The Sound of Mew-sic

Visitors to the Sanctuary are often surprised by how quiet the place is. Other than the occasional plane passing over, and some distant traffic noise, all is very peaceful. Unlike dogs, who are often very vocal, most cat communication lies in body language – both posture and touch.  There are, of course, sounds we would prefer not to hear – the hiccupping noise of an incipient hairball, the occasional spat as Treacle warns someone out of her space, the muttering of grey Leland telling us he’s in one of his bad moods. 

 

There are one or two particularly noisy cats, chief among which has to be Booster, who perches in the corner of a cage and yells until someone comes to pay attention to her.

 

Josie waits impatiently for Doug (or any other Josie-fan) to come and pat her bum – whereupon she trills her little Josie-song.

Other cats are noted for more subdued vocals.

Bubba, in Old Aids, talks to his favourite people until he is hugged, as he wishes.

 

Lucky is pretty quiet for a Bengal – but when he raises his voice, you hear it!

 

Cisco (on right, with Yoda & Fred) is vocal in his impatience in the tea-room as he waits for someone to pour coffee, and give him a little taste of cream.

 

Max, in the Val Jones, talks in a whiskey baritone.

On Sundays the vocals are dialed up as afternoon visitors arrive, and cats swarm the gate, saying “Feed me!  I’m starved!”  Wayne appears with his chicken offering, and the clamouring gets desperate. The same phenomenon occurs every evening as the feeds begin – there is always a chorus of already-well-fed but hungry cats.

Back courtyard Owl is particularly vocal when chicken is about,

though in this case it was a small moth he was after!

Pictures of cats with open mouths got me thinking about what they might be singing

O Solo Meow - Dodger

 

Purrrfidia - Esme

The (would-be) lion sleeps tonight - Achilles

 

Stray Cat Strut - Birdie

 

My purr will go on – Little Orange (PH)

 

(Everything I mew) I mew it for you - Skye

 

You got a fur-iend  - Skouch

 

Good vibrations - Arnie

 

 

What does YOUR cat sing?

 

Blog by Brigid Coult
Photos by (mostly) Michele Wright
with Brigid Coult & Phaedra Hardman

 

 



The Wednesday Night Crew

This is a shout out to all the working staff at RAPS who do such an amazing job of keeping the hundreds of cats at RAPS healthy, comfortable and loved.  Since I frequently refer to the staff in my blog posts, I thought I’d give the Wednesday night crew a chance at the spotlight too.

Leslie is the sanctuary’s senior medical staff and gifted cat savant with a profuse knowledge of all the cats’ names and histories.  How is it possible for one woman to know so much about so many cats?  I guess it would be because that knowledge comes from a place of love for every single one of them.

Leslie started in 1998 after meeting RAPS executive director and founder at a garage sale back when it was known as the Richmond Homeless Cats Society.  The sanctuary was built in 1999 and she has been here ever since.  When I asked Leslie what she thought was the best thing about working at the sanctuary, she said this: "unconditional love from hundreds of wonderful little souls and getting to know each individual's personality.  Taking care of their health needs is challenging, but very rewarding."  Indeed, Leslie takes very good care of the sick cats at the sanctuary and I`ve no doubt that a good dose of her love is the best medicine around for those cats.

Leslie and Ann holding Tugboat and Marmalade

Ann started as a volunteer for RAPS sanctuary in 2008 and eventually worked her way to a medical staff position and works alongside Leslie every Wednesday night.  Ann has a vivacious and infectious energy about her that brings about peals of laughter, fun and adoration from everyone two legged or four.   

Often I come to work on Wednesdays and Ann will enthusiastically tell me about some new cat that has arrived and is always eager to take me to meet them.  Fearless med staff that she is, she has plenty of scratch and bite scars to prove that she is dedicated to helping the sick and needy cats of the sanctuary.

When I asked Ann who her favorite cat of the sanctuary was she said this: “well, I guess that would be Maxi man or Marmalade… or maybe Gilbert, but then there is Gunther and Sylvester and well Cagney is great and I can’t forget about Seven and also…” and well, you get the picture.  An unfair question on my part really, how can you pick just one?

Ann

Doug works Wednesday nights but he keeps to himself and I don’t often get a chance to talk to him all that much.  He keeps the sanctuary running smoothly, fixing just about anything and everything that needs some fixing.  He has built some of the houses for the cats and keeps up on all carpentry and maintenance issues.  That is a tall order with hundreds of cats running loose who keep him busy in the wake of their destructive ways.  Doug is always hard at work whenever I see him but every once in a while I catch him with his laser light out playing with one of the cats.

Doug plead the fifth when asked who is favorite cat was but I have been informed by the rest of the staff that Doug has an admirer in Josie who stomps around in delight whenever Doug comes near. She is absolutely overjoyed when Doug kneels down to pat her hind end which elicits an odd but endearing little dancing jig and singing number from this little lover cat.

Doug with Josie by his side and Lincoln in his lap

And finally there is Louise who came from South Africa and started as a volunteer in 2009, eventually finding  a position in 2011.  Louise has an incredibly gentle way with the cats softly talking to them and cooing at them while she goes about her work.  She has an endearing laugh and a beautiful smile and seems to be able to read the minds of these cats with incredible insight.  She always has a good story to tell about any cat you care to ask about.

Though hard for her to nail it down to one cat, when pushed, Louise states she has a special affection for Buddy as he is just a sweet boy always ready for a cuddle.

Louise with Buddy

These four staff members are just a few of the dedicated staff who provide love and care for the cats at RAPS. You are all loved and appreciated not only by the cats, but the volunteers who work with you and make our experience at the sanctuary complete.

The 12 Days of RAPSmas - days 9 & 10

Continuing The 12 Days of RAPSmas...

On the ninth day of Christmas, the RAPS cats gave to me

9 Josie dances

8 Lincoln mooches

7 cuddle puddles

6 of Mario’s harem

5 hugs from Fred

4 Grizzy sprays

3 Billy kisses

2 random buns

And an “egg” that was laid by Sweet Pea

On the tenth day of Christmas, the RAPS cats gave to me

10 Hannah leapings

9 Josie dances

8 Lincoln mooches

7 cuddle puddles

6 of Mario’s harem

5 hugs from Fred

4 Grizzy sprays

3 Billy kisses

2 random buns

And an “egg” that was laid by Sweet Pea

Spring sun at last

Finally the sanctuary cats (and their minders) are getting to enjoy some warm, spring-like weather in the afternoon and early evening. And the cats waste no time in making the most of it. Here are a few photos from this evening.

Lana & Whiskey

Quinn (?)

May & Adam

Shelley

yawn~*

Chatter 

Josie

Dusty

Even the cats who stayed indoors managed to soak up the sun coming through the windows!

Lincoln

Birdie and Creamsicle

matatabi

The subject of today's post is not a who but a what: meet matatabi.

Matatabi (またたび), silvervine in English, is a plant native to east Asia. In Japan, it's popular for its entertaining, catnip-like effect on cats.

I'd heard about it but never seen it until my friends Vincent and Ayako brought a package of silvervine twigs back from a recent trip to Japan.

My cats liked it well enough, but the response was hardly electric. I was curious to see if I'd have any better luck with the cats at the sanctuary, so last night I came armed with one of these supposedly magic twigs. When I showed it to Karen, Doug and Ann, they looked unconvinced. It didn't help that the first few cats I tried presenting it to just gave me a look as if to say "Uh, yeah... it's a stick."

And then I had a taker...

Fred

And another...

Shylo

... and another. I soon ceased to doubt the power of the twig.
Interesting, though, how some cats found the scent incredibly appealing while others stuck to their original just-a-stick position.

Here are a few more cats who fell into the pro- camp:

Snowball

Angel

Diablo

Josie

Harry

Worried Harry looks a little too excited? Fear not. He went right back to his nap as soon as I took the matatabi away.

Instructions on usage from back of matatabi package

Lincoln

As for Lincoln, he dropped it of his own accord after suddenly discovering a case of the munchies.

PeeWee

Josie

Josie was brought into the No. 5 Rd. shelter a couple of years ago, a frightened stray with kittens. As frightened as she was, staff there didn't think they'd have much luck adopting her out and so passed her on to the cat sanctuary where she could live at whatever level of tameness (or lack thereof) she felt comfortable with.

Josie turned out to be not simply tame, but really quite delightful. One of those "what's not to like" cats, she's friendly and responsive without being needy.

OK, not needy when it comes to most of the world, maybe just a little bit needy when it comes to staff member Doug. Josie may like the rest of us, but she looooves Doug. Sometimes when I'm doing my dinner shift in the doublewide, I'll suddenly hear this squealing like a pre-teen at a pop concert. I'll look around, and sure enough, there's Josie, over the moon about getting some cuddle time with her hero, Doug.

As if the squealing isn't funny enough in itself, what sets Josie off the most is if Doug lightly and repeatedly slaps her back at the base of the tail. Vanessa and I tried variations on the theme to see if we could get a similar response out of Josie and were rewarded with a few light squeals, but I think she'll always save the loudest and most joyous for her Doug.