The Dilutes

Over coffee a couple of weeks ago we were talking about cat colourings and especially commenting on our dilute cats. I decided to try and do a little research into what caused the colouring, and perhaps write about it, but quickly decided it was much too big a topic to blog about.  A simple primer on cat genetics can be found here and here
For anyone not familiar with the term dilute as applied to a cat, it just means that the more intense colours found in most feline coats are toned down to a gentler shade. It can apply to almost any colour – grey cat fur is just a dilute form of black, for instance.
The Sanctuary cats we particularly think of as dilutes are the more dramatically patterned ones.  Probably the most handsome of these is Princess Diva who was featured in this year’s calendar, and who I just realised I need to blog about – so watch for her story in upcoming weeks.

Miss August – Princess Diva - MW

Very familiar to visitors in the front courtyard is another diva, our little Latte. Latte looks remarkably like her late mom, Val, except for the colouring. The tabby markings show through clearly, but are softened by Latte’s permanent highlights. This little girl is bossy, and has no hesitation in swatting other cats if she thinks they’re heading for a treat that she believes is hers.

Latte being cute - MW

Another blonde, but with more subtle markings is back courtyard Sadie. Sadie’s brother Kiddie is also pale in colour – an aspect of the dilute gene – but it’s Sadie’s pretty mixture of grey and peach that always attracts attention. Sadie and Kiddie are getting older now, and are less energetic than they used to be; Kiddie spends most of his time lounging on the table at the entrance to the double-wide trailer but Sadie likes people, and can usually be found in the tea-room. Laps are particularly favoured, but even though there’s nothing wrong with her legs, she prefers to haul herself up into the lap, rather than jumping. Our little Sadist has sharp claws that usually need trimming!

Sadie - MW

Nervous Nelly still rarely comes down from the cage-tops where she feels safest; if you can get her to sniff a finger, you’re doing well. Nelly has never found another cat to love as much as she adored our orange-and-white fluffball Mario. Tortoiseshells usually have strong orange and black colouring, but her tortie colouring is muted by the dilute gene.

Nelly - BC

Perhaps the most dramatic of these five is Alyssa – another dilute girl who’s never had her own blog post. Alyssa is long-haired, which seems to be less common among torties, and her dilute colouring shows in dramatic blond highlights. She was also featured in the 2016 calendar and needs her own blog entry.

Miss April:   Alyssa - SG-K

Summer blond highlights, ladies?

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Shoval Gamliel-Kumar and Michele Wright

A Touch of Tortitude

With more than 400 cats around the Sanctuary, there’s an immense variety of types and colours. Tabbies of various kinds predominate, but there are many other coats to be seen. The majority of our orange cats are male, but we do have half a dozen orange females. The orange coat is a genetic trait that occurs through the male X chromosome, and a female cat with orange fur has to have been sired by a male orange, through the mother may be of any colour. This is also true for tortoiseshells and calicos, both of which are almost exclusively female. In both cases the gene for the orange colouring is modified by the gene for black or for white fur.

Alyssa - Lulu - Vienna - PengPeng - Sophie

We probably have more than a dozen torties, a few of whom are shown above.  Anyone who has ever been owned by a tortie will tell you that they have tons of personality – we call it “tortietude”. They tend to be assertive about their rights, possessive of their territory, feisty and somewhat unpredictable.

Treacle - BC

Nobody at the Sanctuary sums that up better than Treacle. A little stiff-legged girl (probably a little arthritic), Treacle has claimed the Hill House as her space, and once she’s found her bed, she does NOT want to be bothered by other cats!  She loves humans – she’s one of the cats you can pick up and snuggle, and she adores it – but when there are front courtyard spats, it’s usually because Treacle is laying down the law. 

Treacle - MW

She’s what’s known as a chocolate tortie, with a lot of black in her fur colouring. Treacle carries her “my space” bubble around with her, and woe betide the cat that ventures into it.

In a totally different vein is Nelly, a dilute tortie, found in the DoubleWide. She was the long-term girlfriend of our dearly loved Mario, and has never really recovered from his death – one gets the feeling she’s still looking for him. Nelly’s territory is the top of the cages, from which she stares down with the slightly horrified expression of the typical feral.

Nelly - MW

But progress is being made – though she still won’t allow herself to be touched, she will now accept treats, and occasionally comes down to join the crowd outside the med-cage.

Nelly - BC

As you leave the DoubleWide, you will encounter a tortie who exemplifies tortietude.

 

Emily - MW

Emily takes territory to an extreme. For months she hung out on a cat-tree just outside the tea-room. Then she was slated for some dental work and caged while she recovered. Once the cage was open and Emily was free to go, she decided that this was her new territory, and refused to leave. It took months before she decided that there were too many cats encroaching on her territory, and she needed to claim something more her own. Now she’s moved to the shelf just outside the DoubleWide, where she demands attention as we come and go.

Emily - PH

Now that the weather is warming a bit, Emily can once more be found outside the tea-room – especially if there’s chicken on offer – but she’s back on her shelf for the evening, and waiting to have her own special dinner delivered.

Daisy - MW

We can’t leave the torties without mentioning Daisy. She also has personality to an extreme degree – like, 180 degrees away from Treacle. Daisy has never met someone who isn’t her friend. She probably has a chromosomal disorder something like Down Syndrome (cats only have 38 chromasomes, so true Down Syndrome, which is a disorder of the 21st chromosomal pair, is not possible). We regularly have Sunday visitors who arrive asking, “Where’s Daisy?” and both cat and human enjoy snuggles; Daisy is one of the few Sanctuary cats who is relaxed when cradled like a baby.  As a feral cat, Daisy’s chances would have been poor. We feel that she’s a poster girl for the Sanctuary.

Daisy - MW

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Pictures by Brigid Coult, Phaedra Hardman, Michele Wright

Warm and fuzzy feelings

To mark Valentines this year I decided to look at some of the cats that have obviously developed deep attachments to each other. For a few of them, they’re family relationships – mother and son or siblings – for others there is obviously The One Important Cat – and then there are a few who just send out the pheromones that say “I’m lovable!”, and the other cats gather around.

Bantam & Simone - CF

Any visitor to the single-wide will be greeted by the cuddle-puddle on the dryer – led by two grey cats who came from the same source, and are probably siblings. They are happy for a little interaction with humans, but they really love to be with each other.

Garfield and Diamond- MW

Blog-readers may remember Hiro and Sophie, who are often found together – Hiro is a mama’s boy, but has recently started to be a bit more independent. We have just welcomed to the Sanctuary Garfield and Diamond, who are similarly attached. They are in fact adoptable, but being at the Shelter was too scary for them in the small cages there; with us they have room to move as they please – but mostly to snuggle.

 

Liam and Lady Lightfoot - PH

Liam and Lady Lightfoot in the New Aids are often found together, but Phaedra tells me it’s rather a one-sided affair – Lady has something of a crush on Liam, which isn’t entirely reciprocated. Phaedra says, “When Lady snuggles up to Liam he will slowly move to another spot; usually she doesn’t take the hint, and follows him. Liam usually relents because he's a peaceful little guy.”

Many readers will remember our dearly loved Mario who had a harem of devoted followers of both genders who trailed round after him

Mario & Shrek (RIP) - CF

Just over a year ago we lost Mario to cancer and for a while his followers were bereft; Nelly in particular is wary both of people and of other cats and hasn’t found another love. But it was apparent that Mario’s mantle had, at least in part, descended on Salty, who can often be found on the double-wide couch, absolutely surrounded by furry bodies.

The couch cuddlers - MW

He does seem to have a favourite, though – he’s most often seen with Lana – so much so that we chose their picture for the February picture in the calendar this year.

Lana & Salty - MW

There are a few other cats who seem to have that magnetism.  Kiddie is a double-wide table-top cuddler - frequently found sleeping (or trying to) with another buddy

Prince & Kiddie - BC

 Shy black Jet in the back courtyard has a devoted following – here he is with one of his favourites

Jet & Mad Max - MW

and beautiful Foxy (Silverfox) in the front courtyard is usually found with his buddy Cheetah

Silverfox & Cheetah - BC

Sweet Pea is often avoided by humans, because of her dirty back end, but quite often she can be found cuddling with one of her buddies – Lillix, in this case

SweetPea & Lillix - LL

When Shuga was diagnosed with feline leukemia, she and her buddy Esme were delighted to be reunited in the Val Jones enclosure.

Shuga & Esme - BC

Many of the AIDS cats have become so as a result of fighting in their feral days – at the Sanctuary, “fixed” and fed and warm, they’re more often found cuddling together than doing battle. And now we discover that the newcomer in Old Aids, Bubba, is another charmer like Mario, for both cats and humans. Even the alpha male, Merlin, seems to gravitate to the new boy, and shy Kojak was seen being tenderly washed by him.

Happy Valentine’s Day – to cats and humans alike!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Phaedra Hardman, Claire Fossey, Leslie Landa & Michele Wright

 

 

cat sanctuary music video!

For a different way of sharing the always entertaining cats living at the sanctuary, I decided to shoot some video. As a number of my RAPS friends know, making music is another thing I like to do...
And so it seemed to me a great idea to create not just a video with the cats, but a music video with the cats.

I recorded a cover of Ingrid Michaelson's The Way I Am, chosen because the cats take us just we are, just as we do for them.
Some of you have seen this already. For those who haven't -- enjoy!

Click on the image below for the embedded player, or click here to watch from the YouTube page.

Here are some of the cats featured in the video:

Yoda

Lucy

Selma

Orlean

Squeakers
(with Orlean still wriggling in the background)

Mario and Nelly

Logan

Marilee

Foxy

Booster

Ziggy Girl

Cookie

Note: There will only be one blog post this week -- the video was lots of fun to do, but really took it out of me!

Nelly loves her Mario

One more than one occasion I've seen the sanctuary's Mr. Popularity, Mario, lying semi-squashed under his adoring fan Nelly. This he accepts with quiet grace. And what does he get in return for being a great furry pillow? Apparently, at very least, a thorough grooming.

When I came across them last week, Nelly was in the midst of giving her beloved a most adoringly meticulous wash.

Nelly remains determined to not have anything to do with humans beyond a wide-eyed and hostile stare, but she does love her Mario. 

Nelly

Nelly is one of our ferals.

She can generally be found up on top of the cages. Not only does she feel safe up there, as many ferals do, but she seems to actively enjoy the entertainment value of watching our comings and goings.

As she stares at you with curiosity in her big round eyes, it's hard to resist trying to engage with Nelly, perhaps reaching out slowly in hopes of touching even finger tip to nose. But no luck for me so far. She never hisses or swats at me as some of the less tame cats are inclined to do, just scurries away out of reach.

Someone who has apparently had much better luck with Nelly is Mario. Perhaps he can work the same relaxed cat love magic he's used to tame other ferals in the past.