Blanket Therapy

Karrie in action - with fans gathered round  (BC)

Mornings at the Sanctuary are busy with people scooping and sweeping, scrubbing and making laundry changes – and always taking time for the little stops to visit with cats.  Evenings are similar, when the canned food comes our and anxious faces await plates – and once again, volunteers arrive early or stay late to visit with feline friends.   

Boots & Reefer

But in the afternoons (unless there’s a work party labouring on a project), all is quiet, and the Kitty Comforters are present.

Max has found the fresh catnip

The KCs were the brainchild of the late Marianne Moore, and after her passing their leadership was taken over by Anne Marchetti. Their focus is primarily the caged cats who may need more one-on-one interaction with humans than they will get in the normal way. Anne will alert us to where attention is particularly needed. Currently, that includes a number of cats who have not yet settled enough with us to have their own blogs – so you will have to wait to hear about Orange Julius who began very cage-aggressive and is learning that we’re not so scary, about a group of cats who came to us via a bequest from Missouri, about Tumble who is recovering from surgery and may possibly go to the Adoption Centre.

Both blankets occupied

But many of the feral or wary cats are out and about, and sometimes the best way to approach them is to let them approach you.  Especially in the summer months, that’s the mode for KCs Karrie and Catherine, who begin their shift by spreading blankets in the sun of the front courtyard, and waiting to see who comes.  Food may be involved, but more often it’s touch and grooming and gentle voices and a little catnip.

Boots has become a lap-cat with Karrie

The blankets are magnetic for the cats – there are some of them that will come immediately to be part of the sit-in, and other that gradually let themselves be coaxed into it. We suspect Boots was a stray, and he’s been considered for adoption, but he’s wary with a number of people. Summer afternoons on the blankets are his favourite thing, and he loves it so much that he will cuddle with Karrie instead of maintaining a cautious distance.

Max the cat-burglar

We worry about Max, who really needs a tolerant home with no other cats, but who doesn't show up well when we have visitors; normally he stays clear of the others, but he knows that Karrie’s bag usually has catnip in it, and he will venture closer for her gentle attention and for the ‘nip!

Spooky's snooze is watched over by Boots

Sweet Spooky is one of our older cats now – wary of people, as her name implies, but cautiously trusting with a few. She is one of the cats that Karrie will go and find in wherever she has hidden herself – just a few treats and a little petting reminds her that life’s not so bad. Just occasionally she will venture out with the others and make her own space on the blanket.

Our former Mexican street lady has presence!

Like Max, Kia is not a great fan of other cats, and mostly she prefers humans to leave her alone as well. She’s doing much better this year and venturing out more consistently – with her, the draw is less the ‘nip and the food, and more just the quiet time in the sun, and the softness of the blanket. She doesn’t want much in the way of attention, but she’s beginning to enjoy being present as long as the others don’t bug her.

Bingo: all the 'nip in this bag is for me!

Bingo is one of the Texan cats that came to us last year; they have assimilated themselves well into the front courtyard crowd, and love to be part of the blanket party. He loves the fresh catnip, and wiggles his way into contact with it. His brother Wilbur is more of a sit-around-in-the-sun type.

Wilbur, Leo and (of course!) Boots

Xena is a relative newcomer, and not very comfortable with humans – so it makes us very happy when she joins the blanket sun-bathing crowd.

Xena, looking disapproving

While Catherine and Karrie are visiting caged cats in the DoubleWide and the shyer cats in the back courtyard, the blankets remain in the front courtyard until the end of the KC shift, with cats coming and going as they please.  As the feeding team begins arriving for the last shift, the blankets are folded up to be taken home for washing, and preparation for the next afternoon of feline basking. 

Blog by Brigid Coult

All photos (and inspiration) by Karrie Radford

Cats Needing Comfort

Celine  (KN)

Any cat-lover will tell you that despite the popular image of cats as being aloof and independent, they also love, as we do, and grieve when they lose someone – cat or human – close to them. The Connor building has seen loss recently. I blogged about our beloved Hope, who was such a presence in that room, and then just last week we lost Hope’s little black friend Layla, who has been with us around eight years.  We are concerned about big torbie Celine, who was bonded with Hope, and the Kitty Comforters are now rallying around to comfort another little grieving cat. 

Spooky (BC)

We have so many black cats, and it’s easy to get them confused – especially in the Connor, where you can also encounter Nyla, Chicharron, Luka, Alvin, Bellatrix and many others.  Anne, who coordinates the Kitty Comforters, has asked us to look out particularly for Spooky (and for her lookalike, Emily).

Spooky with her buddy Layla, now gone  (BC)

Spooky came to us with Layla, so they have been companions for a long time. They were part of a group that came from a hoarding situation in the Kootenays which was more than the local rescue was able to manage. They were not in good condition – in fact, some of the larger group died – and the med staff had to get used to climbing up to the Connor cage-tops, where the three of them hid themselves, in order to medicate them.  Spooky is a special favourite of volunteer Laura, who says that she doesn’t put herself forward for attention unless chicken is on offer. She’s also one of our snuffly cats with permanent congestion, and has occasionally been caged for treatment.  Layla would make sure Spooky had company while caged, even trying to get into the cage with her when Laura was visiting.  

Spooky has beautiful eyes   (KN)

She may be shy, but once Spooky realises that you’re offering gentle petting, she drools with happiness. Now that the weather’s warmer, she can often be found on the porch of the Connor, and is less concerned about staying out of reach, though she’s an active climber on the ladder, the cat-tree, up the sides of the cages – she’s happier communicating with us at our head-height.  

Emily is reactive  (BC)

The other little black cat – who was less close to Layla I think – is Emily. She’s easily mistaken for Spooky until you pet once too often and then she swats; I don’t think it’s nastiness so much as getting easily overstimulated. The danger is that black cats like that may get avoided, and then they’re lonely. Emily likes attention, but you just have to read her body language very carefully, and leave her wanting more rather than saying “that’s too much!”  She used to have a stocky little body with a little round head on it – she’s lost some weight recently, and now looks more in proportion (and more like Spooky!).  Look at the eyes to differentiate them – Emily’s eyes are quite round, and yellow, they pop against her dark fur. Spooky’s eyes are gentler and an almost translucent green.

Sad Celine  (BC)

And sweet Celine – for so long a cage-top cat, holding aloof from us, until Hope offered her company and the two began to share the table-top bed.  Now she seems a bit lost – not close to any of the other cats. She sits on the cat-tree for a bit, and then wanders outside; she doesn’t interact with the other cats except for hissing when Cricket gets too bouncy.  She accepts gentle petting, but doesn’t lean into it.  Treats are ignored. When dinner is offered she has a few mouthfuls and then moves to the top of the cages.  Grieving takes whatever time it takes – all we can do is to keep an eye on how she’s doing, and let her know with touch that the humans around her are there for her. 

Ringo is learning to trust other cats again   (KN)

I am heartened by watching shy Ringo in the back pens; we lost his good buddy Zivko more than a year ago, and Ringo retreated to his hidey-place, unwilling to venture out without Zivko to be his protector. But time heals, and Ringo is starting to hang around with the current Boys’ Club – Thorn and Percival and Chaga are making him feel more confident, and he head-butts with Midnight, who is also shy.  Time – and having good friends around – it works for cats as it does for humans.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult & Karen Nicholson

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