Messy Manxes

One of the most consistent reasons for people surrendering a cat is that it doesn’t use the litter-box. Some folks give up very easily – even when it may be human-caused stress behind the peeing. Others, like Ollie’s family, go years dealing with peed-on furniture, because they love the cat so much

Sativa - MW

This, of course, is particularly heartbreaking when the cat really can’t help it at all! Long-time Sanctuary folks will know that we have occasionally given house-room to cats with Manx Syndrome.  Manx cats are a very standard mutation of the cat family, and their lack of tail may go all the way from no tail at all – perhaps a little tuft of fur – to a tail that is perhaps up to 2/3 the length of a regular tail. The mutation appears naturally; unfortunately the genetic quirk for taillessness can lead to an extreme condition in which the spine is so short that the urinary and fecal sphincters are affected, and the cat has no control over bladder and bowels. It’s a form of spina bifida, which requires a good deal of extra care that need to be poured into housing cats of this kind.  This includes daily monitoring and tracking by our med staff, baths as needed, and continuous cleaning of their bedding and favourite resting spots.

SweetPea (RIP) - PH

Longtime former residents SweetPea and Peewee were well-loved, received daily baths, and everything possible to make their lives more comfortable. Both struggled with urinary infections and constipation, which at its extreme, manifests as megacolon.

Sativa - MW

Sativa came to us about a year ago from a family who loved her and struggled with her handicap. The decision to surrender her was a hard one, and they really miss her – they have proved to be among our most faithful Sunday visitors, coming to see her almost every week.

Sativa - MW

She’s shy – less about humans in general, and perhaps more because she objects to being popped into a bath every evening. Unfortunately, her incontinence leads her to leave a little trail of poop wherever she goes, and since she enjoys visiting around the Double-Wide in a variety of cages, there’s always cleaning-up to be done.

Plum - MW

Pretty dilute Plum is a more recent arrival, coming in with Boop in the New Year. Grey/white Boop is pretty feral and does not usually want to be handled or photographed; his cage bore a warning about his tendency to bite. Once released, he hid, and we go to great lengths to monitor his movement within the sanctuary to  make sure he stays as clean as possible.  Luckily his degree of disability is not as great as Sativa’s, and he can get away with fewer baths.

Boop hiding out - MW

Plum was also very shy, but allowed herself to be visited by Kitty Comforters and other volunteers; now that’s she’s out and about, she’s more willing to interact with humans.

Plum - MW

Watching Plum run reminds me that there were various legends about the origin of the tailless Manx cat. One was that they arrived late at the Ark and Noah shut the door on the cat’s tail.  The other is that they derive from a fictional cross between a cat and a rabbit, known as a “cabbit”. There is no such thing, of course, but Plum does tend to have a bunny hop when she runs.

Plum - MW

It is a sad fact that most Manx-syndrome cats do not reach adult status; they are either put to sleep when the extent of their handicap is realized, or they succumb to an infection as a result of it. Once again, the Sanctuary lives up to its name as it gives these three sweet cats a new chance at life.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Phaedra Hardman, Michele Wright

Wickem

This lovely boy has made himself a favourite with visitors to the Hill House

Wickem is another of the cats that has come to us from the closing private shelter on the Sunshine Coast.  We were told that he and his buddy Gidget were bonded and should be kept together, and they were given the big cage space in that cabin to settle down and assimilate all the other cat-smells and activities around.  Gidget was usually wary of attention, but Wickem was happy to have lap-time with visitors, and relaxed with human interaction.

BC

Once the cage door was opened, Wickem was pretty comfortable with coming out, though he rarely went past the door of the house.  Gidget remained tucked in her corner for some time, then ventured out and ended up relocating to the Connor – obviously these two were not as bonded as we’d been given to understand!

Wickem's buddy Gidget

Wickem adores getting attention from people entering the room; he hops down from his favourite chair and approaches the visitor.  He is the only “rumpy” or tailless Manx in the front courtyard – a “stumpy” Manx has a short tail that is curved, knotted or kinked, like Carly Simon, and a “longy” has an almost full length tail that may have a lump at the end of it, like Abby or Sylvester.  Rumpies are often prone to Manx syndrome, in which the shortening of the spine affects the cat’s ability to eliminate, and it may become incontinent. Our dearly beloved Sweet Pea, who we lost last year, was one of those cats, and there are currently four others in the back area of the Sanctuary.

Wickem is mostly free from that problem, but when he’s really happy and relaxed on your lap, it’s worth having a towel under him!  Not only can he drool with happiness at being petted, but he can also dribble a little pee when he’s really relaxed – one of the staff calls him “Wikileaks”

Gradually he is becoming more comfortable with moving into the courtyard. He doesn’t yet interact much with the other cats, but he’s a long way from being the sort of antisocial cat that Leland is. He seems to be very comfortable in himself, but his favourite thing is definitely human attention. Come visit us on a Sunday afternoon, and cuddle with him!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult & Michele Wright

Adoptable? – or not? – part 2: the behaviour problems

Behaviour-problem cats are usually the chronic pee-ers, and the biters. In both cases, we don’t always know whether the behaviour is the result of some sort of stress in the original home or the sanctuary environment, or whether it’s a well-established habit.  The No 5 Road Shelter has passed on to us several cats who have been surrendered for peeing, and who have subsequently been adopted as an only-cat, with no sign of the behaviour problem in question – sometimes all it takes is guaranteeing the cat a status as the one-and-only in a home.

Sometimes the elimination problem has a clear origin – declawed cats are frequent culprits. Thank goodness, declawing is increasingly something that vets are unwilling to do – it can be a traumatic and pain-filled experience for a cat. Even after the paws are “healed”, the cat often suffers discomfort in the litter-box, and proceeds to eliminate on a softer surface. And the owner, who has declawed the cat to protect the furniture, then surrenders the cat – also to protect the furniture.

Deety - DW

Deety is one of our declawed cats. We’ve not got him as a problem eliminator, though; he has his own corner, from which he rarely moves, and his own litterbox. Instead, he is a problem biter. His very strong declawed paws are expert in catching on to his victim and pulling them in for a good chomp – and there’s nothing wrong with his teeth!

Puffin - MW

I don’t know whether Puffin was actually surrendered for biting, but while in a cage at the No 5 Road shelter, he bit a visitor who brought their face too close to his space. Puffin is another loner in the front courtyard, but doesn’t actively seek human attention. He’s so beautiful, though, that we have to warn visitors to limit their petting, and to act with caution. Another cat we all step warily around is Baby (he’s safely locked away when we have visitors). Most of the time he’s quite shy, and wary around other cats – but there’s some little switch in his brain which occasionally drives him to bite – and when Baby bites, he bites HARD!

Baby - MW

With some cats the elimination problem is a physiological one – and the Manx cats are prime examples of this. In extreme Manx syndrome, the shortness of the tail is linked to lack of control over sphincter muscles – and consequently cats like Sweet Pea have no sense of when they’re “going”. We just mop up after her, wherever she wanders. Sweet Pea adores being cuddled on someone’s lap, but you need a thick towel to protect yourself!  She’s not an adoptable prospect – and in a kill shelter she’d last no time at all – but this truly is sanctuary for her.

Sweet Pea - MW

There are an enormous number of litter-boxes in the Sanctuary, with various materials including clumping litter, sawdust and woodchips – and there are still cats that choose to do their business right in the middle of the courtyard, or against a closet door.  With some of them it is habit – they just don’t want to take the time to find a box.  With others, it’s a way of dealing with the plethora of cat-smells in the place – it’s part of territorial marking. Very often these problem cats struggle at the Sanctuary because of the presence of other cats – see The Garbo Cats – who knows if they might be adoptable candidates for someone who’s prepared to be patient, and willing to guarantee no further cats?  Other cats are part of the standard warning to visitors – “don’t put anything down; it’ll get peed on!”

Jake - PH

And this is the King of Pee – the cuddliest cat in the front courtyard. He’s happy, he’s sociable, he’s in good health – he’s just got that annoying little habit of anointing everything!
But we love you anyway, Jake!

Blogger: Brigid Coult

Photos by Phaedra Hardman, Debbie Wolanski & Michele Wright

The 12 Days of RAPSmas

With just about 12 days to go until Christmas, I thought it would be fun to involve a few of our sanctuary cats  in a little holiday cheer. We give you "The 12 Days of RAPSmas."
Here's the first installment:

On the first day of Christmas, the RAPS cats gave to me

An "egg" that was laid by Sweet Pea