Care for the Caregivers

January 2024:  KitKat (MW)
KitKat loved her people (especially Justin) for shoulder time
and lap-time - other cats, not so much....

As we enter a new year, we often take time to review the year past, to celebrate the big occasions and remember the hard ones – and in particular, to think about the friends we have loved and lost in the past twelve months.  

March 2024:  Hope  (KN)
The grand old lady of the Front Courtyard, Hope loved both people and other cats;
her friends Carly and Celine really miss her

At the Sanctuary, we do this not only at the turn of the year, but also in the summer, on what we call the Day of Chance, when a potluck occasion offers the chance to gather in person and remember the cats who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge; I will sometimes write about them at that time, but I have made it a tradition to do a blog tribute to the cats we have loved in a turn-of-year posting like this one.

March 2024:  Huey  (LBF)
Gentle and wise, Huey was greatly beloved, especially by Daphne,
who called him her Quality Control Inspector in the Double-Wide

The term that is strongly in my mind right now, though, is Compassion Fatigue, and I want to take the opportunity to think particularly of our Sanctuary med staff over the past years. As any caregiver knows, it can be exhausting tending to the sick or the ailing, and their days are full of tasks that focus on the cats’ health – wellness checks, monitoring and treating diabetics, administering medications, dealing with ringworm and fleas and ear infections, fluids for kidney cats, complete tending of new incomers who are not ready for volunteer care, and many other tasks.

May 2024: Dodger (MW)
Named for the dodging of cars that brought her to us,
this sweet lady was the benevolent queen in the SingleWide.

Many human patients are grateful to their caregivers – not so, with the majority of cats, and it’s hard to have to express your love by immobilizing your patient in order to deal with an eye infection, or to deal with the dirty bum of an incontinent cat who hates the necessary bath.

May 2024: Cagney  (MW)
One of our oldest "detective" cats, (the link is to Claire's blog of 12 years ago).
Cagney struggled with arthritis in the last years - but always loved attention and tidbits!

It’s the med staff, too, with our RAPS vets at the hospital, who sometimes have to make the necessary call that a cat is suffering too much, and needs to be released from its pain – or who find a cat who has “crashed” and have to do the final run to the hospital.

June 2024: Midnight  (KN)
I spent a lot of time coaxing this feral boy into accepting petting and grooming; 
chicken and consistency were key, until his health took a bad turn.  Miss you, Midnight!

And it’s the med staff who are at the Hospital with the cats to the end, reassuring them as they pass that they are still in loving hands, and undoubtedly grieving as they drive back to the Sanctuary afterwards.

July 2024: Leonardo di Catprio  (KN - the last photo)
This boy was a Back Courtyard icon, and his passing took many of us
by surprise, though he had become more frail...

I don’t think anyone goes into animal rescue care for the money – it’s a calling more than a career.  And burnout is not uncommon – if only a dozen or so cats leave to find new homes by adoption, they are well outweighed by the number of cats who pass in a year.  We have an aging population, we have cats with health issues as the reason for coming to us, and we have many ferals who have begun their lives malnourished and at risk, and who carry the side-effects into their later years.  Someone has to arrive early every morning to give the necessary early meds – and someone is there late into the evening to deal with the last doses.

August 2024: Raisin (KN)
This sweet old lady had come to us via a Vancouver parking lot;
she was fearful and hissy, but learned that humans often brought good food.

Cats who have been greatly loved are watched carefully when we know their time is coming, and it’s the med-staff who are ready when a furry body is found cold in its bed.  How can this be anything other than emotionally exhausting?  We volunteers grieve when a beloved cat passes, but we don’t have to carry the burden of responsibility for all of them – and we can step away and take a break when needed.

October 2024: Tumbleweed  (LBF)
Another Back Courtyard icon - Tumbleweed had cerebellar hypoplasia,
with little control over his movement, but lots of determination, and many people who loved him.

So, along with remembering the cats we’ve loved and lost this year, let’s also remember the med staff who have given them care and love – often unwanted and unappreciated by their furry patients, but always necessary.  I am grateful that we can give the gift of a gentle passing when needed – it is both the most loving and one of the hardest things we can do for a beloved pet. And when we mourn a beloved feline friend, let’s remember that the med staff also mourn, and have to deal with the “nothing that could be done” frustration that comes at the end for caregivers.  

November 2024: Quinn (KN)
This shy sweet boy was wary to the end - unless you had a treat in your hand;
if there was food he would summon up his courage and allow contact.

In this New Year, I hope that they can take all that makes them the caregivers they are, and make self-care a priority, giving themselves as much generosity and love as they give to our furry friends, and turning compassion fatigue into compassion satisfaction.

November: Calvin (MW)
He was the longest, skinniest boy, with the biggest appetite, 
and LOOOOVED his chicken. Michele's favourite cat - so many pictures!

Blog by Brigid Coult

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

loving memories also of
January: Jethro, Maximilian & Plum  /  February: Perry  / March: Tashi, Desmond, Monty1, Brodie  /  April: Gigi, Portia, & Kiefer  / May: Layla & Chester / June: Salina, Lulu  / July: Hailey, Sambuca & Percival  /  August: Paylan, John Henry, Malcolm, Marie /  September: Ginger  /  October:  Bill, Clementine, Big Dave, Jillian  /  November: Tiki & Cinnamon  /  December: Meepos, Monty 2, Magnus & Len

Choosing a Laptop

Bill, in New Aids, loves his laptime with Mel  (MD)

So you’re thinking about getting a new laptop? What’s important to you? Weight? Flexibility? User-friendly? There are so many models from which you can choose – and they’re all at the Cat Sanctuary!

The Single-Wide lapful  (JS)

As the song says (and we all know the pain) – “I can’t right now; I’ve a cat on my lap!” - lap-sitting with a cat is the perfect way of doing nothing and getting all the feels for it! But there are many different styles of lap-sitting.

Magnus says, "Come and sit with me NOW!"  (MW)  

There are cats like Magnus who climb into your lap and just settle there – no twitching or wriggling – just letting you know that you are now their comfy place, and you are NOT TO MOVE.

Adria LOOOVES lap-time - though it may not be restful   (BC)

There are the cats who want to be on your lap, but who wriggle and squirm to make sure they have all your attention; they want petting, but they don’t necessarily want to be held.

Oh, that smile....    (JS)

There are the cats like Roe who are advanced lap-sitters, blissed out by caresses, even allowing belly-rubs – and who will happily hog all your time. Roe is jealous if anyone else gets Justin’s attention before her.

"Can I come up now?" Bossanova is needy  (KN)

There are the lap-standers – they want to be up, but they don’t want to relax. Our sweet late Sara Lee was another lap-stander – and even when old and creaky, made determined efforts to struggle into volunteers laps at coffee time, though without ever settling. Bossanova can be coaxed into lying down with a bit of a belly-rub.

Cuddles with Jasmine need planning   (KN)

There are the cats with whom it’s wise to have a towel as padding – our leaky manx cats are loving and seek attention, but plan ahead to protect your clothing!

Sitting VERY still with JJ   (BC)

There are the cats who leap for your lap, but who do NOT want much in the way of touch! At coffee time, the human frozen postures tell who has JJ or Sophie sitting on them – both girls are reactive around hands, and stillness is appreciated.

KitKat is less interested in laps  (JS)

For some, laps are less an attraction than shoulders - KitKat is a determined shoulder-sitter!

Huey doesn't want Daphne to move  (DJ)

For others, the idea of the lap is nice, but they don’t actually want to be on it. Huey likes it best when he can sit on the couch beside you, and keep a possessive paw on you lap so that nobody else will claim it.

Elvis leads the lap-loading - 
Selena and Bear want in on it as well  (BC)

And for cats like Elvis, the lap is only the foundation to get as high on the chest as possible, so that he can gaze into your eyes, put his paws around your neck, and tell you how much he loves you.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Melanie Draper, 

Daphne Jorgenson, Karen Nicholson, Justin Saint, Michele Wright

Sisters

“Sisters, sisters, never were there such devoted sisters...”

KN

In fact, we have no DNA evidence Topaz and Onyx are related by blood at all – they came in at separate times, and the vet estimated them at different ages.  But they came from the same place, they look remarkably similar and they tend to be found together.  Mostly, in the Sanctuary, we tend to think of them as Topaz-and-Onyx, and back when Claire introduced them on the Neko Blog, they were already an established pair.

KN

They are part of the little-black-cat population in the back courtyard, joining Celia, Sara Lou and a few others in the “who is that cat?” reaction from volunteers. They are less easily confused with their black Sanctuary “brothers” Ninja, Tyson, Jay-Z, all of whom are larger and glossier; these two old ladies show their age with less energy and rougher fur. They’re among the semi-ferals; they prefer not to have a lot of human attention, but they’re ready to accept the odd treat, and they love chicken handouts.

Topaz (KN)

We think that they are among the oldest cats in the Sanctuary; the vet's original guesstimate at her age would put Topaz at 19+; they are among what we call the Donni-cats, coming to us from a hoarding situation. There are very few of those cats left – bob-tailed Huey and pretty Princess still live in the Double-Wide.  Every day Topaz receives a dose of medication for a hyperthyroid condition; luckily she is more ready than her sister to enjoy human contact, which makes the medicating job easier.

Onyx (KN)

Onyx, who is listed as being a couple of years younger (though it was an estimate, and she may be the same age as Topaz), is much less interested in human touch and will shy back from contact. When you see them together, it's easier to distinguish them; separately, it’s possible to confuse the two.

BC

When it gets colder, Topaz and Onyx will probably move back to the warmth of the laundry room; for some years their favoured turf was on top of the hot-water tank in the small storage room. That’s off-limits to cats now, but there are plenty of beds there where the old ladies can be cosy.

KN

But for now, they’re loving the waning summer, finding places to lie together, and enjoying the sun and each other’s company.

Blog by Brigid Coult

("Sisters" from "White Christmas")

Photos by Brigid Coult and Karen Nicholson

Graceless Kitties of July

It's been brought to my attention that we're overdue for the next installment of "graceless kitties"...

So here you go. Enjoy!

Huey
photo by Andrea

Honey
photo by Debbie

Bunny
photo by Debbie

huge yawn by little Frieda
photo by Claire

Huey again
photo by Claire

Bobby and pal
tummy rubs by Ayako
photo by Claire

Gus Gus
photo by Claire

Marmalade
photo by Claire

photo by Phaedra

and how could we have a Graceless Kitties post without Fred?
photo by Phaedra

Whiskey

Whiskey is one of the original cats to come to us from the house that Cara, Huey, Hannah and others once called home.

I hadn't met Whiskey until now as he's one of the backyard gang (as opposed to the doublewide gang who are stuck with me every week). He was hanging out on the table in front of the tearoom this evening when my fellow doublewide volunteer noticed this handsome tabby man and wondered who he was. I didn't know and decided to find out.

He wasn't too sure about me at first, but quickly warmed up to the point of repeatedly reaching out and grabbing my hand, drawing it toward him so that he could headbutt it more easily. He then spent some time trailing around after me, affectionately headbutting any cat he happened to come across on the way.

Whiskey & Tawny

All this matched nicely with Leslie's description of him as a nice boy who's friends with everyone.

Huey & Hannah: Part II

Huey and Hannah both have the same background story, but they each lobbied for their own post.

Here's Huey.

Like Hannah, Huey was a feral who became tame over time thanks to the efforts of the woman who took him in. When her situation changed, he came to live at the RAPS sanctuary. According to Lisa, "When they were in the cage adjusting to life at the shelter it was Hannah who was the friendliest, but now that they are out Hannah seems overwhelmed by all the cats and Huey is the friendliest. He has proved himself to be a real doll."

Huey can still come across as a bit skittish, so for the longest time I didn't realize he was tame. When I paused too long near him, he'd stare at me with these wide eyes, ready to bolt if I came even a step closer.

After getting that kind of reaction more than once, I was surprised how little it took to get him trotting towards me instead of away. A gentle smile, an outstretched hand, and over he comes. And after that, the only kind of picture I could get of him was like the one at the beginning of this post: quite contentedly underfoot.

Huey & Hannah: Part I

Huey and Hannah both have the same background story, but their personalities are so different that I'm going to devote one posting to each.

For today, Hannah.

The story, from Lisa (originally published in The Love Blog, July 2009:

"Huey and Hannah: These two cats came to us from a woman who loves them very much. Unfortunately, she has some health issues and needed to move out of the basement suite where she was living. Her sisters found her a beautiful apartment but unfortunately it was not pet friendly. These cats were feral (wild) strays that had come into her yard and she tamed them slowly but surely. When they were in the cage adjusting to life at the shelter it was Hannah who was the friendliest, but now that they are out Hannah seems overwhelmed by all the cats and Huey is the friendliest. He has proved himself to be a real doll."

Even if Hannah is not entirely sure what to make of all those other cats, she has certainly remained friendly with people - to the extent that it's surprising to hear that she spent the early part of her life as a feral.

A warning about Hannah: her favorite form of greeting can be by way of an ambush. She's fond of leaping onto shoulders, occasionally from a height, and rarely with a concern whether her intentions have been noted. I was introduced to Hannah late last spring when she suddenly took a flying leap at me from a high shelf. This wouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that she misjudged the angle, failed to get a proper purchase on my shoulders and so proceeded to slide down my back, claws extended. Ow...
Next time, I was ready for her and we had a good old cuddle.

For those who feel in any way threatened by the prospect of a flying tabby, even one who comes in peace, memorize the face in these photos and look for the warning signs. The body language shown below is an excellent example of Hannah posture approximately 10 seconds pre-leap.

June 2017 - after years of living at the Sanctuary, Hannah has been adopted!

Be happy, little one!