A Touch of Tortitude

With more than 400 cats around the Sanctuary, there’s an immense variety of types and colours. Tabbies of various kinds predominate, but there are many other coats to be seen. The majority of our orange cats are male, but we do have half a dozen orange females. The orange coat is a genetic trait that occurs through the male X chromosome, and a female cat with orange fur has to have been sired by a male orange, through the mother may be of any colour. This is also true for tortoiseshells and calicos, both of which are almost exclusively female. In both cases the gene for the orange colouring is modified by the gene for black or for white fur.

Alyssa - Lulu - Vienna - PengPeng - Sophie

We probably have more than a dozen torties, a few of whom are shown above.  Anyone who has ever been owned by a tortie will tell you that they have tons of personality – we call it “tortietude”. They tend to be assertive about their rights, possessive of their territory, feisty and somewhat unpredictable.

Treacle - BC

Nobody at the Sanctuary sums that up better than Treacle. A little stiff-legged girl (probably a little arthritic), Treacle has claimed the Hill House as her space, and once she’s found her bed, she does NOT want to be bothered by other cats!  She loves humans – she’s one of the cats you can pick up and snuggle, and she adores it – but when there are front courtyard spats, it’s usually because Treacle is laying down the law. 

Treacle - MW

She’s what’s known as a chocolate tortie, with a lot of black in her fur colouring. Treacle carries her “my space” bubble around with her, and woe betide the cat that ventures into it.

In a totally different vein is Nelly, a dilute tortie, found in the DoubleWide. She was the long-term girlfriend of our dearly loved Mario, and has never really recovered from his death – one gets the feeling she’s still looking for him. Nelly’s territory is the top of the cages, from which she stares down with the slightly horrified expression of the typical feral.

Nelly - MW

But progress is being made – though she still won’t allow herself to be touched, she will now accept treats, and occasionally comes down to join the crowd outside the med-cage.

Nelly - BC

As you leave the DoubleWide, you will encounter a tortie who exemplifies tortietude.

 

Emily - MW

Emily takes territory to an extreme. For months she hung out on a cat-tree just outside the tea-room. Then she was slated for some dental work and caged while she recovered. Once the cage was open and Emily was free to go, she decided that this was her new territory, and refused to leave. It took months before she decided that there were too many cats encroaching on her territory, and she needed to claim something more her own. Now she’s moved to the shelf just outside the DoubleWide, where she demands attention as we come and go.

Emily - PH

Now that the weather is warming a bit, Emily can once more be found outside the tea-room – especially if there’s chicken on offer – but she’s back on her shelf for the evening, and waiting to have her own special dinner delivered.

Daisy - MW

We can’t leave the torties without mentioning Daisy. She also has personality to an extreme degree – like, 180 degrees away from Treacle. Daisy has never met someone who isn’t her friend. She probably has a chromosomal disorder something like Down Syndrome (cats only have 38 chromasomes, so true Down Syndrome, which is a disorder of the 21st chromosomal pair, is not possible). We regularly have Sunday visitors who arrive asking, “Where’s Daisy?” and both cat and human enjoy snuggles; Daisy is one of the few Sanctuary cats who is relaxed when cradled like a baby.  As a feral cat, Daisy’s chances would have been poor. We feel that she’s a poster girl for the Sanctuary.

Daisy - MW

 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Pictures by Brigid Coult, Phaedra Hardman, Michele Wright

The Garbo Cats (“I Vant to Be Alone”) – front courtyard

Many people come to visit the Sanctuary with a certain amount of hesitation; they have visions of cats in cages and of feeling that they won’t be able to leave without “rescuing” one or more cats. They are usually blown away by the peace of the place, by the beauty of the surroundings (Club Med for Cats, one visitor called it) and by how well all the cats co-exist.
For the most part, the latter is true – cats have the reputation of being loners, and not pack animals like dogs. But that’s mainly a function of their hunting habits; you aren’t going to catch a mouse if you take a bunch of friends with you. Once the mouse is caught (and eaten) cats are quite happy to go back and lounge with their buddies.
At the Sanctuary, mouse-catching is (mostly) not an issue. Cats are all spayed and neutered, so have no battles to fight over mates; there is a constant buffet of crunchies, and canned food offered in the evening, and though territorial issues may come in, there are so many cat smells that most cats just give in and let be.

The Welcoming Committee - MW

But just like humans, there are introverts and extroverts in the cat world. Any Sunday visitor knows that there will be a welcoming committee at the gate, and a press of cat bodies saying “Stroke me! Feed me!” But look around the front courtyard and you will see a few cats who choose to keep themselves to themselves.

Tigger - MW

Tigger is often found by himself in a quiet corner, though he will sometimes come out and make himself more visible. He’s a beautiful big orange and white boy, who loves human attention just as long as other cats don’t get too close. Sadly, when that happens, the human is as likely to be a victim as the other cat. He loves to climb on a shoulder and nuzzle into the hair of his human carrier.

Timmy - MW

Timmy came to us when his family took in an elderly relative who was allergic to cats. Timmy resented losing his freedom, and hasn’t settled very well – he often hangs out at the top of the stairs. Quite frequently on a Sunday, Timmy will pick one visitor and demand attention; that visitor is then expected to sit and cuddle for at least half an hour!

Leland - MW

Leland is still having a very tough time at the Sanctuary. This handsome grey boy does NOT like feline company, and lets us know it with a constant output of growls and muttering. He even needed to be medicated a bit at the beginning to ease his anxiety. But we don’t want to leave him on medication, and Leland just has to deal with other cats. He has his human favourites, though, and there are many of the staff and volunteers who will make time for him – in the right mood and with the right person, he snuggles like a baby!

Treacle - CF

If you hear a spat going on around the Hill House, it’s probably caused by one of the smaller cats. Treacle is a feisty little older girl with plenty of “tortie-tude”. A regular supervisor of quality control at mealtimes, she’s one of the few cats that likes to be picked up and cuddled, but other cats get within paws-reach at their own peril.

Treacle - DW

When we have a truly adoptable cat, we try to make sure it has its chance at the No 5 Road Shelter – the public face of our organization, and the place where all the adoptions occur. For these four, and for cats like them, the No 5 Rd Shelter can’t be an option – there’s nowhere for them to get away from other cats and they would be acutely unhappy. So they stay with us at the Sanctuary, where they can usually find their own sanctuary somewhere. Unfortunately, tension makes them develop some bad habits about where they poop and pee, which means that they’re often not a good adoption risk.  We love them anyway – and cleaning up after cats is just one of the joys of volunteering here!

Guest blogger: Brigid Coult

Photos: Michele Wright, Claire Fossey, Debbie Wolanski

Treacle

Treacle arrived at the sanctuary at the beginning of March, left by the driveway in a carrier with a note saying something about pooping outside the litterbox that had been going on for a long time and for no reason the vet could identify. The writer of the note hadn't wanted to euthanize her, so they left her there assuming one of our staff would find her and take her in. Luckily, they did.

When she arrived, Treacle was very upset. The sign on her cage advised people to move slowly and quietly around her. Leaving her home must have been a most unwelcome shock, particularly since she seems to be one of those cats who hates other cats. And her cage was right next to Rita, one of our most famous cat-haters. I hear Rita managed to pull aside the blanket keeping them from each other's view and they proceeded to try to get one another through the partition. Now Treacle's cage is fully obscured from prying cat eyes and she's a lot more relaxed.

However she might feel about fellow felines, Treacle loves people and, despite having never met me before, was delighted by my visit. She rubbed her head against everything in reach, had me watch her eat for a bit, then capsized for a good, happy wriggle. She's a beautiful girl who will soon win herself more than a few admirers among the sanctuary staff and volunteers.