Why Are You Going? Wednesday

While I gathered up my things to leave for the office this morning, I encountered this:

Angelic Angel

Chilled Out Chucky

Pet Me Patty

Remember to mouseover the photos too

Time To Change The Straw

While The Hubby was cutting up the fallen Maple branch in the backyard the weekend, I decided it was a great time to replace the straw in The Cat Hotel and Mama's Place.  I swept everything out, made repairs where needed, added the warming pad to the bottom floor of The Cat Hotel, and tidied everything up again.  I also sprinkle a small amount of diatomaceous earth in the corners, to eliminate any insects that want to set up house too.

I do this twice a year, spring and fall.  In past years, I've worried myself sick, thinking the 'O' Cats might run away or refuse to use the shelters because I've messed with them, but so far, they've come right back.  You see, when Mama's House was built in 2009, no cat used it for years!  It wasn't until I was volunteering at a TNR class, when it finally dawned on me that straw was the reason; The Hubby had talked me out of putting straw in!  That day, I filled Mama's House with straw, and BOOM...cats inside that night. That'll teach me...

Mama's House, with fresh straw.
Notice the insulation sandwiched on all four walls.

Originally built in 2009, Mama's House was designed from
Alley Cat Allies instructions.  

Last year, one corner of Mama's House roof was broken;
Looks like a feral cat ear tip!

The Cat Hotel, with the second floor pulled out.
We originally designed this for three friendly ferals, but after
Sammy's passing, we cut a piece of insulation board to cover the
extra second floor entrance and removed the divider.
Usually, Patty takes the second floor,
while Sweetie uses the first, which is where the warming pad is.

Warming pad, with protective leg-o-jeans covering.
Always remember to make sure it's working BEFORE
filling The Cat Hotel with straw...just sayin'

Crash!

Last night's wind storm caused a huge branch to break off one of our backyard maple trees.  The Hubby and I heard only the sound of leaves and twigs hitting the house, but look at how big that branch was!  Lucky for us all, the only damage was our cat statue, named Ghost Cat, was knocked off the deck.  The Cat Hotel is safe, the feeding station, and both cats survived the crash.  See Sweetie in the bottom photo, telling me to STOP taking photos and feed her!  Guess we'll be slicing and dicing wood this weekend!

"I'll build a stairway to Paradise, with a new step every day...!"

The 'O' Cats Stairway

Okay folks...it's ready!  The hubby, with very little assistance from me, measured and sawed, screwed and swore, and now I have what I have wanted for years!

My Cat Stairway!

Now...how the heck am I going to convince Patty and Sweetie to climb up to the second floor? Suggestions are welcome!

Step #1: Milk crate
Step #2: Shelf
Step #3: Wall Shelf
Step #4: Higher Wall Shelf
Step #5: Ramp
Step #6: Go up through hole!
Step #7: Walk through cat flap

Step #1: Milk Crate
Step #2: Shelf
Step #3: Wall Shelf
Step #4: Higher Wall Shelf

Step #5: Ramp

Cat Flap, from interior

Hole in balcony, for cat egress

Look down ramp from hole in balcony

So far, using kibble only, I've encouraged Patty O'Malley to Step #4. Sweetie has gone as far as Step #2.  If Patty has already jumped up to Step #2 or #3, Sweetie won't leave the deck at all.  So, we have a long way to go.  Almost every night, I turn on the outside light, step out on the balcony, and call to the cats.  Patty often jumps onto the feeding station, in his attempt to get closer to me.  Then, I go back inside, walk through the house and out the front door, to appear on the deck.  I coax Patty and Sweetie using kibble to jump up.  I cannot seem to show them the connection between the balcony and food...yet.  I may have to devise some kind of bowl on a string, and slide it up and down the ramp, to get them interested.  I feel that if I can get a cat on the ramp and moving upward, then I'm golden!  Again, any suggestions...?!?

Once they've navigated the stairway, and gone through the cat flap, the one-time kitchenette will become their sanctuary.  It will be closed off from the rest of the house, so inside and outside cats will ne'er meet.

P.S. Please excuse how messy things look.  The hubby made the stairs using found items around his workshop.  He does not believe I can coax the 'O' cats up the stairs, but is willing to let me try whatever I want to...because he knows I won't stop...never...until I've achieved my goal: Patty and Sweetie inside.  WHEN they are comfortable coming in and out, then we'll spruce everything up with paint and other niceties.

Natural Bleach: Sunshine

Today was 'wash the litter pans' day, and I took advantage of the hot sunshine by laying the scrubbed and cleaned pans in the driveway.  By the time I picked them up again, the sun had baked the black plastic, making them HOT to the touch, and naturally germ-free!

However, since I promised a long time ago to NEVER show photos of litter pans; I mean, really...

I'll just post a few images snapped of interesting cat and nature stuff...

Pile of kittens at
Paws For The Cause adoption event
They are adorable!

Angel, sniffing the camera

Chuck, apparently not appreciating
having his photo taken

Milk Weeds growing in our garden;
I want to attract any Monarch butterflies in the area!
I saw one, but it flittered away...

Patty, snoopervising the litter pan cleaning today

Huge storms are roaring across Michigan right now; I'm turning off the computer NOW!

Where to sleep when it's hot outside?

Chuck is inside a box, which is draped
with my fleecy jacket; are his toes out to catch
a cool breeze?

Aries, the neighbor's cat,
laying on cool concrete

Patty O'Malley will sleep anywhere

Angel on the front steps, with The Hubby's
feet behind...
when they are outside, the humans
stand guard duty!

Un-Rats!

Yay!  I figured it out, and here are some 'movies' of Patty O'Malley, 

The Clown Cat.

Rats!

Silly Patty!

I filmed the most adorable video of Patty O'Malley yawning and being a clown...but somehow my computer saved it as a JPEG image instead of video! RATS!  You all would have enjoyed watching him being a doofus, but I have nothing.  These photos just do not convey the supreme goofiness of the boy.

On the driveway

Napping in the garden

Sniffing my armpit...gross!

Patty owns me!

"You cannot resist my belleh!"

I suppose there was some operator error involved, so I'll try to resuscitate the video later.  I only have about 3,000 photos of Patty, but that video was classic...bummer!

Cat Spit

Do all cats drool?  Maybe I've never noticed it much before, but both Angel and Chuck tend to drool when they are enjoying a hands-on session with their humans.

Chuck, after carrying my socks and before drooling

Angel, already rubbing her face on the box edge

Both rub their jaws and cheeks on the edge of a box, and the drooling begins!  I'll spare you any photos of said spit puddles; the description of them is enough.

Even Patty O'Malley will send bits of spit out into the universe, when he shakes his head, like a big, drool-y dog.  Eww.  

Patty appears to be smiling!

My mellow is harshed

Folks, have you ever gotten to a point where it seems all the cat news you hear is negative, and you want to take in all the abandoned, injured and 'last call!' cats out there, but of course that's impossible? So you feel like a complete failure because you can't help anybody, and your own cats are waking you up too early in the morning, and the neighbors let their cat loose so it eats all the food you leave for your friendly ferals...and the ferals are hiding because of the huge rainstorms, and you get mosquito bites just being in the yard with them?  I see adorable kittens waiting for forever homes, and older cats who've been tossed out and need a forever home and declawed cats that are suffering and were tossed out and need a forever home.  And I witnessed two dead cat roadkills on my way into the office this morning, which just about broke my spirit.

My work inbox is blowing up with requests from everybody, and I have to play waitress to a huge meeting going on since yesterday, and I just want to walk away from it all.  I'm not feeling the good vibes these days, folks...nope, not at all.  Even though Patty O'Malley tried to jump into my car, to travel with me to the office, and even Sweetie 'allowed' me to pat her belly while she stood stock still.

Sweetie

Patty O'Malley

These are the golden days...the weather I've been praying for since November.  Sun up early, going down late; yeah, a few thunderstorms but the warmth feels GOOD and this is a great time to ENJOY!  I'll snap out of the funk, no worries.

Weekend Vacation

Sleepy Angel

Proof that Sweetie will let me pet her!

Dashing Chuck

Patty enjoying the morning sunshine

Intruder Cat!
(nicknamed: Barney)

Took Friday off from work, and had a long weekend vacation.  Hit the classic car show in town, traversed an art fair, dug in the flower beds, shopped at the mall (the hubby bought something!), ate lunch at Pita Cafe and sat on my keister watching TV.  Also managed to snap a few images of my favorite subject: cats!  Discovered a new intruder cat, who tried to hide in a neighbor's flower bed.  I see you, intruder cat!  Think I'll call him Barney.  We'll TNR him, if he hangs around!

Hold still!

Sweetie says nope!



Patty walks through my Sweetie photoshoot...again

I've got too many photos of Patty's bum!

Now, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Scratching and scratching

Patty, at rest between scratching his ears with his hind foot

See how he's worn off the fur on his ears?

Can you see the white stuff in Sweetie's fur?

Diatomaceous earth on Patty's back

Patty's been scratching at his ears.  I have dosed him with Revolution, but he was still scratching hard.  I do NOT find any fleas on him, but the veterinarian who checked him over earlier this year said he probably has an allergy to flea bites.  As a good measure, I rubbed a very small portion of diatomaceous earth into his fur, and even managed to get some on Sweetie too, before she could dance away.

Diatomaceous earth looks like flour, but it has remarkable drying abilities. Bugs that come in contact with it will dry up and die.  I've put it in their food, and sprinkle very small amounts in the corners of The Cat Hotel.  I do NOT want them (or me!) breathing the stuff in, so I rub it into their fur so there would be no dust.  Now Sweetie has big 'ol white handprints on her black furs, and Patty's bright golds and browns are a bit grey.  We had just had a rain shower, and both of them were damp from running through the wet grass when I came out to visit with them.  Seemed a good time to powder them!

If you are considering the use of human food grade diatomaceous earth, please read up on it first!  Yes, many holistic websites will extol the wonders of it's effectiveness, but it's dangerous because of it's drying abilities, so inhaling it or rubbing it into eyes, nose, etc. is a HAZARD! The small bag that I purchased of the stuff has lasted me for years, because we use only tiny amounts.

Now, it's rained here for 1-1/2 days, so I'll bet both Sweetie and Patty have managed to wash themselves free of the stuff.  And it's cold!  Such crazy weather around here...