Room for Teens

One regular visiting-day question is “where are the kittens?”

Kittens always look SO cute!  - JS

Visitors are always disappointed to learn that any kittens in RAPS care are usually to be found at the City Shelter, waiting for adoption – and some of them go rushing off to visit there.
In fact, to get kittens to that point, there’s a great deal more RAPS care by the invisible (to the public) team of fosterers.  Any time a pregnant cat, or a mom and kittens arrives in our care, someone from the fostering team leaps into action.  Many of them reserve a room in their home just as a kitten-nursery; if that space is taken, stand-alone cages are erected on the dining-room table, and all formal entertaining is postponed.

Mama Carly Simon is now settled with us;
her kittens were all adopted from the City Shelter - MW/KD

Fosterers are used to the anxiety of waiting for a litter to be born, of tube- and syringe-feeding when necessary, of dodging a protective mom in order to clean a cage. They handle young kittens as soon as possible, to familiarize them with people – the weaning stage between four and eight weeks is usually seen as the best time – and when the kittens are old enough, they are taken to the City Shelter for adoption - while mama is spayed, to prevent another litter, and moved to Shelter or Sanctuary, depending on her temperament.

Four wary teenagers: Perry, Peony, Perkins & Della - MM

The problem comes when we receive older kittens, who are past that optimal window for easy handling. Socializing them when they are four months old or more can take a great deal of patience to overcome the feral instincts instilled by a feral mama. We will sometimes receive these ones at the Sanctuary. At the age of 4 months to a year, they are not yet fully adult – we would probably say that a 1-year old kitten is developmentally equivalent to a 15-year old human.  And though 15-year old humans can be delightful creatures, they are not as adult as they think they are! We don’t need any feline teen pregnancies, so all of them will be “speutered” (spayed/neutered) before they come to us.

Baby Beetle is all grown up now - but still shy  - MW

You may hear the Sanctuary’s Hill House sometimes referred to as “The Teens”, from its early function. These days we have fewer teens, and they usually go to a room off the quiet senior-focused Moore House.  At one stage it housed Sage and Silky, Cricket, Beetle and Frisky, it was a home for the young cow-cats, Mya and Kirstie, when they first came to us, for Perry, Perkins and Peony (all adopted) and now it’s the base for six youngsters.

Blond Leo relies on his braver friend Benny - BC

Leo and Benny came to us from a hoarding situation. They are less than a year old, and were initially very nervous about being handled. Benny rapidly settled; Leo was less ready to be touched. They were sited in the DoubleWide, and got a lot of attention, but large as our cages are, they really didn’t give this pair space to be as active as they would like. Kitty Comforters spent a lot of time and love on them, and it was obvious that it would just take a bit of time. The two of them are a younger echo of Lindor and Parker who came to us earlier this year – and with similar colouring and initial characteristics. Both Lindor and Benny are fuzzy and black, fairly outgoing and not afraid to engage; both Parker and Leo are slighter and blond, much more shy and in need of coaxing.

Mason loves having space to play - AM

In the cage facing them was a little black panther: young Mason; very hissy and swatty in his first weeks with us, but with the Kitty Comforters working with him, he became very keen on human company – going in to feed or clean his cage meant entertainment time!

It's a hard life, being a kitten, says Mozart - MW

In the meantime, there was another group of teens in one of the Single-Wide’s big cages, tended only by the med staff until we were sure that they were all healthy. This trio had come to us from the Interior, offspring of a feral mama, and about 8 months old. They were named Pistachio, Caleb and Mozart – Pistachio with a little moustache marking; Caleb with more black markings, and Mozart more grey.

Mozart & Caleb - KN

Now there’s been a general reshuffle and the two groups have been put together in the Moore House kitten room, where there’s more room for them to run and play, and for the Kitty Comforters to do the work of socializing them as much as possible.  We hope that they will eventually go to the City Shelter for adoption, but it may be that their feral beginnings are too ingrained to overcome, and they will end up staying with us like the other youngsters. Sadly for visitors, the Moore House is off-limits – they may be seen out on the deck if they choose; they can be admired but not handled.

Pistachio - MW

The Kitty Comforters, of course, are having a wonderful time – but they all know that how they play with these delightful fuzzballs will be vital in establishing patterns that will help Benny and Leo, Mason, Pistachio, Caleb & Mozart eventually to find new homes and grow to be confident cats.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Kati DeGraff, Anne Marchetti, the late Marianne Moore, 

Karen Nicholson, Jocelyn Schonekess, Michele Wright

Sage & Silky

Sage (L) and Silky (R) - MW

For some time after the establishment of Richmond Animal Protection Society, our focus remained on the care of animals in our own municipality – both those brought in as ferals and those surrendered to 5 Road. That remains the focus for the Shelter; we have the contract with the City of Richmond for animal care for animals brought in from within city limits, though now we are the Regional Animal Protection Society, we may be reaching further afield on occasion. But the Sanctuary is not funded by the city, and we have always worked with other shelters where possible, to ease a burden on what might be an organization with fewer resources than we have. Many of those cats have come in because they were FIV or FeLV positive, and the places they have come from are not able to deal with those health concerns. But we have also taken in groups of cats from other places in the province, where the burden of a group of ferals is not a tenable prospect in the local shelter.

Silky - MD

Three or four years ago we were informed of a hoarding situation in the Kootenays, in which some of the many cats involved died. The nearest shelter was unable to deal with the surviving influx of largely feral cats, and we were one of the organizations that took on the refugees.  Five cats came into our care;  three were little black cats, very similar in appearance, and the other two were a pair of tortie girls, probably younger than the other three.

Layla is the only immediately recognizable one of the three
because of her milky right eye - MW

As usual, the newcomers were caged to give them time to settle in. The three little black cats went into the Connor, and were named Layla, Oscar and Spooky; all three showed no inclination to trust humans, and when finally released, they largely took to the cage-tops to stay out of our way. They do occasionally come within reach if treats are offered, but we are not their favourite thing!

The two torties were caged together in the Hill House; they were named Sage and Silky, and because they were younger, we hoped we might have a chance of taming them.

Sage - AM

Silky proved minimally approachable; Sage was very shy. Because we were reluctant to let them loose too soon, to maintain their feral ways, they were transferred to a separate room in the Moore House.  Most of the Moore House inhabitants are geriCatrics, but the so-called Kitten Room is kept to give groups of cats the chance to interact with our Kitty Comforters.

Sage & Silky lounging together - KN

They were joined there by Cricket and Beetle – similarly, half-grown kittens – and another little black one, Frisky. Volunteers and staff alike spent time with them – mostly without a great deal of obvious progress. Treats were accepted, but none of the five really wanted to interact with visitors.

Silky in the Moore House - PH

There is only so long we can keep the Kitten Room free before it’s needed for somebody else. The decision was made to release all five teenagers into the front courtyard and see how they would do.  The big winner with this decision was Cricket, who blossomed with freedom, and has become Miss Popular with humans and cats alike.  Beetle and Frisky largely hang out in the feral cat area next to the Hill House and have joined the population of little black cats that are so hard to tell apart; they’re not terrified ferals, but they would rather be apart.

Silky appreciates being back in the Hill House now - MW

Sage and Silky began in the same area, but quickly discovered the window that leads through to the Hill House; whether it felt familiar to them or it was just more comfortable, I don’t know, but it rapidly became their space, and they interacted with cats like Jamie, Daniel, and Tracy who were enjoying human attention.  Sage and Silky jumped right on the bandwagon.

Sage snuggling with her buddy Tracy - KN

Silky is the more outgoing of the two, and the more active in her play; both love to chase feather toys, but when it comes to being petted, Silky is more territorial than her sister.  If you're paying attention to her, you'd better not be paying attention to other cats! and offers little love-nips; she likes to be with other cats, while Silky is more independent.

Silky has caught the feather! - MD

Sage, who was once the more wary of the sisters, is now calmer and more accessible than Silky; she is a drooler, and likes belly-rubs once she settles, offering little love-nips in return. Both will occasionally sit on a lap, but they're not yet lap-cats like Pogo - however they are certainly not just touch-me-not ferals any more! They still love each other's company, for snuggles or grooming.

You’ve come a long way, girls!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Melanie Draper, Phaedra Hardman, Angelina Mak, Karen Nicholson & Michele Wright
Video by Chris Peters