CatVideo Fest 2022

Cat Video Fest 2022 is here!

Check out locations near you: http://www.catvideofest.com/

Image taken from CatVideoFest FB page

A few quick pics of the hilariously funny film:

Double kitty

Henri, Artiste

The Eternal Question

Mirror Cat

Selfie

Many gifs and videos, and no doubt a few of these you may have already seen if you hang out on social media.

A few notable funny cats included in this year's fest:

Simon's Cat

Cole & Marmalade

Maru

CatVideo Fest 2022 trailer

A portion of the proceeds from every ticket sold is donated to a local cat shelter, so attend to laugh and help out cats too!

Rocking Resale for Cats

Purchased this huge styrofoam box,
as a future feral cat home.  Just cut an entrance square,
tape silver duct wrap around inside to reflect
cat body heat, and fill with straw...voila!

My resale shopping friend gave me this tabby
cat statue!
Front

Back
It's adorable!  Thanks, KP!
Going in the home cat statue collection

Found this book at C Mac Neill Book Dealer in Berkley, Michigan.
His doggie was napping on the couch, so not only did I find
a great cat book, but I petted a doggie too!

Sleeping bookstore doggie, who turned over just enough for me
to pet his tummy...squee!

This book was 50 cents at Council Thrift...but it's filled with adorable photos!

This is just one photo from that book

Brrrr....

This is the time of year when I get especially concerned about Sweetie and Patty O'Malley.  Since I cannot coax them up The Stairway to Heaven and inside the house, this means they are living outside while the first frigid airmass of the season sweeps in.  I am glued to the weather reports, see below...

Copy and pasted from weather.com

 ...and I make up my own temperature graph, and update it every day.

2016 Temperature Graph for home

At some point, I drew an imaginary line in the sand...or snow...in my mind, that above 20 degrees F (-6.7 C) means the cats are okay.  They have a warming pad, windbreaks over the doors, lots of fresh straw, and each other to curl up with.  Yet you know that I will be worried and fretting until March regardless.  And the temps are most definitely dropping below my magic line next week.  I've harbored the thought of grabbing them and forcing them inside, but it's really just to ease my mind. No, it's not perfect, and no, the cats aren't 100% in comfort with frozen water bowls and ice wherever they walk.  And yet, they've lived through two of the coldest winters in Michigan (2013-14 & 2014-2015), and yes, they have food, fresh water and shelter.

You can tell that I am a city kid, right?

My friend Hobo

Almost one year ago, I met up again with my first backyard feral, Hobo (read post here).

I love Hobo, and have missed him since he decamped from our feeding station about the same time Patty O'Malley appeared.  Yesterday, I re-discovered him at the same address as last year, so these folks are obviously feeding the cat, at the minimum.  I could not tell if there was a shelter for him.

There was no one around, so I gave Hobo a bit of kibble that I'd stashed in my pocket.  I will try to communicate with the people at this house, just to understand how they are caring for Hobo.  If they need a shelter, I'll build one!  The hubby and I are getting pretty good at building them, and I've got plenty of silver-wrapped insulation (for duct work) to use.

Hobo was not overly friendly with me yesterday, but he always stayed at arms length.  Yet Hobo blinked at me, which I interpreted as 'Hello, nice to see you again'!  What a wonderful way to end my evening walk around the 'hood.

I am happy to find Hobo again!

Straw=Love

Sweetie's got something in her fur!

Close-up

We first met Sweetie in the summer of 2009, when Hobo encouraged her to eat from his food bowl on our deck.  We quickly figured out she was expecting, and the hubby built a wooden cat shelter from a design found online; insulated and big enough for a whole family.  But Sweetie and her babies never used our shelter, even though I dragged it to different parts of the yard, thinking it was the location that they didn't like.  Over a year later, after taking a class in TNR and shelter building, I figured out the problem, and promptly stuffed that shelter full of straw.  Voila!  The cats began to sleep in the shelter!

Years have come and gone, and at first I would fret when I changed out the straw, thinking the ferals would run away!  They may have for a day or two, but they always came back.  Now, I'm adding to, or fluffing up the straw enough times a year that Patty and Sweetie sit on the deck and watch me, before heading back inside 'their' home.  Seeing a stick of straw in Sweetie's fur today made me realize just how much I love these kitties, and how pleased I am that they choose to live in the accommodations that we've made for them.  Yes, I am still fretting over this cold, cold Winter, and I dream of making them a home INSIDE somehow, but they are living here and I am grateful for that.

Friendly Ferals

Sammy

Mini Mia

Patty O

In between snow and sleet storms, I managed to hang out with the 'o' cats this weekend.  I marvel at how friendly they have become; even Mama Mia who hates the camera.  She often rubs against my ankles, and has a lovely purr.  Sammy has been shy a lot this Winter; preferring to hang out inside a warm shelter. And yet he hung out with me long enough to pose.  Patty O is just a nut, as he often races around in the snow, playing with sticks and leaves, and pretending to chase the squirrels. He chirps at me when I get out of the car, and he will always put himself between me and the other cats.

When the feral cats first caught our attention, we couldn't get anywhere near them.  That's why building shelters out of scrap wood and Styrofoam coolers made sense.  Now, they are my very dear friends, and this wild Winter has caused me to reevaluate the set up.  I've been shopping online for insulated shelters, and there are some spectacular cedar cat homes that have everything I would wish for...for some really hefty price tags.  I will keep looking, and may even go DIY.  I don't mind going in and out; I just want my friends to have the very best I can provide.  We are pals!

P.S. Happy February!  Are we getting closer to Spring?  Hmm, the groundhog said NO.

Life Lesson at Minus 13 Degrees

I was in a car accident on the way home from work last night; my rear bumper has a new hole punched in it.  I'm fine.  However, the time it took for the officer to show up (State Police) and to get the paperwork done (costs $10 to get a copy...grrr), and the whole time I was worried about the 'o' cats.  I'm usually home at the same time at the end of each workday, and that's when they get their dinner.  I called the hubby after a half hour went by, and he gamely donned a coat and hat to put out a bucket of fresh water and kibble bowls for them.  None of them showed up for me when I checked on them when I finally arrived home.

And yet, this morning at minus 13 degrees (don't really want to know the wind chill), all three cats came out of the one big shelter, and Patty and Mama Mia danced for me for petting!  Sammy stayed near the shelter door, and scrambled back inside it when I reached over to place a new kibble-filled bowl nearby.  Unfortunately, the deck is mostly covered in rock-hard snow, and I could tell that they really didn't like standing or walking on the stuff.  Can't blame them!  But all in all, they look good and so yummy that I just wanted to grab each one for a hug.

So once again, the 'o' cats prove that worrying will just give a person wrinkles.  They are weathering this storm.  I wish I had their courage-under-fire, so to speak.  I've been a complete mess these last few, very cold days, and that was before getting rear-ended.  My heart wants to make these three cats a warm, comfy home...inside.  My head says that they ACT and LOOK like pet cats, but they are not.  Maybe they once were, and maybe they could be again, however I do not have the resources to readjust them to being house pets.  And it's my desire, not theirs.  None of them follow me to the open door, except Patty, and I swear he's doing it to make sure I'm out of his territory for the night.  I've opened that door for him many times, but he won't come in.  I love them with all of my heart.

Life Lesson at Minus 2 Degrees

Mama Mia, in her winter fur

I worried all night about the 'o' cats.  It's bitterly cold here in Michigan, and I don't know if the three cats are buddying up to keep warm, or staying single.  In my mind, it's brutal out there.

And yet this morning at 7 a.m., the three greeted me with chirps and meows, and Mama Mia wouldn't eat a bite until she'd gotten enough petting.  

So, if I am able to learn from this experience, it is that looking at a situation from the outside and trying to make decisions or base emotions on that view, is a mistake.  Worry, fear, dismay are worthless to a cat.  They live NOW, and they make do and they make it work.  Are they dreaming of an 80-degree day?  Or are they dealing with what they have right this very minute?  A big ball of joy was delivered to me, by three cats who live outside.  My negative emotions did no one any good.  

Can't swear that I'll never worry or be fearful for my outside friends, however I will try to trust THEM to handle it.  They have food, they have water, and they have shelter.  They have me, and I have them.  How wonderful!