Tiny Cats

Silky - MD

Visitors to the Sanctuary often notice one of the small cats like Little Mama in the Single-wide trailer or Tricia in the Double-wide trailer and assume that they’re kittens.  It’s true that they do look like kittens but both of these cats are fully-grown and, in fact, quite mature.  There are a few other small ones around, like Sara Lee, Gizmo, and newly-arrived Bengal Jinx but none of them are kittens either.  So why are these adult cats still kitten-size?

Sara Lee - MM

In the case of the females, like Little Mama, Tricia, and Sara Lee, there’s a simple but somewhat sad explanation for their being so petite.  They all had litters of kittens when they weren’t much more than kittens themselves.  As any human female who’s been pregnant can testify, pregnancy takes a lot out of the body!  Humans are generally aware of the nutritional care required during pregnancy and are able to supplement those elements and calories that the growing baby takes from them.  Sadly, homeless female kittens don’t have that luxury. Cats can become pregnant when they’re as young as four to six months old.

Tricia - MM

At that age, their own bodies have certainly not fully developed and having a litter will most likely result in them never attaining full size.  For a young feral cat, their intake of nutritional food is erratic at best, and almost certainly insufficient to support a litter of growing kittens in utero.  They often have small litters of only two or three kittens, have difficulty giving birth, and may lose some or all of their tiny offspring shortly after birth.  Then they have to feed the voracious little babies, again at the expense of their own nutritional needs.

Little Mama - MM

Little Mama, Tricia and Sara Lee were all young and pregnant when trapped, which most likely explains their petite dimensions.  As a cat from a Bengal breeder, Jinx was unlikely to have been a teenage mom, but, despite being eleven years old, she still looks like a kitten.

Jinx - DW

There are, of course, other possible reasons besides early pregnancy for a cat being on the small side. Gizmo, known as “Gizmo the Grey”, is not nearly as large as the average adult cat but, since he’s a male, early pregnancy doesn’t explain his size.  He’s a feisty young ex-stray so probably didn’t get enough food to help his little body grow to a normal size.

Gizmo - MW

There are several other diminutive female cats at the Sanctuary, such as Jax (Jacky) in the Single-wide and Marilee in the front courtyard, but the reasons they’re small aren’t always known.

Tiny Merilee likes to snuggle with Little Orange
- who is not as small as his name implies!  - MM

Like humans, cats do just come in different sizes as a result of genetics and/or nutrition.   The “runt” of a litter or one who was ill or poorly nourished as a kitten has a decreased likelihood of reaching normal mature cat size.  Or, a small cat may simply be a member of a small breed or have parents of a small breed.  As they become elderly, cats who were normal sized or even large in their salad days lose muscle mass and begin to look as if they’re much younger.  Cheetah and Taboo in the front courtyard, and Booster in the Double-wide are all examples of cats who, as humans also do, have become smaller since they became "senior citizen cats".

Cheetah sunning his old bones - MW

So, when you visit the Sanctuary and see cats that are smaller than the others, it’s not because they’re kittens.  They’re fully grown but for some reason don’t look it.  But they do look especially cute!  

Blog by Marianne Moore

Pictures by Melanie Draper, Marianne Moore, Debbie Wolanski, Michele Wright

Tara

Tara - BC

From the Neko-blog founder, Claire, we’ve had an introduction and update to shy orange Tricia, in the double-wide – Tricia used to have to be backed into a corner in order to be reminded that petting felt quite good. She was named for a RAPS supporter who fell in love with her when the little feral first came to us.

Tricia - CP

Tricia didn’t come alone – she was accompanied by her sister, Tara, named for her sponsor’s sister. We’ve had no such taming luck with little sister Tara. This pretty girl hangs round pen 1; she’s fairly social with the other cats, especially her best buddy Gabby, but she feels that humans are still not to be trusted.

Tara lets Gabby know how good it is to see him again - BC

Tara was caged for a couple of months recently while we treated her for a bout of vestibular disease. Often the process of caging a cat gives us the opportunity to swing the kitty comforters into action and habituate a shy feline to more regular handling. It didn’t work this time. Tara regarded all intruders into her cage with horror, and once released, returned to her haunts around pen 1.

"No closer, please!" - MW

But things aren’t quite the same – now she is more inclined to hover just out of reach, allowing the human to approach just to touching range before scuttling another metre away and then turning to stare. She now sports the distinctive post-vestibular head-tilt, as does her pen-mate Tibet – and she has the same half-scared, half-fascinated attitude to people. Tibet now has his favourites with whom to interact; we really hope that Tara will make that final jump to trusting us.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Chris Peters, Michele Wright

Family Day at the Sanctuary

Though most of the Sanctuary cats have come in as singles – whether feral-trapped or as surrenders, we have our share of feline family relationships. Some of them have recently been featured – the “Cow Cats” – Mya, Kirstie and Teagan – are now out of a cage and hanging about in the upper reaches of the single-wide trailer. They’re unlikely ever to be very tame cats, though both Teagan and Kirstie will accept a little attention, but they still enjoy each other’s company. However many of our siblings largely ignore each other, and it’s rare that you find them together, so most of the upcoming pictures are of singles rather than pairs.  Claire introduced shy Tricia nearly five years ago and updated us on her progress back in 2013. Tricia is currently caged for a mouth infection, and actively solicits petting when visited – big progress from the shy girl she used to be.

Tricia - CF

Now we need to get working on her little sister Tara. Tara has been almost exclusively a back-pens cat – a little ghost who hovers around pen 1, but doesn’t want much to do with people. She was recently confined to treat what looks like an inner ear problem, and though still wary of being touched, is watching everything that’s going on. Having a cat caged, and accessible to the staff and the kitty comforters, is often a really good way of coaxing them into the next stage of being tamed.

Tara - BC

The last of our Val Jones family, Paulo and Latte hang out together in the front courtyard – but their togetherness is probably less about affection and more about a common goal of food and attention from humans!

Paulo & Latte - PH

Brother and sister Miller and Fiona also live in the front courtyard. Though they mostly live independent lives, we can occasionally catch them together.  Fiona’s usually a very friendly girl, though she doesn’t think much of Sunday visitors – she has a talent for hiding herself away until 4:10pm, when she emerges with an air of “did I miss something?”. Miller has progressed from being pretty feral to being everyone’s pal, and loves attention. The third of the trio is their sister Schatze (whose middle name should have been Houdini). Schatze lived in the parking lot until recently – she had a gift for escaping (though we never knew quite how). The nearby presence of coyotes encouraged us to bring her to pen 4 which is totally meshed in, and she’s stayed there – she was pretty miffed at first, but has now progressed to living in the hut with some of the other cats.

Fiona & Miller - DW

Schatze - MW

Families can be adoptive as well as blood relatives – and that’s true of the Dryer Gang: the first cats you encounter on entering the single-wide. They are centred on Simone and Bantam, who we used to think were brother and sister, but according to the vet, Simone is older than Bantam, and may well be his mom – even though he’s twice her size.  The other cats are unrelated – they all just love each other!

The Dryer Gang - MW

The single-wide is also the home of some of our maternal relationships:  tortie Sophie and her tabby son Hiro; Diamond and momma’s boy Garfield.

Hiro & Sophie - MW

Diamond & Garfield - DW

And a third maternal relationship which we thought was wheezy Marissa and her orange son Paylan,  has now been revealed to be mother/daughter (rechristened Sarah Paylan) – we should know by now that though orange cats are usually males, we have our share of the female variety.

Marissa & Sarah Paylan - DW

Happy Family Day!

Blog by Brigid Coult
Photos by Brigid Coult, Claire Fossey, Phaedra Hardman, Debbie Wolanski and Michele Wright

Tricia

Tricia was named for actress Tricia Helfer of Battlestar Galactica fame in honor of the support she has given RAPS.

Although I'd heard of cat Tricia before, it's only been quite recently that I've been able to meet and get to know her.

From a May 31 entry in the RAPS blog by Marianne:

Little orange and white Tricia came to us as a young feral cat who’d already had a litter of kittens, which explains why she never gained full size herself. She and her two equally feral sisters wanted nothing to do with people and huddled together in the back of their cage. Once released, all three disappeared into the many hiding places in the back courtyard, until about a year later when Tricia began making “guest appearances” in the tea room during volunteers’ coffee breaks. We found that, if approached slowly and gently, she loves being petted, welcomes a few tummy rubs and even produces a few little purrs.

After spending a little time last month in a cage in the doublewide, Tricia has decided this might be an OK sort of area to hang out. She's still nervous and, if encountered out in the open, still can't quite resist running away.

If you can get her somewhere where flight isn't quite such an easy option, though, all it takes is a single touch before she melts into happy wriggles and rubs.