Update: Grrrroucho

For those who can count they time they've been coming to the sanctuary in years, it can be very rewarding to see how individual cats change over time, particularly those who come in shy, even totally wild, but slowly grow in self-confidence and trust of others. Unfortunately, there is the odd case where the change is not such a positive one. Once laid back and easily lovable Groucho has undergone such a personality change since I first posted about him in 2009 that he has to be kept separate from other cats to prevent him from starting a brawl.

At all seems to have started when Grizzy came to the sanctuary. Groucho took an almost instant dislike to Grizzy, so much so that he'd go out of his way to find him and start a fight. Newcomer Grizzy was already stressed and miserable about his environment (not to mention he'd recently lost an eye), and so it was easy to feel sorry for him and angry at Groucho when Groucho threw him off the top of the cages. And so Groucho had what was to be the first of many "time outs."

And then somewhere along the way, Groucho started going after other cats. He'd get so wound up that he couldn't calm himself down if he wanted to. The time outs became more and more frequent until he had to spend all his time either in a cage in the doublewide or in an outdoor run out the back. Staff even tried a special collar with medicinal properties that were supposed to help calm him, followed by a prescription medication. Nothing seemed to help.

Helping even less are some of the cats he's attacked in the past who, being cats, hold a grudge. Greyson in particular has been observed hanging around Groucho's cage and taunting him.

Fortunately, not all have forsaken Groucho. Loving, loyal Salty often drops by to check on him and even asks to go in his cage and sit with him from time to time. He also still has some human friends who haven't given up on him, who will go into his cage and sit with him (he particularly likes a little company while he eats his dinner) or give him a brush.

Salty visiting Groucho

We still don't know exactly what caused the change in Groucho's behavior. Staff have looked into discernible causes such as possible pain from bad teeth, etc., but so far the change remains a mystery. We may never know for sure.

Towards humans, Groucho's still much as he ever was. A little wound up sometimes because he'd really like to be let out of that cage, but still the kind of cat you can go and spend some time and share some cuddles with. He's even got his own special brush in his cage which he loves being groomed with.

I don't think he understands why he's become a bad boy any more than we do. So, as the sign on his cage says, "Please visits & brings treats & lovin'"

Merry Meowy Christmas

Earlier this week, I brought in a holiday bow to see what the cats would make of it:

Charmin: No response. I suspect the ability to ignore being dressed up, decorated and other indiginities is bred into Persians as a survival trait

Daisy: Always happy to pop a pose. She would like to suggest a calendar or series of greeting cards.

Groucho: Amazingly, did not pee on the bow. Did wander over and pee on the rabbits' cage as soon I was done taking his picture.

Lincoln: Not interested in expending energy on something that doesn't appear to involve receiving tuna.

Carreen: Responded to the introduction of a large red bow in the way I'd frankly expected most of the cats to do - with an experimental chomp.


Merry Christmas, everyone, and enjoy the holidays in whatever way makes you happy.

 Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller

Sanctuary cats beat the heat

"Beat the heat" may not actually be the best expression here, seeing as any sort of beating would involve effort. And anyone who knows cats respond to the rather toasty temperatures we've had these past few days (ok, not just the cats) knows that effort is not something to be spent foolishly.

The impetus to expend effort in writing about this rather than succumbing to a pre-bedtime nap comes from one of the drawings Vincent and Ayako shared with me last year. It's just too cute not to share with everyone.

The cats are saying atsui, or "hot" in Japanese. You may recognize the cat on the left as PeeWee.

RAPS staff do various things to help keep the cats (and the humans) from overheating.

We have a fountain out the back,

A cool mist stick out the front,

Buckets of water here and there,

Pickle

And sanity-preserving fans inside the main buildings.

Other than that, there's a whole lot of sleeping going on.

Groucho

Lincoln

Jerry

Groucho

A story from Leslie (first published in The Love Blog in July 2009):

"Groucho was surrendered to the sanctuary several years ago with his mother and brother, when the boys were just a year old. A family adopted his mom and bro, then came back to adopt Groucho a few weeks later. They felt badly for having left him behind. Unfortunately, their landlord wouldn't allow so many cats, so Groucho was returned."

I can understand how the family must have felt in having to leave Groucho behind. I still feel a little bad for not being able to take Angel home when I adopted her mother and brother. Fortunately, both Groucho and Angel appear quite content to be at the sanctuary.

Groucho can often be seen on the table in the McCracken House (aka the double wide) which serves as a nice, sunny sleeping spot by the window and, vastly more importantly, as the place where the evening meal is prepared.

Groucho is a regular member of the feeding time crew who like to "help" us volunteers by testing each can opened for quality. Although occasionally distracted, as cats are, by other important pursuits such as licking himself, Groucho is an enthusiastic and dilligent food-tester.

As the ever amiable Groucho is far from being from being a grouchy-puss, it's fairly obvious that his name has a lot to do with his markings, particularly his "mustache", reminiscent of the famous Marx Brother.

drawing by Claire