Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Cat Sponsorship is a Gift of Love

At just $15/month ($10/month for Seniors), cat sponsorship is perfect for community members who want to be connected to a cat even if they can't keep the cat at home.

The RAPS Cat Sanctuary is home to 800 Cats that aren't adoptable for one reason or another. However, they still need the commitments of caring visitors to the Sanctuary. Cat sponsorship is one way to maintain a connection to your special cat friend at the Sanctuary. Here are a few cats that are looking for sponsors.

Roland's Story -- Like many of the cats who live at the sanctuary, Roland was born on the streets. At just 3 months of age, the feral orange and white kitten was trapped and taken to our Kitten House to be socialized. In spite of our efforts, Roland remained quite shy of people and couldn't be adopted. However, a year later, he is happily romping with other young cats in the rear yards of the sanctuary.

Elizabeth's Story -- A tabby named Elizabeth lived with a woman and her brother for 9 years. When the brother died, the woman was distraught and went to live with relatives in Germany. Sweet, gentle Elizabeth was given to a friend, but the cat was traumatized by the loss of her family and didn't adapt well to her new home. When Elizabeth was surrendered to RAPS, we were told that her original owner might return to Canada in 6 months time and reclaim her cat. Sadly, that day never came.
Elizabeth has now lived at the cat sanctuary for a year-and-a-half. She's a friendly, well-mannered senior who loves attention. While awaiting a new forever home, she is hoping for a sponsor to visit her and bring her treats.

Benson's Story -- This lovely beige boy with the yearning face spent many unhappy months at the City Shelter. Friendly with people, but highly anxious around other animals, Benson was never chosen for adoption. He was transferred to the RAPS cat sanctuary, where he spends his days avoiding the other cats, his only respite a quiet area between the front gates. We think he would thrive in a one-pet home, but, until the right family comes along, Benson is looking for a sponsor.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Chewy the Dog, Bunny the Dog and Jackie the Cat are 'All in the Family!"

Chewy came to RAPS as a stray dog who had such bad fleas that she lost all the hair on her back. She has a wonderful personality, playful spirit and a loving disposition. But Chewy was a old dog when she came to RAPS, and therefore some adopters couldn't see how special she was. That all changed when Kay and her daughter Emma came into RAPS for a visit. This mother and daughter had adopted another dog and a cat from RAPS -- Bunny the Dog and Jackie the Cat --, so we know they are wonderful pet owners and they wanted to take Chewy too! The staff at RAPS couldn't be happier, and here is an update on Chewy.

[Chewy] is doing really well and has charmed everybody in the neighbourhood! She's had a bath and a bit of a haircut and had us all in stitches yesterday when she was playing with another dog and jumping around like a bucking bronco! She has decided my favourite cushion is now hers (with a bit of help from Emma) and has been sleeping on my bed with Bunny (dog) and Jackie (cat).

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Adopting Maggie the Cat from RAPS for Bear the Cat

Between Christmas 2007 and June 2008, my two older girl cats passed
away, leaving 12 year old Bear Cat lonely. As a volunteer at the Cat
Sanctuary I thought, if a kitty struck me as a good companion for him,
I’d adopt. One day while enjoying my cat cuddles in a big chair, I
noticed this cute little black girl cat. No one knew her name, but she
was very sweet, and week after week she would find me in the chair and
snuggle. In April I brought her home and I named her Maggie The Cat.
As of today her and Bear Cat snuggle and play together like they’ve
been buddies forever. She is a blessing to our lives. ~Cheers, Barbara.


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Website Photo Contest: May 2009

Stubbs
Muffin
Muffin
Photo set #1: Stuffs, Muffin and Muffin
My name is Ann, and I adopted Muffin from RAPS. She has been living in her forever home with her new “brother” Stubbs for 2 years. Many of the staff and volunteers remember Muffin very well because she likes to talk. She likes to talk, a lot! Even with her disability she hasn’t slowed down in the 2 years since she came to live with us. She is always ready to give her new brother merry chase, even up and down stairs!!!!! She is a constant source of conversation to all who come over to visit. She even feels it’s necessary to join in the conversation!!! It just goes to show that fostering or adopting older cats from RAPS is a rewarding experience, as these animals provide much needed company and love.

Photo #2: Shayl (black lab) & Annie (Sheperd) by Vicki Vernon, BC

Photo: #3 Two participants at DNA My Dog Day by Tracey of Richmond, BC

Photo #4: This is Dave. Picture by Patrick of Richmond, BC

The winner (picked by a impartial panel of training judges who happened to be having lunch together one day) is Photo #4: This is Dave. Dave's picture will go on the RAPS website for the next month. A big thank you to everyone for participating. Keep send us you pet photos!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Results from DNA My Dog Day: Fields is a Bouquet of Dog Breeds


Fields was adopted from RAPS in 2008. She is a wonderful, sweet dog, and Janet, her new owner, sent us Field's DNA My Dog results:

Her Dna structure is:

Airedale Terrier

Border Collie

English Springer Spaniel

German Shepherd

German Shorthaired Pointer

Labrador Retriever

Yorkshire Terrier

In that order! ~Janet

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Sanctuary Volunteer Documents Cats for All to Enjoy

the following is a nice letter from Barbara, a RAPS Cat Sanctuary volunteer. Check out her blog, 'The Love Blog', at http://iamlove.blogspot.com/.

Hi Everybody,

I have been at the RAPS Cat Sanctuary since January '09 as a
volunteer, and taking endless photos of the cats and the Sanctuary
every time I go.

I wanted to share the link online to all the photos with you all. I am
always adding more and more, all ready have (to date) 460 pictures
online and two videos (hope to get more videos when I get a newer
camera).

I have offered that RAPS can use any of these photos for their
purposes, either in newsletters, web sites, or on their blog, etc. I
post them all on my paid Flickr account, and always tag the photos
with the RAPS website.

I also use a lot of the photos on my own blog web site, where I give
further promotion of the RAPS work.

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoy taking them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbaradoduk/sets/72157613024355810/

Cheers!
Barbara

'Celebrate Cats!' Art, Craft and Education Fair was a great success thanks to volunteers!

Let's all say a big thank you to all the volunteers who made crafts and volunteered for the Celebrate Cats art, craft and education fair on Sunday, May 3. Thanks to our volunteers and donors, we made almost $600 to help pay for the medical care of our most critically ill cats. A special thanks to Debbie for her catnip pillows which were a big hit with Austin and Muggins, two of the shelter cats, and many others. Austin stole roughly 12-15 of the catnip pillows and has hidden them somewhere in the shelter. Also, Muggins was quite inebriated by his fix of catsnip, and he fell asleep in the shelter doorway. Also, a very special thank you to Mark and Margaret and their two friends for managing the food for the day and to Geri and Judy for taking care of the Cat Sanctuary table and collection of all the funds. Our graditude goes out to all the great volunteer craft makers who donated to this event! Lastly, a special thank you to Christine Sneider and the Aberthau Potters in Vancouver for their generous donations of 50 or so beautiful pottery pieces. All these volunteers really made the day. Thanks!

See pictures from Celebrate Cats! Click here.