Jimmy update!!!

Well, it's been quite a few years with Jimmy... Today was a big day for him!
He spent his first bit of life on the streets of Cincinnati. And from there went to a rescue house. And then we adopted him. We gave him his first "window". From there he went to a small enclosure and now we have a 1200 square foot enclosure with a insulated cat house that is 8' x 10'. This year their house will have heat. We are venting our house to the cat house.

But today, we opened their doors. Some have never been outside before. It was a glorious experience. Since the enclosure is their "safe zone", it a noise bothers them, they dash inside, so all is well.

Jimmy has discovered the joys of trees. He is a real cat now. He has been laying on the porch by the back door. He has laid underneath the tall trees staring upward in quiet cat contemplation with the wind blowing over him. He loves the wood stacked in front of the house too. He has climbed all over it stretching and scratching. The last time he was free was in a city. It took a long time for him to reach this point with me. He lets me brush him outside and pet him so he is ok. He is a little skittish out there but he is not running off because the enclosure is his safe spot. I am not worried about him.. He is doing wonderful!!

I will still cage them ALL at night but during the day, I am letting them run free..

Here's a pic portfolio of a few of them.... More to come...













Jenn

Hi,

I know...... it is sooooo amazing to me too. I am speechless at his total success! wow......


Here's couple more pics of Jimmy....my "feral star cat"..... he is something else. I am soooooooooo proud of him!! He has finally made it!!

I took these a couple minutes ago.....

This is a back porch nap behind the wood pile..... he is so relaxed. See his little tucked paw....



This is Jim heading back to the enclosure... he heard an odd noise. He is very careful ........ haha


And here he is with Cow. See that look on his face. His horizons are endless. He is happy with life his kitty life today.


Jenn

I did not realize how far he has come until I see him today.... But that Jimmy cat when I first got him -- he does not exist any longer.

Jimmy will never be tame in the traditional sense but he knows he belongs. He has a kitty pack (colony) and they stick together like glue.....

jenn

I guess after eating "Taste of The Wild" food for so long -- they are really getting a taste of the wild now......

They are all tucked back in the enclosure for the night!

I had to herd Jimmy like a cow. He did NOT want to go back in. He knew I was going to shut the door. He had me laughing as he circled the propane tank staying just on the other side from me.

He finally just ran on in.....

After all the cats were put in the enclosure, he sat at the gate pawing it. In the morning before I leave for work, I'll open it back up....... They'll get used to the routine....

I am going to continue to feed them in the enclosure as well. It will make it easier to get them into a routine since I always refresh food and water in the evenings..

Jenn

MORNING PICS OF MY ROAMING CREW......

fixing to head to work. I have them all situated for the day but I wanted to post these! They have discovered the creek.....






And Jimmy is deciding what to do with his day!! This is a previously feral confident enough to sit out in the open in new territory... What a blessing.... I have been waiting for these moments for years. When I first got him, it was hard to imagine and even picture in my mind. Lots of time and lots of individual moments for this cat to accomplish this.

Here's a few more pics of them..... I want to get a good pic of each one.

this is star. We've had her at least 10 yrs. Her and Jim are my true ferals. She and Jimmy have exactly the same attitude and level of tameness.


This is kissy, the bottle baby.


my cookie cutter kitty


and Pebbles. It took her to longest to venture out of her safe enclosure. This morning she is racing through the grass having a blast.


NOW -- time for work. later, jenn

Well, i put them all back in the enclosure tonight....except Jimmy. I brought him in the house. I used the bologna lure trick.

He ate the bologna and promptly opened the door himself and went back outside.

So.......I made him a cardboard bed-box with a hole and put a sheet in it and put his food and water beside him. He is staying right by the door behind the wood. He might want back in later but right now he is exactly where he wants to be.....

I guess Jimmy didn't like his box. I heard him meowing and he was sitting by the enclosure gate pawing it. So I put him back in there. That is his safe spot and he loves it.

Today my husband built them their winter floor. It is planked treated wood and about 4" off the ground and we put the 4th insulated side on the house as well and cut out the second kitty door that was already framed in. We have a 2' door for us as well that is about 4' tall. Tonight it is just covered up with plywood as "our door" is not built yet. My husband has "our door" framed in like a real door. He has siding on it. hahaha Their kitty doors have siding on them too. I will probably hang carpet over them for winter. I'm going to experiment with a slit in the carpet OR swinging carpet in the doors. Before it gets cold, I will have to see which they prefer.

We are going to surround their whole house with plywood about 3' out from the actual insulated house for a wind block with a couple cat doors that don't coorespond with their current cat doors going into their house. So there will be an extra layer of non moving air around their house.

And we are going to vent OUR heat to their house so I can stuff it with hay and hay bales and make hidey holes for them in their house. I think they will love it. I told my husband I want a cot out there...... They will be so snug.

We thought and thought about how on earth they could have an actual heated house for them without spending $500.00 on a heat/air unit. I absolutely was not going to use any type of heat lamp or put any type of anything that could potentially catch their hay on fire. So we are going to vent the heat from the restroom of our house with a fan and an insulated tunnel. And also that is "safe" heat. I won't have to worry about the hay catching fire. If I can just keep it at least 36-40 degrees in there, they will be fine.

Also, we are tinning the top of an area 20x20 in the area over the house area for the winter only. And then tarping the sides of the 20x20 area as well . So their actual house will be behind a tarped 20x20 area with tin on top of the enclosure, and then plywood 3' out that surrounds their house with dead air space and then their actual heated house inside of that. In the 20x20 I am going to put tons of hay for them as well. It will be the spot in their yard with no snow or ice. Their walls are two layers of 1" plywood with foam board in between with tin on the outside. It is a real little house. It is built better than our house.

Last winter we kept them in our house but they wanted out. But I could not let them out. It worried me. This winter they will have it better than us.....

Next winter, we will probably have that little heat unit for them but this year they use our propane with a heat fan to blow the warm out to their house.. But this might actually really work well for them heat wise. We'll just have to see.

I doubt I let them run this winter in the yard. Food is scare in the woods in the winter and I don't want them to look tasty...

It is so darn funny when we walk to the creek right now. A herd of cats follow along behind us. I wanted them to know about the creek so I won't have to worry about putting water out for them or worry about their water bowls always being full.

Where we live they are blocked in by the creek and stuck in this area. None of them have ventured in the woods. NONE. They stay in our yard, in our barns, or on the porch. Or at the creek shore. Or on the hill watching the water run.

It is lightening and thundering outside. I'm glad Jim is in the enclosure. I like them tucked in at night. He is a hard headed little guy. I 'll have to remember to lock the screens next time he is in the house with me. I had no idea he knew how to open the door. I really wanted him in with me tonight for one on one but he had other plans.

Well, it's a calm nite in kitty land. Until tomorrow my fellow cats...........Jenn

There is room for more than one cot........hahaha

I wish it was daytime. I washed all their blankets today and they are fresh on their new floors...... I bet they feel awesome in there.

I'll try to get a pic of it if it's not raining too hard.

Hi elly..........hope all is well with you!! I have thought about you a lot during the years!!! So nice to catch up.
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Here's a pic of their house. We have our human door blocked off right now because it's raining tonight pretty bad and supposed to be chilly tomorrow and the next few nights as well. They have two kitty doors going into the house on different sides. You can see their new floor in there. Husband also made them a brick step. This is the new kitty door he cut today. The other one has a brick step as well. it is about 5' tall and then tapers off to the other side to about 4'. The roof is slanted for drainage.

We had some hail recently and their summer sun tarp got torn up, and that's why we are tinning this area for the winter. We don't want them to get hit by hail. It is for protection.

The blue and white barrels have holes cut in them and they are stuffed with hay. Some kitties like solitude. We have them sitting on bricks so they are solid and won't roll around. That's Buddy looking out of the house.

And now I'm heading to bed.

This is a real grainy picture. Sorry about that. I was rushing due to the rain.

When the weekend gets here I will be able to post some pics of their outside adventures. Today was chilly and when I got home and opened the door, all the cats except 4 ran in the house with me. I have 18 by the way. And they are all tucked in safe and sound with carpet on their kitty doors.

I have lost several though the years. Yellow will probably be next. He is healthy but close to 16 years years old. Except for one, all are between 8-11 and 16 years old. I have one 4 yr old. They are all getting old.

I have so many that are close to the same age that I dread the next 5 years. I will probably be losing quite a few at around the same times due to old age.

I'll just love them while they are here. The last one I lost was Turtle which was last week. We have her buried in the front in our little kitty graveyard. She has a tombstone with a wolf etched in it that a friend made. She was an adult when she came into our lives and we got her back in 2002 so she was an old girl who did very well with us. RIP little Turtle.

Jenn

Here's Jimmy in his little wind break area on the porch. Our porch is around three sides of the house. So the spot in front of the fireplace, I put one of their blankets down and blocked the sides with wood for a resting spot.

Toe, Star and Jimmy love it..... I am fixing to get them all in the shelter for the night. Several are inside with me right now.

They are really loving their new found freedom. I know a lot of people may not agree with my decision of letting them run free in the day, but I am liking it and so are they. We live in such an awesome area and it was a huge decision on my part to letting them out of the enclosure. I think they are happier cats now. They still come inside. They still use the enclosure at night if not in the house but during the day, they can play and ran as fast as they possibly can across the yard. They dash up trees. I think it was the right decision for us. I know house cats live longer but I'm not sure if the quality of life is worth it after seeing them playing like they are playing this last week. Most are old and deserve it. Our old 16 year old laying in the sun brings tears to our eyes. I will never keep my cats completely closed up again.



Jenn

ah, thank you white cat lover... that's means a lot to me.

No one gets hit by cars here either. We live on a one lane dirt track, pig trail actually but minus the pigs.

We have one bobcat that roams but he not out during the daytime. He's a big one too. Neighbor saw a bear a couple weeks ago but I have never seen one. We have tons of coyotes. They howl all night. I have never seen them either. They up up top somewhere hid from people. On our road, occasionally someone passes through but not often. At night if someone drives along, we spotlight them as it's so unusual.

Where we live, the animals are the majority. Not many people but we like it like that.

I'm not cruel but it makes me feel good that the cats can catch birds and chase rabbits now and eat lizards. They love lizards. I have found lizard tails by the front door since they are out. It's like they are real cats now. I was so fearful they would run away and get lost. Opening that enclosure door the first time was very hard but I am so glad I did. Several have NEVER been loose. Snoopy, Hank, and Jimmy are three but they have done awesome. JJ my three legged cat is done well too. But I don't leave him out when I am gone. He is fat and could not get away if a stray dog came up. I don't know if he could climb a tree. I have always made him steps and put ladders in strategic places so he can climb. I guess I could make a platform in a tree for him.

We also have two sheds they can take shelter in. This next summer, I am thinking about getting the electric company to put in a light on the pole for the nighttime.

The only one that has not went outside yet is Princess Minny Pearl. The reason is she is a loner. The other cats all stay together basically. They are friends. Minny is a loner and they pick on her. They don't like her. I have kept her in the house and out of the enclosure. She has never even tried to go outside. I'll probably keep her in till spring so she has a better chance. If she got lost in the winter I would never forgive myself.

I am attaching the upper road on the mountain. Our road is much much smaller than this one. But this does lead down to our house. I call it my running road because I aspire to run but alas, I only "jogged" for a week. This was taken last year before spring bloomed out.



later, Jenn

Yeah, and you're right about the ferals too...... absolutely!

They are so happy to be inside sleeping tonight....... awwwwwww.... This is Tink, Cookie and Pebbles. They used to hate Pebbles the longhair. We used to tell her they "hated her because of her beauty"....

But now they love her. But when we first got her, they would NOT let her eat at all. They tried to stave her to death. So she got lots of special treats and as a result, she is absolutely spoiled and rotten.





Now I'm crashing like the girls...........Jenn

Thank you Nanner. That enclosure did not happen overnight. A lot of blood sweat and tears went into it. It is our second enclosure. The first one when it was finished -- we saw all the mistakes and knew how we wanted out second one.

guess I better get some catnip seed to plant for the spring. I think I'll put it underneath a huge huge tree in the front yard.

yawn.....

Jimmy Star and Toe are sleeping in a tent tonight on the porch. They absolutely did not want in the enclosure. So, to husbands dismay, I gave them out best fluffiest quilt and made them a tent. It will wash. I keep going outside to see if they have changed their mind but nope. They like it very much. Toe and Star and also loved being a porch kitty. It's going to be in the 40's tonight

Ok, I just came back from outside talking to Jimmy. My husband had brought a bunch of big trees to cut up and dumped them in the front yard today. I sat on a huge limb and fed Jimmy bologna. He meows at me and talks which makes me feel so good. He trusts me so much finally. The first time (a year so so ago) that he meowed at me in conversation bowled me over. I'm still not used to it. He doesn't follow me around like some cats do meaning right under my feet. He stays at a respectful distance of a 3-4 feet. If I have bologna in my hand and he knows it, he wil follow me anywhere. I got to pet him real good before I head to bed.. He is piddling around in the front yard perfectly content with Star and Toe Man with a belly full of bologna. So he will have a little entertainment, I lined one of the tree limbs with little pieces for him to discover later on. If toe doesn't find them first. It's hard to hide bologna around those two. Star is different. She hates all snacks. Even bacon. She only eats catfood or something she actually kills to eat. She has always been that way. I have never seen her eat anything other than catfood, a rabbit, a mouse, a bird, a lizard..... That's her diet so she is happy to be back outside in her element.

Toe is an old hand too. They will teach Jimmy well about stalking things.

I also think Jimmy is MORE trusting since going outside. He realizes how safe he really is with me. He is talking to me more. Following me more. And appears to want more from me since he is out and about. And that is very very cool. Jimmy has not wanted to come in the house since letting himself back out. But he sits at the door and watches every move we make.

And the cats still won't come to Juan.... Only a couple. the others run from him if he tries to pick them up. Wooley, Cleo, Yellow and Toe are the on ly one that come to him. On occasion, Tink or Cookie but that is it. He absolutely cannot get them in the enclosure. He tries, but they just don't cooperate with him.