RAPS is short for Regional Animal Protection Society, a registered charity and operator of a sanctuary which houses and cares for nearly 500 homeless or abandoned cats in Richmond, BC, Canada. The Neko Files is a celebration of the sanctuary and all those who live and work there.

Monday, June 30, 2014

Larkin

Larkin arrived at the cat sanctuary at the end of April, but I've been waiting to post about him as he's been making a lot of progress from how he was when he arrived.

Initially, it was unclear whether Larkin was feral, as he was so frightened of people. He'd had one of his ears tipped, indicating that someone had trapped, neutered, and released him. Our vet thinks he's around one or two years old.

Larkin started off hiding in a small cage draped with a towel sitting inside his large walk-in cage, then gradually worked up to peering out the main cage door at cats and humans going by.


He was quite curious about the cats, but any human coming to close would send him diving back into his hidey hole. Soon a note appeared on the sign on his cage door describing him as "timid but very affectionate."

Sanctuary staff then moved him to a new cage where he could be more out in the open and check out what everyone around him was doing. After that, he really started to gain confidence. He now loves being patted and is an enthusiastic player.


In fact, he now not only permits human contact, he actually makes quite an effort to get our attention!


Sunday, June 8, 2014

Rookie

Rookie came to the RAPS cat sanctuary at the end of April as an unneutered stray who'd been hanging around the home of volunteers Barbara and Waldi. He was found to have torn ligaments in his knee, so is doing a stint of cage rest while he heals up. This has given him a chance to get used to his surroundings at the sanctuary without being overwhelmed by too much too soon, and it's given sanctuary staff and volunteers to get to know him a little.

He seems like a very nice boy, and it sounds like he's already won himself a few human fans at the sanctuary.