outside cats

Ah, spring… the moats are forming!

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Today was in incredibly gorgeous day! We actually hit 10C/50F this afternoon!

So, of course, we’re now getting weather warnings for a major snowfall coming. It’s supposed to hit our area tomorrow evening, and we could get 10-20cm/4-8 inches of snow.

I’m still waiting on a blizzard to hit around our anniversary in the beginning of April.

Why?

Because it’s spring in Canada, that’s why! 😄

Meanwhile, the thermometer in the sun room was reading about 23C/73F, which was wonderful for the new babies.

Brussel is such a good mama!

I didn’t get a chance to sneak a pet today, though. Gotta work on that!

Of course, with things melting all over the place, the moat around the garage has started to form. Only the remaining deeper snow and packed ice is keeping it it in check. The path I use to reach the litter pellet compost behind the outhouse is getting pretty deep with water. I’m going to have to dig out my rubber boots at this rate!

The usual low spots are also filling, including the moat that completely encircles the storage house. The gap the cats use to get under it is a big puddle. I’m still seeing cats go under there, which is a bit of a surprise, since the entire “basement” space gets pretty full of water, too.

I did find water in an unexpected place, though.

Inside the catio.

It is likely because I piled snow around three sides to act as insulation. Between that and the area being a bit lower, what has been little more than a puddle this morning has become quite a pool by late afternoon!

I took out the two box nests and the big bowl that used to be a heated water bowl that I used as a kibble bowl. Somehow, water actually got inside the bowl itself! The opening where the power cord used to run through allowed water to get inside, so I ended up setting it on the catio roof in such a way that it will hopefully drain.

The insulated box nest was still partially frozen to the ground, so it took a bit to get that loose. The uninsulated one was resting on top of a couple of pieces of rigid insulation, so it was easy to lift – except for the edge of the blanket inside that had slipped out and was frozen to the ground! Once the box was removed, I hung the blanket over the edge of the catio roof to drip and dry, making sure to weight it down, so it wouldn’t blow away.

In the second picture of the above slide show, you can see where I set up the box nests. Their bottoms were damp on the inside, but these have no “right side up”, so I just flipped them damp side up and set them under the shrine next to a kibble bowl.

There was another kibble bowl under there, but it disappeared a few days ago. I have yet to find it! I assume it got dragged off by a raccoon, maybe?

Magda immediately showed her appreciation for a new surface to stand on. 😁

With the bottom of the catio flooded, she still found a way to enjoy it. She used the brick I have in the doorway, to make sure it doesn’t close all the way by accident, as a dry surface to jump up onto one of the floating shelves inside the catio. From there, she could jump across to the other shelf, where she obligingly posed for a photo. The door was tied off again by the time, so I was sticking my phone through to take a picture, being VERY careful to not drop it into the water below!!

With the protective plastic around the side, plus the clear roof, it’s quite warm inside that catio during the day. Not as warm as the sun room, of course, but still a very noticeable difference.

I’m really glad we were able to give the catio a paint job before putting the roof on. That will protect the wood from the water at least a little bit. The original frame was painted, but the wood lathe I added in places could possible get water damage, since the water would be able to seep between the old and new wood on the bottom. We won’t be able to check for damage for probably a few more weeks, though.

In other things, my younger daughter and I went into town today. We had to go to the pharmacy for her to pick up a prescription, plus a couple other things. I was able to cash in a digital lotto ticket and my win not only paid for her purchases, but lunch and a quick stop at the grocery store to get drinks for the ride home, too – and I still have a bit of cash left over. It’s always nice to win more than just a couple of bucks, or a free play – though I won a couple of bucks and a free play, too! 😄

I also made sure to stop at the post office on the way out, as it closed at noon today. The seed packets from my Vesey’s order came in today, so as soon we were back at home and things were put away and settled, I headed down to the dungeon… er… basement, to start some of them.

Which will be the topic of my next post!

The Re-Farmer

Two

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Brussel had a second kitten some time during the night.

There’s always a lot of commotion in the mornings, when I first come out with the kibble. Brussel ran outside, and she ate while she was in the yard. That gave me a chance to check on her baby, and when I discovered a sibling.

She still wasn’t back when I finished my rounds – and I kept having to chase Syndol out, because he wanted to see what those squeaky little worms were! I saw she was just outside the sun room door, so I hung out in the old kitchen, out of her sight, until she was back with her babies. Then I used the bamboo back scratcher again, to deliver a chunk of paté into the cat cave in front of her.

She growled at me, the whole time.

I’d taken out her food/water bowl during the night, so no skunks or racoons would try to get into the cage. It was empty by morning, and the water was filthy. How do racoons get water in even such a small bowl to filthy?? Anyhow, it got cleaned out and refilled, so she has her own food and water bowl inside the cat cage, too. Once she got the wet cat food, though, I closed up the cage for about half an hour, to give her uninterrupted time to enjoy her treat.

So it looks like she has a black and white, along with the calico-tabby.

She is a very good mama.

The Cat Lady is already talking about making an appointment for her in 10 weeks to be spayed. Our job is to get her socialized enough that we can take her in!

The Re-Farmer

New baby update

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While I was out today, my daughters kept an eye on Brussel and her baby.

The first good news is that Mama has accepted the gift of a cat cave, and moved her baby into it.

The other good news is, there apparently is just one kitten. Not the four or five we usually see!

Unless there are more babies hiding under the fluff, somewhere!

Interestingly, the kitten seems to be a calico around its head and shoulders, but has tabby markings on its back!

While out today, I looked for a telescoping spoon, or something that would allow us to reach her from a distance. I could only find a telescoping camp fork, and that wouldn’t work. I did get some wet cat food in small packets, just for Brussel. After everything was unloaded, I fed the outside cats early, then used a bamboo back scratcher we weren’t using to hold the cat food and give it to her. She was growling every time I was in front of the cat cage and, of course, while I was passing the wet cat food over to her (she still had plenty of dry kibble and water in the cat cage with her). I ended up dropping the chunk of paté right in front of her.

Then I put the back scratcher in the old kitchen, turned around, and there was Gouda, in the cat cage, head in the cat cave, going for Brussel’s wet cat food!

I got him out, but then Magda jumped in, too.

I got her out, then closed up the door on the cat cage. I’ve got a time going right now, to go and open it up again so she can answer the call of nature. There isn’t room for a litter box in there, right now.

I will likely close her up in there again for the night, though, and open it in the morning, to make sure no skunks or racoons go in to steal her food. Either that, or take her food bowl right out for the night. That would probably be better. Otherwise, the racoons will try and break into the cat cage to get at it.

The live feed on the critter cam is going to be heavily used for the next while!

The Re-Farmer

First babies

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I got quite a surprise while feeding the outside cats this morning!

I’d done the food and was just about to go do the rest of my rounds when I heard a strange noise.

I tiny little squeak.

Being half way out the door, I at first thought I was hearing it from outside. It took some looking around, but I finally found the source.

It was coming from the cat cage under the platform.

Where Brussel was scrunched into a corner.

Giving birth.

After watching for a bit to make sure she was okay, I quickly finished my rounds, then checked on her again. I didn’t think she was done, but it was hard to tell. I could see one little calico squirming around, but Brussel is so fluffy, there could easily have been more hidden in there.

What I ended up doing was pulling the entire cage away from the window wall, where it would be colder. I grabbed a cat cave from inside and, after straightening out the blanket bed in the cut next to Brussel, I squeezed it in, using the handle of a broom stick to shove it into place. I’m hoping Brussel will move her kittens into there.

I also got a two sided bowl and set it up for her with food and water. I also changed the angle of the second heat lamp with the warmer bulb to face more into the cage.

She growled at me, the whole time.

I’ve let the Cat Lady know already. We have never been able to get close to Brussel, though her sister, Sprout, is even more feral than she is. But she chose to have her kittens in the sun room, which is a total shock. Given how insanely early in the year it is for having kittens, it was probably the warmest place she could find. Since she is in the cat cage, if we could get a litter pan in there somehow, we could close it up, too. That would keep the other cats – and racoons and skunks – out.

I have the critter cam set facing the cat cage and the live feed up right now. With the cage pulled further from the wall, I can see into it more, but the heat lamp’s shield blocks my view of the corner she is in. I did, however, catch another cat going in to check things out, and was able to use the camera to tell it to leave, which it did.

Hopefully, this will mean we can finally socialize Brussel, and be able to socialize her kittens, too, and get her fixed.

Meanwhile, I need to head out soon to run errands. The family can keep an eye on her while I am gone. My biggest concern is that she will move them out of the sun room completely, which would probably kill the kittens. I know, I know. We don’t need more kittens, but after last year, finding so many dead and dying kittens, day after day, I really don’t want that to happen again this year.

Whatever happens, happens. We’ll deal with things as they come – but I can still try to set things up to hopefully have a happy result!

The Re-Farmer

Faces

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We have a lovely warm day today! As I write this, we have reached -3C/27F, and are expecting a high of -1C/30F. I was just outside, and was finding it too warm for my toque and jacket! We’re talking t-shirt weather for this time of year!

Not a lot happening today, but I have a couple of adorable faces to share with you. The first is what I woke up to, this morning.

Butterscotch was in the “cat bowl” right next to me!

She looks like such a kitten. Can you believe she is at least 11 years old? Probably more.

For my morning rounds, I was able to give the outside cats their version of “cat soup”, since it was going to be so warm today. By the time I was ready to go back inside, I was seeing a lot of contented cats all over the place. Including several in the isolation shelter. I opened one of the windows so I could get a picture without reflections or dirt in the way, and that really got their attention.

Especially this guy!

Oh, wait. I think this one is the female. There are two tabbies with a bit of white that look very much alike. I was just petting the male a little while ago, and he has a different pattern in the white patch over his nose, which means this one has to be the female.

Unless there’s a third similar looking tabby running around, which is possible!

Gotta work on socializing this one, so we can easily get her into a carrier to get fixed! Still waiting on word from the rescue about getting 3 cats done soon.

Little by little, they’re getting done!

The Re-Farmer

Weather whiplash, hits again!

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Yesterday, the first day of spring, was a gorgeous day!

We reached a high of 5-6C/41-43F, and it was awesome. While I was at my mothers, the truck cab warmed up so much in the sun, I almost turned the air conditioning on to cool it down. The thermometer in the sun room was reading 16C/61F and was feeling positively hot!

I took advantage of it to get some stuff done outside in preparation for today. The forecast high is supposed to be -11C/12F This is what it was like this morning, as I was getting ready to head outside for my morning rounds.

I actually waited until a bit later for things to warm up, too. The -17C/1F is bad enough, but that -27C/-17F windchill… Yikes!

One of the things I did yesterday was to finally replace the heat lamp in the isolation shelter. I had the 200w ceramic heat bulb in the new fixture, but decided to put the 250w incandescent heat bulb in, instead. Partially in anticipation of the temperatures dropping so much overnight, but also because I’ve found the light it gives off is handy. When I look out the kitchen window, it illuminates the area around it fairly well.

The kitties seem to like it.

This light fixture has the guard around the bulb, too, so less chance of a cat burning themselves on the bulb!

I had to do quite a bit inside the isolation shelter. The cat bed had been knocked down to the lower level, where the litter box had already been knocked about, spilling most of the litter all over. My guess is, racoons. Thankfully, we’re using stove pellets for litter, not clay, so it will be easier to clean up in the spring. We still have the box over the opening on the bottom to keep the wind and snow from getting into the lower level. That had to be moved to access things.

Once I have some, I need to put handles on that thing.

I replaced the litter box with a new one with fresh litter pellets. It does seem like the cats have actually started to use it as intended, though with it being knocked over, it’s hard to tell for sure. When we had cats isolated in there, they were using everything BUT the litter box!

The hammock has been a bit of an issue, in that two corners are always getting pushed off the hooks holding them. Sometimes, a third corner gets pushed off somehow, too, and how that one happens perplexes me. I ended up tying some paracord across the two hooks that get pushed off all the time. Hopefully, it will be enough to keep it from happening, as the cats use the ramp to go between levels.

The heat lamp hides it in the photo, but there is a spot in the insulation on the wall next to the sliding window that has a hole scratched into it. The cats really like to use that insulation to scratch at! Even more than the actual scratch pad I made out of rope on the ramp for them to use. I did expect this top happen, but not in that spot! 😄 When the snow is gone and things are dry, we’ll move the isolation shelter away from the house and give it a thorough cleaning. That would be a good time to replace any of the rigid insulation that is damaged. The insulation “ceiling” will simply be taken off until next winter, though one piece will need to be replaced. They really managed to chew it up! You can see some of the damage above Ink’s head.

It won’t be much longer before we can stop using the heat lamps entirely.

I’m so glad we got this thing built, and the cats are making full use of it!

On the down side, today is turning into a laundry day for all of us. Yes, we’re still running the hose out the door to drain the washing machine. We still haven’t been able to use the new pipe brush to try and clear out that drain. I keep waiting until we don’t need to use the kitchen sink for a while, so we don’t get splashed when opening the coupling access, but that just doesn’t seem to be happening! So every now and then, between cycles, I pop outside and make sure the hose is fully drains, so it doesn’t freeze closed again.

We have another problem, though.

The drier isn’t drying.

We thought it was because the vent outside was too clogged, but once it was clear, it didn’t make much difference. So I though the duct might have been clogged and we checked it before starting our first load in the drier. It’s completely clear. The lint trap’s space is clear, too.

We’ll see how it works today, but it’s starting to look like we need a new drier. We already had to replace the washing machine since moving here. I don’t know how old this drier is, but it definitely has a lot of years on it.

Yes, we do have a clothes line outside, which would be handy but, with how cold it is today, it would take forever for anything to dry, and we have a lot of bedding to wash today. It’s a long line, but not that long! Originally, it was set up with three clothes lines, but there’s only one, and I had to replace that one a few years back. I do want to set up two more lines again, but we need to buy all the hardware for it, first.

Technically, we also have clothes lines rigged up in the basements, but we’d have the same problem of it taking forever to dry, though I suppose we could set up a blower fan or two. The basements are dank and dusty, though, so we’d be hanging things outside before we used the basements!

*sigh*

Well, so far, we’ve replaced the washing machine, stove, range hood, and the hot water tank (three times). I expect we’ll be needing to replace the fridge in the not too distant future, too. That and the drier are the only original appliances left.

Well, that’s part of the deal we have for living here, in place of paying rent. We take care of the place, maintain it and improve it, as we are able. That includes replacing appliances, when the time comes.

Still, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. One of the troubleshooting solutions for what our drier is doing is to simply unplug it for 10-15 minutes. This could reset the heating elements. We unplugged it when we moved it out to check the vent. We’ll know if it worked once the first load that’s in there right now is done.

Here’s hoping!

The Re-Farmer

Morning watchers!

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I was finishing up my morning rounds and coming back to the house, when I realized I was being watched.

By many, many eyes!

I couldn’t get them all in one photo! There’s so much reflection on the windows, the camera doesn’t “see” inside very well. I tried counting and there were at least 13 in there at the time.

Today is apparently not going to be as warm as predicted – just an expected high of 0C/32F instead of the 2C/36F predicted, earlier. It’s still warm enough to set the hose through the storm door window for laundry day.

Yeah. We’re still doing that.

Tomorrow was also supposed to be 2C/36F, but now they’re saying a high of -5C/23F tomorrow, and 3C/37F the day after.

At this point, I’m just happy that high winds have passed.

Of course, the temperatures had got me thinking of the garden again… but then, the garden is never really far from my mind.

I did end up making another seed order today. I’ll explain that in a separate post! Meanwhile, I got a email notification that my MI Gardener order has been shipped. I look forward to seeing those! The girls are particularly interested in the Turkish Orange eggplant, which we will need to start indoors around the end of March.

I’m really itching for the snow to be gone. I really want to see how the winter sowing experiment has turned out!

The Re-Farmer

Getting chilly again

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As much as I appreciate that we are slowly warming up and getting some really nice days, the weather whiplash of spring seems almost like an insult. 😄

With things warm enough to be melting all over, today’s high of -7C/19F (which we are already at) with a wind chill of -21C/-6F feels so much colder. A few weeks ago, these temperatures felt like spring!

While doing my morning rounds today, little Magda decided to follow me around. She kept getting under my feet, so I picked her up. She doesn’t like to be carried and ended up on my shoulders – which she didn’t like, either! – but she was cold and shivering, and actually allowed me to tuck her into my jacket.

For a little while, at least.

There’s a weather system blowing from West to East, almost straight across the country, bringing snow and high winds. The snow is supposed to start hitting us withing the next half hour or so, and continue for several hours. Tonight’s low is supposed to drop to -22C/-8F, which means the winds will probably make it feel colder than -30C/-22F

This see-sawing of temperatures means our usual explosion of pot holes on the roads over the next few weeks! While we’re just getting a bit of snow today, it’s not unusual to have at least one big blizzard in March or April.

Tomorrow, we’re supposed to have a high of -7C/19F again, with a warmer overnight low. I’ll be helping my mother with grocery shopping tomorrow, then do some of our own errands as well. After that, we’ll be getting a few days above freezing, then dropping down again, for more weather whiplash!

Winter and spring will be battling out for a few more weeks, yet!

The Re-Farmer

A day of rest

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I’m happy to say that today has been a quiet, uneventful day!

I’ve learned to really appreciate boring days. 😄

I was even able to sleep in… sort of. The girls took care of the outside stuff for me, as well as taking care of the inside cats. This includes kicking all the cats out of my room except for Butterscotch and Freya, so they have have their extra feeding of wet cat food, and Butterscotch would get a chance to use the litter. I’m happy to say that she is starting to use more of the room, instead of just the quarter or so of it that she was isolating herself into, but there is still the problem of the young cats going after her when she tries to use the litter.

You’d think that would make it easier to sleep in, but after the other cats are done with breakfast, they want back in, and start scratching at the door.

Loudly.

Today was warm enough that, when it was time to do the evening feeding outside, I made their own version of cat soup by softening their kibble in hot water for a while. They absolutely loved it!

It’ll be nice, when the highs stay above freezing, and we can do this for them more often.

Yeah, feeding the cats was my big event for the day. 😄

It’s good to have a day of rest!

The Re-Farmer

Cats, cats and more cats!

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I got to spend some extra time with the outside cats this morning. We had a chilly night, and it was still pretty cold, but they didn’t seem to notice! It’s going to be a decent day today, and then just keep warming up, so they’re going to be all over the place!

While putting kibble out in the sun room, I got accosted by a tuxedo, who wanted all sorts of pets.

We have a few tuxedos, but I haven’t seen most of them for a while. I’m actually not sure if this is one of our regulars that has come back from exploring, or if this is a new cat. It cats hard to keep track when they come and go so much.

I’m thrilled to have caught him in a tongue blehp, though.

He was incredibly friendly, though, and eager for both food and attention. So he’s probably one of ours that has returned. I suspect that if he were a dump, he would have been more skittish. He could be visiting from another farm, too.

Once outside, there was a crowd of cats on the cat house roof, waiting for kibble, so I went over and got an absolute thrill.

Adam came to me, wanting pets!

I was able to get some video.

The tabby in front was named by the girls because he apparently always goes for their toes. He nips when he wants attention. He’s not the only one that does that!

Before I got my camera out, not only was I able to pet Adam, but I was able to give her full on, two handed, face and neck scritches. She looked like she was in heaven! This is so awesome! We have been trying to socialize her for 3 years, with virtually zero success. No, suddenly, she has decided she likes us. 😄

She is one of the cats that went into heat early, but she doesn’t seem to be pregnant. Given how long it’s been, I would have expected her to start showing by now. There’s no real way to know right now, though. However, now that she had decided to let us actually pet her, we should be able to get her into a carrier, rather than having to trap her, and get her spayed. Hopefully, the rescue would be able to arrange something, soon. It’s getting warm enough that I would be willing to try trapping cats soon. It’s those overnight temperatures we have to keep an eye on, since we have no way to monitor a trap.

As I was finishing up my rounds and passing by the isolation shelter, I had a whole crowd of faces, watching me!

There are eight in this photo, including one mostly hidden by the lamp. There were at least two others out of frame, too.

Once inside the sun room, I was greeted by this fluffy boy.

He looks so angry! 😄 He was actually being very friendly and wanting attention.

Just like this little girl, who followed me from the isolation shelter.

Magda is one of the cats that is just too smol. She’s almost a year old, but looks like she’s just a few months old. There are several littles like her, but she is the only friendly one – and even she has her making strange moments, still. She would be an easy one to catch for spay and adoption through the rescue, but I’d be afraid to do it. With her small size, that tells me she’s probably going to need extra medical care. Whenever that happens, it seems they end up keeping the cats permanently, and they already have so many unadoptable cats right now!

I tried to do a head count this morning, and I think I counted a total of 30. It’s hard to know for sure if I got them all, or if I double counted some.

So many of them would make such great indoor cats, if we could find people to adopt them!

The Re-Farmer