I just thought I would send an email to sincerely thank you for helping us find the perfect cats for us!  My husband George and I adopted “Mister” and “CatCat” in November 2011, and we have been thrilled ever since.

We’ve renamed them both.  Mister, is now “Tony” and CatCat is now “Lola”.  They are just lovely, and have settled in so nicely.

Lola is a hilarious cat.  She has one of the funniest personalities I’ve come across.  We often watch her and start to laugh at her antics (example: she likes to crawl underneath the tablecloth and sit on the table.  I guess she figures we can’t see her under the cloth, so she won’t get in trouble for being on the table!)

Together they’re becoming best friends.  They wrestle like maniacs one minute, and then cuddle and fall asleep together the next.

Thanks again, for everything.  They are such blessings to have.

- Nicole and George

I just wanted to update you on our little Phoenix. My girls picked him up from RAPS on December 21, at first, he was quite shy and only wanted to stay in Alysia’s room. After a couple of days, he started wondering around the house, but mainly stayed in her room. He did make himself very comfortable on Alysia’s bed, which she did not mind at all. After about a week or so later, his personality really started to shine. He lOVES to play with his toys and loves to be cuddled. Phoenix is a very loving cat with a big appetite. Not to worry, we do control his diet so he doesn’t over eat.

Nowadays, he wonders all over the house and makes his bed where ever he feels like it. In this picture, he is lying on Jaclyn’s bed. Jaclyn is usually very neat and does not let animals on her bed, but she just couldn’t refuse Phoenix!!

We are glad to have Phoenix as part of our family. He has definitely found his forever home!!!

Regards,
Caroline, Gordon, Alysia and Jaclyn

Just wanted to let you know how little Leon was doing.

When I got him home, it was a day and a half of hissing, biting and scratching, he was pretty nervous I think. I couldn’t even walk by him without getting attacked, and I have many, many cuts to prove it.

After two days though he wants constant attention. He sits on my desk while I work/play games he sits on the couch with me, and he curls up against me when he sleeps. He dislikes being woken by me turning over and protests loudly, then curls back up against me. Apparently he also knows how to push on closet doors to open them, so I get to close them several times a day.

Anyway, please find the attached pics of Leon in his new home.

-Kelly

Today is a special day for Kisu (formerly Tawny) and me. It is exactly one year since I adopted Kisu and brought her home from RAPS, and it has been a wonderful year filled with fun, adventures and love. We continue our daily hikes on the North Shore in the rain, snow – and even occasional sunshine – as a result of which I have lost 12 lbs, improved my cardio-vascular conditioning, and accumulated a considerable wardrobe of foul weather gear from Mountain Equipment Co-op! I’ve found myself with a huge smile on my face even as we’ve trudged through monsoon-like rainstorms, exchanging cheerful greetings with other dogs and their humans, many of whom I discovered have also adopted rescue dogs. Rarely have we encountered a grouchy dogwalker. People with dogs seem so much happier and more content than the grim-faced joggers and runners solitarily slogging along the same trails.

My family and friends call Kisu “Kissyface”. I warn folks that she is a killer dog – she’ll smother you with kisses. Her vet has two cats in his office. They were surprised when they first met Kisu. I doubt that they had ever been kissed by a dog before! Nothwithstanding her affectionate nature, like most huskies she combines strong hunter instincts with a keen sense of smell. She is constantly sniffing the trail and the air, and loves to chase squirrels and other rodents and play hunter tag with other dogs. Occasionally she tracks larger game. Not long ago she became extremely excited and, nose to the ground, raced down a road and into the woods hot on the trail of what I suspect was a coyote. During the summer she started up a slope where very tall grass and ferns were strangely swaying in a rolling path. When she realized it was a bear, Kisu quickly but calmly beat a retreat and we happily left the area to creatures much larger than ourselves.

Thanks again to you folks at RAPS for bringing Kisu and me together. Both of our lives, and those of the many other animals and humans you introduce to each other, are richer and happier for that. In closing, I’m attaching some recent photos of Kisu. Cheers!

Abe

Hannah is doing wonderful. All three of the cats are getting along splendidly, not playing together yet, but touching noses for sure. She does however want to eat my birds (thank God she doesn’t have many teeth left lol).

Hannah has gained weight and her coat is improving; she loves being brushed and even gets a little frisky from time to time. She enjoys her catnip as well as her fresh grass to gnaw on and her favorite place to sleep is the cat bed on the chair in front of the sliding glass door.

She likes to chill with me either on the armrest where I sit or behind me on the back of the couch. She doesn’t seem to be a lap cat or a bed cat. She just may be respecting the space of my other two (the bedroom) or she is just not used to it, but she does purr all the time, follows me around and she loves to rub her nose all over my face. She knew as soon as I let her out of the cat carrier that she was home and she is happy and spoiled.

Love
Renatta, Hannah, Bella and Gracie

I just wanted to write and send a picture as a follow up to my adopting one of your little ferals Jan 6th, Little Petra.

I call her Pickle. She’s coming along nicely. She doesn’t hid under or behind low furnishings any longer. She’s had the run of the house now for the past 2 weeks and although still understandably shy, doesn’t dart away as readily, and if so, not very far. I’m able now to walk up to her sleeping spot and she stays for a tummy rub or a chin scratch. She’s learning to trust. She purrs when you talk to her or, as soon as you touch her, she almost always and immediately plops down on her side for a tummy rub. That’s the favourite. She will sometimes stay for a cuddle and we’re working on that. She’s been excellent at using the litter box and has a great appetite. The picture I’m sending is her favourite sleeping spot. It’s a feather filled sofa pillow with the heat source behind and a view outside. How can one argue with that.

Although perhaps a little intimidated by my boys, what I’ll call enthusiasm, there have been no big fights or hissing – yet. His idea of playing is still a little too exuberant, he tends to dart in and take over the toys but I’m sure they’ll get there. Seems like she might be able to hold her own but I watch them. Having said that she worked up a little growl at him yesterday. He looked at me and gave a little meow as if to say, what the…?

Once I feel little Pickle is a little more settled perhaps I could help with socializing some of the other ferals. My little boy Cricket was a feral. So many of the kittens we’ve caught here have turned out to be an absolute treasure.

Cranberry, the turkey
Cranberry was found wandering the streets of Richmond in November, 2011. She quickly demonstrated that she is very affectionate and enjoys being stroked. Not only has she become a much-loved resident at the shelter, but she’s earning her keep by laying eggs every day!! Her eggs are mixed in with the dogs’ food, contributing to their healthy diet. Way to go, Cranberry!

Butter, the pygmy goat
Like Cranberry, Butter also started out as a stray on the cold streets of Richmond last year. When he came to RAPS, he was very thin and had pneumonia but he must have been someone’s pet before that, because he’s very affectionate and just LOVES people. Thanks to gentle care and good food at the shelter, his health and weight are much better now.

Daffy and Delfa, Muscovy ducks
Muscovy ducks, rather exotic-looking birds, are often kept by gardeners as a friendly and decorative form of insect-control. Daffy was surrendered by his owners last December because he doesn’t care much for people or other animals. Delfa was a stray who came to RAPS Shelter in early January. Here’s a twist – Delfa and Cranberry, the turkey, have become good friends and live together at the shelter!

Turkeys, goats and ducks aren’t usually what potential adopters look for when they come to an animal shelter looking for a family pet. However, RAPS is hoping to find a suitable home for Cranberry, Butter, Daffy and Delfa, with people who will love them and treat them as forever friends and companions . But, as happy as we’d be to see them all happily settled somewhere, staff and volunteers at the shelter have become quite attached to all four of them, so it will be difficult to say good bye.

There are quite a few male orange cats at RAPS’ Cat Sanctuary, most with pretty distinctive personalities to go with their good looks. There’s veteran Andy, the senior ginger in the place, and certainly chief water bowl tester. We have long-haired orange Baby (a.k.a. Buster), who has to be confined to a cage during visiting hours to protect unsuspecting visitors from the effects of his ever-so-unpredictable temperament. Then there’s FIV-positive Randy, a big loveable guy with a face that only a true cat-lover could call cute. We also have Morrissey, Little Orange, Stubbs, Terry, Kevin, Patterson, Pickles, Gilbert, and Brady – all good-looking, ginger-haired boy cats. There are plenty more, too many for me to remember or list. You can see their photos and read more about most of them in The Neko Files.

What about orange females, you ask? Good question. As in people, X and Y chromosomes determine the sex of a cat. Females have two X chromosomes, males have an X and a Y. Mom and Dad each contribute one chromosome to each of their offspring. In cats, if there’s a gene for “orange-ness” in their genetic makeup, it’s on the X chromosome. A male kitten needs to get only one orange gene, from either mom or dad, to be orange, but the female kitten needs both genes to be orange. All this genetic mumbo-jumbo means that female orange cats are few and far between, a fact that is obvious when you consider how few of them there are at our cat sanctuary. I could only come up with Hannah, Marmie, Izzie, Orlean, Tricia and Vera, although there may be one or two more. Check The Neko Files for more about them too, and, if you are owned by an orange female cat, consider yourself among the privileged few.

Red cats, whether male or female: You gotta love’em, especially at this time of year.

1. Go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3
2. Search either “City of Richmond” or “Richmond Animal Protection Society” in Richmond, BC, Canada.
3. Click “Vote.”
4. Remember that after you click vote, you will be taken to a page where you will need to confirm your vote by entering a code, otherwise your vote will not count!

You have one vote from each computer daily.