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

Wherefore art thou, Romeow?





At the back of the single-wide trailer is a small room, used as the Sanctuary office, but known to all as the Leukemia Room. Most of our feline Leukemia cats now live in what’s called the Old Aids / Val Jones complex, and there’s usually a little juggling around to get the best combination of cats that will get along together: who can cope with bossy Merlin? who can stand up to aggressive Jerry?

But the Leukemia Room is home to just a few very quiet cats, who benefit from the calm space, and also from the removal from all the feline cold germs that get passed around. They get no casual Sunday visitors, though on other days there are always volunteers who will go in and spend time with them.  Smoochie has lived there for some time; he was joined by our lovely Harry and most recently by big fluffy Bear. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get a glimpse of shy Marlowe.

Smoochie - Harry - Bear (MW)

Marlowe (MW)

The single-wide trailer has no access to the courtyard for the cats – these are all essentially indoor cats, though on the east side there’s an extensive covered deck where cats can get their fresh air and a little separation from the activity inside. And the Leukemia Room, too, has its little deck, with a double-locked entrance from the main deck.
Volunteers know that working with leukemia cats means careful hand-washing before and after – but Leukemia Room volunteers also know that working here means watching carefully for a small black cat, who paces the floor outside the doors of both entrances.

Harvest (DW)

Harvest  is usually a pretty easy-going guy who gets on well with the other cats – especially his buddy Babylon. But he REALLY wants in to the Leukemia Room, and we think that the attraction is Marlowe, who lives on the other side of the door. And the two can never be together; she’s leukemia-positive, and leukemia cats can transmit the virus through their saliva. For his own safety, Harvest must stay out. Every now and then he tries to do a jail-break in the wrong direction; he has actually managed it once, and had to be quarantined until his blood-tests showed him to be leukemia-free.

Harvest & Marlowe (DW)

That was the simple beginning to a thwarted love-story I was going to call Romeow and Julicat.  But it’s not as simple as that,
I had finished my Single-wide shift last week, and was sitting in the outside area of the Leukemia room, cuddling with Harry – who, as volunteers know, is a very single-minded cuddler!  Marlowe emerged from her bed on the shelf and sat glaring at me; Marlowe is not a cuddler, and doesn’t see why anyone else should be.

Marlowe (DW)

There was a flurry of activity from the deck beyond the door, where a plate of food was being served, and then a little black cat detached itself from the crowd and came over to the door.  Marlowe perked up; eyeing me cautiously, she descended the ramp to the door, and the two cats had a rubbing-and-posing conversation for about five minutes.

Harry was miffed – my attention was clearly divided, and he went off to do something else. I took a chance and slipped through the door, hoping to get some pictures from the other side.

 

 

At this point it became obvious that it wasn’t Harvest that was weaving and flirting and saying “I want to be in there” – Harvest has a white spot on his front, and this was an all-black cat. I got some pictures and went to find med-staff Leslie, who knows all the cats. Who was this, taking Harvest’s place in Marlowe’s heart?

 

It turns out that the alternate black cat is Clyde, the sister of our beautiful Bonnie Boy (check his link for the story of their names).

So does Marlowe swing both ways? Is she just a sucker for any black cat? (though she’s not particularly interested in either Smoochie or Bear). Is she the feline equivalent of a sailor with a date in every port? – she has a flirt at each door…   It’s certainly not the simple love-story I’d envisaged.

Whatever lies behind it, black cats pace at both the Leukemia Room entrances, and volunteers entering have to keep a wary eye open for a shadow trying to slide through on their heels.

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Debbie Wilcox Wolanski & Michele Wright

Babylon

Babylon came to RAPS as part of the same group that included Asia, Cairo, Sahara, and Tibet. He can be a bit timid, particularly if he doesn't know you, but is generally a sweet, gentle boy.

Babylon has formed a very close friendship with Harvest (seen here photobombing his pal), and Leslie says that the two are rarely apart.