Chilly Diva

Princess Diva is a Cat Who Walks By Herself.  She’s a true “I Vant to be Alone” Garbo-cat – disdaining the company of lesser felines, and occasionally bestowing her dignified attention on a suitably humble human.

Sometimes I sits and thinks.. and sometimes I just sits..   MW

Most of Diva’s time is spent outside in Pen 1; she can occasionally be found up on the roof, but she quite enjoys the dog-houses at the back, and she really loves the little bed that was put up for her.

From up on the roof she can look down on lesser beings! - KN

Sometimes she puts on her cat-blinkers and makes her way into the Double-Wide, where she will sit on the back of the couch and watch the comings and goings in the parking lot, occasionally accepting the homage that is due from staff and volunteers.

Diva has her own little bed - LBF

She’s a beautiful girl, but because she lives outside so much of the time, and disdains being groomed, she does get a bit matted occasionally.  She was actually doing OK in the early summer, when Smithy, Dell and a couple of others got lion-cuts, but we noticed recently that the mats were back, and she was taken in for a beauty treatment (under light sedation, which is the only way possible with Diva!)

Shorn and itchy - LBF

Beauty it was NOT!  Apparently they found that the mats couldn’t easily be removed, and they ended up giving her a full lion cut, as the only way to solve the problem.

OK in the sunshine - but it gets chilly! - LBF

Given BC’s usual fall temperature, that shouldn’t have posed any difficulties, but we’ve had the coldest early fall ever. The med staff and Diva’s human fans sprang into action with a variety of little sweaters for her to wear.

This is a Diva purrito - LBF

Unfortunately, she was Not Amused by them, and all volunteers need to keep an eye open for little discarded garments in the back pens, which have to be washed and kept on hand in the Diva pile.  She does seem to have had the sense to move into the warmth of the cabin in Pen 1, taking over an entire block of shelves, and relegating “the boys” to the opposite side of the room.

Safe and cozy on her shelf - LBF

Diva’s people are keeping a careful eye on her, and she’s getting as much cuddling as she will allow- followed by the inevitable struggles to get a sweater back on her.  By the time she’s got used to it, she will have grown enough fuzz that it may not be so important. And we know that she always has the option of being inside – when she stays out, she’s just being obstinate, as only a cat can be!

Diva proudly making a bold fashion statement - KN

Blog by Brigid Coult

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

Twin by Name

The two Lincolns share a shelf - DW

When we welcome newcomers to the Sanctuary, various things come into play with naming them.  If we know nothing of the cat in question, it’s usually up to the med staff to choose a name – preferably one that’s not already used, and one that begins with an alphabet letter that’s not too well populated.  The cat may be named after someone responsible for catching it (like Zimmer) or if it found its own way to us, it is given the name of a TV detective (Magnum, Kojak, Cagney, Watson...)

Sophia (top) & Sophie (bottom) - BC

But if it comes in to us with a name in place already, we try not to change that – we don’t know how much cats recognize their own names (though they certainly recognize voices). And so, inevitably, we have a few naming duplicates.

Orange & tabby Hannahs - MW

Our two Hannahs both live in the back courtyard.  Neither shows much interest in the other; tabby Hannah prefers people to other cats – vice versa for orange Hannah

Tabby & b/w Lucys - PH

Both our Lucy-cats are ladies of solid proportion, and again, both are back courtyard cats. Tabby Lucy would rather stay in the warmth of the laundry- or tea-room, unless the sun is out, in which case she sunbathes happily; black-and-white Lucy is usually found somewhere round the entrance gate

Cinnamon Bun Lincoln is less elegant and pushier than his long-haired "twin" - MW

The two Lincolns are Double-wide cats who occasionally visit in the back courtyard; both love human attention.  Handsome Lincoln can usually be found posing on one of the DW shelves;  Cinnamon Bun Lincoln (named for his curled tail) can be pushy when it comes to getting human attention, and is occasionally known to make his pee-mark!

Sophie/Sophie/Sophia - MW

 We have several Sophies: there’s tubby Sophie in Pen 2, who’s ready to greet all visitors; tortie Sophie in the Single-Wide; sweet Sophie of the beautiful green eyes in the Moore House – and there’s Sophia, also in the Moore House.

Calista - front (MW) - and back (BC)

Calista is not the most common name – but we have two of them, and they’re both shy. Front courtyard Calista is Renee’s sister; she has her favourite people, but tends to stay out of the way when there are too many visitors around. Back courtyard Calista is still pretty feral, but volunteer Marty has been working with her, and she’s allowing feeding, and (finally) a little petting.

WobblyBob (BC) & BellyRub Bobby (MW)

At one stage we had four or five Bobbys – the only ones now are Belly-Rub Bobby in the front courtyard, who loves everyone (but especially volunteer Chris) and Wobbly Bob in the back, who really only loves people when they have chicken in hand!

Mary SW (MW) & DW (CF)

Mary in the SingleWide is a sweetie; a former feral who has lost her shyness and enjoys attention. Her namesake in the DoubleWide is still very feral, and prefers to stay hidden up on the cage-tops.

MadMax & New Aids Max - MW

Mad Max, also in the DoubleWide, is something of a misnamed boy – neither mad-angry, or mad-crazy; Max is very shy, and wary of humans unless they have something worth hanging around for – he’s another chick-aholic. Beautiful orange/white Max in New Aids is something of a newcomers, and has not had his Neko-profile done yet – watch this space!

Princess with BFF Spike (DW) / manx Princess (MM)

I guess Princess is a fairly common name for female cats. Our royal trio in the Sanctuary includes the beautiful girl who is Spike‘s BFF and hangs about near the med cage, the little black and white manx in the Moore House – less beautiful but entirely lovable – and the elegant Princess Diva, who is the cat who walks by herself in the back courtyard.

Her Highness, Princess Diva - MW

Repeated names -  but all very individual personalities – there’s no confusing one of these cats with his/her “twin”!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Claire Fossey, Phaedra Hardman, 

Marianne Moore, Debbie Wolanski, Michele Wright

Ears!

A few months ago I blogged about the variety we find in cats’ eyes, and I’ve been looking round the Sanctuary at the similar variety found in feline ears.

The primary differential is whether the basic shape is rounded or more pointed. There are a lot of rounded ears to be seen, and the proportion of ear to skull shape can make that more or less obvious.

Careen - MW

Other ears are more pointed, and in many cases, the point is emphasized by a little tuft of hair at the apex – a lynx-tip.  Sometimes the tuft is the same colour as the cat, which enhances the point;

Chatter & Colin (MW)

in others, the lynx-tip provides colour-contrast.

Emery (MW) & Faline (BC)

Ears are a part of body-language; we all recognize the flattened airplane-ears of a fearful or angry cat

Ringo  (BC) and Janine (MW) in hiding

Presley  (AL)

though in some cases flattened ears are just the way that cat is made

Emo Pickles relaxed & happy (PH)

When doing TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) it is common to notch or snip the ear of a neutered cat so that it is clear that it doesn’t need to be trapped again when the colony is checked.  Most of our cats have unmarked ears because they come to us from having been spayed/neutered.  Little Marilee is one of the exceptions; when she was first TNR’d she was returned to her colony with the common clipped ear; it was only when her tail became injured and had to be amputated that it was decided that she needed to remain with us rather than return to her colony.

Marilee (MW)

Haematoma ear is seen in a number of cats. An infection or a bruise can cause painful swelling between the skin and cartilage of the ear. Untreated, it fills with blood and then easily bursts, causing the ear to crumple. If it can be caught early enough, it is possible to minimize the damage.

Little Orange (MW)

Little Orange’s ear swelling was discovered early enough that just the top of the ear flap was affected. He was not the most cooperative of patients!

Bossanova (MW)

Bossanova came to us as a feral with his ear already well crumpled. Left to itself the haematoma will heal, but unevenly, leaving the feline equivalent of a “cauliflower ear”

Cara (CF)

Long-time volunteers will remember double-haematoma cat Cara, who had both ears affected – it never seemed to bother her!

Especially among the formerly unneutered male cats (many of them inhabitants of the New Aids pen) we see evidence of a life that involved fighting for their lives – and battered ears are definitely a common casualty.

Sweet battered Zimmer  (MW)

It is interesting that ear-hair, something that is SO aesthetically displeasing in humans, can be so pretty in cats.
Here are some of our feather-iest ears!

OJ  (MW)

Holland (MW)

Princess Diva (MW)

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Claire Fossey, Phaedra Hardman, 
Ari Lioznyansky, Michele Wright

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