Farewell to Hope

There are a number of cats who have lived with us since they were feral kittens, since the days when the focus of the Sanctuary was rescue alone, and adoptions rarely happened. Many of those cats grew old with the Sanctuary as their home, and in their later years, it was considered better not to uproot them unless they clearly bonded with a specific person.

Hope was definitely one of those cats.

She came to us with her family from Marpole – papa-cat was named Hudson, for the street where he was trapped. Mama was a shy feral called Joanie who was never very comfortable around people. She lived in the back courtyard, but Hudson and the three kittens were front courtyard cats.  The other two kittens were boys – shy Domino, with his striking ‘tache markings, and beautiful GusGus, who was one of my sponsor cats, and dearly loved, till he passed of feline leukemia.

Hope, in her teenage years, got into everything – she was described as the fastest cat in the Sanctuary, and you had to watch the gates when she was around. She was one of the cats who loved grass, and looked longingly at the clumps of greenery just outside the entry. All her life she had the softest fur – velvet-smooth and a pleasure to touch. But petting her was all about her timing – if she didn’t want it, you couldn’t get her up on your lap!  Luckily, as she aged, the agenda changed, and Hope went looking for laps and for petting.

She always attracted the visitors, who were drawn by the big eyes and the pink nose and that plushy fur – repeat visitors would ask for her, and nervous newcomers would become cat converts under her attention. You could count on Hope for visiting days – sometimes visiting laps on the benches, sometimes holding court in the Connor.

She was one of our more social cats. We have our share of loners, and cats who prefer to be by themselves, but Hope loved her girlfriends, Carly and Celine, and could often be found sharing a bed with them, or waiting hopefully with them for dinner to be dished up.

They will miss her, as we will