I have a question. Hub trapped this morning two roughly 8 week old kittens. They have (had) a mama but we haven’t seen her in several days. They are beyond feral and since my hub got bitten this morning, we’re keeping them in quarantine for the next 10 days. After that, I think they’ll be much happier spayed/neutered and returned to the barn. My question is: are they too young to be fending for themselves? They would have shelter, food and water but they’re so small!
Melodi left a great response to this question, but I’m posting it here so that anyone with experience with this sort of thing can jump in!
Two things…First, what kind of heated pet bed do you use outside in the cat house? We have spayed farm cats that I would like to get those for, but am never sure which ones would be best? Second, I was Christmas shopping yesterday and I literally did a happy dance at Michael’s because I found a big bag of red, green, & white sparkle balls!! My farm cats LOVE them (we put them in a locked barn at night), but they like to carry them outside during the day (and lose them), so my supply was running low and I could only find regular balls, no sparkle and my girls gots to have the sparkle!!!
The heated pet bed in Maxi’s house is the large K&H Pet Bed Warmer. I put an old towel on top of it, which I try to take out and wash once a month or so, and between that and the heating lamp, Maxi is one happy girl.
Sparkle balls are absolutely the bomb – and holiday colors are even better! The permanent residents love to carry sparkle balls out into the back yard. It’s so odd to head out the door and see a sparkle pink ball sitting on the patio.
Do you resist the temptation to call Maxi’s little house “Maxi’s Pad”?
Before I read this comment, it never occurred to me to call it Maxi’s Pad – and now I kind of want to paint a little “Maxi’s Pad” sign and hang it above the door!
Are you ever afraid that some critter is going to trap Maxi in that outside house? I’ve considered building or buying one for my indoor/outdoor cat Barney, but I’m afraid a possum or raccoon will either take up residence or corner Barney in there for some reason (ok, it sounds slightly ridiculous when I actually type it out – maybe it’s a groundless worry?). I know you’ve had critters on your porch before – any thoughts on this stuff?
I’ve worried about that in the past, but two things set my mind at ease. First, we moved the feeding station off the front porch (where Maxi’s house is located), and that pretty much keeps the raccoons and possums off the front porch (I put the game cam outside for several nights just to be sure of that, and the only wild animal I saw was the mouse Maxi caught, yuuuuuuck). The other thing that made me not worry so much about it is that from what I could see on the game cam the times I put it on the front porch last Spring (when the feeding station was still on the front porch), the raccoons would leave if they heard Maxi coming to the porch. The possums, on the other hand, paid no attention to Maxi at all, and Maxi paid no attention to them. I think that their main interest is food, and if there’s no food near the outside house, they’re not interested in it.
Alternately, you could make (or buy) a house with a second entrance – if one entrance is blocked by a threatening animal, the cat could go out the second one.
How do your cats generally feel about the heated beds? I saw one at petsmart the other day (the wife and I often go to oggle at the kittens) for $40 but I’m going to be really sad if I end up buying one that doesn’t get used. My max really loves to crawl and burrow himself in laundry right after it comes out of the dryer though so I’m hoping it would be close to the same result.
We have several of the small K&H Bed Warmers, and the cats love them. From the time I plug them in in the Fall to the time I unplug them in the Spring, they’re pretty much constantly occupied. I have a feeling that if I left them plugged in during the Summer, they’d be used regularly then, too! I think you should take a leap of faith – and if Max isn’t interested in it, you can always return it.
Had to share this one – if this doesn’t warm your heart, you don’t have one.
Awww, what a sweet little guy!
The eighth picture looks like Purslane should be singing “Gloom, despair, and agony on me.” (from Hee Haw)
Okay, i am soo in love with Purslane. She even makes me love Miz Poo a lil more. I wonder what the Weed girls parents looked like? A black, white and tortie? And Dandelion looks kinds medium haired. Their parents must have been beautiful.
I don’t know what their father looked like, but their mother is white with one blue eye and one green (I think I’ve said a few times that she has two blue eyes, but I double-checked, and it’s one blue, one green). I bet she’s one pretty girl!
Anyone have experience with Feliway reducing stress especially in chronic cystitis? Elder-cat Mabel has kidney/bladder trouble, vet’s working on it, has mentioned Feliway. I can’t imagine a less-stressed cat, but can’t rule out the other alpha-cat contender psyching her out somewhat. Thought I’d ask before springing for either the spray or the dispenser.
I use Feliway plug-ins when we have a lot of kittens and I feel like the permanent residents are getting a bit stressed. It seems to help chill them out a little. But it does NOT seem to stop the spraying when we’re having an issue with that. Grrrr. Y’all, feel free to weigh in on this!
The chickens are molting now? That seems counterintuitive to me unless they get ‘winter coats.’ Otherwise, I would think they’d molt in the spring when it gets warmer.
It doesn’t seem to make sense, does it? I searched around on Google to see if I could find an answer, but didn’t find a lot. I did find, on the Wikipedia page for Forced Molting (which is not something we’d ever do), the process of molting allows their reproductive organs a rest. Molting, when it happens naturally, takes 1 – 4 months to complete, so if they start in November and take the whole 4 months (most of ours don’t seem to take that long), they’d be ready to start laying (and perhaps go broody) in February or so. They tend to start going broody in March and April, so the timing kind of works out!
So how do the ducks get into the water dishes with the fencing in place? I’m imagining them sitting on top and dangling their little webbed toes through the wire.
Sometimes they nudge the fencing out of the way, and sometimes they kind of perch on the fencing and look sadly at the water. God forbid they go alllll the way out to the pond where there’s as much water as they could ever hope for!
Oh dear, someone has a new rooster in our neighborhood. Wow, he makes a racket all-the-time. All day & all night, talking about himself. Really, is that normal? Any chance that hens make eggs w/o roosters around?
Yeah, it’s normal, unfortunately. Our roosters sound off at any ol’ time of the day. And yes, hens absolutely will make eggs without roosters around. There’s been at least one season of Survivor where the contestants were given a rooster and two hens, and they opted to eat one of the hens because – they thought – hens won’t lay eggs without roosters. WRONNNNNNNNNG. Had they eaten the rooster, not only would they have had two hens producing eggs, they would have had more protein in their chicken meal, since roosters tend to be larger than hens. OH, I was so irate when they did that!
So, in short: hens don’t need roosters to lay eggs; they just need roosters to fertilize the eggs. (Though I should add that roosters – at least the good ones – will protect their hens as best they can from predators.)
I think Stompers SHOULD have a calendar all to himself. (hinthint)
and
I would buy that! I would also buy an “Inspector Stompers not judging you” coffee mug! 🙂
Well, okay – let me see what I can do for you guys!
Have you seen these? A maudlin, introspective to the nth degree cat named Henri. Thought you and your readers would enjoy Henri’s misery. 🙂
I’ve seen them, but I don’t think I’ve linked to them. They are AWESOME!
Magoo and Joe Pickle in a fight to the death.
Percy Pickle needs a hug.
I love the look on Magoo’s face.
Thistle, staying out of the fray.
Magoo in profile.
Percy, trying to determine whether he can make it to the window perch from there.
“It seems a little far.”
Magoo, biting the cords to the blinds.
Polly, biting the cords. I shouldn’t let them do this but it makes them so haaaaaappy. They’re going to be saaaaad after this weekend, though. We’re going to replace the blinds with inexpensive shades, and there are no cords on the shades!
Magoo and Polly decide they’d rather bite each other.
Incoming!
“Wha happen’?”
Smilin’ Corbs, in the back yard.
And relaxing inside. I swear his back feet are as big as mine!
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Previously
2011: If you, by any chance, were ever concerned about what would happen if Harlan lost the use of his back legs – how would he get around?! – he would like to assure you that he’s got it figured out.
2010: The Reacher Creature, in the back yard.
2009: I’m pretty sure you can actually see the ear floof growing longer.
2008: No entry.
2007: “Pls do not disturb unless it is snackin’ time, thx.”
2006: Miz Poo sniffs out the situation.
2005: So we have six now, but it really seems more like ten.