Zoo is cats' meow

In weeks ahead, when visitors to the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary marvel at a colony of feral cats stretching and yawning and doing what cats do, they will be witnessing the legacy of a Citrus Heights man who lived among the cats - and loved them like family - until his dying days.

Robert Bauder scraped his way through the Great Depression, survived a couple of heart attacks, buried two wives and suffered through three bouts of cancer, the last of which killed him nearly a year ago at 84.

When his cancer of the esophagus got so bad that he was unable to eat, it was Bauder's cats - semi-wild and elusive felines holed up in and around his home - that gave him comfort. They had been constant, quirky companions for decades.

What would become of them when he was gone? The answer came too late for Bauder. But his cats will live on, thanks to an unlikely friendship and an even unlikelier zoo exhibit.

Construction is expected to start shortly on the Folsom zoo's feral cat exhibit and be completed in two months, according to spokeswoman Roberta Ratcliff. Officials are not aware of any similar zoo exhibit in the United States.

The zoo will be home to a dozen of Bauder's cats, and the exhibit is expected to be popular once it opens, likely by summer.

Last year, the zoo housed cats from the local animal shelter, and officials were surprised by how many zoogoers it attracted.

"It's odd, but they would spend maybe 20 to 30 minutes just looking at cats," said Ratliff.

Bauder's family donated $15,000 from his estate toward the project, which will feature a cat house, a tunnel and an enclosed garden. The zoo is trying to raise $5,000 more for long-term maintenance and other expenses.

Bauder was a throwback of a man. Notoriously frugal, he was known to rummage through other people's garbage in the middle of the night, looking for things he could use. He almost always wore a plaid shirt and his pants usually were hiked up with clip-on suspenders.

His 1,600-square-foot house, which was built in the 1950s on 4 acres, became home to the first feral cats when a spring on the garage door broke and Bauder never got around to fixing it.

"That became a big cat house," said Bauder's stepson, Jeff Sinclair.

The cats would crawl and hide wherever they could. Many followed the ductwork into the attic, which became a safe - and occasionally precarious - place to bear kittens.

Some of the cats would fall from the attic and become trapped in the walls on the ground floor. That explains Bauder's makeshift renovations - he punched holes in the walls in practically every room so the cats could escape.

Bauder may have loved the cats and cared for them, but by modern standards he was going about it all wrong.

"Dad always enjoyed it, and the cats were just always around, but I was annoyed, to be honest, because I thought he should have taken them in to be fixed," said Bauder's daughter, Janiece Greenberg, of Westford, Mass. "He fed them, and in his mind he was doing the right thing."

The solution these days for feral cat colonies is humane trapping, followed by spaying and neutering the cats, then returning them to the colony to live out their lives.

In Bauder's case, the population was often out of control, and many cats became sick and injured, though they all were given names and, when the time came, a proper burial on the property.

Bauder grew concerned about the fate of the cats once he realized he was dying. In 2002, he contacted a cat rescue group to help him.

Lisa James - then a volunteer for Folsom Feline Rescue, she now volunteers for Fluff Buddies - showed up at the house and began trapping the cats. That first day, she pulled three litters of kittens out from under the house, making them available for adoption.

The more she returned, the better she got to know Bauder, an enthusiastic cook who usually invited her inside for a meal. The two spent hours talking, and Bauder would describe many of his adventures and memories of decades past.

"He was so appreciative. He would always feed me," said James. "I think he felt bad that it was so out of control, because he loved the cats."

Bauder's frugal nature was evident at every turn. The dining room had become a storage pantry for all the cans he collected and the bargains he bought through the years. Restaurant leftovers went into a napkin he stuffed into his shirt pocket, to be unfurled later for the cats.

"He used to tell me that a bargain was something you don't need at a price you can't pass up," James said.

Bauder's property was ideal for a feral cat colony, with 2 acres completely fenced, a large barn, shed, dog run, chicken coop, camp trailer and all kinds of other buildings that provided suitable shelter for people-shy cats, James said.

Feral cats rarely will allow humans to get close, because they had no such contact in their formative days. But Bauder was around his cats long enough that they wouldn't scatter when he was nearby. Some even allowed him to pet them.

James remembers one incident when Bauder donned a tuxedo to attend his niece's wedding. "He stepped out on the porch and all the cats scattered, because they didn't recognize him," she said.

Inspired by Bauder's kindness and his love for his cats, James approached the Folsom zoo with the idea of a feral cat exhibit. She waited so long for an answer that she nearly gave up. Finally, just days after Bauder died, the zoo told James it wanted to build the exhibit.

"It seems the cats changed both their lives," said Ratliff. "The cats are the ones that are being saved, but I think it enriched Robert's and Lisa's lives as well."

"I think it's wonderful what the zoo is doing," said Greenberg. "Let's face it: He created a problem, but he dealt with it in a way that doesn't surprise me. He just really loved those cats, and he worried about them."

On the day of Bauder's memorial service, James pulled the last kittens from his property, which was recently sold. The kittens were put up for adoption. The 12 shy and semi-wild cats that will become zoo attractions are living at an undisclosed location until the exhibit opens.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Blair Anthony Robertson can be reached at (916) 321-1099 or brobertson@sacbee.com.