The Great Escape

Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t an escape (or it was one carefully planned by the staff.)  But the cats think it was an escape.

Mitzi musing on the outdoor experience  (KN)

Visitors to the Double-Wide will find there are several barriers to access. The main door is quite heavy – but there’s a cat-door carefully situated there for the times when there’s no human to be butler.  The door between the laundry room and the main room is very light, and there’s a cutout in the frame at the bottom. Many cats have learned how to open the door from either side, and the cutout prevents any tails from getting caught. And then between the main room and the deck, there’s another door – and once again, a cat-flap allows access.

Loki learning to manage the door  (KN)

For years the cats who have gravitated to the back deck have been the shyest ones, the ones who are wary of humans, even when out of reach. In this safe space, some of them have learned that we’re not so bad – but they are still wary about moving out of their space and braving what must look like an obstacle course. And to be honest, that’s what it is – the laundry room door in particular is a real barrier to a very shy or feral cat, and often that’s a good thing, since the cat spends more time where we can keep an eye on it.

Ringo hovering by the deck door   (BC)

Ringo is typical of this sort of cat.  He spent most of his first year tucked into a Back Deck corner as high up and out of the way as he could manage. He froze around humans, and floor level was not comfortable for him.  Then gradually we found he was making his way into the main room, mostly at times when there were very few people around. He was learning that not only humans, but also other cats meant him no harm.  Eventually he made his way through the building, probably managing the laundry room door when another cat went through. He established himself outside the DoubleWide door, making little forays to explore.  These days he spends most of his time out in the back pens, either sleeping in the gardens or following his buddy Zivko around. 

Ringo relaxed in the garden (MW)

However, very few of the other Deck cats seemed to want to follow him. Finally this summer it was decided that we needed another cat-door, and one was cut into the emergency exit that opens onto the passageway by Pen 1.  It didn’t take much to have a general exodus. There were a couple of early panics when someone made their way into Pen 1 and then couldn’t find the gate to return – but once that was solved, there was quite a lot of visiting.

Hickory returning from an exploration (KN)

Hickory was the most ready to explore beyond the immediate vicinity.  But he also appreciated a comfy bed at the top of the stairs.

Hickory just outside the cat-door  (KN)

Bubbles prefers to stay fairly close to the door for now – but he enjoys being a sun-worshipper.

Bubbles  (KN)

Denzel too is not venturing far yet – but you can see from his happy tail that he’s good with the change.

Denzel  (KN)

Ziggy took her time – but a nice comfy chair was too good to pass up!

Ziggy  (KN)

Ursula is remembering her outside life as a feral kitten – and we hope she's preferring what she has now.

Ursula (KN)

And, astonishingly, Kin, who prefers to hide, (see the blog of two weeks ago) also braved the cat-door and found a little patch of green where he could sit and think.

Kin, out in the big wide world  (KN)

There are still a few who’ve not poked their heads through the door – but we all know about curiosity and cats – and there’s lots in the back courtyard for them to be curious about!  Watch for updates...

Blog by Brigid Coult
Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson & Michele Wright

Creston and Banff

From Kitty Comforter Pauline Chin:

Creston & Banff

This pair journeyed all the way from Alberta where they lived in a hoarder’s house with many other animals.  Being leukemia kitties, they had no place to go, so it’s off to the Sanctuary to join the FeLV+ cats and their playground.

Creston

Cats from hoarder homes are mystery packages.  We don’t know what sort of handling, or socialization they’ve had, surprising triggers, or what their of opinion of humans is.  The least we can hope for is a clean bill of health or fast recovery.  Personality quirks are bonus discoveries.

Zanda

Walleyed Creston looks a tad rough around the edges, like the late Zanda.  Despite that, this boy has an unusually cuddly personality.  During the first 2 weeks, he spent his time camping in his tent.  He could be seen randomly gobbling down wet food or treats.  Sometimes, he greeted humans with hisses.  He acts cautious initially because he doesn’t know if your hands are going to poke and prod him or pet him.  Once he’s sure of the latter, he’ll push his head into your hand and insist on head scratches.  

Creston’s quirk is to go roly-poly and nearly tumble off the shelf while being petted.  I can’t tell if he’s looking for the most comfortable spot or if he gets enjoyment out of rolling around, making funny poses.  When he purrs, his front half vibrates.  If he doesn’t want you touching his soft belly, he’ll politely nudge your hand away with his back feet.  No claws involved.

I spent a couple minutes removing a mat from his tail.  Not once did he protest, nor whip his head around like other cats and hiss, “what are you doing, human?!”  Of course, I let him sniff test the mat to see if he was familiar with it.

Every new item in Creston’s cage warrants a sniff, but there’s a lack of engagement in toys.  Perhaps he’s not familiar with playtime?  The other cats will gladly demonstrate the joy of toys for him once he’s out of the cage. 

Banff

Across the way is Banff.  He has a very clean and bright appearance.  Most orange cats have a white muzzle.  Banff’s muzzle is orange and he reminds me of Baby, late Queen of the Moore House.  He still retains his curious kitten looks. Whip out a new toy and watch his eyes grow into saucers.

Banff and his toys

You can often hear toy balls rattling and little feet bouncing around.  He’ll hurry to the front to check out toys and then shy away when your hand starts moving.  He’s touchable, but you have to be sneaky with the petting - using a wand in one hand and petting with the other.  The challenge now is to get him used to touch before his release day.  It would be a tragedy for a youngster like him to spend his time hiding in a corner of the playground.  Quite the opposite of Creston!

Daphne (now adopted)

I predict he’ll be another Daphne - shy in the first month and an attention hog thereafter.  He’s also fond of treats.  It wouldn't be surprising if he started asking for them regularly.  

Anything for me?

Banff has an odd habit of vocalizing when we’re interacting with other cats - they're a mixture of wind-up chirps, coos, meeps, and rolling meows.  Yet, when we turn towards him, he goes silent.  

Banff exploring

The med staff have decided that it's time to let these two face the wider world of the Leukemia kitties, and perhaps make some new friends. 

happy together

Those of us who devoted time to socializing this pint-sized panther and tiny tiger are eager to have them roam their new kingdom.  They’re far from feral and enjoy interactions.  Two quirky new kitties are more than welcome here.

Blog and all photos by Pauline Chin

Three Double-Wide Scaredy-Cats

Kin  (MW)

Visitors at the weekend are often surprised by how many cats there aren’t – at least to their immediate sight. The usual social ones are front and centre, and love having attention.  Others may spend a little time being fussed, and then take themselves out of reach. It helps that we have no visitors indoors for a while, so there are lots of places to hide. But if visitors had X-ray vision, they would know that there are many feral cats hiding all over the Sanctuary.

Kin (LBF)

The favourite place for ferals in the Double-Wide is the back deck. The semi-ferals there are beginning to explore via their private door, but even that is too scary for Kin.  He spends most of his time hiding under the big armchair, or on one of the covered shelves. He will appear at mealtime, and will brave the presence of a human if there is food on offer – he likes chicken, though he’s not yet ready to accept it from my hand, and he’s always happier when I don’t look directly at him. With the right wand toy, he can be tempted into action - but always at a distance

A long grass stalk is tempting  (LBF)

We don’t know with Kin if this is feral fear, or if he’s just a scared boy. He came to the Shelter as a stray, and had a lot of attention from the Kitty Comforters, but though he was adopted in early 2019, he was just too fearful, and he came back to us. Brad, who worked with him in the Shelter days, says that Kin will barely come out when called, though he does react to a familiar voice. Now that the back deck has its own cat door, he has started exploring outside – so perhaps he’s getting a bit braver.

Kin  (KN)

Inside the main part of the Double-Wide, the easiest way for a feral to remain out of reach is to live on the cage-tops. When I first came to the Sanctuary, there was a big cage-top population, and we did as much feeding and scooping at the upper level as we did on the floor. Nowadays there are fewer “don’t touch me!” cats living there, and the area is more in use as a place for the regular cats to have some away-time; Eli, Plum, Delilah and many others cruise happily from one area to another.

Kip guarding the cage-tops (LBF)

Kip is a cage-top cat – very wary of contact, but also interested in what we’re up to. He doesn’t want to be touched, but he does want to see, and working at floor-level, volunteers will often become aware of The Stare from above. Kip came in from VOKRA – we will sometimes take some of the ferals they receive, since most of their work is done with fostering. Originally he was named Ken, but with Kin so close, the med-staff decided to change his name.

Watching warily (LBF)

Kip is the oldest of our three at around 12 years or so, and has become the focus of the cage-top ferals’  social whirl. He is often found snuggling with other cats – he is particularly fond of black buddies Traveller (more often known as Trevor) and little Sambuca, he likes shaggy Scooter, and he can often be found in the company of our third scaredy-cat, DC

Kip & DC - tandem snoozing  (BC)

DC was trapped in our parking lot, which should make him a "detective cat". The connection is tenuous, but he was named DC/Daniel Craig for the James Bond actor – so he’s a spy rather than a detective. Very definitely a feral, I’ve never been able to reach him – and yet, he’s the most adventurous of the three. He braves the exit through the laundry-room and down the breezeway to reach the gardens where he like to explore by himself. When it’s time to return, you can see him eyeing the humans around so that he can choose the moment to zip past us without being noticed. Very spy-like!

DC in the garden  (KN)

But DC is not always so sneaky – he likes med-staff Alice, and allows her to pet him and give tummy-rubs. And I hear that when he can be cornered on a shelf, his delight in being touched makes him sing a little song of ecstasy! You wouldn’t guess it, to see him scurry past you in the garden, but there’s something inside him that admits that these humans are not such a bad thing, and that life at the Sanctuary has much to offer! 

Comfortable snuggles  (MW)

Blog by Brigid Coult

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

Garth & Sierra

Garth  (KN)

It’s more than 10 years ago that the Merritt cats came to us from a cat population explosion to which many BC rescues responded.  We took in about a dozen cats initially, but the stresses of a feral existence can carry into later life, and all those years later, we now have only three of them left: Desmond, Michonne and Garth. When the reduced group was moved to Pen 3, for a while we had two clear colonies: the Merritt cats and the little tabbies. In the last year, the group became much more fluid, and there was more social interchange.

Garth (KN)

Garth is a laid-back gentle giant. Like all the Merritt cats, he’s wary of humans, and too quick an approach results in a rapid retreat to the hiding places. But he’s happy to lounge around in the back section and let himself be admired – and when the right human approaches in the right way, he will allow limited contact and the consuming of treats.

Garth in the middle of the cuddle pile
with Annie and Desmond  (LBF)

For a long time the anonymous little tabbies (I could never sort out who was who) were the other part of the population, presided over by our beloved Dell.  Then we added Annie and Nikki Sixx Toes, ferals from Semiahmoo, with Nikki, like Dell, being diabetic. Sadly, that didn’t work out – Nikki was feral enough that medicating him in the pen was almost impossible. Annie and Nikki were split up, and Nikki was brought into the SingleWide, where he is flourishing and no longer feral.  Annie took a while to decide whether she was in the tabby party or the Merritt one, but decided that the latter was more interesting, and can often be found hanging out with her new buddies.

Hickory, Mitzi, Sierra   (LBF)

Enter Sierra.  Sierra came to us last year from CATS rescue on Vancouver Island – she arrived with Hickory and Mitzi – though not from the same situation. The other two adapted fairly quickly – Hickory is the tamer of the two – and based themselves on the DoubleWide deck with the other semiferals. Sierra, however, was NOT going to be friends with anyone. She spent her time huddled in a corner of her cage, all her body language conveying that she didn’t want to be touched, or even acknowledged, despite all the Kitty Comforters could do to coax her.

Sierra in hiding (KN)

Sometimes you just get cats like that. There are places where they would say “she’s not able to be tamed or adopted; put her down”. At RAPS we have the space to be able to say “she needs to be a feral and take her own time”. Sierra was put into Pen 3 and allowed to make her own decisions. For a long time she huddled in a bed in the cabin, or found herself a cosy straw bed in one of the kennels. Very occasionally she would sniff at an extended fingertip before pulling away.  

Garth & Sierra (LBF)

But in the last few months she seems to have attached herself to Garth – perhaps recognizing a bigger version of herself, and a source of comfort.  Initially she hovered on the edge of the group, but increasingly she can be found with him, and since he will accept a little petting from feral-charmer Lisa, she is also accepting it, especially when she’s cuddled next to him. 

We're letting her take tiny steps, trying not to force her to anything before she’s ready. 

Recently we've transferred the Pen 3 cats into Pen 4 - the latter is a larger space, and we needed to make room for another group of young cats that shouldn't be kept caged, but who need to be limited in range until we find who might be tamable.  The original Pen 3 cats seem to be settling down, and Sierra and Garth are finding new places in which they can hide or hang out together.  Many cats need the comfort of a familiar space, and if we ever opened the feral pens, these ones would likely never come out. And so what? - the RAPS Cat Sanctuary is their home, as long as they need it.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen & Karen Nicholson

Video by Lisa Brill-Friesen

Torbie Twins (not!)

Aspen (LBF)

Ariel and Aspen are two pretty torbie girls who came in around the same time, and could easily be mistaken for sisters, but who in fact have no blood relationship.  Aspen is from a shelter in Shuswap, and Ariel came from Sammy’s Forgotten Felines, in Kamloops.

Ariel (MW)

Our Sanctuary Assistant Manager was one of the founders of the latter rescue, and still maintains her links in Kamloops. Sammy’s grew out of a need to help feral cats who were not necessarily adoptable. Many rescues around the province will take in cats, but if they prove not to be tamable in a fairly short space of time, they are often put down. The women who founded Sammy’s had no deadline; if a cat remained terrified or angry, they would pull strings with other rescues (like RAPS) to find alternative homes.  The important thing was to get all the cats of a colony trapped and spayed/neutered so that the cycle of continuous litters of kittens was broken.

The "home" Ariel came from (VW)

One situation outside the city boundaries proved particularly hard; it had been cleared once, but the owner continued to hoard cats and the colony grew again. The cats were also not being fed well (mostly bread!) so there were frequent stillbirths and malformed kittens. Once more, Sammy’s went in with traps, hoping to get all the cats.  Ariel was one of the last hold-outs; Valerie tells me that she would taunt the trappers by sitting on top of the trap, waiting to be fed while the door was still tied open.

Ariel (BC)

Most of the cats from that situation are very small – probably largely a result of malnourishment – and several of them had to be taught to eat cat-food now that bread was no longer on offer. Interestingly enough, most of them have also semi-tamed; Barbara, Bruley, Baxter and ZsaZsa have all been adopted; Sailor is friendly (if a little nippy!); Ursula still hangs out on the DoubleWide deck – and, now that it has a cat-door, she's exploring the courtyard.

Ariel had no time for taking it easy on the back deck – she wanted out and she wanted action!  She’s not as tame as Sailor, though she will allow a little petting, but she’s no scared feral; you work around Ariel, rather than expecting her to move!  She’s playful – bring out a feather toy or a long blade of grass, and she’ll all attention.  She’ll even tackle the big bad hose that’s out to water the gardens, and smacks it until it lies still.

Aspen braving the great outdoors (KN)

Aspen has spent most of her time with the others on the DW deck, but like them, is now using the new cat-door out to the back courtyard, and exploring more often. She’s much shyer than Ariel, and very wary of humans approaching her.

Ariel (LBF)

Both girls have the classic tabby “M” on the forehead that makes them torbies rather than calicos. Ariel has more tabby colouring; Aspen has more orange in her fur. I look for the front legs, when telling them apart;  Ariel has a tabby right foreleg, full sleeve, and Aspen’s right foreleg is all white. Their faces are very similar, with Aspen having more white on her nose than Ariel.  And now that they’re hanging out in the same area, it’s even easier to get these non-twins confused! 

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Lisa Brill-Friesen, Brigid Coult,
Karen Nicholson, Valerie Wilson, Michele Wright

Video by Karen Nicholson

 

Wylee

 This shy grey boy came to us in 2018 as a hissy, swatty teenager from Port Hardy.  

Wylee   (MW)

At the time, he had been diagnosed with Feline Leukemia (FeLV). However, testing is still an imperfect science, and we usually isolate potential FeLV cats until they can have a second test to confirm or disprove the diagnosis. Luckily, Wylee turned out to be one of those cats to show a false positive, and we were very pleased when his second test cleared him.

Wylee exploring in Pen 6  (KN)

Because he was so shy, it was decided that he wouldn’t be let out in the general population just, and he was relocated to Pen 6 with the Candy Cats. He never really became part of their “colony”, though he gradually developed a liking for spending time with visiting humans.  I remember visiting with them and being surprised when this friendly grey cat suddenly arrived on my lap. When the Candy Cats were turned out to make way for the McLeod cats, Wylee relocated to the Newcomers area, and mostly disappeared from view.

NOT Wylee - this is bad boy Gizmo!  (KN)

Having said that, I suspect that occasional glimpses of Wylee may have been mislabelled as Gizmo. The two boys are very similar at first glance, though Wylee is the bigger of the two, and their face shapes are very different. But we’re used to seeing Gizmo wandering around and making trouble with other cats, so some of the quieter sightings may have been our non-troublemaker.

Wylee considering a visit  (KN)

Wylee prefers to keep out of the way; he has places on both the Newcomers Deck and in the main room where he tucks himself up, and we often don’t see him except early morning and late evening.  If there’s a carefully distanced human group enjoying an evening break around the courtyard table, Wylee will often emerge. He has some people that he really loves, and with them he will leap up for a hug, and a good bread-making session. He doesn’t seem to be a fan of other cats – he’s not nasty with them, like Gizmo; he just keeps himself to himself.

Having a deep conversation with Louise,
who he loves    (BC)

When the right person is around, so is Wylee - and in that situation, he's brave enough to follow into the Tea-Room and share in the preparation of coffee

Coffee time! - LP

He’s not an adoptable boy, at first glance; he would need someone with whom he had already made a strong bond, and someone who was ready to allow a shy cat to take his time in settling.  Probably, like so many of our other Sanctuary cats, he is best in these surroundings where there is no pressure to adapt to a new place, and where there are people who love him.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Karen Nicholson, Michele Wright

Video by Louise Parris

Odin

 

Odin  (KN)

Odin came to us a couple of years ago at the same time as some of the many cats transferred early in our relationship with the Kamloops rescue and I’ve always thought of him as part of that group, but I now understand that he was a transfer from a Pemberton shelter. Many of the small shelters can’t afford to keep semiferals for long, and RAPS was glad to offer him an alternative.

Thinking about receiving a visitor  (LBF)

He spent his quarantine period in a cage in the DoubleWide, and volunteers quickly found that he was a cat who was happy to receive attention while he was there.  He’s a handsome black boy who can be told apart from all the other black boys by the little flecks of grey in his fur. He was a little timid at first, but as soon as he got to know his visitors, he was happy to receive petting and grooming, and would grab my hand gently if he thought I was about to leave his cage.

Come back! I'm not finished!  (BC)

Once he was released, he decided Sanctuary life was a little overwhelming. Initially he insisted on staying in his cage, but visits from assertive cats like Jasper convinced him that he needed to relocate, and he joined the shy cats on the back deck.  For a while it was hard to convince him that he was still safe, and often we had to get down on the floor to coax him out from under the big armchair!

Coaxing him out from hiding (BC) 

With the coming of the warmer weather, Odin was one of the Deck cats that managed to venture getting through the DoubleWide and the laundry room, and he succeeded in reaching the back courtyard,  He has made himself at home mostly in Pen 1 – only occasionally in the cabin itself, and more often in the kennels along the back fence.

On the prowl (LBF)

He socializes with the other cats, especially Rico, though he’s not really part of Zivko’s Boys’ Club.  He’s wary of humans, though he watches for his favourite people, and is glad of a visit;  recently we’ve been seeing him in other areas around the courtyard, though Pen 1, and the seats under the tree are his favourite places.

Around the back kennels   (KN)

Odin’s typical of the sort of cat that does best with us – he’s not really adoptable, unless it was to someone he bonded with. Right now he’s happy living semi-feral, but having the best of both worlds, with space to do his own thing, and food and company available whenever he wants it.  

Blog by Brigid Coult

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