The cat lady

[gable]

Is what my jerk kids call me.

I have 'adopted' two strays over the last couple years, and each winter I put out shelters for them. This year I decided to buy one of the nice ones I've seen online, add a bit of insulation and bedding and set it out for the only cat that stays here every night, 'Sasparilla', aka 'Sassy'. Well, she didn't want any part of it, instead she kept getting into the old one I had quickly built a few winters ago.... figures.

So today I took the old house into the shop and added a bit to it.

I've saved some of the denim insulation that comes in the 'Freshly' delivered meals we get each week for lunches. I added some plywood scrap pieces to the rear and one side, that had been mostly open, and secured the cedar strip floor a bit better. I then added the denim insulation all around, and then added some reflective bubble wrap stuff on top of that. It came from a car windshield shade I got at the dollar store.

I drilled a cutout on one side for the extension cord, for the heated pad that I put in there to keep her toasty on the handful of extra cold nights we get.

Hopefully 'Xeda', the all black male will use the other house, I'm still trying to get him used to me enough that I can catch him to get him all his shots, and get fixed. He's wily as hell, and has eluded me thus far....

A few pics of the thrown together diy porch cat house:

 

[adaug]

Is what my jerk kids call me.

I have 'adopted' two strays over the last couple years, and each winter I put out shelters for them. This year I decided to buy one of the nice ones I've seen online, add a bit of insulation and bedding and set it out for the only cat that stays here every night, 'Sasparilla', aka 'Sassy'. Well, she didn't want any part of it, instead she kept getting into the old one I had quickly built a few winters ago.... figures.

So today I took the old house into the shop and added a bit to it.

I've saved some of the denim insulation that comes in the 'Freshly' delivered meals we get each week for lunches. I added some plywood scrap pieces to the rear and one side, that had been mostly open, and secured the cedar strip floor a bit better. I then added the denim insulation all around, and then added some reflective bubble wrap stuff on top of that. It came from a car windshield shade I got at the dollar store.

I drilled a cutout on one side for the extension cord, for the heated pad that I put in there to keep her toasty on the handful of extra cold nights we get.

Hopefully 'Xeda', the all black male will use the other house, I'm still trying to get him used to me enough that I can catch him to get him all his shots, and get fixed. He's wily as hell, and has eluded me thus far....

A few pics of the thrown together diy porch cat house:

View attachment 18300View attachment 18301View attachment 18302View attachment 18303

nice work for a good cause.

 

[rogerfederer]

hope you can get them into the house some day; they are better off indoors; good on you to take care of the little furry ones!

 

[Fran604g]

You're a truly thoughtful human, nice job!

It never occurred to me to create a shelter for the strays we used to have around, because until a few years ago, they always had some shelter under parts of our house that weren't skirted. It's a very old timber frame that sits on an ancient (partial) stacked fieldstone "foundation", and there were some serious voids. Our 2 large porches weren't blocked off underneath either. We've taken in several strays over the years, but lately there haven't been any, due to our neighbor who now actually cares for all the offspring that occurs at her old farm (in the horse barn) next door.

Another neighbor a few doors down, who lives across the street from an ancient mill/grainery-turned-farm-supply store (Agway) always had several milling about, and would build shelters very similar to yours for the 1 or 2 that moved in permanently.

 

[MrEd]

You're a truly thoughtful human, nice job!

It never occurred to me to create a shelter for the strays we used to have around, because until a few years ago, they always had some shelter under parts of our house that weren't skirted. It's a very old timber frame that sits on an ancient (partial) stacked fieldstone "foundation", and there were some serious voids. Our 2 large porches weren't blocked off underneath either. We've taken in several strays over the years, but lately there haven't been any, due to our neighbor who now actually cares for all the offspring that occurs at her old farm (in the horse barn) next door.

Another neighbor a few doors down, who lives across the street from an ancient mill/grainery-turned-farm-supply store (Agway) always had several milling about, and would build shelters very similar to yours for the 1 or 2 that moved in permanently.

When I saw Agway it took me back to my youth.
I grew up on a dairy farm overlooking Cayuga Lake.
Saw that you are in Hemlock. )

 

[Fran604g]

When I saw Agway it took me back to my youth.
I grew up on a dairy farm overlooking Cayuga Lake.
Saw that you are in Hemlock. )

Howdy neighbor! We Fingerlakers always enjoy hearing from others familiar with this especially beautiful part of NYS.

Which township, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[JohnVF]

An excellent cause. Recently I saw something somewhere about a man who did something similar. He would take old coolers and saw circular openings in the side big enough for a kitty to get inside and shelter a bit from the cold. The cooler working in reverse, keeping some warmth in.

 

[gable]

An excellent cause. Recently I saw something somewhere about a man who did something similar. He would take old coolers and saw circular openings in the side big enough for a kitty to get inside and shelter a bit from the cold. The cooler working in reverse, keeping some warmth in.

I saw that as well. Great idea for certain.

I'm a sucker for animals, I'll happily admit it. The skunk that shows up intermittently is a bit much, adorable, but I've had to wash our dogs after being sprayed too many damn times to appreciate the little devils much any longer. heh.

 

[mfrench]

Well, it seems that this thread is about boxes for cats. This pretty much sums up a portion of my week.
We were adopted by a cat a bit over a year ago (july/august of last year), Kitty.
She came to us from the wilds around us. The wilds around us are plugged full of Coyotes; somehow she survived those.
She had been wild for long enough that she was hesitant about us for a month or more. Then she started to trust us, and, we realized that she had been a hand raised baby, but, was now without a home.
She now sleeps inside with us at night, but, hates being inside during the day. She starts climbing the curtains, and incessantly whining as soon as the sun rises.
So, to get her a safe place, outside, away from the coyotes, I built her an access ramp to the patio water heater closet roof. She loved it! Then I built her a box, and filled it with polar fleece blankets, as they're really easy to wash.

Kitty is a power leaper, and can easily make the leap up on top of the closet. That is 7'+.
It gets painful to watch, though, when she decides to jump back down, onto the concrete. Though, I think it hurt me worse than her, as she just shrugs it off, and goes about her business.

Earlier this summer '21, I had to take the Tower down, because I was going to take the patio roof off, and, take it down to the shiplap roof boards of the sub-roof, to replace termite and rot damaged boards (40y.o.+), and, replace termite and rot damage rafter ends. All of this was going to wipe the Tower off of the water heater closet.
I finished the reroofing, and,...

Kittys Tower on the water heater closet has been restored, as of yesterday, and the day before.
Yesterday we went shopping for cat beds, and, new poly blankets. The day before, I restored her access path, scratching post, and, built her a new box from insulation panels scraps (from also replacing my water heater and insulating that closet space this week).

We reintroduced her to it yesterday, and, she loved it. She went right up, and, took about a 4 hour nap.

adding,....
When I installed the new water heater, and insulated the water heater closet, I left the interior ceiling of it un-insulated, so that heat could rise up, and, heat her box from below. We're in SoCal, and don't worry about flash freezing or anything here. So, shes good.

 

[mhardy6647]

well -- at least they don't call you crazy cat lady @gable .

... and you probably know what Albert Schweitzer said of cats.

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.

twocatsabed2 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
(the late, great Timmy & Zappa, who concurred with Al, for the record)

 

[fiddlefye]

We got a "Cat House" this past summer when they were being sold by one of the local rescue groups as a fundraiser. It has straw inside, some "magic dirt" and always a hint of catnip.

My little buddy, Rudy has moved in finally this past week as the weather has cooled dramatically. As a result he is usually right there when I open the front door these days and doesn't seem to wander all that far from the porch most days. He is a gorgeous boy - catch-and-release fixed and very affectionate. When I come out he circles me and gets lots of rubs. I'm sort of hoping he'll decide he wants to come in at some point.

 

[fiddlefye]

Rudy portrait from this morning - 300 f4 Nikkor @ f5.6.

 

[mhardy6647]

Our best cats found us.
Griswold being first and foremost among them.
I don't have a great digital image of this Maine Coon-esque beast, but he was a fine kitteh, and he lived a long and happy (AFAIK) life with us, albeit not without some substantial medical intervention$ along the way


In fact, we could write a book about some of the expensive and esoteric cat maintenance procedures over our years of kitteh ownership

 

[Fran604g]

Our new guy we thought was a gal - until the vet set us straight - was a stray who came around a few times this summer. Someone apparently abandoned him, and despite asking around no one knows where he came from, or claimed him.

Feral (or "barn" if you will) cats are nothing new here, and I've had to bury more than a couple who ended up flattened on the state highway out front. A sad but eventual occurence for other 4 legged creatures. Because of that obvious threat, not to mention the feral cats, foxes and coyotes that roam the hamlet, we decided to adopt him. He's a perfect tuxedo kitty, so in good humor we named him Bond. James Bond. Aka 007.

He's a healthy, already neutered, approximately 1 year old sweetheart, our 5th or 6th rescue (actually lost count of how many we've fed and cared for over our 40 years here) and 4th indoor cat.

Meet Daniel Craigs' doppleganger James. I don't let him play with guns yet, he has a license to kill after all.

 

[adaug]

Our new guy we thought was a gal - until the vet set us straight - was a stray who came around a few times this summer. Someone apparently abandoned him, and despite asking around no one knows where he came from, or claimed him.

Feral (or "barn" if you will) cats are nothing new here, and I've had to bury more than a couple who ended up flattened on the state highway out front. A sad but eventual occurence for other 4 legged creatures. Because of that obvious threat, not to mention the feral cats, foxes and coyotes that roam the hamlet, we decided to adopt him. He's a perfect tuxedo kitty, so in good humor we named him Bond. James Bond. Aka 007.

He's a healthy, already neutered, approximately 1 year old sweetheart, our 5th or 6th rescue (actually lost count of how many we've fed and cared for over our 40 years here) and 4th indoor cat.

Meet Daniel Craigs' doppleganger James. I don't let him play with guns yet, he has a license to kill after all.

View attachment 41530
View attachment 41531

tuxedo cats are special. and good story.

 

[mfrench]

About the same time that Kitty showed up from the wilds, and perhaps a bit before, we had sightings of a cat that we call, Halfy. We're not sure if Halfy is a male or female. So, I'm referring to him, generically, at this point; but, I do suspect he's a male.
At first, if you happened to see Halfy, at all, it was at a full speed stealth escape running mode. He'd disappear in an instant at lightning speed. So, spotting any identifying "cat junk" has been all but impossible.
Sarge, the spousal unit, has been soft-talking to Halfy now for the better part of a strong 6 months++; not making direct eye contact, just soft-talkin'.
Shes also been leaving him a paper plate of kibble food, and/or, sometimes wet food that the spoiled one, Kitty, rejects because its been open for too long.

Kitty and Halfy seem to have some sort of relationship. I've seen them sharing a gopher hole hunt, and, in other togetherness activities around the yard. My next door neighbor found them together in his small greenhouse, sitting shoulder to shoulder. They've spent time on either side of Kitty's bedroom screen door.
They seem to have some form of relationship.

Today, Halfy was on the patio, and Sarge started soft-talking to him, and, he stayed put while she brought out a plate of kibble for him. Sarge roamed the patio, having a smoke, and Halfy stayed put, and ate. He then jumped off of the picnic table on the patio, where he was fed, and, he sat there, and, he talked back and forth with Sarge, while I took a couple of pics.

Halfy is a large cat. And, in the first sightings, I could have sworn he was a Bobcat, as those are fairly common round these parts. I've seen smaller Bobcats than Halfy. He is a very stout cat.
He is named Halfy, by us, for his naturally bobbed tail.

Halfy, after this afternoons grubbing,...




Whose yinz lookin at, bub?

muscle bound?

 

[Fran604g]

Our new guy we thought was a gal - until the vet set us straight - was a stray who came around a few times this summer. Someone apparently abandoned him, and despite asking around no one knows where he came from, or claimed him.

Feral (or "barn" if you will) cats are nothing new here, and I've had to bury more than a couple who ended up flattened on the state highway out front. A sad but eventual occurence for other 4 legged creatures. Because of that obvious threat, not to mention the feral cats, foxes and coyotes that roam the hamlet, we decided to adopt him. He's a perfect tuxedo kitty, so in good humor we named him Bond. James Bond. Aka 007.

He's a healthy, already neutered, approximately 1 year old sweetheart, our 5th or 6th rescue (actually lost count of how many we've fed and cared for over our 40 years here) and 4th indoor cat.

Meet Daniel Craigs' doppleganger James. I don't let him play with guns yet, he has a license to kill after all.

View attachment 41530
View attachment 41531

Thank you. He's really done well, and we've noted physical growth that's astonished us! He's very fond of being fed delicious Friskies "Meaty Bits", and even dry food instead of killing prey to survive. He's also quite happy to sleep on our couch instead of wherever it was he did before we took him in. He's earned his keep by killing 2 of our usual fall incursion of mice! He has a wild streak that's a good thing, and quickly adapted to a wall hanging scratching pad. I'm pleasantly surprised, because I could only imagine my AR3a grilles being shredded. Knock on wood!

 

[prime minister]

Our new guy we thought was a gal - until the vet set us straight - was a stray who came around a few times this summer. Someone apparently abandoned him, and despite asking around no one knows where he came from, or claimed him.

Feral (or "barn" if you will) cats are nothing new here, and I've had to bury more than a couple who ended up flattened on the state highway out front. A sad but eventual occurence for other 4 legged creatures. Because of that obvious threat, not to mention the feral cats, foxes and coyotes that roam the hamlet, we decided to adopt him. He's a perfect tuxedo kitty, so in good humor we named him Bond. James Bond. Aka 007.

He's a healthy, already neutered, approximately 1 year old sweetheart, our 5th or 6th rescue (actually lost count of how many we've fed and cared for over our 40 years here) and 4th indoor cat.

Meet Daniel Craigs' doppleganger James. I don't let him play with guns yet, he has a license to kill after all.

View attachment 41530
View attachment 41531

That cat is way too handsome to be a Daniel Craig, with his ill fitting suits. That cat is a full in Sean Connery!

 

[Fran604g]

That cat is way too handsome to be a Daniel Craig, with his ill fitting suits. That cat is a full in Sean Connery!

View attachment 41678

That's a valid point! Connery will always be THE 007 to me.

 

[BillWojo]

Our best cats found us.
Griswold being first and foremost among them.
I don't have a great digital image of this Maine Coon-esque beast, but he was a fine kitteh, and he lived a long and happy (AFAIK) life with us, albeit not without some substantial medical intervention$ along the way

In fact, we could write a book about some of the expensive and esoteric cat maintenance procedures over our years of kitteh ownership

Not sure what it cost but I was in my mid teens when it happened so about 50 years ago. I'm sure nothing what a vet would charge today.
I lived 2 doors from the bus stop with one neighbor between us on the corner. Anyway as we are waiting for the bus the corner neighbor lady comes out and gets into her car to warm it up, it's cold out there!
Well all hell breaks loose when she started it and she shut it right down. I came over and popped the hood and there is my cat laying on top of the engine with his belly ripped open and all his innards thrown about. Never saw intestines before that. Anyway, I ran home and told my Mom, she runs over, checks it out, says I'll be right back. Comes back with a cardboard box and carefully scoops up all of him placing him in the box. I went off to school fully expecting to be digging his resting place when I got home but nope, he was still at the vets. Seems since everything was still connected that got thrown about the vet carefully re-stuffed him and sewed him back up. In about a week he came home, took some time but he fully recovered. All his front teeth were knocked out, probably by the fan blade but he lived a long career as our "mouser". We used to joke that he Gummed them to death.

BillWojo