Updates on Urgent Rescue Operations

So many good news stories!

Tater would almost certainly have died on the streets if she had not been rescued and given emergency surgery. 23 other cats are healthy and happy because of your support!

Tater, one of six cats rescued from a situation in Langley, was found to have pyometra, a serious and potentially life-threatening infection of the uterus.

If she had not received medical attention quickly she would almost certainly have not survived.

“We are very lucky that we got her because she could’ve ended up dying out on the streets,” says Shena Novotny, manager of the RAPS Cat Sanctuary.

As it turns out, Tater had surgery and will likely live a long, healthy, happy life!

She was one of six cats RAPS received in that emergency rescue operation. RAPS reached out to our supporters for the funds to complete the rescue – and you came through!

That was one of two major undertakings recently.

Another was the major rescue of 18 kittens and young adolescents from Vancouver Island. A major hoarding situation was too much for one of our allied animal organizations on the island to handle. They reached out to us and we welcomed 18 cats!

This group included many kittens – and their medical conditions were challenging. Many had upper respiratory problems and all of them were horribly infested with worms, to such an extent that they were coming out both ends. They were also infested with fleas.

“When the kittens are that little, worms can be fatal,” says Shena. The worm infestation also contributed to the fact that many of the kittens were underweight.

One of the kittens, who is about 20 weeks old, has a disabled leg.

“Nemo is so cute and he’s so sweet but he came into us with what we thought might be swimmer’s leg because one of his hind legs stick straight out,” she says. “It turns out it was was fractured or broken at some point and part of it healed backwards. The leg will be amputated because he has no use of it and it’s kind of in the way.”

He also has an umbilical hernia, so in one major undertaking, he will be neutered, have his hernia repaired and have his leg amputated.

“It’ll be a big day for the little man,” Shena says.

Nemo is one of the 18, who have range from about eight weeks to five months of age. They have been given names with a range of themes. Because all the cats came to us in October, there are Halloween-themed names, including Trick and Treat, who are now meeting potential forever families at the cat café in Richmond. Ghoul, Goblin and Ghost round out the Halloween team. Nemo is part of a Disney theme that includes Marlin and Dori. A tea motif includes Chai, Pekoe and Earl Grey. They are meeting folks at Bosley’s in Yaletown. Bran, Lemon and Poppyseed are cats named by someone who may have missed their breakfast muffin and a Japanese food enthusiast named Umami, Ramen and Miso.

If you’ve ever wondered how we name animals in our care (and if you didn’t before, surely you do now!) we have a blog post about that!

The Langley six include Caramel who is pregnant. She has gone to our pregnant mama maven, while the other five are getting used to life in the Sanctuary. Some of them seem like they might not take to the litterbox, so they would likely live forever at our “Kitty Club Med.” If the others are sociable (or socializable), they may go to forever families.

“Overall, they are generally healthy,” Shena says.

In addition to Caramel and Tater, this group was named Cornbread, Truffle, Malibu and Creampuff.

All the cats have been, or will be spayed or neutered and microchipped. They were all SNAP tested and were negative for the common ailments.

All of these animals were rescued because our community came through. We asked for help – and animal allies stepped up.

RAPS depends on our supporters to make possible everything we do.