Skouch

Skouch is a regular in the team of dedicated moochers who hang around when dinner gets dished out in the doublewide.

A cheerful, friendly cat (particularly at feeding time), Skouch has been a sanctuary resident since he was around six months old. Along with a sibling, he'd originally been brought in to the SPCA. The two youngsters were too skittish to be likely adoption candidates, so, through an arrangement made that year between that shelter and ours, they were able to come and live at the sanctuary.

Skouch (left) and Shadow (right)

Anyone who's seen Skouch dive into food that's barely had a chance to make it out of the can with a gusto that rivals even Shadow's can attest that he's a shy boy no longer.

Checking in with cats of blog posts past

Something a little different for today - rather than introducing a new cat, I thought it might be time to check in on a few of our friends from past posts.
Click on the title for each cat's section to read the original post about them.

Rita

When I wrote about poor grouchy Rita last August, this overstuffed kitty was so obese she had to struggle to get up if she fell over. To make matters worse, she hated other cats so much that they had to be kept from her sight.
Well, she's not as large as before, and will accept human cuddles with much less likelihood of a sudden switch into grumpy swats, but she still hates cats. And so she still has a room of her own. Now we just need to find a way to get her out and about for a little exercise without meeting any of the hundreds of cats living at the sanctuary...

Jingles 

Jingles, another enthusiastic cat-hater when she arrived, has adjusted somewhat better. She still doesn't like other cats getting in her face, but it's now possible to approach her and enjoy a cuddle without her eyes darting back and forth to see if anything furry might possibly be thinking about coming near. 

Shadow 

Shadow posing in front of his "Poo Record"

Shadow's medical condition (severe constipation) has caused him to spend a good deal of time in a cage these days, so staff can monitor his bowel movements. If he manages some, he gets to come out for a while; if there's a concern, back in he goes.
Of course, any time he's out and about when I come for my shift, there he is waiting to "help" me at the table where I dish out the cans. Purring away, I might add.

Aurora

Aurora still likes her cage as much as she did when I met her last September, though she did try something new and exciting by moving into the cage next door to her usual one for a time... to the surprise of anyone who noticed the change.
Now she's quite content with expanding her horizons by sitting on the bottom shelf of her cage rather than the top.

Greyson

Greyson was having a pretty tough time of it for a while there after his arrival in November. He was stressed out by the other cats, started having skin problems, got sick off his medication... more stress, more skin problems. But now that all seems to be in the past. His fur looks good, his eyes are bright, and he's very responsive to anyone who wants to have a visit with him. All in all, very content and well adjusted.

Squeaks

When I first met Squeaks, I had to take the reason for his name on faith, as he almost never spoke to me. Perhaps he just needed to get to know me, since now, far from me having to seek him out, he often follows me around and squeaks loudly at me until I pay attention to him.

Nevada

Nevada is now back outside with his buddies. He will, if in the mood, allow himself to be approached and even enjoy rubs and tickles like he did when he was in his cage. He's less willing, unfortunately, to allow staff anywhere near him when it's time to give him fluids that keep him healthy enough to be able to enjoy sitting out there and visiting with people...

Cow

Cow was let out of his cage back in February and seems well on his way to being one of the self appointed greeters of the front courtyard. Apparently no big adjustment problems for this one - he's a happy boy.

Shadow

Shadow is most frequently described simply as "a big black cat."

As in,

"Which one's Shadow?"

"There he is over there - the big black cat."

And indeed this direction is usually enough, Shadow being on an altogether larger scale than the multitude of other, smaller black cats wandering around the sanctuary.

Like Daisy, Shadow is a cat who came to live at the RAPS sanctuary via the SPCA. Six years ago, RAPS was asked by a volunteer who also fostered animals for the SPCA if the cat sanctuary could take in this grumpy, overweight nine year old from the SPCA's Burnaby facility. The volunteer was worried that his disinclination for the company of others, human or feline, put him in danger of being judged an unadoptable animal.

I often run into Shadow, now 15, sitting in a large comfortable chair next to the table where I prepare the evening meal for the cats in the double wide. If he still looks slightly grumpy in the photo above, it's only because he had to suffer the interruption of a perfectly good doze so the biped paparazzi could get a few shots. Check out the post on The Love Blog for perkier Shadow pics.

Shadow has a condition called "mega colon", which I confess I had to look up. An article from http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2122&aid=3471 calls it a severe form of constipation in which "... the large intestine actually becomes enlarged and filled with hard fecal material." In the majority of cases there is no clear cause, though it is more common in males of middle age and above. Shadow has had the condition for about two years and receives daily medication from RAPS' staff to control it.

All in all, he's doing pretty well for an old guy and is quite comfortable in his life at the sanctuary.