Cats Inside and Out

A short video of the cats living indoor and the ferals that live in the shelter in backyard.

Update on Outdoor Stray Cat Shelter/Problems

Last year I wrote about setting up an outdoor cat shelter for the stray/abandoned cats in my neighbourhood. Over the winter we had one permanent resident - an older female - who lived in the shelter on the back steps landing all winter long. She has now been here for nearly a year. Because of the heating disc we put in her box every evening during the winter she was quite comfortable. She got regular food and water from a heated water dish. This is now her permanent home.
As of this date there are 2 other cats living in the shelter built up against the shed. One is a very pretty young cat who turned up about 4 weeks ago. She has a limp. We don't know what kind of injury she has because she won't let anyone get close enough. For the past 2 weeks a male cat has also been sleeping in the shelter.
None of these cats have been spayed or neutered. We contacted the Humane Society and were told they will not take them or help us capture them and there are no Animal Rescue groups in this town. We emailed a few of the groups in other towns around here but so far with no response. It is a sad, frustrating situation but with no low cost spay/neuter clinics here, and not able to afford the min. $400.00 per cat it costs to take them to the vet - assuming we could capture them - probably means more unwanted kittens. Even if we somehow got help to have them spayed, they would still have no real home. They are afraid of people. What we are doing is not enough to prevent another generation of feral cats, but with no resources or help from the Humane Society or rescue groups, so far it is all we can do.

Cats in Mystery Novels

I love cats. I love to read. A good book, a glass of wine, snacks, a comfy chair, and a cat or 2 or 3 around me, is my idea of the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon. Mysteries are my favourite light reading, especially cat mysteries. Sometimes the cats are the detectives, sometimes they just give the main character/amateur detective a cat sign language point in the right direction. Whether they are the star of the book or the "Dr. Watson", they always add the extra flavour that makes the novel more enjoyable. One of my favourite authors is Shirley Rousseau Murphy but there is enough variety of cats and cat mystery novels to keep all us cat lovers reading through this century. Have a look at some that are on offer right now.

Dogs and Cats Together

I made a short video of the dogs and some of the cats in this house. Mostly they will curl up together, occasionally they play - the dogs with the cats - not the cats with the cats, and sometimes they have little disagreements. But they are comfortable with each other, even though they all came from different places, at different times. Fiona (the Whippet) came first, then Katie (Shih Tzu), then Luna (not in video), next Max (orange/white cat) and last Tiger (tabby). Fiona and Max have developed a relationship, as have Katie and Tiger. With no help or interference from humans, they worked out their relationships themselves. Have a look.

Dogs and Cats Together

Luna is Nine

Beautiful Luna is 9 Years Old

My beautiful Luna is now in her ninth year. She's still going strong. Still agitates every day to go out for a walk. She's not enjoying it much right now - too much snow, feet get too cold or too wet - so the walk is very short. But soon she'll be out there eating grass, sniffing everything. I have made a very short 30 sec slide show of pictures of Luna from the past year. Please take a look. Just click on the link. http://animoto.com/play/FVfL3AmdqTEzhx21JoO6NA

Stray Cats Outside in Winter

We've had a stray- probably feral- cat living in the shelter on the back landing since last Fall. She will sit by the window or the french doors to the deck and try to make friends with the cats that live in the house but she will run at just the sight of people. She has made her home on the back landing and seems quite happy to be there.

We have had some very cold days and nights, down to the minus 30s celsius. The best investment made was the microwave heating disc. Put it in the microwave for a few minutes, and then put it in the box we constructed, under the cat bed thats inside the box, and it keeps her and the inside of the box warm for up to 12 hours. Wrapping the whole section of the landing in a tarp (the blue in the picture) and then in plastic, keeps the wind and snow out.

We have just added a heated water dish. Luckily there is an electrical outlet on the landing, so with a long outdoor extension, she and other cats that come around, always have fresh water to drink.

This is not an ideal situation by any means. She should be inside. But it is impossible to get near her, even after all these months. And trying to capture her and failing might mean scaring her so much she would stay away all together and end up freezing to death somewhere. Its not a chance we want to take. She's safe, warm, gets regular food and water, and for now that's as good as it gets.