Last night coming home from town, on the road two houses before my house, I saw “Mama” and two of her kittens on the road! Now they are resting in peace in the forest behind my home. It has been raining fairly hard and digging in the dirt right now would not work.
I feel like I failed her. I tried everything I could do-all my tricks, but while I was trying all these tricks I had no idea she was pregnant.
Now there’s a new challenge in town. Well, actually not in town. But back by my creek. There is a mom she’s black-and-white long-haired very skinny. I can only see her through my binoculars. She will not let me get close to her. Even though her kittens look to be 6-7 weeks old, she’s still in high protection mode.
Now I am taxed with trying to figure out how I’m going to build something for them to keep them out of the weather. They are not even approaching the house or the barn. Whatever I build would have to be put into the orchard so they would also have the added protection of the bushes and the trees. I have a deal with a local lumberyard where they give me scrap lumber for coin. The guys love cats. But I don’t have any money at all right now. I need baby kitten, food, both canned and dry. Both for the kittens and the mom. I need cat milk for mom. And I need to build a structure that will have to blend in, so that idiot with an itchy trigger finger won’t notice them. I so want to call him more than an idiot!
On a better note , as of Friday, my vet is completely paid off. I thank those of you who helped me in that endeavor. I never thought I would see the day. It’s such a relief, but it also left me with very little reserve for the month. I certainly wasn’t expecting a mama cat with seven babies to show up on my property .
As a disclaimer, even though my donation button has verbiage that says I am nonprofit, as soon as I can figure out how to remove that verbiage I will.. But I am (as of the end of October) no longer an active nonprofit. That does not mean that I can suddenly ignore this new family, who is in danger from all sorts of human as well as animal predators. They also are in danger of not making it through a very bad winter. So if you can help, please do. Also understand that even five dollars can help st this point.
His work still continues-and now, so will I. Trusting that He will provide the way forward.
Although this might look like two desks stacked together, The top portion is actually the start of the new mama and her kittens comfort station for winter time. The plan is to get a pallet. Cut the pallet down to size. Put in the floor, the walls, and two escape hatches. One wall will be on hinges, so that I can swing it open if need be. It will then be covered with a tarp. A good Samaritan helped me figure out how to get the roof slanted. This is all stuff that Michael could do in a heartbeat. So I was grateful for this gentleman. I had to make it small, to make it any larger would call attention to it. This is the farthest I can go with it for now. The walls will also be insulated.
I know what you mean about thinking you failed the mother-cat. But you didn’t. I’ve been my tricks with a couple of outsider-cats, and sometimes you just won’t succeed in doing what you want. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed anyone.
Would catnip or planting catnip help? I know winter’s around the corner but when it’s possible.
This summer, I planted six catnip plants. Didn’t work out very well. The next morning when I got up three of them were gone. Just torn out of the dirt. I put the remaining three inside a small cage. Which drove the cats crazy. Once they were mature enough, I took them out planted them by the barn- The next morning I checked and they were destroyed. LOL Highly entertaining for the kitties.but a bit frustrating for me.
I have all the supplies I need to build this shelter. We had hard slamming rain last night. We are going to have the same thing today however they are predicting high winds as well. I am shooting for Tuesday when it’s supposed to be clear to start building this. I do use catnip inside traps, but I am very careful about how much I put in there. Catnip can make some cats almost maniacal. Not a good thing for a trapped kitty to get a cat amped up to that level.