Oooooh.... double Spooky!

At the Sanctuary we actually have not just one, but two cats with the suitably Halloween-ish name of Spooky!

Spooky is not sure she wants to be disturbed  -  BC

The front courtyard has at least 8-9 little black cats with few features that distinguish them.  Our cat-savvy med-staff seem to be able to tell them apart, and it was from med-staff Molly that I heard of Spooky in the Connor building.  She’s a pretty shy girl, preferring to live on the top of the cages with her longer-haired buddy Layla, with whom she arrived from a hoarding situation.

Feeling safer with a buddy at hand - BC

A lot of the floor-level black cats in the area are more substantial in size – Slim should really be renamed Chunky! - Winnie has lost a lot of weight in the last year or so, but is still a solid cat. Spooky is about the same size as Shady, who prefers to base herself with the cuddle-puddle in the papasan chair outside the Single-Wide. Mostly Spooky places herself out of reach, but occasionally she can be found curled in a basket, and will accept attention.

Ready to accept a little petting - BC

Molly told me that Spooky is a pretty messy drinker, and walks away with water all over her face. But a visit from Karen leads us to think that Spooky has more in common with Shady than just colour and size. Shady LOVES to be petted, and gets so excited that she drools all over her petter.  Karen coaxed Spooky into accepting petting, and this drooly mouth was the result.

"Love you so much; you make my mouth water!" - KN

Another distinguishing feature is the colour of Spooky’s beautiful pale green eyes – almost blue-green.

Note the little droplets on her face....  MS

The other Spooky lives in the back courtyard.

Spooky loves to sit IN things - DW

She came to us, having been dumped in a carrier, and with no explanation, at the door of a cat-boarding facility. They, of course, brought her to the Shelter at No 5 Road, where she was checked out and found to carry an identifying tattoo.  Tattoos and microchips are useful tools for finding the original homes of stray animals – IF the original owner keeps the identification up to date. In Spooky’s case the tattoo information gave us her name, but nothing that helped us find an owner.

Hanging out at the top of Newcomers steps  -  MW

Because she was not in great health, she was transferred to the Sanctuary where she had quiet cage time to recover, and careful medical supervision.  The health concerns continued; she suffered from eye infections and respiratory problems.  When planning for the 2019 Calendar, I turned down a lovely photo of her, because I was afraid she might not last through the year.

Spooky was a candidate for Miss April - MW

I’m very glad to see that I was wrong!  Spooky usually hangs our around the Newcomers area, though she has recently been seen more frequently in the Double-Wide.  She is a variety of Manx called a Stubby (Manx cats are categorized by tail length from no tail at all [a Rumpy] through Riser / Stumpy / Stubby / Longy); her tail is about half normal length.  Most cat faces look serious in repose (feline "resting-bitch-face"?) - Spooky's fur colouring around her mouth often makes her look as if she is smiling.

Dappled light on her fur makes her look almost a dilute...   MW

From having been a wary and stand-offish girl when she came to us, she has become more social. She’s not much of a fan of other cats, though not actively hostile, but she has become increasingly friendly with people, occasionally joining the table-top visitors at coffee-time – if there’s not too much feline competition.

The table is a favourite site if there's a box or basket  -  MW

There’s actually nothing scary about either cat; nothing that leads us to discover why they received their names.  But they make the perfect pair of subjects for a Halloween blog!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson, Molly Sjerdal, Debbie Wolanski, 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