Tried chickens, now cats
 

Many of you may remember the various mishaps we experienced with trying to look after 4 chickens :(

The kids and I have ALWAYS wanted a cat. In NZ it seems it is almost compulsory for each house to have a least one possibly more, so we felt very left out not having one. {I've never seen houses with cat flaps built into the house wall until we came here !!}.

After visiting friends on Friday night, Rob found that their cats are "outdoor cats". They have their own house in the garden and sleep out there. Aparently this is very common in NZ. Now out door cats Rob felt he could cope with. It would also be an ideal way to utilize the now empty chicken coop he so beauitfully made.

So yesterday we headed off to the SPCA and got the 2 most beautiful felines ever. Temara, a tri coloured 8 month old female and Sid a black and white 18 month old male.

They have settled wonderfully, however, the idea of the chicken coop is on hold as we realised they could have escaped from the sliding door. So last night they bedded down in the laundry room. On "cushion/blanket beds" I made for them last night.

We will follow the advice of the SPCA and keep them indoors for 2 weeks, they should be going into the chicken coop over night from tomorrow and then into our house during the day. Hopefully by 2 weeks time they will have settle with us and we can let them come and go into their house and ourhouse as they please.

May need some advice from all you cat owners as the days go by. They have both been desexed and we have an array of toys and a scratch pole. We are feeding them the same brand as the SPCA and giving them lots of love :)

Gill and Rob

Re: Tried chickens, now cats
 

Kitties have settled very well. Much easier to look after than bloody chickens !! Although Sid has tippped over the bin scavenging for food {Honestly Guv we have fed them !!!}. He was originally a stray that used to run into other cats' homes and steal their food. May take a little while to reassure him, we'll feed him everyday, twice a day

I have however lost my laundry basket, as this is now Sid's new bed.
Chicken coop hasn't been sorted yet, so they are both still living in the house sleeping in the laundry.

Caught Rob "nursing" Temara !!!! His explaination was he was adding an extra 5 minutes on to his life, as pet owners live longer, yeah right, soft lad !!!

Gill

Re: Tried chickens, now cats
 

ah enjoy your new babies :) If you want them to stay in your laundry room overnight then let them, if your happy and they are happy. Dont feel obliged to do what everyone else does in making them stay outside overnight. Whats good for some owners isnt good for all.

Re: Tried chickens, now cats
 

Well that was the condition that Rob said we could have them, that they sort of lived outside. However they have settled really well into the routine of sleeping in there. We have not reminded Rob of the need to have the chicken coop door being made cat proof :)

Gill

Re: Tried chickens, now cats
 

We 'inherited' a cat when we bought our house. The vendors hadn't bought and couldn't take him with them so asked if we'd look after him. He's lovely - a grey/black/white Garfield :D He's in all the time - actually he climbs up on the roof and just comes through the window :rolleyes: Now, we're afraid that they'll want him back when they find somewhere although they had said that the house belongs to the cat and not the other way around. We also were left a couple of Rhode Island Red hens that are giving us two eggs every day. I don't bother locking them in at night - they go in and out as they please and since there's no foxes here, there's not much harm that can come to them. If they do come back and want to take everything we're going to get more (hope they don't take the cat though - I really like him).

Oh, Gill, one thing hubby taught me - if you blink very slowly (almost close your eyes) at the cat he'll know you want to be friends. And will probably start to blink back at you too :)