Happy Dell

Last time I wrote about Dell, he was in a large cage with cautionary signage on it and our medical staff had to wear heavy gloves and use a net to safely treat him. Ever since his arrival at the sanctuary in May of last year, he's been known for turning his extreme fear and mistrust of humans into violent aggression.

Well, the latest round of cage time and contact with staff must have given a boost to the efforts of a few brave, patient souls who never stopped making themselves available for friendship should Dell ever change his mind about people -- because in the past few weeks he's done just that. Out of the cage and returned to the back pen where he's been living for the past year or so, Dell has done the most incredible 180 in outlook that many of us have ever seen.

I'd started to hear rumours of his transformation two weeks ago, and then last week ventured a visit myself. He was inside the shed located in the middle of the pen and hissed at me from one of the shelves. He didn't seem quite as emphatic in the hissing as he once was, but I still thought it best to leave well enough alone.

I came back a short time later and found he'd come out of the shed and into the open. This time he was everything people had said. He approached me and rubbed against my ankles, leaning into my palm as I bent down to pat him. When I went over to sit on the porch of the shed, he followed and did a few rubbing circles around me before sitting down next to me and leaning against my arm.

I didn't get any photos of this encounter, but Michele got some wonderful ones while she and Julian were spending some time with Dell. I couldn't have done better than these. Enjoy.

He's so handsome when he's not angry

Content kitty drool!

A look of love: one expression I never thought I'd see from this cat

Gypsy

When Gypsy first arrived at RAPS, he was so scared of people that it was unclear whether he was feral or had once been tame but lost his trust of humans. Over time, he's gradually come to be more of a fan of the humans at the sanctuary, winning some human fans for himself in turn.

While some have known Gypsy as a girl (probably inspired partly by the name and partly by the fact that the box for "female" was checked on his file), he has been verified to be, well, a "he." Such confusion happens from time to time with the occasional cat at the shelter, usually when we get an idea in our heads that a particular cat seems like a boy or girl but don't feel it polite to look up the kitty's skirt to make sure. Fortunately, cats tend not to care how people define them. After all, they already know exactly who and what they are.

Back to Gypsy. My first encounter with him was last summer when Ann was helping me do a behind the scenes post for the blog. Gypsy was in one of the back pens where the ferals feel most comfortable. While he let me get close enough to take his picture, he was clearly a bit nervous about me and scooted off when I tried to approach within touching distance.

When I finally had a chance to go and meet him properly this week, he was snoozing on a board by the fence and initially I wasn't sure if I'd have much better luck than I had before.

I was pleasantly surprised to find him quite interested in making friends. Not only did he allow me to pat him, but he enjoyed it so much that when I stopped, he proceeded to follow me around the pen.

I think I can get some idea why his fans love him so dearly.

Good-bye and good luck, foster kitties

After what seems an incredibly short time to kitten visitors but must have felt like an eternity to the moms (both biological and foster), Ann's troupe of eight bouncy black kittens are headed to the RAPS Richmond City Shelter for adoption.

All the efforts of various RAPS sanctuary staff and volunteers to spend time with the kittens and socialize them have clearly paid off -- no human anxiety for these babies.

Here are a few photos from Monday night. It's amazing how much they've grown since we first met them in August! They're proper mini cats now, each with the beginnings of a distinct personality and ready to invade loving homes and hearts.

And we now return you to your regular scheduled cat sanctuary blog programming.

Pogo

Two weeks ago I wrote about Tommy, a cat I met while sitting in the front courtyard one sunny day.  While watching Tommy, I noticed that he spent a lot of time snuggling up not only to me, but also a few of the cats that were milling around us. One cat he seemed especially cozy with was a cat named Pogo who I later found out was Tommy's brother.

Tommy and Pogo arrived at the sanctuary as feral kittens ten years ago and from what I can see, they are inseparable. There certainly doesn't seem to be any sibling rivalry here.

Tommy & Pogo

I spent time with both cats observing and cuddling them. Pogo who ignored me the first week was especially affectionate when I came to visit him a week later. He came over and started to rub against my legs. Quite determined in his quest for love, he burrowed in my lap with great gusto. I shared this information with Leslie who was surprised and said that was unusual for Pogo as he is normally a bit stand-offish. Perhaps Tommy told Pogo that if he played it up a bit he might get a story written about him too.  I guess every cat wants his 15 minutes of fame.

Candy

So often when I meet a friendly cat who's new to me but not new to RAPS, I wonder how I managed to miss him or her before. I suppose it's at least partly because there are hundreds of cats at the sanctuary. And, while we do have a number of particularly outgoing residents who will insist that you know them, a lot of the cats don't like to presume. This means that for more than a few cats, the only way to find out if they're friendly is to approach one that's sitting in a box or perched on a shelf, stop, smile, and try to reach out and touch. As an approach it's not without some risk... However, it's sometimes the only way to make the acquaintance of some of our less pushy residents.

I met Candy on Monday night, a pretty little brownish-black cat relaxing in a box that had once held peaches. She first caught my eye because of the distinctive speckling of white on her chest. I went in for a patting attempt, to which Candy responded with great pleasure. We were both delighted to make a new friend.

Katrina

Katrina is a quiet, shy girl who's quite adept a performing a vanishing act when approached. Needless to say, I didn't have an easy time photographing her.

The first time I noticed her, she was sleeping contentedly on a sofa on the covered porch behind the singlewide. Her calico markings caught my attention and I hoped to get an introduction and a photo. Kim warned me that I'd likely have trouble getting close, and indeed no sooner had I unlatched the door than Katrina zipped under the couch. Even when I came back a little later, the best I could get was a photo of her squinting at me from under a table.

It turns out that Katrina, who's around 10 years old, came to RAPS as a feral. Unlike Madison, she's never stopped fearing close contact with humans. Even so, her sweet nature shines through. When I came across her again this week, she was sitting just on the other side of a barrier. She could clearly see, hear and smell me, yet she still allowed me to get much closer than she had before and even take a few pictures, content in the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to touch or grab her through the fence. No defensive growling, hissing, or even glaring needed.

It's nice that shy ferals like Katrina can have a place to live where they can feel safe enough to let humans get even that close.

Update: Coco

I'm pleased to report that Coco is now completely out of hiding and ready to make some new human friends.

When Martha posted about him at the end of July, he was still very much adjusting to his new surroundings (and situation in general) and needed quite a bit of convincing to let her get within petting range. When I came across him this evening, he was relaxing in the front courtyard. I noticed the white tip of his tail and wondered who this cat who looked a bit like Puffin (black & white, fluffy, white bit on the end of his tail) was. Not having seen his tail in his shy portraits from July, I didn't clue in that this was in fact Coco until Leslie told me.

Coco (left) and Puffin

He's also much more confident than he was when he came. You still have to approach him quietly and gently, but if that one request is honoured, he accepts pets quiet readily. Even if you inadvertently come on a bit too strong or, as I did, have just a bit too intimidating a camera, he'll slink off out of reach, but only just. Then he turns, sits, and watches you with interest, quite ready to have another go at making friends if you're willing to take it a bit slower this time.

Clearly a sweetie, just as advertized. So nice to see him out and about.