few of them – Dell was perhaps the scariest – who became a new personality out of the cage, though we’ve never had it happen so quickly. Sadly, the caging is necessary for an initial period, and with an organization that doesn’t have a no-kill mandate, you can see how a cat like that would be assessed as “untamable” and probably euthanized. I am so thankful for RAPS, that we will always give these animals a second chance – and if they are truly “untamable”, we can still find them a home in one of the feral colonies.

Happy in the sun - BC

For Freya, life has become wonderful – and we love watching her excitement as she explores her new world.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult,  Karen Nicholson, Erica Warren, Michele Wright