Tofino

Tofino (KN)

The Cat Sanctuary is the centre of our own feline universe, but throughout the province, and beyond, there are many wonderful rescue organizations working to alleviate the suffering caused by careless or abusive pet owners. We have strong links to Kamloops because of the contact through Sanctuary Manager Valerie, but whenever possible, we try to respond to urgent pleas, wherever they come from. Many of the smaller rescues don’t have the facilities to offer a permanent home to feral cats; they depend on the big hearts of volunteers to provide fostering. And while that can have wonderful results, when a colony of cats is brought into care, that’s a big ask for a small organization.

Wary Tofino...  (KN)

One of the rescues that calls on us occasionally is Cats Cradle rescue, on Vancouver Island. Based in Sidney, they actually serve all the municipalities around Victoria, focusing their work on fostering and adoption. When they have a group of ferals come in, we are one of the resources to whom they turn. Last May I introduced a group of the cats who came from one of their colonies: black Velma and grey Ryan, Bugle and Veruca Salt have all settled pretty comfortably with us. They’re not “tame”, but less wary of contact, and we think slow-and-steady will do the job. Veruca Salt has decided to remain in the Double-Wide; Bugle has relocated to the Newcomers area; Ryan and Velma are pretty free-ranging.

Enjoying the sunshine   (KN)

Others, from different colonies, have scattered: Indigo and River (Styx), Campbell and Nootka are all more feral, and mostly black, so they are hard to identify. Sweet Burt Reynolds has given up all thought of being a feral and has settled into comfort in the DoubleWide. We have a new group of orange tabbies (Tangelo, Valencia, Mandarin and Tangerine) who are still caged. The cat that stands out from the Cats Cradle refugees is a quirky-looking little black-and-white girl called Tofino.

Mmmm..twigs...  (KN)

Tofino is still feral, but she’s more at the “you can look at me, but don’t touch” point on the feral spectrum, rather than like the still-spooked Cranbrook cats. She’s a back-pens girl, tending to hang around pens 3 and 5, and she’s pretty cat-social with most of the others. Her blotchy black and white colouring makes her easy to spot, and she has long ears for the size of her head, with a large ear-tip removal identifying her as a spayed feral.

Always curious  (KN)

She can most often be found with calico Sarah, from another rescue, but Sarah has moved in to the cosy warmth of Pen 3 hut recently, and is no longer quite so available to Tofino. She doesn’t seem to care much; I’ve found her dancing with a leaf near the back gate, doing quick sprints from one pen to another, rolling and playing by herself. Food isn’t much of a motivator, and she ignores the other cats waiting for a handout – which may make it harder to coax her into coming closer; it’s definitely been a strong factor in making other ferals more accepting of our attention.

Endless wonder...  (KN)

But this is where the Cat Sanctuary has an advantage – most rescues have to hope that ferals will tame enough to find homes, or they’re taking valuable foster-space. At RAPS, we can allow ferals like Tofino to be ferals as long as they need; to ease their way into communication with us, or to hold their distance. Cats like Amelia in Pen 4 have spent years refusing our attention, and now, in her old-lady days, she has blossomed into a cat who loves petting and treats. We hope Tofino won’t take that long, but we won’t force it; she’ll come to us when she’s ready, and till then she’ll have our love at a distance.

Blog by Brigid Coult
Photos by Karen Nicholson

Four Little Ferals

Bugle

The weather may affect the experience of our weekend visitors to the Sanctuary. On a rainy day like the past Sunday, only the most enthusiastic and social cats will come out, and the others go find a cosy corner and curl up! I find I need to remind people that we have way more cats than they may see, because the ferals are reluctant to appear when strangers are around. And part of my usual “spiel” is that we have a lot of ferals, and still more semi-ferals – and the latter are on a wide spectrum from “you can look at me but not touch” all the way to “pet me, pet me!”  It’s important to us that we are able to allow the ferals to BE feral, if that’s what they need. But it’s always exciting when we see movement on that spectrum, as has been the case recently with a group of cats who are living in the DoubleWide.

Ryan (or perhaps Ryanne?)

The four of them arrived together from Cats Cradle Rescue on Vancouver Island – too feral for the rescue to be able to foster them out. The two youngest are obviously siblings, about 18 months old, and almost identical in everything except colour. We were told they were male and female, but it turns out that grey Ryan should probably be Ryanne!

Velma

Because the quartet was familiar with each other, we caged them in pairs, and in adjacent cages, so that they knew where the others were. Grey Ryan and black Velma were in the first cage on the left; both are slim, sleek elegant cats, and were very keen to escape – so much so that their cage was kept to med staff access only for longer than usual. When Ryan finally moves into the back courtyard, we’re going to have a hard time distinguishing her from Wylee, who is also slim and sleek and grey. 

Velma & Veruca 

Velma was caged a little longer because of an eye infection; there are lots of black cats in the back courtyard area, but I don’t think we have anyone quite like her – she reminds me of a former inhabitant called Skouch – black and leggy. We’re told that she survived FIP as a kitten – often a fatal disease, so she’s obviously a fighter! She can quite often be found sharing her cage with the shyest of the four.

Veruca Salt

In the adjacent cage were two very different cats. Veruca Salt is a stocky little torbie, named for a character in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. I’m not sure it’s a good name for her; she is NOT like the greedy, demanding, spoiled brat in the story, but instead is a shy “don’t even look at me” girl, who prefers to hide behind a drape. Perhaps med-staff Louise was thinking of the rock band by the same name! 

Bugle

Her room-mate was Bugle, named by Molly for the newspaper in Spider-Man!  She’s about 3 years old, and has almost certainly produced her share of kittens in that time.  Initially we thought she would make an understudy for hissy Smithy in the back courtyard; the Kitty Comforters were encouraged to visit with these two before we had access to Ryan and Velma and were greeted with typical angry-feral hissing from Bugle.  However, it wasn’t long before we discovered that it was all a facade – and all we needed was a little chicken!

Bugle is living up to her name, and announcing her feelings to anyone who will listen. If chicken tidbits are on offer, she will sing the song of her people until someone pays attention to her – and her song is often a long drawn-out cry that leaves us in no doubt about what she wants.  Interestingly, she accepts the tidbits very gently – often, ferals will snatch food from the hand without much care for where the teeth land. She is still not keen on touch – she will allow it briefly, but her body language says clearly that she is not yet comfortable. She may well be one of the cats that needs a shave to get through the summer, because her fur has mats, but she really doesn’t care for being groomed.

Competition for space and chicken!
- Delilah and Gwen

Typically, feral cats in the DoubleWide make their way out onto the deck, and vanish into the crowd of ferals there. These four are breaking that stereotype – they’re still based in “their” open cages. Both Ryan and Velma have discovered the cage tops, and are happy to climb, but usually end up back in their home base. Veruca Salt is not a wanderer, and prefers her own shelf and her drape – with occasional excursions to Ryan and Velma’s cage (especially when someone like Delilah moves in on her turf).

Under the cat-tree - Bugle looking for opportunities

Bugle is a floor-level girl, and has taken to the bottom of the cat-tree in the middle of the room. There, she can keep an eye open for sassy Gwen, who is also on the lookout for chicken handouts, and is not happy with other cats in her space. Both little bundles of fur know who will offer treats, and avoid each other, while remaining within reach of tasty mouthfuls.  Finding the right bribery is so often the right way to a feral’s heart!

Open adjacent cages are still the favourite spot for
Bugle, Ryan and Veruca Salt

So all the staff and the Kitty Comforters will be working on this little quartet in the next while, hoping to habituate them to attention and gentle touch, and to teach them that they’ve landed in a place where they’re safe from the scary world of feral living outside the boundaries of the Sanctuary.

Blog and photos by Brigid Coult