Our Sweet Buddy

MW

With so many felines to blog about, it’s rare that there’ll be a repeat on one particular cat unless there is a significant change in circumstances – usually that the said cat has progressed from feral to friendly.  But blogging about the Pen 2 tabbies last week reminded me of other tabbies I love, and I did a little visiting around – both personally and on the blog – with that in mind.

PH

I was particularly struck by the blog entry Claire wrote back in 2010 to introduce Buddy. Long-term volunteers will remember that we used to keep the rabbit hutch in the Double-Wide, just outside the med-cage and Buddy would sit on the shelf and visit with Amy and Kringle (and with Kris, after Amy passed). The rabbits were eventually relocated to the New Aids pen (they have now been adopted out), and their hutch was replaced by a set of shelves with cat-beds.

ML

Buddy chose not to relocate. There are a few other cats that you will always find on those shelves – Spike and his BFF, Princess, often Lincoln and Luigi – but you will almost always find Buddy there. Whether it’s proximity to the med cage and the goodies that come out of it, or the fact that very few people go past without offering petting and cuddles, Buddy has decided that this is His Place.

Buddy dressed up for potential adoption - PH

In our recent Adoption weekend, in which Hannah and Birdie, Poosie and Gracie-Mae, and several others all found loving homes, we had Buddy on the list. He’s an older boy – he came in to us fully grown in 2009 and we think he’s probably about 14 years old.  There have been a few nibbles at adoption and they’ve never worked out – and once again, on this weekend, Buddy was passed over for younger, livelier cats. Many of us have mixed feelings. We’d love Buddy to have a home where he has a person of his own, and much love and petting.  But he also has much love and petting with us, and he would be sorely missed.

MW

The majority of the cats at the 5 Road Shelter are looking for adoption – they don’t want to stay in that space, which is a place of transition. Most of our Sanctuary cats feel they have a home; they’ve learned to interact with other cats and they have a lot of human fans. Buddy has made his home on the shelf by the med cage, and we would need to be very sure that any alternative home will give him something better than he already has with us.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Phaedra Hardman, Moira Langley, Michele Wright

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