Oliverland (Part 2)

The tour of Oliverland continues in this second installment of an exciting three part series. (Be sure to check out Oliverland Part 1, if you missed it.) In todays tour, I'll show you Oliver's 24-hour feeder and lounge space.

Before I get to far into the tour, let me detour into history and take you back in time to the very first Oliverland structure. This was back before I knew anything about anything.  And it was before Oliver trusted me at all, back then he was too scared to share the yard with me and would run away when I came out.

August 2011

The very first building, was a combined dining space and living quarters. 

August 2011

The outside entrance opened into the dining space and from there another doorway opened into the living area, featuring soft towel bedding. What in the world was I thinking?! How did I expect Oliver to live in such spartan conditions? no windows, no insulation, and no heat! Yikes! But that wasn't the only thing that needed to change.

August 2011

My TNR mentor at the time quickly set me straight. When building a cat shelter, you never want to put the food right near the living space as the food will draw predators and other potentially unfriendly visitors. I also learned that a feral cat shelter should always have two doors, that way a predator can't corner the cat inside the shelter, it can escape out the backdoor.

With this new knowledge in mind, I got busy constructing a standalone Dining Hall.

The Grand Opening of the Dining Hall was a big to-do!        Sept 2011

The state-of-the-art Dining Hall featured two real-glass windows, a large picture window looking out back and a smaller window facing East. Inside, Oliver could eat and drink while staying dry from the rain!

With the Dining Hall completed, I went to work on remodeling the living quarters. The old dark, cold living space was deconstructed and replaced with Oliver's Guest House, a modest sized insulated and heated home (which you saw on Part 1 of the Oliverland tour.) With Oliver immediately taking to his new digs, it became clear he needed a larger, more grande home for his greatness, and thus, Oliver's House was commissioned (again seen in Part 1 of the tour).

   Oliver's House being constructed.                           Sept 2011

When these renovations were completed, Oliverland consisted of the Dining Hall, Guest House, and Oliver's House - each of the living spaces were now upgraded with full insulation, heat, web-cams, and two doors. Oliver and his family were happy, and a happy Oliver meant happy Oliverland Management.

But then the slugs came and swarmed the food bowls, grossifying everything. And not to mention the raccoons and opossums, which I was not interested in feeding.

I had learned about raccoon-proof feral feeders and wanted to build something. I did some research and found the basic 4x4, platform design. But then I realized I could build something into the side of my detached garage. After a little work, Oliver had a new raccoon-proof (and slug-proof) feral feeder!

October 2015

It's built on the simple idea that raccoons can't jump (they climb) but cats love to jump! The metal flashing keeps raccoons from climbing up and the table gives the cats something to jump from, up to the feeder ledge. 

I've seen raccoons standing up on their hind legs on the table, looking into the feeder, not able to figure out how to get to the food! Success!! And no nasty slugs - I'm not really sure why the slugs haven't found it, but I'm not going to ask them.

The feeder is basically a plywood cabinet built inside the garage, which I can access from inside, but the cats access from the outside. Back when I first built it, there was two corner shelves that had food and water bowls. Now, I use a fancy gravity feeder with a stainless steel feeding bowl. It's the perfect size and is dishwasher safe! You'll notice what looks like a recent change on the wall to the right of the feeder (unpainted). That was a recent modification, that lets me attach a trap on a temporary shelf inside the garage, so if I want to trap cats who come to the feeder, I easily can.

There are two windows in the feeder space, so the cats can look into my dark garage. Under the feeder is storage space for cat food. There's also a webcam in the feeder, so I can watch who's eating.

This is the live view from the feeder-cam:

(sorry - feeder cam currently offline)

Note: There is a limit to how many can watch the cam at the same time, so if everyone's tuning in at the same time, it may say it's unavailable. Also, newer internet browsers, like Edge, don't support the old software technology, so you may be out of luck.

The feral-feeder provides Oliver, his family, and distinguished guests access to fresh food 24-hours per day, 365-days per year. They love the food, but are less keen about the water being so near the food in the feeder, so after years of the water going untouched, the controversial decision was made to remove it from the feeder and built a separate temporary watering station.

As you can see, this temporary watering station is extremely crude and is not up to the high standards of Oliverland. Oliver, and family have filed many complaints with Oliverland management about having to drink water in the open air (at risk of getting drenched in bone chilling rain and wind), not to mention the dangerous condition of the platform (a kitty could hurt a leg if they stepped into one of those holes in the dark of night.) Due to the ongoing contentious negotiations and threats of bitey action from the kitty council, Oliverland management is unable to comment further on this matter at this time. Both management and the kitty council are all hoping a settlement will be reached soon and this matter will be behind us.

Meanwhile, when Oliver's feral-feeder came into service, the old Dining Hall was fully renovated into a Lounge Hall - a place for Oliver and his guests to hangout away from the rain or blazing sun.

In the remodel, the large picture window was removed so access could be from either side.

The Lounge Hall is a popular spot for enjoying a visit with friends and family or having a go with the kickeroo. 

In the upcoming Part 3 of the Oliverland tour, you'll get an in-depth look at Oliver's back porch palace, his kitty castle, and loft - and maybe if we're lucky, the tense watering hole situation will be resolved with a new weather-proof watering hole arrangement (I've been hearing rumors about a possible kitty-gazebo!)  Stay tuned!!

the boyfriend?

It's very rare that I see Nora. She comes by only under the cover of darkness and only to eat. Unlike Pierre and Oliver, she's still super-feral. Saturday night I thought I might have seen her hanging out in the alley, but after further consideration I think the black cat I was seeing was a bit too big for Nora. Sunday morning, for funzies, I checked out the saved images from the feeder cam and I found, two cats peacefully sharing the feeder!

Sept 27, 2015 3:34am

The only cats I've seen in the feeder together were Oliver, Pierre, and MK. But in this case, Pierre and Oliver were locked away on the back porch, so I know it wasn't them and MK is no longer with us. So then, who are these two black cats?

Sept 27, 2015 3:39am

From what I can tell, the cat in the feeder doesn't have an eartip. Nora, Pierre, and MK all had eartips. I think this guy is the one I tried trapping last year but was never able to get. The kitty on the ledge turned around and look, it's Nora! (notice her eartip)

Sept 27, 2015 3:43am

So, who's Nora's friend? Maybe a boyfriend??? Maybe Oliver has a brother, and this is her uncle? Nora's pretty little face looks just like her brothers! I'm thrilled to see her doing well. I do wish she would learn to trust me and hang around more.

Sept 27, 2015 3:44am

I think it's time I take another go at trapping this guy... Meanwhile, I'm left to ponder why my yard seems to only attract black cats?! Weird.

still no MK

Thank you everyone for your kind wishes for MK to return. I wish I had some good news to report, but sadly, still no sign of him.

beautiful Pierre

I called my local animal shelter and they don't have him. They track deceased cats they pick up from the local roads, and thankfully he wasn't on that list either.

A secure Oliver

I checked in with my vet clinic who is right behind my house and they haven't seen him but will be watching for him. Monday night I went and knocked on doors and talked with the neighbors. I left flyers asking people to check in their sheds and garages.

Pierre doesn't roam much anymore, he spends pretty much all of his days and nights here

Each day that goes on with him missing the angst in my heart grows. I've not been sleeping very well, waking often thinking about him, wondering where he might be. I spent every moment I could at work looking at the kitty-cams, looking for any sign of him. It kills me to know that Oliver and Pierre might very well know where he is but we can't communicate enough to have them lead me to him. I keep asking them to tell me, but they just look at me with their cute faces.

The highlight of my day yesterday, was when Pierre let me rub his head in the morning when I brought them breakfast. He's skittish about me touching him until his head starts getting rubbed, then he's blissed out in heaven.

so far so good!

Katie asked if the new door modification was working to keep Oliver secure. I don't have the emotional energy to put together a snazzy video right now, so I'll just let you know that so far it is working. Yea! Since making that change, Oliver hasn't escaped, but I'm not naive enough to believe that he's given up the battle just yet!

I don't know how people have outside cats, having Oliver and his family out there causes me so much stress. If I had some way to keep them secure but not in a cage, I certainly would. I keep racking my brain to figure out what I can do for them in the space I have. I'm also researching tracking devices, like the Loc8tor homing tags. Has anyone used these?

I'm super thankful that we're not getting a blizzard right now, that would really crank up my stress, imaging MK being out there with all that horrid weather. We've actually had a few very warm and sunny days. Thank you everyone for your continued care. I'll let you know the minute I learn something new.

Joy!

This morning, as I was lying in bed not wanting to get up, I starting thinking about the outside cats. I thought of how I might try luring MK onto the back porch at night by feeding them Kentucky Fried Chicken or something similar. Cats love that nasty stuff!

Then I thought about how getting two out of the three boys safe for the night was great and might be all I can do, thus I need to accept it as success. Acceptance of such things when it comes to the cats is not easy for me.

After all that thinking, it was time to get out of the warm bed and go feed the outside cats breakfast. I love feeding them breakfast, it brings me such joy! One time a while ago, Laura thought she was being generous and fed them for me as I stayed warm in bed, but I was so disappointed and mad! After working through my feelings I was able to get to see the kindness in her gesture, but she's told me now that she won't make that mistake again! Seeing the family out there, safe and healthy on the back porch starts my day off with a major happy!

Imagine my surprise this morning when I went out to the back porch with their breakfast and I find three boys out there waiting for me! Yes, MK had figured out how to work the SureFlap cat door and let himself in! My dream come true! And he looked happy, not at all stressed! He came right over to me and circled my legs, like Oliver was doing. When I scooped the food into the dish he was calmly and curiously sniffing my fingers.

Seeing MK safe and happy with his family on the back porch brings me such incredible joy! Yea for MK! He so adores Oliver, so now he can come in and visit Oliver any time he wants, day or night!

10:00am -- Update

In honor of MK's big achievement and the delight it brings me, I've declared today official MK Day!

Nov 22, 2014 10:02am

MK and Oliver are enjoying a lazy Saturday morning cuddle on the back porch!

MK hasn't been sticking around much in the days lately, so seeing him here so late in the day is wonderful. My dream would be for Pierre and MK (and Oliver of course) to live here always and never wander off the property. I keep trying to make it more and more attractive to them so they wander less and maybe its working!

The heated bed they are snuggled up in was built for single cat occupancy, but obviously, I underestimated their cuddle needs. So, that needs to be rectified ASAP! A bigger heated bed is being engineered. I want something with a removable canopy/roof type thing, so in the real cold, it will hold some of the heat in.

Happy MK Day!!

SureFlap Microchip Pet Door

At the start of this year I shared with you my challenge of trying to keep Oliver and his family safe during the nights. I had started bringing Oliver in at night or locking him on the back porch so he couldn't fight with the other neighborhood cats in the night. The problem was by doing this, his family couldn't be with him overnight. Pierre and MK both adore Oliver but being ferals, they keep their distance from me. So, I needed a solution that would allow Oliver to be locked away and yet would allow Pierre and MK to visit at their will.

I discovered the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door, which is a programmable pet door. It can selectively allow cats to enter by scanning their microchip as they stick their head near the door. And it has curfew mode, where you can program a time that will allow authorized cats to enter but not leave again until the pre-programmed time. My hope was that this would solve my problem. They are a bit pricey, but after saving all year, guess what I got?!

Introducing the latest bit of technology installed on Oliver's back porch - the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door!

I installed it through the wall, next to the existing, old-school guillotine cat door. I left the existing door because I wanted options and I had the space.

On the outside, I installed a larger shelf so the cats could access both doors and have room to navigate around the flap that would swing out on the SureFlap.

The manufacturer makes a smaller model called the CatFlap, but it doesn't have the curfew mode and it's made for a small to average size cat, which means it wouldn't fit Oliver! They also make what they call a "Dual Scan Cat Door" which is the same size as the CatFlap but has the ability to scan microchips both coming and going, so you can program which cats can enter and which can leave. The Pet Door only allows you to selectively choose which cats can enter. The idea is to keep undesired cats or raccoons from coming into your house. I wish they made the Pet Door but with Dual Scan option, that would be the best choice.

Programming the unit is fairly straight forward. It comes with a large manual, but the bulk of it is the same information presented in multiple languages.

The door's memory can remember up to 32 different microchips, wowza! I think that means I can get more cats! Oliver is already microchipped, but I haven't gotten Pierre or MK chipped yet. Thankfully, the door has the option to function as just a non-discriminating pet door with curfew mode, with this setup any animal can enter at any time but animals can't leave during the programmed curfew time (8:30pm to 6am). I'm still planning to get MK and Pierre chipped so I can use the scanning feature, I just need to gather the gumptions to trap them and get it done.

Installation was fairly easy. The challenge was going to be how to teach feral cats to use a cat door! When the door is closed it has strong magnets that pull the door to the plumb position, so the cats have to push hard enough to overcome that magnetic pull. My regular cat door has a magnetic closer to but this one is way stronger, which is great for making sure the door is in the proper place so the locking mechanisms can function correctly.

I started by taping it open like shown in the picture. This would allow the cats to get used to the feeling of it rubbing their backs as they passed through. Each day I used a bigger piece of tape making the cat push against the door more and more. I also taped a string to the door that went up and over to the other side of the room, this way I could open the door from the mudroom and encourage the cat to try coming through.

Pierre figured out the door the same night and has had no problems pressing his head against it to open it and push through. MK has tried but still hasn't managed to figure it out. After being locked in someone's garage for a week last July he's gets very anxious about being locked away somewhere, so I'm guessing he's figured out that if he goes through the door it will result in him being locked away, which probably curbs his enthusiasm for trying to come in. I haven't seen Oliver use the door yet, so I'm still not sure if he knows how to use it! During the daytime, I just open the old guillotine cat door so everyone can enter and exit at will.

Now, before I go to bed for the night, I'll go out and secure Oliver on the porch. Then it's just a matter of time before Pierre lets himself in, locking him in with Oliver for the night. Pierre has let himself in every night since I have installed the SureFlap! This makes me very happy.

Thus far I am very happy with my SureFlap Microchip Pet Door, it works awesome! It's well built and feels sturdy. It operates on 4-C batteries, which they say will last about 6-months. My complaints are really just nit-picking - I think the instructions could be laid out better in a way that makes it easier to figure out the basic operations and I wish they had the option for using AC power in addition to battery power (like the Pet Feedster I recently reviewed). And as I previously mentioned, I wish they made a Dual Scan version of the Pet Door. I've read that SureFlap provides awesome technical support, but so far, everything has gone perfectly, so I haven't needed to talk with them.

I LOVE coming out in the morning and finding Pierre cuddled in with Oliver. Seeing this every morning has made me feel really good about spending the money to buy the SureFlap Pet Door, it's been totally worth it. I so hope that MK gets comfortable using it too. Maybe soon I'll come out and find all three of my boys safely secured on the back porch for the night.

The fully enclosed back porch currently offers three heated bed options, but with the temperature falling to crazy cold recently, I've started to think it's time to insulate and finish off the back porch so Oliver and his family can truly stay warm in a heated and insulated space. The heating pads do a great job keeping their tummy side warm but their topside gets chilled from the freezing cold air temperature. Hmmm, I think I see my next project calling my name...

the next level

Pierre and I took our relationship to the next level this morning.

I have been playing with him using the feather on a string, wand toy. He and Oliver love that. Occasionally, Pierre gets so into it that he forgets his fear of humans for a few seconds.

Often in the mornings, when I feed Oliver and his family special breakfast, Pierre will rub his body against mine and I can pet his back a few times before he remembers his fear and darts just out of reach. Today was different.

I rubbed his head for the first time and that was a game changer. He pushed into it and wanted more. There was no fear! I think I found the sweet spot for him where pleasure trumps fear!

bonded pair

MK and Pierre are a bonded pair of ferals. This is the scene I was greeted with this morning when I brought Oliver outside in the morning:

After breakfast and a romp with Oliver around the yard, MK and Pierre have settled into Oliver's house, where they are enjoying a nice cuddle:

Meanwhile, I've been devising my plan for trapping the new cat who's been coming around.

This boy has a date at the neuter clinic tomorrow morning!

I wonder if he's related somehow to Oliver and the family. He's black with a small white patch on his chest and he looks to be about Oliver's size.

Trapping him will be a challenge, as I don't want to trap MK, Pierre, or Nora. I'll bring Oliver inside the house, so he won't be around to chase off the new boy. At first I thought I would use a regular trap, but then I realized that won't work, because I'll need to selectively trap to make sure I get the right cat. 

Oliver snoopervises Pierre as he eats the bait!

I have decided to go with the drop trap. This way I can sit in the car, and wait and watch. Of course, determining one black cat from another in the dark is a bit of a challenge. So, even with the drop trap, odds are high I could get the wrong cat.

Pierre eating drop trap bait

I'll be up late tonight waiting for the new boy to get under the drop trap - then he's mine!

change is coming

The older I get the less I like change but this poses a challenge, since change is inevitable.

This week I learned that some change is coming. We've owned our home for almost nine years now.  Most of the houses around us are rentals, which makes for interesting neighbors. The house adjacent to ours to the south is a rental. I learned earlier this week that there are new people moving in next door and they have big plans.

I sort of know the couple moving in, as they were living a few blocks away and I would occasionally say hi when walking by. They have two indoor/outdoor cats, both are mostly friendly. Having two outdoor cats living next door is not going to go over well with Oliver or his family. They consider the neighbor's yard to be their's too. I foresee a lot of fighting in Oliver's future which is making me very stressed.

The other big change is that they are building a new fence. The old one is in pretty sad shape, so it does need replacing.

Believe it or not, I didn't add the cat hole, the board just happen

 to break at the perfect height for cats to walk through!

I learned that the new fence they are installing will go along the property line, which is significantly different than the current fence. The old fence is along the property line in the back of the house but due to the ground contour, it gradually moves up into their property. The new fence is going to be built along the property line for the full length of the lot.

Here is what the current fence looks like (the red house is mine):

And this is where the new fence will go:

Our house, which was built in the early 1900's, is only five feet from the property line. Which means soon we'll have a six foot fence five feet from the house which will block a significant portion of light into the house. This makes me very unhappy. The fence will also block a lot of the indoor cats' view.

Sanborn map from 1902, my house is the one in the middle.

One potential positive of the fence is that the people are considering installing some sort of barrier along the top of the fence to keep their cats in their yard. I'm imagining it might be something like what Kea has on her backyard fence.

Today the old fence was partly taken down, giving Oliver and his family lots of new things to check out.

Pierre

Oliver

Pierre

Pierre

I'm of the belief that good fences make good neighbors. I'm just bummed at the location of the new fence and how it will impact Oliver's territory.

staying warm

We're in the midst of another crazy cold time.

Oliver and his sons know how to best stay warm - cuddle!

Oliver and Pierre

Oliver and Pierre

Oliver with MK draped over his back

MK and Pierre

Oliver and MK

Even with all these kitties cuddled up on toasty warm heating pads, I still wish I could do more to keep them warmer. Of course Oliver spends his nights inside, where he's safe and warm. I tried locking MK inside with Oliver the other night, but MK cried and cried, so I let him back out. Can't move too fast.

I do love seeing them snuggled up on the heating pads in their insulated homes, so much better than trying to sleep out in the open. Through out my work days, I tune into my outdoor kitty cams and warm my heart seeing warm kitties!

I hope you all are staying warm too and getting good cuddles!