Initially, when I started this project, I suspected that I might lose one of my under-the-house kitties. I certainly did not expect to lose four in six months! First to succumb: Chessa, she could not handle the stress of people crawling under the house, shoveling out loads of dirt and changing the place she felt the most safe in. The vet told me that her immune system had tanked and the kindest thing to do was to send her to the Bridge. Bron was the next one that I lost. Someone, or something terrified him enough that I found him on the highway in the morning as I was going to town.

Then I found Mystic back behind the barn, with no clue how she died or where her leg ended up? And then yesterday, losing Link. All of this happening before they even finished insulating the underfloors. The house hasn’t been sealed up (yet) underneath, I just pray that the remaining cats will remain steady and not freak out, once their safe place vanishes.

We had just eliminated our vet debt and now it is peaking at about $800.00 Those cats were worth so much more even though they were not house kitties or pets. But they were a constant presence in the yard and under the house and now their world is going to be rocked to the core. The plan is to try and trap them before the underground work is finished and get them all inside the main enclosure. That’s the plan, but when feral cats get spooked or scared, there is no telling how they will react. All I can do is hope it all goes according to plan-