Hill House Haven

Handsome Mango  (MW)

It was just the way my Kitty Comforter shift worked out last week – I ended up spending a lot more time in the Hill House than I usually do, and renewed all sorts of friendships with cats who were choosing a cosy corner on a not-very-nice day.

Inside the Hill House  (BC)

The Hill House is the Front Courtyard cabin that lies between the Val Jones pen and the Old Rabbit Area (ORA), both of which I’ve written about before. It gets its name from cat-lover Stanley Hill, whose family made its refurbishing possible as a memorial, and he would have loved the bunch of cats who were making themselves at home in it when I visited.

Solar, sitting by the ORA window   (MW)

As I wrote last week, many cats are territorial – they like to be in a familiar space, and can sometimes be a little hissy when a feline stranger intrudes. The Hill House is actually a space in which intrusions are frequent, and most of the residents shrug them off. The covered courtyard known as the Old Rabbit Area has many very shy residents, and the permanently open window between the two areas makes it possible for the ferals to venture out into a safe space with (mostly) friendly cats. 

Tamale, who lives mostly in the ORA  (LBF)

While I was there, handsome Tamale ventured through the window, and though he clearly didn’t want physical contact, he was ready to let me talk to him, and to see that there were tidbits on offer, when he felt brave enough.  We think Tamale may be the brother of short-haired tuxedo Boston in New Aids; Boston accepts belly rubs now, and thinks humans are a Good Thing, when they approach gently.

Kia's look clearly says "Leave me alone!"  (BC)

Many of the Hill House regular residents, are exactly that - regular: this is where to go to find grey Solar or friendly Kahlua.  Kia will be found in her open cage – this grumpy girl was not happy about coming into our care, and she is one of the cats that has claimed her cage, refusing to move.  The two big Hill House cages are prime real estate because of their size, and it may well be that she has to be evicted to make room for a pair of cats who need to room together (Benjamin and Olivia once had this cage), in which case she will be forced to find another corner in which to indulge her Garbo-cat tendencies. Kia doesn’t encourage either feline or human sociability; minimal petting is tolerated, and then you can see her planning where to deliver the go-away smack.

TicTac with her boyfriend Mozart   (BC)

At the other end of the spectrum I could also find Mozart and TicTac cuddled together in a very small bed.  Handsome Mozart is one of a group we called The Teens; cats who came to us past the easy socializing stage, and who have taken their own sweet time about making human friends. Pretty Pistachio from that group got adopted, but Benny, Leo, and Caleb are still with us. Mozart’s striking looks always draw attention, but he’s actually pretty shy around people, and the Hill House is his favourite hideout.  TicTac came to us from the Adoption Centre last year as one of the cats with cage aggression, who was not showing well to potential adopters.  Once out of her cage and in the company of other cats she calmed down – and all the more so when she met Mozart, who she adores. He tolerates her attention and consents to share his bed, but I think the relationship is a little one-sided.

Sam - as content as he can be, surrounded by other cats  (BC)

I am interested in the fact that Sam also chooses to make the Hill House his base.  Most of us love Sam – but warily;  Sam desperately needs a cat-savvy human who is prepared to have Sam be a one-and-only, and he is incapable of demonstrating that to a visitor without getting distracted by other cats – at which point (much of the time) he gets really reactive.  Sam has never recovered from losing his owner, and he does NOT like this place – but most cat-savvy people already have cats. Still, Sam chooses to claim a corner of the Hill House, and as long as other felines don’t get too close, he enjoys the warmth and the proximity to treats.

Pretty Speckle  (MW)

Lots of beds and shelves mean that this is a popular place for sleeping, snuggles and socializing.  Speckle can almost always be coaxed off the trolley shelves to accept tidbits and treats. She has really blossomed from the wary girl she used to be when she first arrived.

Jenny - wary, but interested  (BC)

The big table on the left hides the litter boxes, but also provides a surface for cats who prefer to hide on the higher shelving, and occasionally venture down to try a little flirting with a human visitor.  Newcomer Jenny has joined the many black cats in the front courtyard;  it’s nice to have her be so identifiable by her white markings, and even nicer to see her starting to accept attention from us.

Toes - taking shelter in the porch area   (BC)

Even on the way out, there are cats who prefer the shelter of the porch to the more open courtyard. Tortie Toes and newcomer Frank had both decided that they would opt for cover;  Toes is often in the Yellow Shed when not sitting on the box-pile, but was happy to have a little attention from her corner in the Hill House porch; newbieFrank is still working out which corner he will claim as home, and I hope he will eventually come inside and join the Hill House Club.

Frank likes to tuck himself away in a box   (BC)

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Brigid Coult & Michele Wright

Feline Daddies

Biggie is happy to snooze his days away  (KN)

We have our share of Mom-cats who arrived into our care with kittens on board or already born, and who have remained in the Sanctuary because they’re too feral or too shy, while their kittens go on to being socialized and finding their own homes.  It’s harder to ID the Dad-cats when fatherhood for most cats is a moment’s urge and not accompanied by any real bonding with the female in question – in fact, a fertile female cat can be impregnated by more than one tomcat, and her litter of kittens may have multiple sires.  So celebrating Father's Day at the Sanctuary is not as easy as celebrating Mother's Day! Having said that, there are a few instances where we’re pretty sure about both parents – and the certainty comes down to genetics.

Domino still has a tom-cat attitude;
he's probably sired his share of kittens! (BH)

Most of the cats in both New AIDS and the Val Jones are male, and most of them have come to us as unneutered tomcats – that, of course, being the reason they carry the FIV virus, which is conveyed in blood from bites. These boys lived their pre-Sanctuary lives fending for themselves, struggling to establish their territory, their food sources, and their potential mates – and, still ramped up with testosterone as they were, that inevitably involved fighting. It’s likely that many of them have sired litters of kittens before they came to us, but typically, cats are deadbeat dads, and have no concern for their offspring. The first thing that happens when they come into our care is that crucial vet appointment when they’re neutered – which means no more kittens, as well as reducing their urge to fight with each other. 

Simon & Biggie having a private son-and-father moment  (JS)

We’re pretty sure that Biggie, in the New AIDS pen, is the father of Simon and Smalls. The three of them, with female Marble, came to us last year from the Island. We think Marble is the mother of Simon and Smalls;  Biggie is older than the two boys, and likely sired them, but it’s possible that he may be both Marble’s son and her baby-daddy – cat colonies being what they are, there is often a lot of in-breeding. The orange colouring is a strong genetic marker, and Smalls’ black colouring is the most common alternative to a dominant orange gene.

Zeus (MD) and Pax (LBF)
both now adopted.

When in 2019 we brought in a large colony of cats created by someone who was feeding ferals, it was obviously a multi-generational affair – pregnant moms, kittens, teenagers, and a couple of older males who had clearly sired most of the younger ones.  These two males proved to be FIV+, but both were friendly and handleable; probably strays rather than ferals;  Pax and Zeus settled in easily to the Val Jones area, and both ended up being adopted to their forever homes.  

So like their dads! - Nyx & Juno (LBF)

Their genes can clearly be seen in some of the cats still living in Pen 1 – Nyx, Juno, Atlas and Mercury have a real resemblance to their sires, though all four, having grown up feral, have remained wary with people. And it’s quite likely that both Kenji and Allan, in the front courtyard, have the same genetics - though not gathered up at the same time, they came from close by.

Tamale enjoying the heat lamp (AM)

More recently, our trappers were involved in rescuing a colony from Shell Road. Most of these cats were tuxedos or blacks – and not from the same genetic pool as the earlier group, whose more pointed faces are a clear contrast to the broader heads and bodies of the newcomers. One of them proved to be FIV+ and is now living in New AIDS – he was introduced in an earlier blog as Boston. Two other males are in the front courtyard; Tamale is clearly related to Boston – father? brother? son? - and Chicharron (Cheech) has the same stocky build, though he’s tailless and all black. Staff and fosters were able to socialize many of the younger cats trapped at that site, and they were adopted, so we have no clear families to identify.

Percival Snugglebutt - also known as Daddy (JS)

Percival Snugglebutt is the other cat that we know for sure has fathered kittens. He was one of the colony of cats who came from the Kootenays in 2022, and the two little lynxpoint girls, Curious and SweetPea, both arrived pregnant. Rather than coming directly to us, they went into fosterage, where their kittens were born. Both litters had some tail-less kittens, a clear genetic link to Percival.  All the kittens were adopted out, and SweetPea also found a home; Curious is still with us because she’s not as friendly as her sister. 

Majestic (and shy) Basil  (KN)

The rest of the colony has a much more Himalayan look, though in a variety of colours; it’s likely that either shy Basil or friendly Owen (now adopted) was responsible for the younger cats. Percival is sometimes known as Big Daddy, though he has largely detached himself from the rest of the colony, and has moved on to socialize with the floofy Kamloops cats, and especially his buddy Thorne.

Percival with his best friend, Thorne  (JS)

The sentiment that powers the concepts of Mother's Day and Father's Day celebrations falters when it comes to felines.  For the majority of male cats, “love ‘em and leave ‘em!” is the primary urge – not necessarily something we want to celebrate! Whatever their paternal shortcomings, though, we love having them at the Sanctuary.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Melanie Draper, Brielle Hutchinson,
Anne Marchetti, Karen Nicholson. Justin Saint

Boston

Boston - "it's a lovely day, and I'm in a grumpy mood"  (KN)

Last fall our cat-trapping team had their attention seriously divided between a hoarding situation in Surrey and another cat-colony that appeared in Richmond in an industrial area. The hoarding situation was solved with the involvement of the SPCA and other rescue organizations; RAPS took in at least half a dozen cats who were semi-tame, are now well settled into Sanctuary life and might even graduate to eventual adoption.  

The Christmas kittens - always cute!

The group from the industrial area were a very mixed bunch. There were several unneutered males, and inevitably pregnant moms and kittens to deal with. Many of the latter are up for adoption now – the Christmas kittens, named for Santa’s reindeer, and the Weather kittens – Storm, Lightning & Thunder Life in the Adoption Centre is busy! Some of the adults were easy with being handled; others were wary, so it’s hard to tell who might be a stray, with previous experience of humans, and who might be a true feral. 

Cheech has settled; mostly in the Connor House (BC)

Tamale still spends most of his time hiding  (KN)
He just HAS to be Boston's brother!

As is our custom, all new cats are snap-tested when they come to us, and with unneutered males, it was not surprising to find that at least one was FIV+ - FIV is passed on through bite wounds, which are common with cats who may fight over territory or potential mates. Chicharron and Tamale got a clean bill of health and were eventually released into the front courtyard, but Boston found himself living in the New Aids pen. Initially he was caged while he had his neuter surgery, and then of course he had the joy of wearing a “cone of shame”. First clue that this was not a typical feral – med-staff Molly tells me that when it came time to remove his collar, it had stuck and she had to take scissors to it. Removing a plastic collar from a feral cat is not a fun activity, but Boston was pretty calm (not happy, but calm!)

Boston's early "don't come too close" days  (KC)

On release from a cage our New Aids newbies either go up on the top of the cages to be out of reach, or they go to the back of the pen, to the Prince of Wales enclosure (named for the school that donated it, not for HRH!). Boston was a back-of-the-pen boy, and could often be found in company with black Drake and orange Rocket. Rocket (brother to Sprocket in the back pens, and probably cousin to Mercury next door) has progressed from a frightened feral to a pet-me-pet-me boy – though you have to move quietly. Drake does NOT like human company, as you can see by his flattened ears – but he does seem to like Boston’s company, and can often be found near his buddy.

Boston, with Drake in the background  (BC)

In the finer fall weather, Boston could often be found up on the roof of one of the cabins – whether getting away from things, or bird-watching, who knows...  Once it was colder he took possession of a cat-tree in P-of-W, and there he held court, establishing the centre for claiming his human worshippers.

An elegant gentleman in a tux  (BC)

Katy Cobb is the volunteer who works in New Aids on Tuesday evenings, and this boy has become a very special project for her.  She writes:
When I first met Boston in the summer he was a pretty typical feral guy. He would often hiss at me from the roof of the shed, and take off running if I got too close. When the weather got cooler, he traded the roof for an indoor cat post but he was still quite shy and never seemed too happy to see me. 

Seriously? You want to be my friend?  (KC)

I started giving him treats, and eventually cautiously tried petting him. He was initially skeptical and even whacked my hand a couple of times but I sensed he wanted to be friendly and just didn’t know how yet.  After several more weeks of consistent treat offerings, he started to accept cheek rubs. And the floodgates opened. He can’t get enough! He loves being brushed, and even likes belly rubs. He leans his whole body against me while purring and headbutting me for even more attention. 

Shy, but hopeful  (KC)

Lately I’ve been seeing if he’d like to become a truly snuggly lap cat. He’s definitely interested and I’m slowly winning his trust. So far he has committed to putting his front two paws on my lap while leaving his back paws on the floor. Fingers crossed he’ll be a full lap cat soon! 

Yes, I like this...   (KC)

Some cats are affectionate right away, and those cats are lovely. But once in a while there’s a hidden gem with a rough exterior who needs some patience and understanding to come out of their shell. Boston has so much love to give, and I can’t wait to see him fully embrace it.     (KC)

Blog by Brigid Coult and Katy Cobb (thank you, Katy!)

Photos by Katy Cobb, Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson

Thanksgiving for Cats

Shy Malibu   (KN)

Back in the fall, Lisa and Ken spent quite a bit of time patiently watching traps.  

Can we trust you?   (LBF)

There are generally two circumstances in which trapping needs to be done. The first is when we discover a colony of cats who are producing kittens – and it only takes a couple of unfixed females, and we suddenly have a flood of felines. The fall colony was discovered in an industrial area – not a safe place for kittens – and it was important that they were brought in before kitten season extended itself yet again.

Truffle in his hideaway   (BC)

The second is when we discover a situation in which a colony is being claimed and “maintained” – but not really...  too many cats living freely inside and out, not enough food so they’re annoying the neighbours, in danger from traffic and predators. In this case it was largely a human hoarding problem, and a mental health one – and the best Ken and Lisa could do was to get cats to safety wherever possible. Other rescues were involved here, and RAPS has played our part in solving the problem.

Hissy Creampuff is calmer now  (BC)

In the first situation, trapping is largely a matter of time and patience; food resources for the cats are limited, and food offered is tempting, and brings them into the trap.  In the second situation, the trappers were handicapped by well-meaning neighbours (and probably the “owner” herself) who were feeding a variety of (not always cat-food) things, and causing the cats to turn their noses up at the food in the traps because they weren’t hungry.

Misty & Windy safe in fosterage  (LBF)

Patience and persistence usually wins, though. Through October, lots of little black kittens from the industrial area have come through the care of fosterers to the Adoption Centre and on to their own homes. They were initially given Thanksgiving names like Cranberry, Stuffing, and Turkey – and then moved on to other fall names: Hayride, Windy, Stormy, Misty, Moonlight... Foster-moms have been very busy, and are now taking that last painful step of sending their beloved kittens on to better things - a process made easier by the fact that Lisa takes wonderful kitten pictures!

Caramel's babies   (LBF)

One of this collection of hoarded cats ended up being whisked away and into fosterage. Pretty Caramel really wanted attention, and got plenty of it while she awaited the birth of her kittens.  With all that handling, she will probably go to the adoption centre with her babies when they are ready to find their own homes. Their sweetness is reflected in their names: Sundae, Donut, SugarCookie, Shortbread, ButterTart and CandyCane.

Misty & Windy have extra toebeans!  (LBF)

The cats from the hoarding situation are mostly adult, semi-feral or very shy, and have needed time to settle down at the Sanctuary.  Many of them also acquired food names: Cornbread, Truffle, Tater, Creampuff, Tamale...  A few non-food names also snuck in – beautiful Malibu can be confused with Creampuff as they bound across the front Courtyard until you see Malibu’s markings clearly.  Tater is doing no bounding – she is very shy and spends most of the time hiding behind the drapes in the ORA.

Creampuff & Cornbread  (LBF)

Cornbread is probably the youngest of the group, and loves attention but is easily over-stimulated. Her jumping and running rapidly changes to smacking, and it’s important to read her body language.  My own favourite among these cats is Truffle; he’s a handsome lynx-point who hangs out now in the yellow-door shed, but who is happy to emerge and visit with a human.  I think, as with many of this group, he prefers the crepuscular pattern of morning and evening; when I arrived early one morning last week, he and Cornbread were playing near the gate, and were ready for some fussing and attention; when I left, late morning, he’d retreated to his hidey-hole.

Cornbread loves to play   (BC)

Tamale is not very social; he hovers between the Hill House and the ORA, putting himself wherever the humans are not. Karen managed to get this wonderful picture of him with a distance lens; usually if he sees us around, he hides. But he’s interested; often I’ll be visiting in the ORA and look up to see him peering through the window from the Hill House.

Tamale  (KN)

With all these cats, we’re dealing with a mixture of ferals and strays. The ferals will probably remain wary, and appreciative of all the many hiding places we offer them;  the strays know about human contact and we hope that patience will eventually bring them around. Whichever way it turns, we are thankful for their presence with us, and grateful for all Lisa and Ken’s trapping efforts.  Thanksgiving is not just for one time of year!

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson

In the ORA

Tri-paw'd Chutney is still shy - BC

The front courtyard of the Sanctuary is home to a variety of cats, many of whom roam freely to all corners except the Val Jones area (FIV cats) and the Leukemia area (confusingly, once known as Old Aids). But at night, and especially with the disappearance of our summer weather, most of them return to specific areas – and sometimes to specific beds. That’s a great help to the med-staff, who need to know where to look when medicating yet another black cat! Through our summer visiting hours one specific place is blocked off, so that shy cats have the opportunity of avoiding interaction with visitors. This area lies between the Yellow Door shed and the Hill House, and is the home to most of the front courtyard ferals.

In the ORA - BC

The Old Rabbit Area (ORA) has nothing to do with old rabbits, but in the very early days of the Sanctuary there was in fact a rabbit pen on the south side of the courtyard. The space between the two buildings was walled in and the floor paved, though the south side is still open-netted. As the cat numbers increased with the trapping of local ferals, the area was given over to the cats, and the rabbits were moved into the DoubleWide. When I arrived in 2010, we were at almost 700 cats (there had been more!) and the rabbits were Kringle, Amy, and when Amy passed, Kris.

Dixie hides in her basket behind the drapes - BC

In the Old Rabbit Area, priority is given to hiding places. The shelving around the walls and the large cat-tree in the centre are all well-draped, and the drapes remain in place unless the med-staff need to access specific cats. Sweet stubby-tailed Dixie is one of these; she is tame and touchable, but prefers to remain out of sight.

Mabel - MD

Usually a human intruder into the area walks into blank drapes and no movement. The inhabitants of the bed under the heat-lamp give resentful glares. But the production of a little edible bribery will often result in inquisitive noses and hopeful faces – even if they don’t much want to be touched. Solar and Mabel are usually in this area – they are half of a quartet of ferals that came to us from VOKRA some years ago; their brother Midnight did a jail-break through to the back courtyard and remains there.

Marmalade - KN

Our two little tripaw’d cats make this area their home. Marmalade (minus a back leg) has become much more mobile and can occasionally be found on the climbing frame on the other side of the courtyard. She emphatically does not want to be touched, but she loves chicken bits. Chutney (minus a front leg) prefers to stay around her home-zone, but enjoys contact with her select humans. She can often be found sitting up like a little meerkat.

Eddie - KN

Eddie had a home in the Hill House middle cage for some time, and was not a happy camper there; the Kitty Comforters who visited him were known to shed blood, and getting him comfortable with contact was a painful process. When the cage was opened and Eddie was out, we saw a different cat! On his first weekend out he was making nice with visitors – and no blood!  Eddie prefers to hang out in the ORA with the other littles, as does sweet Abel, the brother of Nemi. Both cats can be shy and a bit timid but overall, they have really blossomed and can be rather outgoing at times. Abel and Nemi are also very sweet. Nemi divides her time between the Connor, the climbing frame, and the ORA. Both cats are semi-feral, but on the tame end of the spectrum. Nemi and Abel are available for adoption.

Abel - BC

Nemi - BC

Many other ferals hide behind the drapes, high up by the ceiling, or in the beds that form a barrier between the two courtyards. Bobtailed Bowie will venture out, but prefers to hold himself away from humans; he is one of many black cats in the area that is happier not dealing with us – the rest of his mini-colony (Jett, Joan and Janice, who I cannot tell apart) do the crepuscular cat thing, and prefer to emerge only at dawn and dusk when there are fewer people around to scare them.

Bowie - BC

Others enjoy transitioning through the window above the heated bed which leads into the Hill House; once there, they are often found to be more willing to venture a little human contact with volunteers.

Solar enjoying the heat lamp;
can you see shy Tamale through the Hill House window? - BC

Like everywhere else, the place is well cleaned every day, but other than that, volunteers tend to stay out of it, so the ORA can remain a sanctuary within the Sanctuary for the shy and the scared. a place where they can interact without our eyes on them, and where they can feel well fed and secure for all their lives.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Melanie Draper, Karen Nicholson