Moved and have "new cat enclosure"!!!

Well, they did great last night. Glad it was 50 degrees for the first night. Have a few morning pics......

And white cat lover, Zoey is a mess. She is only 15 months old. Still a pup.. She is actually 1/2 Great Pyrenees and 1/2 Golder Retriever. She is technically a golden Pyrenees.... My designer dog and has turned into the lead dog in my yard. Very protective of our family and the cats.. She is a great dog!

And here are some kitty pics. They seemed just fine this morning. I have to drive to my son's house this morning and when I get back we are building them some climbing things so they won't be bored waiting on their promised foliage.

Wolly


Snoopy


Pebbles


Cookies eyes


Dovey hiding in her blanket.


Cookie, Pebbies, Yellow and Wooley


Tink, Cookie, Yellow, Cow, Toe, Pattie, Snoopy and Wooy




Jimmy, Sam and Tink


Now off to Branson.... Then back home.

Jenn

I don't have to go to branson... thank god.......

I haven't looked at the pics but glad to see you back and glad you have managed to move all the cats and they are enjoying their new enclosure.

More pics.....

Jimmy has not been out of the house that I have seen yet. He is not afraid but also not venturous. Since I have had him this is the most outdoor freedom he has had... By tomorrow I hope he comes outside of that little house. He comes to the door and peers out. He goes out the cat door and back in the big door. He has not ventured to the far side yet.


This is their catnip site. What I plan on doing is using a wrought iron entrance that I have as an opening to their garden with the entire section across it bushes and vines so it "appears" as if they are entering a room. In one corner of the"jungle room" line I want to make them a tiny little pond with ferns around it for their drinking area. The catnip will be the center. Probably take me all summer to do this.


This shows the area that is going to be their garden room. It will start on the other side of the catnip site. Where the lab is laying is going to be the water area.


Right now I put them a stump in there... with their garden chair.




More updates in a few days.....
Jenn

My wonderful husband added a couple things..... He is so darn sweet and handy....!!

OMG!!! When I got back from meeting my son in town this was done. The barrel is handing from ropes and he left part of it hanging in the barrel so they have something to swat at. It hangs freely and blows in the wind and is probably 18-24" off the ground. We stuffed it with hay and 4 of them have already tried it out. We will probably add another one. He drilled a couple holes in the bottom so "in case" it rains, it will drain. We have 13 of these barrels. At one time non toxic car soap was stored in them.


Snoopy is always the first to do anything. He has no fear..


Except for the barrell... Toe beat him to it.


But anyway, he wore himself out playing today......hahaha\\


My husband is still tweaking on the cat bldg. He closed off the top a little to give them a wind break. He also cut pallets up and put them against the walls to put their covers on to get them off the ground. When their cubicles are built, we can remove the pallets. But for now, they work and keep their blankets from getting damp in the dew.


Jimmy still hasn't come out... He is tucked away in a corner with a couple of his buddies. I went inside and talked to him and petted him and he acts fine but I think all the sawing and hammering has given him the jitters. That's over for awhile since the enclosure is basically done except for foliage, so hopefully he can relax.

I also want to say something I have been avoiding. I have lost 4 of my cats.

Three died in a two week period of bob cat tick feaver. My little Angie, Mama Kitty and my beautiful green eyes Socks kitty. The vet could not do anything. I don't remember off the top of my head what it's called but he told me frontline will not prevent this. He said that an infected tick can still bite the cat but with frontline it falls back off. And by the time the cat shows symptoms, it is too late. We still lived in Missouri when it happened. Mama was last and since we already had this house, she is buried in the front yard with a kitty head stone that my grandmother made. i have a concrete angel her.

The 4th cat was Tulip --Snoopy's brother. I had him outside with me while I was working and I stepped inside for a moment and when I came back out he was gone adn I never saw him again. Last Oct was one year. I seached for him and searched for him for a year. I put shelters in the woods with food out "just in case".. On one of my trips to feed, I sat out in the woods and called and called and I could hear a little meow in response. I could see a cat way away answering me. I went toward the cat and it was a scrawy dumped stray. I told him I was sorry but he was not my cat and I forced myself to turn away and walked back through the woods to my car. When I got there and it was a good 1.2 mile, "Sam" was behind me beggin me for something. I put some food out but he was absolutely uninterested in the food. He wanted to be petted. When I petted him I noticed a 3" knot in the middle of his back.

So.. Sam is now in the enclosure. He rode with me home. I could not leave him.

My husband says we lost Tulip and gained Sam who surely would have died without intervention. He is a huge fat cat now. And the knot subsided and eventually disappeared. We think hunters either hit him with a rock OR he was thrown out of a moving vehicle. We will never know for sure but he was homeless but definately not feral. He is a people lover.

RIP Mama, Tulip, Angie and Socks.....

Well, it stormed and stormed last night. About 9pm I brought Kissy and Toe back in the house. They stood in the cold rain at the gate and cried and meowed and yelled in kitty language at me. So I dried them off with a towel and set them in front of the fireplace to warm up. They were wringing wet. I might add that these two are not feral. Kissy is a cat that my daughter saved/found when she was just a couple weeks old. Toe we have had since he was 5 weeks old. They are downright spoiled. Buddy has slept in the barrel most of the night and the others are fine. Right now, all of them are in the bldg including buddy.

We have the sides propped up on bricks for air flow but I think it's too early in the season. I think I want my husband to set it flat on the ground. It is pouring outside and I want to make sure no water comes from underneath the house so they will be snug. It is 42 degrees out so they are not cold. I can't wait till daylight.so I can really see them. we are going to tarp the section directly in front of the larger door and also in front of the kitty door to prevent rain from getting inside and just a snug section around the bldg in general . And that will be done this week. But tonight I am worried about them...

The dogs woke me up scratching at my bedroom window because they wanted in. They have a two room doghouse also and no rain gets inside. But they like to lay in front of the fireplace too. So I let the big girls in too.

I am not sure why Kissy and Toe would not go in the bldg to get out of the rain. I am probably going to stay home today from work due to high water. I have to cross a creek directly in front of my house on bedrock and on a normal day it is only about 6-8" deep but it is probably several feet deep this morning with roaring rapids. We have swimming hole over our heads about 25' in front of the house. Summer and winter are great but rainy season sucks because I get trapped on the property till water levels go down. I am not in any danger of the house flooding as we are on a hill.

jc

I'm so sorry to hear about Mama, Tulip, Angie and Socks. May they RIP. Bless you guys for rescuing Sam. Sounds like he really needed you.

Sounds like all the storms are creating a big mess, but glad your house isn't at risk of flooding.

Your furry family has it made, Jenn! What a great set up for them. Thanks for all the new pics too. I love seeing your crew. Of course, I'll always have a special place in my heart for a certain big sweet tuxedo kitty.

Thank you Ellie.. It's gotten easier and I have accepted the fact of Mama, Angie and Socks passing but I still have a hard time with Tulip. It is unresolved because I don't know what happened.

Next time the creek floods I'll post a pic. It is really quite beautiful and peaceful even in it's raging state. I love it here.

I did make it to work today. Water was not flowing fast but it was about 2' deep so my truck went across quite easy.

It sprinkled most of the day so on the way home I stopped by the feed store and got some burlap bags. I doubled them over and stapled them in the doorways to the enclosure until we get that area tarped. It keeps the wind and the rain out. the bottom is loose enough they can go right under.

I have Toe back in the house with me plus cookie and Wooly. I'll probably rotate a few cats here and there so they all keep feeling special.

Jimmy is coming out now. I meant to let you know yesterday. If I go outside, he runs to the fence to be petted. However, if my husband goes outside he runs back in the bldg. This tells me two things.

(1) - Jimmy feels safe in the bldg and (2 )--it was definitely my husband's hammering and banging around that spooked him. He is associating those "scary noises" with my husband now.... He was just now letting Juan pet him "when he felt like it"... He likes me much more than Juan. He is really a hoot. His favorite scratching place is on the sides of his face.

You know Ellie, I keep comparing him to Star. They are my two absolute ferals. I have had Star 10 yrs and Jimmy is in the same place emotionally as her. I honestly think one day he will be my lap kitty. I don't think she ever will. He has slept on my feet on the bed before which is something she has never done. But he is sneaky about it. He wants that closeness but he doesn't want me to know he is there. So I pretend I don't notice him.

This weekend I am bringing Jimmy in for some loving if he wants me to. But he really seems to like it out there which is great. It is large enough he has a sense of freedom which is great for him.

I am thinking about putting some misters on one side of the enclosure this summer to keep them cool and keep my forthcoming plants watered.

Talk to ya later, Jenn

Oh Jenn the enclosure is AMAZING! It really is kitty heaven! *color me green with envy*

I'm SO sorry to hear about Mama, Angie, Socks and Tulip. Tulip knew where food and safety was... it's still heartbreaking, and I'm just so sorry.

And I'm also sorry, but I had to laugh at your wet kitties yelling at you. They know what they want!

Thank you ldg.. You know that darn barrel.... they love it. I wasn't sure because it is hanging from ropes but they don't mind it blowing in the breeze or that it moves when they jump into it. When I got home today there were two cats snuggled up inside it taking a nap. And the burlap is working great!! It keeps the dew out but also let air flow in so it's fresh all the time. I have them all outside rigth now but star and Princess. Star know I want to crate her to take her outside so she is avoiding me. If I let her, which she likes, I know she will not just stroll through the gate so I need to crate her. I think it would scare her if I carried her through the house and then outside. I don't want to get scratched.

And little princes minny pearl is just hiding from me too. In a few days they will relax. They are probably wondering where their buds are.....hahaha They have no idea what a great surprise I have for them. This weekend I will have more time to transfer them. They were crated when I moved them and that's only been a week so it is still fresh in their minds and since I have the crate in the living room right now, they are avoiding it like the plague.


And thanks for the sentiment about my 4 I lost. It has been about 1.5 yrs since Tulip disappeared and I keep having this nagging feeling that he will show up in missouri and noone will be there... I made posters of him and put them in every single mailbox for a 10 mile stretch. Hunting season was starting and I scared all the deer off yelling his name for the entire season walking through the woods. I made some hunters really mad... I had a few leads on him that I followed through with but nothing panned out. We still have a 100.00 reward for him.

And that enclosure is still a work in progress. The simple things in it now are to alleviate their boredom. We have other plans in store as well. Husband said he is going to cut a couple barrels in two lengthwise and hang them up stair-stepping them for them to jump and play in. I also want some sort of platform maybe 6x6 with a small 2" side to put balls in...

awesome enclosure! my cats would be in playground heaven!

Well, we found out during the last rain that two cats do not like sharing space very well kissy and Toe-- so we put in a couple of plastic barrels and cut a cat hole in the front of them hoping they would use them.

I stuffed them full of hay and the race was on to get in the barrel. Husband is going to put them a little awning on them tomorrow to block rain. At this time, because it is going to rain tomorrow, we just hurriedly got them in place so they can be used tonight. We put them on bricks 1/2-1" off the ground and drilled a couple holes in the bottom under the hay 'just in case'...

They love them..!!! Star, Tink and Toe are already inside one together and JJ is in the other. "Kissy" is in the house...

Well, I have nearly complete day 1 of landscaping the kitty enclosure.

I planted them a lilac tree for starters. It will cover one side completely of the area I want to separate into a room. it might be next year before it gets big enough but they require little care and smell very good.

I also put brick stepping stones from the catnip area. I envision lots of herbs growing around everything and I wanted to get the stones in place before it all starts growing. I put a large one directly under where the tree is so they can lay on it..



I also started digging their kitty pond. It is goign to be 2' circular. So I have a 28" hold dug that is 1' deep. I need to level it out and tweak it a little so it will be perfect. I plan on surroundingit by wildflowers -- ie lavender and sunflowers mainly. I am going to surround it by large rocks/stones so they can lay beside it. I want to aerate it as well in case I want to throw a couple minnows in it.

Also, we are setting the plastic pond on rocks so I can drain it directly in the hole once a week.. That's one reason for having it this size. It is big enough for them but not so large that it is unmanageable for me.



And I added another path to the water hole from the catnip. I guess the catnip will be their focal point



I have never had so much fun working before.... The catnip is also already in the ground..... It will be very small this year but next year it wiill be huge...

Jenn

African daisies
Lavender
Sunflowers...

And Im exhausted..... Tomorrow I am getting some Pampas Grass..

Outdoor cat paradise, incredible job you have done

Thank you JTBo.... It's been the job. took 8 months just to get the fencing, welding and everything bare and secure just to get the cats in there. It was not easy. So I am really enjoying landscaping for them. This feels like the easy part even though I am very very tired this afternoon... This old woman is not used to physical labor. I have a desk job.. This is worse than cardio!!!

I want to post one more thing today before I go soak in the tub. I decided we need a swing in the there -- for me..... Still hard to believe we have this much of it done....




And look at little Snoopy. He is going to enjoy sleeping under his tree as it grows!!



And also elly, Jimmy is not in these pictures but he will be. I have just clicked at the wrong times. He is all over the place. He loves this enclosure!!

I think it is absolutely wonderful all you are doing for those kitties! I could live there myself!

Enjoy your new home. I feel the same way about mine....it fits so good.

You have some of the luckiest cats I have seen!

Wow your cats are definately living the life
You can hear your love and excitement in your posts, it's awesome...haha I love it!

aw yall are too sweet....! What I enjoy is having a place to post what I do for them without people thinking I am nuts. When someone asks, "how many cats do you have" and I say 19 --- they freak out. But I have had the same cats for years except for a couple.......They range in age from 3-16 but the majority are around 7-10 yrs old.

Today I bought 10 balls and put in there with two being "glow in the dark.... They have gone nuts batting them around. Too funny!!