Over the Bridge in 2023

Pandora - December - LBF

Pandora came to us in bad shape, but she had
nearly two years of greatly improved health with us before her aging body had had enough.

The Sanctuary is a place where we celebrate life – specifically, the lives of many cats who, in other circumstances, would have been euthanized for being unadoptable.  Many ferals have come through our hands, and though some have eventually accepted human attention, others have remained feral for much of their lives. Adopters shy away from taking cats with FIV or FeLV, diabetes or kidney disease – and we rejoice that we have been able to give them shelter and treatment. We have partnered with rescues in other places, and taken groups of cats that a smaller organization may not be able to house.

Dango - June - KN

Dango came to us from Alberta in 2019, and joined the New Aids pen; earlier this year he was relocated to the Val Jones pen so that his renal diet could be closely monitored.

But because many of our cats are with us through much of their lives, we are, time and time again, with them for their deaths. Sometimes they are unexpected, as in cancer, or FIP.  Sometimes we watch the gradual aging of a beloved friend, and know that their time is come. Many cats hide their ill-health, and occasionally we will find them already passed; most of them are taken by a staff-member to the hospital, where they will pass gently, held by loving hands.

Kiwi - December - MW

Kiwi came from the same shelter as Dango;

we lost her to FIP, which is a random mutation of an otherwise standard feline coronavirus.

The turn of the year is a time when we look back over the past twelve months, and remember more than fifty of the furry friends who have “crossed the Rainbow Bridge”. So once again, this is less a blog, and more a photo-essay that may bring smiles and tears and memories and love of some very special cats. We can't feature them all, but here are a dozen of those who have gone ahead of us.

Tugboat - February - MW

Much beloved by all, Tugboat became very frail in his last year,
and was cuddled and comforted by humans and cats alike.

Sprint - December & Shaggy - July;  LBF

Little Sprint was a junkyard cat, very shy, and with health problems; 
Shaggy was one of the last of the “oldies” from the former Moore House.

Sara Lee - March - KN

Sara Lee had lived here for most of her 21-odd years.
Easily identified by her bi-coloured eyes and her smoke coat, she was a fixture at the coffee table, where she toured from one lap to another.

CB Lincoln - February - MW

Cinnamon Bun Lincoln was named for his curled tail,
and known for his tendency to pee on anything/anyone he wanted to claim.

Little Orange - October - KN

One-eyed Little Orange was loved by volunteers and visitors alike,
and is greatly missed by his friend Allison who visited him every week.
He’s reunited with his girlfriend, shy Merilee.

Stella - February - MW

Stella was a regal presence in the Tea-Room and the breezeway; 
she liked to sit high up and reach down a paw to those seeking her attention.

Bossanova - August - KN

Bossanova evolved from a shy boy hiding high on a shelf
to a cat who would hover hopefully, looking for treats and attention.

Jazz - September - KN

Jazz was the doorkeeper for the Single-Wide.

Originally collared as a signal that she was a reactive cat,

she came to enjoy the attention she got, and demanded that everyone stop on the way in to pet her.

Pancake - March - KN

Pancake was the son of Autumn, in the front Courtyard;
he proved too shy to be adopted, and returned to us to make his life
with his cat friends in the DoubleWide.

Tara - October - KN

Tara remained a scared feral most of her life with us,
only allowing contact in the last months when she was confused and forgetting that she was scared.

Hamlet - August - KN

Hamlet came to us as a feral, but soon developed a presence
 as a benevolent Godfather on the DW deck.

Rainbow over the Sanctuary - BC

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

Tea-room Tabby Royalty

The back courtyard at the Sanctuary is home to several tabbies, and Stella is the queen!

Stella on her favourite throne

A large-boned girl with a certain presence, she can usually be found holding court on top of the cat-tree just outside the Tea-room;  if the weather is less pleasant, or the humans are meeting in there, she will claim the top of one of the shelves or the table.

The tea-room table becomes the throne

There she seeks attention with conversation and the odd waving paw. She doesn’t want to lap-sit, and she spends as little time at floor-level as she can manage, but she likes to be noticed and acknowledged.

We are not amused...

Stella came to us a few years ago when her family situation changed, and the stress caused her to become a pee-er, as sometimes happens with unhappy cats. She was even unhappier, initially, when she was surrendered to RAPS and brought to the Sanctuary.

Anything can be a throne - it's all in the attitude...

But time has done its work, and Stella is well settled with us.  She’s not much into the company of lesser cats; she’s not nasty about it, like Parry or Licorice – they’re just beneath her notice.

In the summer the throne is framed in floral offerings

Occasionally, a visitor will confuse her with Sophie. Sophie is  not a queen, she’s a spoiled princess, and things have to go her way at all times. In token of this, she wears a collar to remind people that she can sometimes be a bit nasty if she feels we’re not paying the right attention to her. Behaviour like that is beneath Stella’s dignity.

Sophie smirks - I can swat before you touch me...

Sophie is one of the cats who came to us from Five Road several years ago, and spent time in Pen 2 with Calvin, Chase, Celeste and Zivko for tabby company.  Even before the pen was opened, Sophie was eager to be out, and she, Parry and Taffy have relocated themselves from Pen 2 to the Tea-room.

Approach with caution - even outside...

Sophie wants attention but it has to be just so. Reaching to touch her is risky, but she is often ready to leap up on your lap. Better still, she likes the game of jumping on your chair just as you are about to sit down. Touch has to be around the neck and ears but not down her back; teeth and claws come into action quickly if you don’t read the body language correctly.  She definitely doesn’t like the other cats!

Queen Mothers enjoy floral tributes too

The third Tea-room tabby is Jody – and most of her time is spent on a shelf in the bathroom.  If stella is the Queen and Sophie the spoiled princess, Jody is the elderly, and slightly confused, Queen Mum.  She is very much a loner, though she adores human attention and will lick the petting hand as long as it is allowed. 

Jody says "Somebody pet me!"

Occasionally we will hear despairing wails that are characteristic of a geriatric cat who doesn’t quite know where she is; a little petting, and all is right with Jody’s world again.
These three tabbies could not be more different in personality, but they’ve chosen to share the same space, ignoring each other (and most of the other cats) with varying degrees of grace.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Michele Wright