Cat update for week ending September 12 (plus evacuation update)

The latest news from our evacuation from the wildfires (or more accurately climate fires): last night the power was restored to our homestead, having been off since Tuesday afternoon. Since it was without electricity for over three days, it’s safe to assume the contents of our three freezers and two fridges will have to be thrown out. But having power means that the well is working again, and the waterers in the chicken runs will refill, which will help them survive. The stream to the small pond will also be running again, providing water for the outdoor cats and wild birds.

We remain safe at Mom’s place, though the smoke from the fires is affecting the air quality up and down the west coast, as can be seen in this map (or check the current conditions):

The fire boundary and evacuation map hasn’t really changed since yesterday (website):

The Clackamas county map (website):

I talked about the chickens and ducks yesterday; today is Caturday, so I’ll talk about the cats.

We care for nine cats: two indoor-only pet cats (Pippin and Paladin), two indoor-only feral shop cats (Pepper and Pansy), and five outdoor-only feral cats (Poppy and her offspring Porcini, Portabella aka Bella, Pomegranate aka Pommie, and Potato aka Spud).

Pippin and Paladin are safe with us. Pepper and Pansy are still in the workshop, and should have enough food and water to last them about a week. Poppy and the others can feed themselves on rodents etc, but now that the power is back, they will get some meals from the cat house. That food should last about a week too. And they can drink from the stream and small pond, plus a waterer near the cat house.

So I’m not as concerned about the cats as I am about the chickens, though the shop cats would be my next concern after the chickens. I do worry that the outdoor ferals might have abandoned us when they weren’t getting food while the power was off. The feeder has a battery backup, but according to the feeder log, apparently it didn’t work while there was no power, so the batteries must be flat. D’oh! They’ll probably stick around, though.

Unfortunately although the power and internet are back on, my Camect camera server is connected to a UPS that is off, so I can’t view the cameras remotely. I won’t know what’s happening until we go home.

Enough text, let’s have some photos. Here are Paladin and Rory snuggling in our room at Mom’s place:

Some pictures of the feral cats from before we evacuated. Here’s Poppy:

Porcini having a bath on the kitchen lawn:

And relaxing in the kitchen garden:

Poppy emerging from the feeder:

Porcini:

Porcini again:

Poppy again:

Poppy and Porcini:

A tail:

Finally, Pansy in the back of the shop:

I hope the cats will be okay!