Moving House, Taking The Colony With Me.

[Norachan]

@norachan- yep, found someone with a barn in the country about hour and half away. He will except three. So that will be three black siblings who are very friendly and sweet. I believe a month of confinement will work? So hopefully by xmas they will be safer. CHEERS! Btw, can you qualify yourself as an official sanctuary now and get help feedin them or file as a non profit? Does it work that way in japan?

That's great news. I think being a barn cat must be heaven for an ex-feral. Somewhere warm to sleep and all those mice to chase. Hope they love their new home.

I've never though about applying for funding, I should look into that. I know there are huge reserves of money set aside for things like that but getting Japanese officials to actually hand anything over is notoriously difficult.  A lot of the money that was donated to help people after the 2011 earth quake was spent on a tower and shopping complex in Tokyo, while people in Tohoku are still living in temporary shelters. But I shouldn't start talking about the politics over here, it makes me seethe......

 

[ruaryx]

Oh my gosh, you're living my dream life right now!!! I would LOVE to be surrounded by kitties, chilling by Mt. Fuji.  Haha.  I really enjoyed reading this thread.  Please continue to update us on your little group. :]

 

[pocho]

Maybe atleast some funding through the internet then? If you put your project up on "go fund me" it seems you would get interested supporters? It would allow people to feel a part of this beautiful arrangement. Personally I would love to go to a website everyday and see updates of the Mt Fuji kitties.

 

[pocho]

Btw, looks like corrupt politics are everywhere! That's why we need cats to just take over the world already and be done with it

 

[Norachan]

 
Oh my gosh, you're living my dream life right now!!! I would LOVE to be surrounded by kitties, chilling by Mt. Fuji.  Haha.  I really enjoyed reading this thread.  Please continue to update us on your little group. :]

Thanks Ruaryx.

Yes, it is a dream come true, although I think "freezing" would be more accurate than "chilling". It's so cold this far up in the mountains.  

 

[ruaryx]

Oh no!  I'm from Wisconsin so I'm trying to escape the cold.  I must look into warmer places in Japan.  Haha.

 

[catsoul]

All I can say right now is WOW!!!! Moving feral cats to a new home along with building this is absolutely incredible, and puts my small problem of building a shelter for two cats and trying to trap them into perspective in comparison.

Absolutely amazing!!!! Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Norachan]

All I can say right now is WOW!!!! Moving feral cats to a new home along with building this is absolutely incredible, and puts my small problem of building a shelter for two cats and trying to trap them into perspective in comparison.

Absolutely amazing!!!! Thanks for sharing this.

Thank you catsoul. Yes, it was quite an adventure.

I read your other posts, I'm glad that you black cat is still around and that his girlfriend is using the shelter.

 

[catsoul]

I love the snow pics.

I was wondering, if any need to go to the vet, is it difficult trying to get them in a carrier, or are they all so used to you now that they can be petted and picked up?

 

[Kat0121]

 
I enjoyed seeing all of your beautiful kitties in the snow. You really do have a nice set up for all of them, they are so lucky to be loved by you.

Amen to that. They are very lucky kitties indeed. @Norachan is Gin Kun your avatar pic? He's so handsome. I was thinking your avatar was George until I saw this pic of Gin Kun now I'm not sure. Forest is just a gorgeous cat. I'm still shocked that someone would dump him but they did him a favor in dumping him where he would be found by someone like you. He looks so happy!

My Sophie's coat is very similar to Forest's in the length and thickness. We live in Florida so she doesn't really need it as much as he does. It's going to be fun when she sheds it.

 

 

[Norachan]

I can't understand why anyone would dump Forest either, he's such a sweet, well mannered cat. We haven't had any problems with him at all. Sophie must be beautiful. Is it a lot of work keeping her coat nice?

 

[Norachan]

The big snow season has started. Fuji is completely white now.

Mountain1.jpg

• Norachan
• Jan 23, 2015

It's really cold so the cats aren't interested in going out very much these days. Hiro and Button went out to look at the snow but soon came back in again.

Button16.jpg

• Norachan
• Jan 23, 2015

Button17.jpg

• Norachan
• Jan 23, 2015

Hiro14.jpg

• Norachan
• Jan 23, 2015

Hiro15.jpg

• Norachan
• Jan 23, 2015

The best thing about the snow is that Button can't climb over the fence any more. When he tries he pulls a big pile of snow down on top of himself, then runs back indoors.

Button20.jpg

• Norachan
• Jan 23, 2015

Button19.jpg

• Norachan
• Jan 23, 2015

 Now how do you suppose he got up there? By the time I'd found the ladder to "rescue" him he'd already got down again.

Most of the time all the cats are indoors. I can't blame them really.

Group4.jpg

• Norachan
• Jan 23, 2015

 

[mani]

I was trying to work out how Button climbed up there and wondered whether he's very sneaky and can access that ledge from the roof...

What a delightful cat huddle!

 

[Norachan]

He loves to sit up there and watch us. He kind of reminds me of an owl sometimes.......

 

[mani]

Have I mentioned recently how much I love Forest...?

 

[Kat0121]

 
Have I mentioned recently how much I love Forest...?

So do I. He's gorgeous. He and @MServant's Mouse are my kitty crushes.

 

[Norachan]

 
Have I mentioned recently how much I love Forest...?

Thank you, we love him too.

 

[segelkatt]

When I saw all these trees I immediately wondered how you would keep the kitties from climbing them and like squirrels go from tree to tree and thus escape over the fence.  I guess you really have thought of everything. You are amazing, taking all these pains to care for 23 cats.

 

[Norachan]

Actually Lizzie managed to do the squirrel thing and got out a few times. She's so smart, she'd look at a tree nearest the fence, size up which ever tree was close to it then climb up that tree to the exact spot where the plastic cover ended and jump across. She looked like a little spider monkey.

We've had to cat proof a lot more of the trees to keep her in. These days there is so much snow around that none of them are interested in going out. I know that will change in the spring. I'm going to ask for power tools for my birthday so I can modify the fence every time they find a new way out.

 

[Norachan]

Hello,

Just wanted to post a few more pictures and give you our winter update.

The cats seem to have spent the past two months in hibernation. Most days the enclosure looks like this.

NewHouse32.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

I can't really blame them for not going outside. I'm surprised how well they've got along with each other, considering how many of them there are sharing one small house. I keep the deck cleared of snow so they can go out and get a bit of air. There is evidence that a few of them have been out there.

NewHouse31.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

They like to sit out and shelter under the table.  Jiro, the ninja kitty having extreme camouflage fail.

Jiro14.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

Jiro13.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

That huge marshmallow of snow above him fell in one weekend.

We have a regular visitor too. A ginger tom that I've started calling Digby. Actually he's been here since we first moved in. He climbed over the fence a few times but it didn't go well. The boy cats cornered him and I woke up to hear them all screaming at each other. One time I had to cut a hole in the fence and let him out, the second time he managed to escape over the roof.

Digby3.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

I leave food out for him but he rarely touches it. The only thing he seems to want is water. preferably warm water that I've cooked chicken in. Most days he just comes by to sing his lonesome boy cat song at the girls. They all love him and rush up to the fence to flirt with him. This is a picture I took in the summer.

Digby2.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

He is very handsome, I can understand why the girls all love him and the boys are all so jealous.

Digby4.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

He's started responding when I blink at him. I wonder if he'll ever join the gang. (First successful TNR using water as bait?)

Here are a few shots of the rest of them enjoying the sunshine.

Albert16.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

Albert.

Chicken9.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

Chicken.

Hiro17.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

Hiro.

Lizzie6.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

Lizzie.

Toby39.jpg

• Norachan
• Feb 27, 2015

Toby.