Okay, so after confirming that we didn’t have any flat tires this morning, then getting diverted with a trip to town before doing to the city, the trip to Costco has been dropped entirely for today.
When the Cat Lady and her husband caught up with me, I could see why they had to much trouble with the catio! With her husband’s short box truck, it was leaning against the tail gate. It is really quite light. No wonder it got blown off! They did get a strap for it, though, and ended up giving me the strap after it was transferred to our truck. She also gave me four bags of kitten food that fussy little Button won’t eat!
They’ve had to put a bell on him. He’s so tiny, he kept going missing!
I still used one of my new straps, along with the tarp and some bungee cords to secure it. The catio just barely fit into the box of our truck, between the fenders on the sides, and the rolled up cover by the cab and the tail gate. I did have to slightly bend the remaining roof panel to squeeze it forward, so we could close the tailgate.
The second photo shows it unloaded behind our garage.
The Cat Lady hoped we could at least use the parts and pieces. They’ve had this catio for a while. As we unloaded it, I did see that one corner on the bottom will need to be reinforced. The wind tore off part of one of the fabric cat beds, but my younger daughter is pretty sure she has some heavy duty fabric she can replace it with.
The mesh has a hole in the back that had been the entry through their basement window in their old house. That will need to be patched. It’s the same half inch hardware cloth that I just picked up for the isolation shelter I’m building, and we’ll have enough to patch that up.
I’m surprised that the wire is just held in place with staples! Definitely something heavier duty than what we’ve got. Any time I’ve tried to staple something like this down, the staples tend to pop out again, easily. I was a bit surprised to see that those shelves are just “floating”. They are attached to the wire only, not the frame!
You can see that there is some rust on the wire, too. Once we reinforce the corners and do any other fixes or modifications, we’ll give the whole thing a paint job. If the wire needs to be painted, though, I think I’ll go for black, so it’ll be easier to see through the wire.
We might add a second latch on the door, near the bottom, as it’s bowing out in that corner – reinforcing the frame should fix that. Racoons can figure out how to open those latches, though, so we’ll probably look for something different.
By this time, it was past noon, so instead of going to Costco, I went to my mother’s town and the feed store to pick up 40 pound bags of cat food for the outside cats. While there, I asked about lysine. The guy I spoke to before was there, and he said he found some in 1 pound buckets, so he got two of them for me. They will arrive on Tuesday (after the long weekend).
I was going to get 4 bags of cat food, but they had only 3 in stock. I paid for those, but when the guy went to get the bags to load into the truck, there were only two left on the shelf. More will be coming on Tuesday. I was going to come back for the lysine and another bag of cat food, anyhow, so I’ll get the bag that’s already paid for at the same time. The two bags I got are equivalent to four of the Kirkland brand I get at Costco, so we’ll be good for a while.
That done, I decided to swing by the hardware store. They also carry roofing supplies and materials, so I asked about clear roof panels. They don’t carry them in stock, but they do special order them. After looking at my options, I went ahead and ordered two 3’x8′ panels. They will be cut in half cross wise, and will be enough for both cat shelters, so I won’t be using the salvaged metal roof pieces that I was expecting to use. They couldn’t say exactly when the panels will come in, but will call me. At best, they might even be in by Tuesday, too.
Once home, unloaded and settled, I phoned the septic company that charges by the hour, to arrange to get the septic expeller area fixed. They won’t be able to come out for a couple of weeks, unfortunately, but the owner is going to be in the area on Monday. He will be swinging by to look at the area on Monday evening.
The good thing is, the renter’s cows are no longer here, so we can move the electric fence and chain away from the vehicle opening in the fence by the barn. It’s wide enough for heavy equipment. I should probably head out there in advance, with the extended pole pruning saw, and cut away the willow branches overhanging the expeller.
I was going to do it with the loppers, but I’m not tall enough.
So today turned out to be not at all as I expected it to be, but I don’t mind. We now have the ratchet straps and tie downs we meant to get for the truck kit anyhow. The tarp did get damaged by wind during the drive home, but it’s repairable.
More importantly, we have a cat shelter that can be used until the isolation shelter I’m building is finished. I plan to use some of the wood lath I have to reinforce the wire mesh, because I don’t trust staples, along with any other repairs it needs. Then we can move it closer to the house. Probably on the patio blocks under the kitchen window, so we can see it, though we’ll need to find somewhere else for a wood bench and the swing bench, if we put it there.. The clear plastic roof panels can be added, and any painting can be done, after it’s been moved. Once it’s in place, we can leave the door open and allow the cats and kittens to enjoy it. That way, when we have a cat that’s been spayed and needs to stay in there for two weeks, it will already be used to the shelter.
I might even be able to get some stuff out there done, while there’s still light out, since I’m not exhausted by a Costco shop.
I should probably eat something first, though! I keep forgetting to do that.
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 
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