Cat Houses/Enclosures for Cheddar and Ivory

[galensgranny]

Awww, that is so nice. I am glad they get along as "next door neighbors".  That makes providing for them a whole lot easier!

I am impressed with your setups, and so glad that you and your husband too the time and effort to provide good shelters for Cheddar and Ivory.

[galensgranny]

I meant to write that page about outdoor cat shelters last year, and to show what you did, Vick.  Well, I finally did it!

The page is at http://www.wvcats.com/outdoorcathouses.html

[grammywms]

Margaret, I feel honored that you used our cat houses on your outdoor enclosures page. I'll have to take some more pics, because we covered both of the little houses with vinyl to add even more warmth/insulation/protection from cold air/and waterproofing .

This is just one with Ivory ontop the roof, but I'll take some better ones tomorrow and post them.

[grammywms]

Here are a few more pics of the cat houses with the vinyl covering.  We even covered the two together with a roof, allowing a dry space between the two where we could put food out for them and keep it dry on a wet day.  Both of these houses are right outside our back door, so they have two brick walls of protection from the elements.  We also faced their doors toward the house so wind stays out.




We also have them elevated off the ground with cement blocks.  We staggered the placement of the cement blocks because when it thunders, Ivory likes to crawl behind one of the blocks with a space between it and the brick wall of the house to feel safe.

[animalangel1]

Vicki - that was a GREAT idea covering the houses with vinyl!!!  I never thought of that!  

[grammywms]

Thanks, Michelle.  I found it at a thrift store for very little.  It seems to do the job.

I can't believe you lost your job.  You and Neil will be in my prayers.  How are you managing?  I haven't been able to get caught up with my reading of all the posts I missed, so I don't know what happened.  Hang in there.  Something better is just around the corner...I feel it.

[animalangel1]

Well, we're both collecting unemployment and Neil still gets his retirement from the police force.  We ARE short but I was able to defer 2 payments on each vehicle (dec and Jan) so those won't be due till February.  That's a huge help.... A very dear friend helped me with some of the prescription foods I need for the "kids" so THAT helps alot too..... thankfully nobody needs to be vetted right now.... Onyx is due for a check up and shots on Jan. 3 but I can put that off a bit. 

Neil said he heard they were going to try to have him come back the end of February which would be nice.  I, of course, don't have a job to go back to so and currently there are NO JOB LISTINGS in the local papers.... but that is expected to pick up after the Holidays.... so I will try to find something then. 

I am "inquiring" about getting grants or the VA to pay for me to go back to school - as always with the military it's "hurry up and wait" so that information is not coming back as quickly as I would like it to.  I would like to see about going into an LPN program if I can find funding.  We cannot take out any more loans at all..... we have several out now (2 vehicles, Neil's school loan, my old school loan and the house).  We're still paying back the IRS too for an erroneous filing from 2006.  I thought it was weird that we got a return that year.... ever since we moved to new york all we do is pay, pay, pay.  I hate New York.

Then my girlfriend and I were "kicking around" the idea to see if we could get a small business loan to start a pet supply store in town because the nearest ones are actually too far for the elderly with pets or people with out vehicles to get to.  And, there's NOTHING for cats or birds or hamsters or gerbils or snakes, etc - no supplies ANYWHERE in the area.  So we were thinking that we would consider a small shop on Main Street and eventually move to a large place we'd have to have built on the State hwy where all the big businesses are.  PetSmart does not "do" franchises so something of our own would be in order.  It's just a pipe dream at this point.....we'll probably never do it.

[grammywms]

Sounds like you are doing ok considering...what about a work from home type of job??

[animalangel1]

A work from home job would be my dream job - problem is - there's so many scams out there you don't know what's what.  I could do several things from home (medical transcription, medical coding, etc) but nobody wants them here.  We are very rural and the nearby towns are very tiny - can't find jobs like that here.  They don't exist.

[grammywms]

Do you know anyone who does work from home?  If so, maybe they could make suggestions.  I know what you mean about scams.  It is difficult to know what's genuinely on the up and up.  There must be a website that tells you whether they can be trusted or not...like the better business bureau does.  I'll pray that you can find something.