It’s that time again!
Three cats for breakfast:
A comfy Poppy inside the shelter:
A couple of cats outside:
Three cats outside:
Three cats inside:
Two cats walk together out of the feeder:
Four cats:
Poppy has a very big yawn:
Poppy arrives for breakfast:
Welcome to another Caturday. Some new alien cat sightings this week!
But first, a relaxed cat inside the shelter:
Even more relaxed:
Perhaps too relaxed — almost fell off, but scrambled up:
On to the parade of aliens. Firstly, the alien gray cat (with a collar) we’ve seen before:
A new alien cat; at first glance looks like one of our ferals, but is a bit larger, and doesn’t have they ear-tip marking as a fixed feral:
A possum:
A raccoon:
The orange cat:
Speaking of, the orange cat went inside the shelter, and was followed by a possum. They had a bit of an encounter, and the orange cat chased off the possum:
Another new alien cat:
There certainly are a lot of cats in the area! We keep our two pet cats (Pippin and Paladin) indoors, for their safety, but it seems many of our neighbors don’t. Growing up in New Zealand, it was standard to have cat doors and let them go outside at will, but there are a lot more dangerous wildlife in the US. Not only the possums and raccoons, but coyotes and several others.
The outdoor ferals are a different case; they grew up outside; it is their home. But they have a much more dangerous life. I do what I can to make it more comfortable for them, by providing the heated shelter and feeder.
Anyway, enough seriousness; let’s have some cuteness. A peeking cat:
Porcini was early for breakfast:
Four cats at breakfast time (one is mostly hidden behind the others):
A cat nose from above the camera housing:
Four cats:
Mirror images:
Three cats outside. Can’t see the third? look in the field to the left of the cat house:
It’s that time of the week again!
Three cats arrive for dinner:
They often travel in groups, though can be independent too. I sometimes see one run ahead, then wait for another to catch up. Cats get a reputation for being solitary creatures, but they are really social ones, on their own terms.
Porcini waiting for breakfast, with a smile on her face:
Four cats inside, enjoying the heating pads:
A couple of cats looking out the back door (which they only use as an emergency exit):
Snuggles:
The alien orange cat arrives, with a cat peeking out the door of the shelter:
They exchange words at the entrance of the shelter, before the orange cat departs:
Hey look, more snuggles:
Pansy in the back of the shop, reaching for food:
A cat watches as a deer walks past; there were several in the field, too:
One cat eating, looking back at another cat arriving:
Me mowing the field near the cat house. No cats home at the time, unsurprisingly:
Pepper walking over floor joists of the duck house (I did leave a clear path next to it, which she usually uses):
Can we have too many snuggles? I think not:
Scratching; I did recently give the cats a flea treatment in their food, though only one or two of them ate it; it’s hard to ensure they all get a dose, so all I can do is put it out and hope it helps:
Happy Caturday. Read on for the usual cat cuteness, plus a fun GIF.
Here’s Porcini looking at the camera in the feeder:
And Portabella (and another behind her) waiting for breakfast:
The alien orange cat:
A different alien cat:
A good stretch:
Cats looking out the window & door, and another on the deck:
Four inside:
Four outside:
A screenshot of my camera app, showing all five cats (two on the deck, one in the shelter, two in the feeder):
The front shop cat, Pepper, looking at the camera (plus a sneak peek of some progress on the duck house; an update on that probably tomorrow):
It’s hard to see, but all five cats are in this picture; can you spot them all?
Porcini:
Poppy:
Finally, a fun GIF of a cat scratching a tree:
10 seems like a nice number of photos for this Caturday.
Breakfast time:
Looking out the window, I saw one of the feral cats sitting below a hummingbird feeder on our deck, watching the birds:
Pepper in the shop:
Snuggles:
Cats outside:
Four for breakfast:
Breakfast kisses:
Outside:
Two cats; notice the cat behind the shelter?
Close up:
Snuggles & kisses:
About half as many photos this week.
A cute cat:
Scratching the wall carpeting. That’s fine, that’s one reason it’s there (also for more comfort & warmth). It is glued and screwed in place, so should be pretty resistant to their attentions:
A possum & raccoon encounter on the deck (no cats home at the time):
A pile of three cats, when another arrives:
Five cats inside:
Five cats downstairs. I love how they lay on top of each other:
A couple of cats waiting for more breakfast to be dispensed:
Cat hugs:
The alien gray cat now has a collar with a bell; definitely owned by someone:
The twins arrive together for dinner:
The twin cats:
There have been regular visits by raccoons and possums, but nothing too dramatic, so I’m not including any pictures of them this time.
Four cats inside the shelter:
A queue waiting for more breakfast to be dispensed:
A brave/stupid jay in the cat feeder:
Three cats:
The front shop cat, Pepper, sitting by the duck house:
Two cats in the shelter:
Very relaxed cats:
Another joins them:
A very Poppy face at the water dish, with Porcini relaxing on the ground:
Poppy is the mother of the kittens, but she can still be kitten-like at times:
Too close!
Cat snuggles:
Two cats climbing the tree next to the cat house. I removed the heated water dish, now that it’s getting warmer; we probably won’t be below freezing again:
A sequence of three images of jumping down from the roof:
Poppy greets her kids:
I saw a new alien cat when reviewing the footage this morning; I don’t think I’ve seen this one before:
Finally, Spud came and stared at me in the office, from the front steps:
Daylight savings has started (unfortunately… maybe one day we’ll abolish it). But the cats don’t care, other than my tweaking the feeding time slightly.
We had lots of unwelcome visitors this past week, starting with a possum, that visited pretty much every day, and even hung out inside the shelter for about an hour one night:
The alien orange cat also invaded the shelter:
The orange cat:
But there was plenty of cuteness, as always. Here’s a sideways cat:
Five cats at breakfast time:
A relaxed cat inside:
Cat silhouettes:
Back to the invaders. A raccoon turned up, and a cat left the shelter:
The raccoon came back about an hour later, and was met with disapproval:
Not to be left out, the alien gray cat also turned up:
And the possum again (or another one; who can tell):
Oh look, another raccoon, this time at breakfast:
Poppy registered a complaint:
Then retreated to the shelter:
I’m getting tired of possums and raccoons turning up, even when there isn’t food there. My main regret about building this shelter is that I didn’t make the entrances in such a way to prevent unwanted guests. Possums and raccoons can climb very well, but they can’t jump quite as far as cats, so making a higher entrance with metal sides to prevent climbing would enable cats to enter, but not possums and raccoons.
I am contemplating modifying the cat house to give such an entrance. One idea was to raise the whole thing up, but that’d have some issues. I’m currently leaning towards enclosing the deck, and making a high entrance in front of the feeder. But of course I won’t have time for such projects until I finish the duck house.
On happier things, two cats outside, one inside:
Four cats:
Cat snuggles:
More snuggles:
A cat trying to push in at breakfast time, and told to wait their turn:
Comfy cats:
Happy Caturday!
Poppy on the cat house deck, with one of the twins in front:
Three cats:
Porcini licking her lips:
Cat snuggles:
Pansy the shop cat:
All five cats snuggled in the shelter:
I’m refilling the cat food, and didn’t realize that Poppy was still inside the shelter; you can see her peeking out of the door (I usually try to wait for when nobody is home):
Pepper, the other shop cat:
Two cats at night:
An alien orange cat encounter:
Orange cat:
More on the orange cat encounter:
I opened up the cat shelter to clean up a thrown up mouse, and straighten the mats:
Still more snow, and a snowy cat:
Four cats waiting for breakfast:
A good stretch:
Three cats playing around the (mostly empty) fountain:
A snowy possum:
And a snowy raccoon:
A view from another camera of a couple of cats on the snow-covered deck of the our house:
All five cats inside:
Poppy on the cat house deck:
A photo of the snowy cat house:
Some interesting encounters this week at the cat house.
But first, a couple of cats looking out of the shelter; I enjoy the eyes in the window:
Cats snuggling:
Yet more snow:
A pile of all five cats in the shelter:
A couple of cats watching a raccoon:
A “SLOW, WATCH FOR FERALS” sign in the driveway, flecked with snow:
Snow:
A cat with snow on their back:
Did you watch the video on YouTube of cats playing in the snow?
Another raccoon encounter. This time Poppy had enough, and went out of the shelter to hiss and swipe at the raccoon, and then retreat back to the safety of the shelter:
Another cat then ran up from behind the shelter and did the same from the other side:
A screenshot of my iPad, showing cats in all four cameras:
A Steller’s jay bird flying in for a drink from the heated water dish:
A cat climbing the tree next to the shelter:
Another raccoon visit, watched by a couple of cats:
The alien orange cat visited a couple of times:
The reverse angle:
Cat snuggles:
A cat watching a deer:
Pepper the shop cat watches a moth flying by:
Pansy, the other shop cat, reaching for some food:
Three cats playing on the driveway:
The alien orange cat came back again early this morning:
The cats inside quickly evacuated:
The orange cat went inside the shelter, and Poppy followed and expressed her displeasure at the invasion:
There was much hissing and growling, culminating in a little swiping and rapid exiting:
But let’s end with more snuggles:
