Bartholomew the flying cat!

Arriving on a float plane from Nanaimo, cat with leukemia settles right in.

Even though the RAPS Cat Sanctuary is home to hundreds of mostly unadoptable cats, we’re always excited to welcome every new resident! We recently rolled out the figurative red carpet for a very special delivery that arrived by air!

Meet Bartholomew!

Our friends at the CatNap Society in Nanaimo contacted us recently because they had a cat with feline leukemia.

Cats with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) can live long and happy lives. RAPS has decades of experience with cats who have FeLV and we have a special area for them at the RAPS Cat Sanctuary. It is possible to transmit the virus to cats who don’t have it, but keeping FeLV cats together allows them to receive all the care they need while keeping all other cats safe.

Because of our experience with FeLV cats – as well as those with pretty much every other condition and personality trait under the sun – animals have always come to us from all over. We accept animals from jurisdictions where they might have faced euthanasia, as far too many cats with FeLV are.

Today, the RAPS team met Bartholomew on his arrival via float plane! Just minutes after his grand adventure, he was allowing himself to be admired by our team member Valerie.

This is a pretty major development because, until recently, Bartholomew was either stray or a feral. We got a lovely message from the woman who first encountered him and eventually brought him to CatNap and, from there, to us. She writes:

I fed Bartholomew since the early spring when he started coming around to eat at the feeding station I had set up … I thought he was someone’s cat because he looked to be in good shape. Finally when it got cold, and on the recommendation of a pet store lady, I trapped him. He is a lovely boy and has done so well keeping himself alive outdoors, coming multiple times per day and has a really sweet personality. Though he is shy and reserved, I have high hopes he may be adoptable one day.

I am asking for you to please, please try to find a way to take this boy into your care – he means so much to me and my family and after all this time I would hate to know he is stuck living out his days in a cage, when he could be making friends in a sanctuary. That is my greatest hope for him, that he finally feels the love he deserves. ❤

I can also say there was a time he would come to the feeding station with another kitty, almost like they were a team, for a few weeks. We were so touched to see him share and be so kind to another cat, as they would come together and share a bowl and leave together. So I know he would play well with others, sweet boy ❤

Bartholomew truly is a sweetie. He had barely arrived when he permitted our team member to show him some affection. We are confident he is going to fit in beautifully at the Cat Sanctuary and, very possibly, he will be able to go to a forever family.