Under the Radar and Overhead – part 1

Pauline sent me the foundation for this blog last month, and it’s taken me way too long to get posted! In fact, she blogged about so many cats, that I decided to split it into two sections...       BC

The majestic Pax - BC

With National Black Cat Day, Black Cat Awareness Month, and Halloween all in the October rear-view mirror, spotlighting some furry black friends is way overdue.  Many new black cats have arrived this year.  They tend to be under the radar and relatively shy or feral.  These are the ones who will likely be seen on a Sunday afternoon.

A Beetle in a Box - PC

Beetle has been making more appearances in the front courtyard this year.  Recognizable by his lynx ear tips, he arrived with his sister, Cricket, in 2017.  He hides much of the time.  Now, he will hang around nearby, socializing with other cats, but just out of reach. Occasionally he takes “out of reach” very seriously, and climbs from the front courtyard glider onto one of the struts that hangs out over the courtyard. He can’t get any further, but he seems to delight in looking down on the rest of the cat-world.

Layla showing her good profile - MW

Inside the Connor House, you might see black Layla - one of several cats that came to us from a hoarding situation.  Her fluffy appearance is alluring and she’s open to pets sometimes.  Layla is quite polite.  Unlike other cats, she won’t get upset if she gets overlooked, nor swat when over-stimulated.  Too many humans and she will look for higher ground and hang out with feral Frisky.  All-black Frisky, with very few defining characteristics, spends all day on the cage top and has zero interest in humans.

Zeus on arrival and after surgery - PC

Beautiful Zeus, fully recovered - KN

Zeus is a quiet fellow picked up as part of a massive trapping effort.  He has a large fluffy head and prefers the cage top.  Zeus didn’t particularly socialize with anyone.  Approach slowly, with your hands visible, and he might allow touching.  He’s still adjusting to his new life in the Val Jones corner, but doing much better since having surgery for entropion – inward-growing eyelashes. Life as a feral cat must have been very scary for him when he couldn’t see properly, and his eyes hurt. His surgery left him looking a little like a werewolf for a while, but now he’s out of pain, he is accepting attention from the volunteers with much less fear.

Handsome Pax - MW

Found in the same area was medium-haired Pax.  Pax is labeled as semi-feral, but has a positive opinion about people.  It didn’t take long for him to purr and enjoy the comforts offered up to him.  He’s an energetic boy, who sometimes earns a timeout for roughhousing other cats. There are some strong personalities in that pen! Pax has a distinctive shaped head that leads us to believe that he is the baby daddy for a number of the kittens trapped in the same place.

Neptune - PC

FeLv+ Neptune came in with Portia and Voodoo all the way from Portland, Oregon.  Portia, who is the calendar cover star this year, is comfortable in the baskets around the outside area of the leukemia area.  Voodoo (now gone) had a tipped ear and preferred the high rafters.  Big black Neptune is still cautious around people.  Sometimes, he’ll allow me to pet his soft coat.  He might choose to sit near me or chill out overhead.  These days, he won’t go anywhere without his BFF, Henrik, and he is also very friendly with his lookalike, Chateaux.  Both black cats are shy around humans.

Cheateaux - MW

Shy and feral seems to be a theme for black felines.  Hopefully, this will help ID the small panthers you might find.  More black cats to be spotlighted in part 2!

Blog by Pauline Chin

Photos by Pauline Chin, Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

Diabetics

November is National Diabetes Month – and not just for humans, but also for pets as well.

Bandit - MW

Just as in humans, cats (and other pets) may suffer from diabetes.  The body produces little or no naturally-occurring insulin and is therefore unable to regulate sugars in the blood. The only way to control it is by administering insulin by injection. In many cases, by the time diagnosis has occurred the cat is insulin-dependent.

PawPaw - MW

In some cases, the body creates some insulin, but not enough, or it may not be able to regulate it. An early diagnosis and prompt treatment can stave off dependency.  An older, more overweight cat is more likely to be a  diabetic than a younger one, and managing the cat’s diet, as well as balancing the administration of insulin, is necessary to maintain the cat’s health. Occasionally the onset of diabetes is linked to steroid treatment for another condition, and we quickly try to find an alternative; sometimes the diabetes will go into remission, and this is often linked to weight loss, or the speedy diagnosis and treatment of the condition.

Henrik - leukemia cat, diabetes in remission - MD

Currently only four of our Sanctuary cats are diabetic, though we have treated many through the years. In some cases it is a long-term condition, and is unlikely to change.  Bandit, who lives in the Single-Wide,  receives insulin injections twice a day. This can be a challenge – not because he objects to the injection (most cats don’t even notice it), but because he has to eat before he gets his shot, and he’s very picky about what he will accept. The med staff keep a cupboard of non-standard cat-foods to hand, and it will frequently take two or three different offerings before Bandit decides that he might as well eat.  Occasionally he has to be force-fed, which is not fun for either cat or staff!

Bandit waiting regally for medical attention - MW

Our beautiful Dell, in Pen 3, was diagnosed as a diabetic about 6 months ago.  The classic signs are weight loss, appetite, thirst and increased urination. We noticed that Dell was not looking in his usual good shape, and a visit to the RAPS Hospital showed that his blood sugars were up. Regular insulin had Dell looking much better, and the med staff keep a careful check on his progress.

Dell is looking so much better now he's on insulin - MD

Achilles lives in New Aids; his diabetes likely has no link at all with his Aids diagnosis, but it does mean that we keep a very careful eye on him for other things that might affect his immune system, and thus his general body condition.

Achilles - MW

Older and overweight – that fits for Shaggy, who came in to the Moore House with his buddy Spicer. Shaggy was one of the lucky ones; a rapid diagnosis and careful treatment enabled his body to re-balance, and his diabetes went into remission.

Shaggy no longer needs insulin - MW

PawPaw was one of the cats who came to us from a closing private shelter some years ago. He was diagnosed diabetic soon after he arrived, and is one of the cats that I think the med staff enjoy spending feeding time with, before he has his injections. He hangs out in Waldi’s Hut with his buddy Chimo, and making sure that the tasty food goes just to PawPaw and not to Chimo and their friends, takes a little careful management!

PawPaw - MW

Our diabetic cats are well-tended by RAPS med staff and the hospital vets.  Many people manage their own human diabetes as a routine thing, and there is no reason why we should not be able to do the same for our pets with the assistance and advice of a vet.  But there’s no denying that, with little experience, taking on a diabetic cat is not something most adopters will gladly do, and for those cats who are unable to find adopters because of their condition, the Sanctuary is there to maintain their health and safety.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Melanie Draper and Michele Wright

The Feline Sedins are not retiring from the Sanctuary!

Back in 2006, RAPS founder Carol Reichert trapped two handsome ginger boys under an east Richmond shed, and brought them to the Sanctuary.  And what else can you do with a pair like this other than name them for the Canucks' most famous redheads!

Henrik

Daniel and Henrik (feline version) were a pretty feral pair, and joined the rest of the front courtyard crowd of cats who prefer to steer clear of humans. The majority of those cats hang out in what’s known as the old Rabbit Area, where the shelves are all covered, giving lots of secure hiding spaces for the wary inhabitants.

Henrik hiding

In the years around their arrival the Sanctuary was particularly busy;  there was a big influx of cats who were displaced by construction around the city, and more and more places where feral cats had been hiding out were either no longer available to them, or the human caretakers felt that cats would be safer elsewhere.  Photos from round 2006-2008 make it clear that we were swamped with feline residents, and it was very easy for cats like these two to vanish into anonymity.

Daniel 

By the beginning of the second decade the tide was turning, prompted mainly by an ageing population. Cats who had arrived in the early years of the Sanctuary as mature adults were beginning to fail, and many were lost to the inevitable onset of kidney disease, cancer and other conditions.  Sad as this was, it meant that many cats who had previously managed to stay invisible were now being tracked, both for their health and for possible socializing. A blood test during a vet check showed that Henrik had tested positive for feline leukemia.

Henrik

This was the period in which the Val Jones corner of the courtyard was cordoned off and attached to the Old Aids area, housing the leukemia cats. Henrik was settled there, and made himself at home with friends like Esme, Mocha, Savannah and GusGus.  All have now passed, but Henrik is still in good condition – the virus has affected his immune system in the form of mouth ulcers, and they can be treated with medication, though that in turn causes him to put on weight (and he is NOT a small cat!)

Daniel & Cloverleaf

Classic Daniel cuddle-puddle

His brother Daniel has continued living with the other ferals.  He is more sociable than Henrik, and usually has a buddy or two (or three) following him around, head-butting and snuggling happily.  Cloverleaf is usually the favoured friend, but Sarah, Jamie, or newcomer Figaro also like to be in on the action, either out in the courtyard or in the Hill House.  In the last while Daniel has also become more sociable with people;  Henrik continues shy, though he will accept attention when offered – especially when treats are part of the package.

Daniel & Sarah

Our two ginger brothers are beloved inhabitants of the front area of the Sanctuary; Henrik’s life is a little quieter these days, but Daniel shows no sign of retiring from action.

Blog by Brigid Coult

All photos by Michele Wright

 

 

October 2018: Sadly, we lost Daniel to acute anaemia quite suddenly. His friends - human and feline - miss him!

Favourite corners: the Val Jones cats

The small group of cats who live in the Val Jones area are favourites with a number of the volunteers. I know that I’m not the only one who visits on a regular basis to make a fuss of them.

Jerry - PH

The dominant cat in this area is Jerry. He’s always been something of a hair-trigger personality – for a while there was a semi-joke about whether or not one was member of a “Jerry Victims Support Group”. To be fair, it was not usually that Jerry attacked people, but if you got between Jerry and a cat he disliked, you usually came off the worse for wear!  . Most recently it was gauged that Breezer needed to be transferred out of the VJ and into the Old Aids next door; we are wary of having another dominant personality in this group – Jerry needs to be top cat! For a while he was not in good condition – what appeared to be a reaction to flea meds left him balding and uncomfortable. But his fur has regrown to its usual luxuriant length, and Jerry is enjoying being admired again.

Henrik - MW

In spite of his size, our sweet Henrik is actually quite shy, and no competition for Jerry.  Henrik is the brother of Daniel, out in the front courtyard (what else would you name a pair of red-heads who came in together?) but one of the side-effects of his FeLV is mouth ulcers, and the medication to ease that causes him to put on weight. Since he is also one of the larger cats in the area the effect is pretty startling.

And the side-effect of that is that he can’t groom himself effectively, so that a complete haircut is occasionally necessary.

Chip - CF

Chip is the brother of Dale, in the Double-wide. He’s the nearest thing Jerry has to competition, and tends to be very wary of him; mostly you’ll find Jerry in the left-hand cabin (VJ 1), and Chip in the smaller right-hand one (VJ 2).  Chip is a chicken-lover, and always emerges when there are offerings. He's a friendly boy, and likes human company.

Foxy - MW

This little boy came from the Newcomers area when blood-tests showed that what was obviously latent FeLV had become full-blown. He’s another chick-aholic, and we worry about his health when he’s not ready to chow down on chicken tidbits. Still very shy, you’ll usually find Foxy hiding on one of the lower shelves. He’s not ready to be petted, but humans bearing gifts are tolerated.

Mocha - MW

Cross-eyed Mocha is the last of a family of three cats who came in together. We recently lost her sister Cappuccino – a little torbie who looked nothing like her littermate. Her brother Pekoe (Orange Pekoe, of course) was one of my favourites when I first came to the Sanctuary, and other than colouring, looked very like Mocha – including the stubby tail. His sister is a little wary about being petted, but is very food-motivated.

Suga - PH

Sweet Suga came into the Val Jones about 18 months ago, and immediately settled down with her friends. She’s a snuggler – there’s often a cuddle-puddle in the Val Jones house, and Suga is inevitably part of it.

GusGus - MW

This sweet boy has been part of the VJ family for some time. He’s the brother of pretty grey Hope in the front courtyard, and Domino (now passed), and we cared for both his mother Joanie, and the cat we think was his father, Hudson. GusGus is one of my own sponsor cats, and I try to spend a little time with him whenever I visit. FeLV leaves him very susceptible to feline colds, and I’m always anxious when he’s off his food – it’s usually that he’s become congested and food loses its tastiness for him.  This is always an anxious time for us – with Feline Leukemia, the compromised immune system has a harder time throwing off any infection.

The VJ cuddle-puddle - GusGus, Mocha & Suga - BC

I know I’m not the only volunteer who loves to spend time with these lovely cats. The usual protocols apply – we are careful to wash before and after visits, not because FeLV is infectious, but because we need to protect them from the germs more easily tolerated by other cats.

Come and visit them on a Sunday afternoon, and get to know them better!

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Claire Fossey, Phaedra Hardman, Michele Wright

A belated New Year reminder…

 

Here we are, more than halfway through January – and we still have a few RAPS calendars on hand. This is just an online reminder of some of the furry faces who should be watching over your doings, and those of your friends and family, in the coming year…

The lovely face on the front cover is that of Henrik, one of the pair we call the Sedins. Their names were actually Ethan and Simba when they came in, but this suits them much better. Poor Henrik got very matted at one point last year, and had to be taken in to the vet for what ended up looking like a lion cut.

He was not impressed!  The cat that we had all assumed was mostly fuzz turned out to be a very solid body under all the covering. These days he has a good bit more fur!

Tilty head Babylon (January) is one of the cats who has suffered from vestibular disease, which affects the inner ear. For some time the cat staggers round as if drunk, and is usually confined to the bottom of a cage lined with blankets so that falling is safe. Sometimes cats recover well, sometimes the head-tilt remains.

Babylon, interestingly, is able to straighten up, but also turns his head way round, like an owl! He also demonstrates one of the side-benefits of this scary illness – he’s much more comfortable with being handled by volunteers, and welcomes attention.
March and April give us two of the loners – Timmy and Leland are not happy campers, surrounded by so many other cats, but at least at the Sanctuary they are able to find some space to themselves; if we took them to No 5 Rd for adoption, they would have a very hard time in even closer proximity to other felines. Both cats love human attention, and might do well in a cat-savvy, single-cat household.

It was only after our pictures for the calendar were chosen that I realised that the Val family had yet again stolen the spotlight.

The picture of Latte sunning herself is a mirror image of that of her brother Silverfox, usually known as Foxy, in the 2013 calendar.

What can I say? – they’re great-looking cats!
Miss November is Autumn – and our little once-feral girl with the blonde highlights is beginning to get very brave – from a wary and hissy cat who avoided people at all costs

she has become one of the greeting crowd – especially if there aren’t too many other cats around, and she can get some attention.

There are still a few calendars left, and we’re discounting them now we’re halfway into January. Please pass the word, and if you want a copy, contact the Shelter at 604-275-2036, or contact me at brigid@uniserve.com

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos from calendar by Michele Wright and Henley Chiu
photo of Autumn hiding by Phaedra Hardman