Black cat syndrome - or not?



One of my favourite jobs around the Sanctuary is taking new Sunday visitors around and introducing them to some of my favourite cats.  Frankly, I’m sometimes better with cat names than I am with people names, but I often hear comments about “how do you remember all those cats?”. A big part of it for me was this blog – Claire began volunteering at the Sanctuary shortly before I did, and she made a project of blogging about three cats a week. I was a regular Neko blog reader, and an increasingly frequent volunteer, and the two habits introduced me to many feline friends.

Belinda - MW

But one thing that people find surprising is the ability to identify the many black cats. There is a thing called “black dog syndrome” which describes the way big black dogs are often passed over for adoption at shelters. To some extent that’s also true for black cats – people don't see past the black fur to the personality;  and then there’s the superstition angle (though in some cultures, black cats are actually lucky!).  But it certainly explains why we have a fair number of black cats around the Sanctuary.

Bear - MW

To a certain extent, where the cat is may tell you who it is.  Big furry Bear lives in the small Leukemia area, and he’s the only black cat there, so it’s easy to pick him out.  Belinda (photo above) is a regular member of the dryer cuddle-puddle in the Single-Wide.

Mikey - MW

Mikey is our only blind cat; he came to us with some degree of sight, but an infection left him without vision. He has taken the med-cage as his sanctuary, but regularly makes his way out into the back pens where he can curl up and ignore the other cats.

Deety - MW

Deety can hardly be missed by visitors to the double-wide; he has his own place on the shelf next to the refrigerator. For some years he rarely moved from it, but threatening arthritis made Catherine start him on an exercise program (taking him to the far end of the Sanctuary and making him walk back), and he can now be found out and about quite often (though he still needs to be lifted back to his perch.

Skouch - MW

Sid - BC

It’s in the back courtyard that our biggest concentration of black cats tends to gather, and one has to be observant of quirks in facial structure or fur quality to be able to tell them apart.  Skinny Skouch is an easy cat to ID, and so is tubby Sid, trundling between visits to his friend Pancake on the double-wide deck and life in the open air.  Sweet Kilmer, with his somewhat bewildered air, is identifiable as our black Manx; Kenya has recovered from vestibular disease, but has a permanent head-tilt. 

Kilmer - PH

Kenya - MW



But there are several cats who take careful examination to make sure you have the right name.  Colin, Luigi, Mistletoe, CIL (named for the paint facility where he was found), Poosie, Ninja – all look fairly similar at first sight, and need careful checking. But once you’ve identified the cat, all the little quirks of behaviour start showing themselves, and the personalities blossom.  

Colin - PH

Colin is a feeding-time boy, a leg-rubber and a prancer when cans are being opened. Look for the lynx-tips on his ears. Friendly CIL has the same broad face as wary Mistletoe, but you can feel the difference in their coats.

Luigi - MW

Luigi sports one white whisker, and a little coloured marking in his right iris. Poosie has amazing dark pupils to her eyes, rather like Deety – and an intense dislike of other cats. Sweet Ninja is also a cat who walks by himself, but in a nice way; he has the softest coat and the most luxuriant tail for a short-haired cat – and true to his name, he loves rapid movement and can sometimes be found sprinting up the back courtyard to the tree.

Ninja - PH

 

Ninja - MW

It’s sad when potential adopters at a shelter can’t look past the “black cat” label to discover the shades of personality that we are able to enjoy here at the Sanctuary.

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Phaedra Hardman & Michele Wright

 

 

Calendar time!

The new RAPS Cat Sanctuary Calendar for 2016 is out - and it's beautiful!  First copies will be seen at the Halloween Gala, and it will be available at all three RAPS locations - the 5 Rd Shelter, the 6 Rd Sanctuary and the Thrift Store.

In order to see the photos that were selected, you'll need to get a copy (or more than one - they make great Christmas gifts!), but today's blog offers some of the pictures that didn't make it - always a very hard decision, but we try to select a good cross-section of cats, and preferably cats that haven't been featured in the calendar before

handsome Bear lives in the Leukemia Room

Birdie has gone from being a wary cat to being everyone's friend

Michele's wonderful picture of Bobby was *almost* this year's cover...

Dodger was interrupted in the middle of his yoga exercises

This lovely picture of EngTeng went head-to-head
with the picture of the black-and-white cat that was eventually chosen

We never know whether handsome Jingles will purr or growl

Head-tilt Kenya always makes us smile

Sweet King George lives in the New Aids pen

Everyone loves Latte

Fluffy MiuMiu is one of the "gericatrics" in the Moore House

Yale is known to his friends as "crazy eyes"

 

 

As always, thanks to Michele for the wonderful pictures!

 

Now - go and buy the calendar and enjoy the pictures that were eventually chosen.

 

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Pictures by Michele Wright

A Different Slant on the Sanctuary

As you walk around the Sanctuary you will notice several cats that carry their heads with a slight tilt to one side. In most cases, this is an aftermath of vestibular disease. It may come on very quickly. It affects the cat’s inner ear, making the cat suddenly become uncoordinated – frequently staggering or falling, sometimes walking in circles. The eyes dart back and forth (nystagmus). Occasionally the condition may be caused by a tumour, or by an ear infection, but in many cases it’s idiopathic, meaning “we don’t know!”
There’s little to be done other than keeping the cat in a safe place so that it can’t fall. An antibiotic can help rule out a standard ear infection, and an anti-nauseant will make it easier for the cat to eat – the sensation must be like living with sea-sickness. In most of our big cages the mid-level shelf is taken out so that the cat doesn’t attempt to jump and then fall, and the floor is well covered with bedding. The latter may have to be changed frequently, because an uncoordinated cat sometimes finds it hard to use the litter box.

Yoda - ML

A frequent greeter at the gate to the back courtyard is Yoda. His go-round with vestibular disease was some time ago, but the head tilt is still apparent. It doesn’t stop him being one of the most attention-seeking of the cats. With his favourite human friends, he likes to climb up and put his paws around your neck, butting his head into your hair. My Friday mornings begin with cleaning the volunteers’ Tea-Room, and Yoda is always there for a morning greeting.

Kenya - MW

Also hanging around the Tea-Room is a small black cat, instantly recognizable by the head-tilt. We have a number of black cats, and it’s not always easy to tell them apart, but you never have problems identifying Kenya.  She’s still very shy, but in the last year or so has become more accepting of attention, and ready to interact with a few humans.

Tibet - DW

Rarely in the Tea-Room, but often in the courtyard just outside is Tibet, with his beautiful  brown-black markings. Tibet was very wary of humans before his encounter with vestibular disease, choosing to approach only a few; weeks of cage-time and human attention have turned him into a boy who loves to be petted, frequently jumping up on the table to get really close.

Babylon - MW

Interestingly, the king of head-tilt – Babylon, in the single-wide – came into the Sanctuary with the group of cats that included Tibet. There doesn’t seem to be any resemblance between them, but one wonders if there might not be a genetic quirk in common. Babylon remains very tilty-headed, for the most part, but it seems to be a habit more than anything – he can straighten himself up, and he can also turn his head around rather like an owl. Like Tibet, the human attention he received as part of his care has turned him from being a shy boy into an attention-seeker.

Paulo - MW

Paulo, in the front courtyard, is in a different category. One of the family of our little one-eyed Val, he had a go-round with vestibular disease a while ago, and emerged with a bit of a tilt, but otherwise all right. More recently he had a more serious episode that may just have compounded what had gone before, or that may have been a mild stroke. He had a long period of cage-care, and though he’s been out for some time, he still staggers, and is pretty uncoordinated. But he loves attention and his brother Silverfox has been seen taking care of him from time to time – sideways stagger and all, Paulo is very much part of the front courtyard crowd.

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Moira Langley, Debbie Wolanski & Michele Wright