Monday, November 2, 2009

It may not be the Ritz, but.....

....it's a vast improvement! I am talking about the garage makeover I did yesterday. I have been helping a man TNR the cats that constantly show up in his yard for several months, and I decided that I HAD to redo his garage for many reasons. I have written about this situation before, but things have gotten a bit crazier lately. The dear man, Don, who feeds the cats is blind and his wife, Jean, is confined to a wheelchair. They can barely pay for their own food and personal needs and yet still worry about the neverending stream of kitties that end up at their house and do their best to feed and care for them. About 6 weeks ago, Don had to have gall bladder surgery and called on me to feed the cats while he recovered. During this time, I discovered that his neighbor was starting to trap the cats again to have them euthanized. This happened a few months ago and I desperately tried to change their minds to no avail. They hate the cats...period. And sadly, the cats love to hang out under their shed and in their backyard. So, this time, the best I could do was sneak into their driveway and release any cats that were in his trap. Trespassing is certainly not my normal behavior, but there was no way I could see that happening and not do something about it. Unfortunately, since I couldn't be there 24/7, he was able to get 2 young kitties. It still makes me so sad to know that they are gone. They weren't doing anything wrong and we had TNRed them. To make matters worse, the aggravating, irresponsible neighbor on the OTHER side will not let us get his female cat spayed for him, so he has kittens on his front porch that I KNOW will end up in Don's yard eventually. The whole situation is ridiculous, one neighbor producing homeless cats, one man trying to feed them and get them TNRed and one neighbor carting them away to be euthanized. It makes me want to pull my hair out to say the least. It is SO frustrating when you try to educate people on the humane course of action AND offer to do all the work and pay for it, and they STILL won't do the right thing. Sigh....

Well, my next thought was to TRY to entice the cats to stay in Don's garage instead of under the neighbor's shed. So, yesterday, I took the plunge and cleaned out all of the junk in there and filled it with straw. That garage was a smelly, dirty, moldy, nasty, spider filled MESS! It felt SO good to remove years of ICK out of there! I created a nice, clean feeding station and put mounds straw on tables and shelves and all over the ground....so many nice, warm places for the kitties to make nests and stay dry and cozy this winter. I hope, hope, hope they will set up camp there now! Keep your paws crossed that they do!

OH, and as I was cleaning, a calico cat (that won't get in out traps) sat in the back of the garage nursing her 4 precious kittens!!! I had a feeling that there were some in there, but hadn't seen them until yesterday. I wish I could rescue them, but Carrie's Catnap Inn is at full capacity, so they will have to stay there for now.

7 cats eating on the front porch...

Don's garage...


All the junk! The "before" photo...and this was after i had taken a lot of stuff out!

The new feeding station...

The "after" shots of the garage turned cat barn!



3 of the kittens exploring their new bedding...

5 comments:

GraceBeading said...

This is so VERY cool! It turned out great, looks like a warm and comfy place to stay... in comparison anyway. Great job!

The Creek Cats said...

Carrie, you're amazing! You turned that nasty garage into kitty heaven! What kitty wouldn't love to snuggle up in all that straw this winter! Keeping our paws crossed that the kitties keep in the garage and not on that mean old man's property!
We are currently dealing with people like that, too and it is so frustrating because there is just no getting through to them. Plain and simple, they just don't care, they don't seem to have a heart at all.

Keep up the wonderful work!! When you are done in KY we could certainly use you in NC!!

Jill said...

I just don't understand some people. The poor cats aren't hurting anything & why on earth doesn't that guy want his female spayed FREE of charge??? Unbelievable. Thank goodness you are there to help! The kitty barn is wonderful & I really hope the cats stay there & out of Scrooge's yard! xoxo ~ Jill

Ginny Diezel said...

Beautiful story, Carrie! I think that people who feel that way about cats probably don't like human beings either. Sad, but true. You are an angel on earth! Smooches! G.

Lisa Brawner said...

the shed looks great. I have my old shed set up for tray kitties. I keep some catnip out all the time. I replace it about every 2 to 3 days and also grow some on the outside of shed. It will live till snow gets here pretty much..