Hi everyone! I built Cat Alley, an enclosed area between house and shed, so the indoor kitties can go outside too. The garden area is 8x12, and I added a hole to the 12x12 shed so they can explore there too. I love this pic of Roh -- that happy high tail tells the story. This was his first discovery of the shed. ~Kim

Great idea! Adorable picture and kitties!

"I love this pic of Roh -- that happy high tail tells the story."


Eva

Here's what the enclosure looks like. I still need to finesse the ramp (it's too steep and Willow slips), and install the kitty door in the window. Inside the shed, the back wall has exposed studs. So I took 5 four-foot shelves, and cut them in to 10 two-foot shelves, which are going to be mounted in step-fashion to make a 'kitty freeway' up the back wall. At the top of the wall is a little 'loft' area a foot deep along the length of the wall, so Luna will be able to satisfy her love of heights and survey her Queendom. The steps will actually be in a 'y' layout, so the kids can chase each other around the wall. There's a similar racing place in my house (cat tower > shelf > tall bookcase), so I'm certain they'll love the Chasing Wall. The soffits are open (though now securely screened with hogwire) so chipmunks and birds are in the shed frequently (at least until they learn not to).

I put off building this because I'm so broke right now and couldn't justify the expense. Finally, I got inspired by the last few dry days in the Pacific Northwest, and bought $100 worth of deer fencing to start. Then I realized I have rolls of hogwire, so I started with that. Returned the deer fencing. I had to buy latches, zip ties, screws, and shelf brackets, but with everything else already on hand, this enclosure cost me 28 bucks. I'm feeling damn handy, if I do say so. It took about 40 hours across six days, and I finished it the day before the rains came.

The lattice was already overhead, so I just zip-tied the hogwire to the 'ceiling'. It was quite the structural puzzle, really, investigating every possible exit point, including inside the gutters. I'm confident every hole larger than the hogwire is securely sealed. ~Kim PS: I LOVE zip-ties.....!

Hi Kim,

What a WONDERFUL enclosure! I'm from the Pacific Northwest and it is such a wonderful place. Kitties need to be able to enjoy it.

Rohan is gorgeous. I agree with Eva. The high tail says it all! I hope Roh is feeling better. What a beautiful photo where Luna is touching Roh. Precious!

When you are able, we would love to see more pictures of your babies enjoying Cat Alley!

Michelle

Good! Sometimes I feel like I include too many pictures. I don't want to be greedy with LS bandwidth. Here's a shot of Roh at the top of the Cat Freeway inside the shed. I'll still be able to hang stored items under the steps.

hi, Kimberly
i enjoy every single photo you are posting
so glad that your Roh is doing so well (and all your other pets)
and you, i hope so
your home must be the world-wide-very-best home for cats
sincerely
Eva

You are doing just fine picture-wise.

I see your cat freeway. It reminds me of my bookshelves in my den years ago. They went up to the ceiling too. My 3 cats were kittens at the time and the Little Girl would easily jump from one shelf to the other all the way to the top.

Then she didn't know how to get back down. guess who got a letter and had to rescue her..more than one time. The 2 boys didn't climb but she sure did. She would just stand on the top shelf looking down at me until I climbed up to get her. But she was only a kitten, apparently the mind hadn't developed enough. When she became an adult...she never climbed up high again. I guess that was easier than figuring out the way down.

Love your ideas and I'll bet so do your babies.

Please don't stop posting pictures. I enjoy every last one and signed up for email notifications. I love your ideas! So does Roh obviously. You are doing a superb job!

I saw an article many years ago about doing this around the inside of a living room. Boards covered with carpet around the perimeter of the ceiling with cat tree boxes in a few places.

Keep up the great work and keep on posting the pictures. We all enjoy them. Precious Roh

Michelle

go to www.katwallks.com (that's two "L"s) and play the video. As I remodel my house, I'm going to make cat perches and high walkways a high priority as I create the design, e.g., tops of cupboards, accessible exposed beams, etc. Kim

Wow, a friend just passed this website address to me: check it out! http://www.moderncat.net/category/climbing-perching/

As for cat-friendly house design, I bow in awe at the first photos of the house in Japan. That's exactly what I want to do with the lake house remodel: incorporate cat heights into an aesthetic design, not carpeted towers. Oh, very cool... Kim PS: Rohan is at this moment asleep and cuddly on my lap. Happy boy.

What a labor of love that is. It's the cat equivalent of this better-known one, but the love is the same:

As with many other happenings here, I'd missed yours, too, Kim, as I took such a long break from LS (and many other usual things) during the summer months. I still haven't quite read the whole story of poor Rohan's illness, but it sounds in the latest posts like he's doing better now - hope I'm right about that.

Did you ever get any testing done for his kidneys? (a plain urinalysis normally tells them whether blood testing is then in order or not, as urinalyses can actually give more info. than blood, for early kidney issues....and sure is easier on them than getting blood) Seeing his recovery pics, I'd thought the same thing as someone else did....that his fur looked awfully dehydrated, like kidney issues do to most cats' fur. On the other hand, the many and varied meds might have just been making him feel nauseated, esp. the anti-inflammatories. Did you ever ask about that possibility? (and no, usually furball 'uppage' doesn't normally induce nausea; in fact, it usually helps with any nausea from the furballs)

I sure do 'get' and remember (too) well being obsessed with pee-watches (with Nissa) and the inner battles with trying to stay in the moment, envisioning health and recovery, yet staying vigilant to every possible clue, but w/o driving yourself totally batty in the whole, confusing process! You're right, it's a totally exhausting way to live, even shorter term and it's so difficult being "positive" when you're so scared. But at least you were aware of the bigger picture and how you might impact it, and that's better than being entirely ignorant of that part.

I'd also like to note that other cats are often actually giving energetic aid to their ailing buddies when they do things like resting their paws on the other, or even laying close together. So I'm not surprised by that wonderful pic!

But more to the present day.....I have to thank you for posting that link to "Modern Cat"! (already sent this on to other feline-minded friends/family) WOW.....yes, agreed - now THAT'S the way to remodel if you have the opportunity! What a lot of SUPER, and beautiful ways to incorporate feline furniture into the home! I know what MY next house is gonna look like now! Design the house around the cat accoutrements, instead of the other way around! Fabulous! (I've bookmarked it for the future)

And your whole cat breezeway and freeway, and all........WONDERFUL! You've done a bang-up job there and I'm impressed with your carpentry skills! A suggestion for that ramp might be to cover it in a thick, rubber sheet of some sort to provide slip-free passage w/o having to change the angle - possibly some fairly flexible car mats (smooth side up), cut as required? That way, the outdoor weather might not affect it much, if at all, and it would stay dry.

Hope everything is going all right now, though, for your whole crew and you. Keep up the great work and the updates!

> kidney tests? You know, frankly, I can't remember. There was SO much going on. It wasn't something any of the 6 vets stuck in my head as a follow-up item, but it's a good question to ask them. Lately he's been frisky and loving, normal in his behavior. The furballs have dropped way down, now that he's gotten rid of all that loose fright hair. His fur still does look a little spiky though? Yesterday I was in the cat bathroom when he went in, and his full stream of pee never sounded so good. I praised him mightily for peeing so easily. Looking back, I now remember that he looked and acted grumpy for several weeks beforehand, no doubt while his bladder was being cut by forming crystals. He's a smilin' boy now.

> modern cat house design: Oh my, yes, I was so excited to see that! Wide windowsills, beams, sleek corner ladders (those still look cat-furniture-ish to me, so I will try to provide vertical access other ways first, but they're still way cool). As I shop for a contractor, one of my interview points will be whether they have cats and how intrigued they are by this idea.

> ramp in Cat Alley: I think I'm going to use asphalt roof shingles. Nailing those on will give all kinds of traction. I can't wait until it snows! What a new adventure THAT will be.

One HUGE change since Roh got sick: I replaced the broken water conditioner. For over two years now the well water was full of iron and magnesium, and it tasted bad. Everyone said that the minerals weren't unhealthy, but I just had such negative feelings about the water, especially after it stained my sinks and toilets. When the cats wanted to drink directly from the taps, internally I always quailed a little. (I had a Brita filter on the kitchen faucet, but sometimes they wanted to drink out of other taps too.) I can only imagine what kind of "water = bad" vibes I put out there. I still had my tax refund from last year, and finally I just bit the bullet and spent the money. It turned out to be less than half of the prior quote. Now, I TRUST my water, and have all kinds of positive feelings flowing about it. I'm so relieved to have free-flowing clean water through the whole house now. Since emotions and money also have to do with water energy -- my goodness, all kinds of clean, fresh flow are available now! I don't believe the water itself caused Roh's problems, but the energy around perceiving it as tainted surely played in somehow. Glad that's fixed! ~Kim PS: the photo is a little fuzzy, but Roh and sister Luna were snuggled up on my freshly washed nightgown -- what is it with cats and the smell of bleach?? They love it!

Sorry, Kim, I REALLY don't mean to get you all stressed-out again, but like I said, someone else had mentioned kidney stuff on one of these pages, too (might have been LoveThem, but I'm not sure), so just thought it might be something to look into, maybe now that Rohan's doing better.....and if you can do a free-catch with one of the vet's sterilized sample jars (I'd first sterilize a low plate, catch the pee, then pour it into the vet's jar for transport), he won't have to even go anywhere. You just have to get the sample in to the vet as soon as possible as after 6 hours max. the results aren't accurate. Also depends on whether your clinic can do the urinalysis themselves, or if they send it out to an independent lab. Mine did it right there, unless they were swamped.

Good idea about using shingles. That oughta do the trick nicely!

Funny you should mention water/water quality, as I've been getting interested in a certain Dr.'s work around this lately (I'm SO far behind in books to read!) since the 'energy' training I took last year is linked to this other doctor's work. (more on this below)

On a strictly biochemical basis, sure, minerals are absolutely essential to good health, but the types and amounts of each differ in requirements per species, so that can play a big factor. We used to use DE-mineralized Reverse Osmosis water, so it would be clean of any nasties like bad types of bacteria, toxins, chemicals, etc. But then I'd add a small amount of Himalayan Rock Salt sole (sole-ay) which contains something like 84 trace minerals to the large medical-grade jug of water. Mind you, Nissa very often ALSO wanted plain tap water - she seemed to like the taste best of ALL water types, for some reason.....and at least our local water is pretty clean, but I worried a LOT about all the dang fluoride and less about the chlorine (which can dissipate in about 10-15 mins. if it's not too 'heavy'). In her last year, I let her have whatevertheheck kind of water she wanted, though, as it made her happier and there was so much MORE to worry about later on.

But under the "if I'd only known then....." Regrets Department, I now contemplate what I might have done additionally (and for FREE!) had I also known about Dr. Masaru Emoto's work with water. So, since you're already cognizant of how our emotions, which are also just another form of energy, can affect everything as well, here's some reading for you that you might wish to add to the mix, which follows the same idea. (and yes, I'd think that your own antsy-ness about the former watertank did, indeed, affect its quality)

This first link is to highlight all the books Dr. Emoto has written already, demonstrating many ways our thoughts affect water, and keeping in mind, our bodies are comprised of around 70% water. Dr. Masaru Emoto - list of books

This other link is to the extensive notes an attendee to one of Dr. Emoto's presentations took, which gives you a good overall look at what's going on with this work. It's extremely fascinating, and, as everything always is, it's all connected to every other piece of the puzzle. Toronto Dowsers/Dr. Emoto So, you might just wish to add some positive 'signs' to your taps before you fill everyone's bowls. Now, if we can just come up with a way to make 'em as PRETTY as some of those furniture pieces, too! And since you live near a body of water as well, you could also start 'treating' that!

Hmmm.....no idea about the bleach thing, though, cuz I never used the stuff (only "oxygen bleach" if needed), so my kids only liked the warmth from the dryer on the clothes and towels. As far as I know, most normally, bleach smell is avoided by cats, as it supposedly smells like another cat's pee to them....hence the experts telling us to never use any bleach (aside from its inherent dangers) or even vinegar (same smell for cats) for cleaning litterboxes, but to only use something mild like soap flakes or environmentally-safe dish soap or the like.

However, another simply lovely pic, to be sure! I feel like a snooze now.......

I have had discussions with my wife's kidney doctors about high GroupIIA metals in drinking water. (My wife has RTA and produces stones. Hurts. A lot and often.) I had mixed responses and shrugs.

Basically, (Haha, a Chem pun) they often react the same way, though magnesium sulfate (Epson salts) is soluble and calcium sulfate is not. The body often gets confused when presented with members of the same Group, which is why barium, strontium* and radium are not good. For example, in WWII, young women who were stil growing had a habit of pointing paintbrush tips with their mouths. They were painting things like altimeter dials with Radium paint.
The body said, "Hey, a Group IIa metal, just like calcium! Let's give it to the osteoblasts so they can make bone out of it!".
Autopsies years later shows "burn tracks" from alpha particles in the bones.

So I agree that I would prefer not to give my cats drinking water with a lot of these other metals in it. This is not proven, but it's a suspicion.


*This, plus its specific activity, is why Sr90 is such a dangerous component of fallout.

Cat Alley is a huge hit. Luna, in particular, has been delighted, exploring *every* nook and cranny. Every time she comes in, she's all lit up and smiling.

Last night she walked into the livingroom and very proudly laid down a corn cob.

You know that moment of disconnect when your brain knows what it's looking at, and doesn't believe what it's seeing?
That moment of being absolutely stumped what? how? huh?

Slowly the logic filtered in, and I concluded the neighbors must be leaving out corncobs for the squirrels, who then stashed one somewhere in the garden, where Luna carefully retrieved the prize and showed it off. Go figure. (I would have LOVED to have witnessed how she got it in through the cat flap -- THAT must have been funny! ) ~Kim

Positive update. After posting on Zita's Mom's thread about Zeus, that prompted me to take Roh in for a check-up. I'll get the blood results tomorrow, but the vet was very pleased with how Rohan looks. Turns out he's nearly 10 pounds, so even though he's thinner than he was, he's still a very healthy weight for his frame. The vet also said it bodes very well for him that he hasn't reblocked in all these months -- that's a very good sign that it was an isolated incident. I still need to bring in a urine sample -- he peed in his carrier on the way to the office, poor guy. He got so scared... Gotta say, though, even as I heard him peeing, knowing that I was going to have to pull over and deal with the mess, anytime he pees it's music to my ears. Yay Rohan!

It dawned on me that maybe he's been looking rumply is that he's decided the extra grooming isn't worth all the hairballs. So I'll start brushing him more often. I've got one of those Love2Pet combs that extracts gobs of fur. It makes a mess, but better on my shirt/hands/face than in his gut. (His hair is so filament-light it's like velcro.) He doesn't much like being brushed, but a little bit at a time, often, will be a good thing. My little love boy.

FABULOUS NEWS!!! His tests came back COMPLETELY NORMAL!!! His kidney functions are excellent. As the vet said, "I wish my own health tests came back this clean." I had the full blood panel: CBC, white count, thyroid, kidney function, etc. etc. and everything is completely spot on for a healthy cat. Oh hooray! Ever since Roh nearly died last summer, I've been afraid for him. NOW I CAN LET THAT GO. Oh, this makes me weep with relief.

It finally dawned on me one of the reasons I've been viewing him as fragile. Well, two reasons. First, he's emotionally more tender-hearted than the rest. And secondly, he and Willow are the same breed (Norwegian Forest cat, or so they appear). So my assumption is that Rohan should be about the same size as Will. When he was a baby I thought he was going to be taller than Will. Now, clearly, he's a much smaller cat, and I had interpreted that as a sign of stunting after his illness (he was only 2 when he got sick and Nor.For. cats don't fully mature until ~age 4). Now I can let that misassumption go too -- he's just a smaller kitty! Ah, relief.

This kind of good news is so very special. I am glad you posted this update.

Good to hear your boy is doing so well. Hug him and a little kiss on the top of the head or the nose, wherever he likes it....from me..please.

Hugs and happiness,
Judy

Since a picture's worth a thousand words -- here's a new portrait of my joyous boy. After a brief bout of yeast in his ears, he continues to enjoy good health, but one look at him shows that!

thanks for sharing the foto of your relaxed beautiful Rohan
Eva