The Four-Legged Residents in my Garden

 

Last week I mentioned a raccoon who came in our garden to eat the cat food and I promised to tell you why the cat food was outside (and by the way, I'm taking the food in for the night to discourage the raccoon and other wildlife). This is a bit of a lengthy post.

For reasons unbeknownst to me, cats have always come to me. This started while I was still a student at university and a cat turned up on my doorstep. I usually gave them water and if they wanted to hang out and curl up somewhere I let them. However, I never tried to make them my "own" (can you even do that with cats?), it was always their choice. One cat stayed with me for several years until she died. Her "real" family lived just across the street and was aware of it, but thankfully never had a problem with it (they had four boys and I suspect that was a bit too much energy for the cat). Since my husband is severly allergic, I have never had a cat inside our home since we were married.

The current situation began in the fall of 2018 when Kibeau - the orange-white cat in the photo above - started to show up first in my front garden, then on the fence and finally in the garden behind the house. He would just soak up the sun and when it got too hot, roll up in the shade and sleep for hours. In the evening he would walk home and turn up again sometime during the following morning.

However, he wasn't alone. Otis - top photo -, turned up as well. He has been in my garden on and off since we moved in this house in 2012, but now he decided to spend most of his days here. I did know where they belonged to, but I hadn't met Kibeau's owner yet since they had just moved here.

That changed a few months later. 

I noticed that Kibeau did go home in the evening, but returned a short time later. He did spend the night in my garden. This happened again the following night. A neighbor told me that R, his owner, did go on vacation for a few days, but had hired a catsitter who was supposed to feed the cats. (R has several cats and a dog). That night, Kibeau wouldn't go home at all, but hang out on one of our patio chairs. When we went to bed he suddenly stood in front of our window, meowing. Our bedroom is on the second floor! He had to climb first onto the garage and from there on the lower roof in order to get to our bedroom window. We tried to ignore him, but when we got up the next morning at 6:00 we heard a loud "meow" right next to us. He was still sitting at the window!

I usually don't feed other people's cats, but now was the time to break this rule. I got dressed, hopped in the car and went to Safeway to get some catfood. And there I was , standing in front of the pet food shelf at 6:20 in the morning and trying to decide which of the 3.5 pound bags of kibble would be the right one. Maybe he was allergic to something? Maybe he had special food issues? I had no idea. So I decided to buy a bag of food for "sensitive stomach", hoping that this wouldn't do any damage.

Thankfully it didn't. And there was a very hungry cat that finally was a happy cat.

As soon as R was back, I talked to her and stopped feeding Kibeau. The only thing available to him was water - which, by the way, is my ticket to the T gang which gets together every Tuesday with Elizabeth, showing their drinks. I'm showing the cats' drink.

Several months later, R was gone again. Kibeau went home to eat, but came back to sleep. I was a bit worried because nights were cold, so I put out a box with a blanket inside and one wrapped outside. Kibeau loved it.

Even after R had come back, Kibeau wouldn't go home in the evening. For some weeks I actually walked him home almost every evening because R thought that he showed signs of feline dementia and couldn't find his way home. Then he walked home on his own again for some time.

And then he stopped walking home altogether. Even if I accompanied him home, he would turn up again a short time later. He simply would not go home. Both R and I were worried because he lost weight and R finally asked me if I would mind feeding him if she gave me some food. Of course I didn't. Since then I have been feeding Kibeau, but because of my husband's allergy he cannot come into the house.

I mentioned the other cat, Otis.

Well, if you feed one cat, other cats will come as well. Since Otis already had spent a lot of his time in my garden, the bowl of food for Kibeau didn't get unnoticed. However, Otis doesn't eat that much; I suspect his true pleasure is to eat from Kibeau's bowl, even though by now he has his own bowl. Otis has decided that he doesn't want to go home anymore either. Thankfully, his owner B totally understands cats and knows that outdoor cats often choose their location. She still picks him up every now and then, but he usually is back the following day.

If you look hard, you can see three cats in this photo. This is what I sometimes see in the morning.

There is Kibeau right at the sliding door, Otis under the table and on the table is King Louie, who is from another home (kitty corner from us) who eats himself through the neighborhood. He is big and fat; he looks fierce, but he is the most docile cat I ever met. However, when I happen to see him coming I take the food bowls away because he is simply too fat.

Winter came. I was hoping the cats would go home when it got cold, that it was just too uncomfortable for them to sleep outside.

Little did I know. They stayed.

I remembered the box, found a second box and set up a two-bedroom "condo" under the table to protect them from rain. While the two cats don't love each other, most of the time they tolerate each other and peacefully sleep next to each other.

But then temperatures dropped into the 20's and I worried again. By now I knew they wouldn't go home, but I also thought that sleeping outside when it is freezing is not healthy. So out came more blankets and they got their own cave.

During the day the cave is opened up and the blankets are a welcome spot to hang out.

Sometimes though, Kibeau prefers to sleep on the chair - maybe he really has feline dementia! He loves when I wrap him in blankets and purrs loudly - he usually is not a purrer.

.By now you surely think I'm a crazy cat lady. 

I honestly hope I am not.

I apologize for this lengthy post. Please bear with me for another minute or two.

Perhaps you are feeling helpless about the war in Ukraine. I know that I do. Yes, we can donate to organizations that hopefully bring some relief and much needed help - and we did do that. But thanks to Lorrie I discovered a way to help individual families in Ukraine - Etsy shops by Ukrainian sellers. While they cannot ship physical items, many shops offer digital items that you can download. It is no extra work for them - the selling of digital items is automated - but the sellers can earn some money that they need for themselves and their families. I simple put "Ukraine sellers" in the search bar. You can find patterns for knitting, crochet or cross stitching; prints of paintings; recipes and even Lightroom presets. Among others, I got these two beautiful prints:

Natalia

Viktoria

It is only a small way to help, but it is much better than nothing. Most of the sellers respond with a short personal message and they are grateful for any kind of support.