To Purr or Not to Purr...

Cornelius & Holly  (LBF)

Last week’s blog reminded me of the work we had to put in with Mozart and his buddies to get them to accept human attention. Remembering them at that age also reminds me of the youngsters we have at present in Pen 3.

Garth & Sierra  (LBF) - currently in Pen 4

Dell & Gregory  (BC) - Best bros forever

Pen 3 has always been a home for ferals. It held an assortment of little tabbies, it was always a stop for visiting with Gregory and our beloved Dell, it became home for a colony of cats who originally came from Merritt. Of them all, only Dell and Gregory were truly tame; the others would sometimes tolerate contact, and a few cat-whisperers broke through the barriers with cats like Napoleon, but most of them would hide when the gate opened.

William Shakespurr  (MW)

This summer we helped out with a Calgary rescue dealing with a hoarding situation. Knowing that we would have a batch of newcomers arriving, there was a scurry to catch and transfer the remaining cats from Pen 3 to the larger Pen 4 – also home to ferals – and to clean the pen out for new inhabitants.  The transfer seems to have gone well; Pen 4 has sufficient space and hiding places that the in-comers have settled comfortably, and there appears to have been no tension with the original inhabitants.  As with all our newcomers, the Alberta cats were caged for a while for assessment and to allow vaccines to take hold.  With few exceptions, they were released into Pen 3 and given time to settle.

Jason & Cornelius  (BC)

As is most usual, initially we didn’t see much of them. Between the main cabin and the smaller houses around, there were many places to hide. Typically for cats, they were most active early in the morning, and at twilight, and Sunday visitors often saw nothing of them.  But the Kitty Comforters have been digging in, and every time I’m in with them, I see progress.  Some were instantly friendly; there are a couple (Jenkins and Lucius) who would probably be at the Adoption Centre if it wasn’t already so full of kittens!  We currently have seventeen of them – all at that tricky teenager stage where they might tame up – and they might not!

Mewlius Caesar (KN)

I’m not going to try and introduce all seventeen – but the blog title comes from the fact that someone who named them was a Shakespeare lover, so you’ll get a couple of the Bard’s cats today.

William Shakespurr (KN)

They are led, of course by William Shakespurr – actually, “led” is the wrong word, because he’s a very shy boy and reluctant to make contact, though he’s curious about visitors.  I love his markings – he looks as if someone gave him bangs with his haircut.

Mewlius Caesar & Holly (LBF)

Equally shy is Mewlius Caesar. We were a bit concerned by a potential FeLV reading of his blood-test results when he came in, and he spent extra time in a cage before a second round of tests proved to be clear. I suspect his name came from his vocalizing – he was a very loud cat to have in the Double-Wide – but now that he’s out in the pen, he’s pretty quiet again. He is easily distinguished from the others by his Groucho Marx-type moustache.

Cornelius (LBF)

There was another Shakespearean cat called Mercutio (friend of Romeo, in “Romeo and Juliet”) but he was so “ridiculously friendly” (in Valerie’s words) that he never made it to Pen 3, but went straight to the Adoption Centre and found his forever home. My favourite of these Bardic cats is Cornelius (there are two Shakespearean examples of Cornelius – one in “Hamlet” and one in “Cymbeline”). This pretty boy is a little wary, but willing to venture contact – and he loves chicken.  He also likes other cats – he can often be found hanging out with Holly (who is putting on grey fluff to challenge Mozart) or black Jason.  

More of Jason when we meet the other black cats in a future blog...

Blog by Brigid Coult

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

Relocation

Dell has moved!

Life is serious for Dell  -  MW

Dell has been with us for eight years, and he was fully adult when he came into our care. You can read more of his early days with us here and here in the blog – for the most part his life has been spent in Pen 3 with the ferals.

Gregory and Dell were a bonded pair   -  MW

He himself is not a feral, but was a stray or abandoned cat, who once knew what it was to have human friends. In his early, wary days with us, he bonded with Gregory, and the two were inseparable. Gregory was the older of the two, and we lost him a couple of years ago; there was some discussion about whether Dell might come out of the pen, but the med-staff pointed out that since he had been diagnosed with diabetes, it was easier to find him for his twice-daily insulin if he was always in the same location.

Waiting for a visitor - MD

The other Pen 3 cats were mostly not people-oriented. One of the cat-whisperers has been working with the Merritt cats, who prefer to stay out of the cabin, but they don’t socialize with Dell. The little old tabbies enjoy his company (and, apparently, chewing on his whiskers), but they are also not happy with people around. And Dell loves people. Luckily, between twice-daily insulin, morning cleaning and evening feeds, he gets regular visitors, and many of the Kitty Comforters make a point of spending time with him.

The sleeping lion - LBF

In the last few months we’ve had several cats come to us who are also diabetic, and who have been located in the Single-Wide. In October the med-staff decided to bring the diabetics together, and see how Dell might take to a relocation.  After an initial week in a cage, during which he was pretty vocal about not liking any change, he came to the conclusion that in fact he could get more time with humans this way, and perhaps it was a change for the better.

Not a fan of being caged  -  BC

In the first weeks after his cage opened up there was a steady stream of cats in and out to investigate. He took it all very calmly; aggression with other cats has never been a problem. Our lion is now beginning to enjoy prowling around a new territory – he has been investigating the ramps and getting onto the high shelves with some of the shyer cats. Because he’s a cat whose fine fur matts very easily, having him in will allow us to keep him better groomed. He's enjoying comfy chairs and heat-lamps, he's holding his own with other cats, and he's even found a buddy to snuggle with. Harvest recently lost his sidekick Babylon, and is glad not to be lonely any more.

Sharing a bed with Harvest  -  KN

The cats who live in the outdoor pens don’t have to be cold – each cabin has a thermostat-controlled heater. But there’s no denying that this will be a much warmer, more comfortable winter for Dell - physically and emotionally – with lots of company from the humans he loves.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos: Lisa Brill-Friesen, Brigid Coult, Melanie Draper, 

Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

Barely a week after publishing this blog we lost our beloved Dell - like a typical cat, he hid any sign of illness until too late, and all we could do was to release him from his pain.

Dell was an icon at the Sanctuary, and many of his friends - feline and human - are grieving his loss. Purr in peace, Dell

Be My Kitty Valentine

Every new cat in the Sanctuary is spayed or neutered (speutered) before being released into the general population. There will be no kittens born here!
That being said, there is much to be argued in the theory that love, in cats as in humans, has very little to do with the reproductive organs.  I wrote a couple of weeks ago about some of the “just good friends” who can often be found nose-to-nose. This week’s cats, however, go beyond “just good friends”; these are cats who are deeply bonded, and who are frequently found in each other’s company – twining tails, mutually grooming, and cuddled together in a box or a basket.

Adam & May - BC

These two beauties in Pen 5 came to us from the 5 Road Shelter when it was over-running with kittens a few years ago. They would be wonderful companions in a quiet home – but they would need to go together.

Sara Lee & Kiddie - DW

Both Sara Lee and Kiddie came here with siblings, but they are much more interested in each other. They are often found just inside the door of the double-wide.

Sarah Paylan & Presley - DW

This is a new romance in the single-wide. The newly-named Sarah Paylan has taken up with shy Presley; we hope she can get him to be more outgoing.

Jax & Eleanor - MW

These two devoted lady-cats live in the single-wide

Marilee & Little Orange  DW

Feral little Marilee is still reluctant to be touched by human hands – but when cuddling with her protector, Little Orange, she’s much more relaxed

Spike & Princess - DW

These two sweeties can frequently be found nestled together on the shelf just outside the med-cage.

Sid & Pancake - BC

Feline "bromance" is alive and well.  When Sid was recently caged for healing from dental treatment, Pancake was so unhappy to be apart from his buddy that we finally caged them together.

Cloverleaf & Daniel - BC

On the feral side of the front courtyard these two handsome boys are often a pair; Daniel (named for Daniel Sedin) is friendly; Cloverleaf is still fairly wary of people.

Dell & Gregory - BC

The formerly ferocious Dell is now the complete lap-cat in his own safe sanctuary pen. He is rarely seen without his sidekick Gregory, and when a lap is offered, they both want to be on it simultaneously.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Pictures by Brigid Coult, Debbie Wolanski and Michele Wright

Gregory

Gregory is a somewhat shy but still friendly boy from the back left pen the sanctuary.

The back pens are often home to ferals who like to have a place where they can be close to their cat buddies but not too close to human activity. Gregory was put in a pen when he first arrived as it was impossible to tell how friendly he'd turn out to be. By the time RAPS staff realized he liked people, Gregory had gotten comfortable in his new home and gotten to know the other cats there, so they decided he's be happiest staying where he was. Visitors to the pen often ask who the friendly black cat is and wonder whether he's supposed to be in there or just snuck in from another part of the sanctuary.

Gregory in a cage in the doublewide after being at the vet for a dental

enjoying a chin scratch

Gregory and Dell sharing rubs with each other and their human visitor