cats

I usually blog about dog related subjects but we thought you might like to see our fancy pants cat house that we recently purchased from a lovely chap on ebay.

  Now then let me explain the reason for the cat house. Since we moved to our new house with a fully enclosed rear garden we have had a slight problem with Mr Tini who unfortunately loves to chase anything that moves faster than a tortoise. So imagine the scene, Mille (come near me and I'll swat you) and Zack (I'm frightened of my own shadow) saunter at a leisurely pace through the garden...spotted seconds later by eagle eye Tini, they break into the scared cat sprint followed by a yipping Cairn Terrier at a gazillion miles an hour. Just in case you you are worried he did not catch them but suffice to say he scared Zack enough to make him go AWOL for a few days. So I needed to find some kind of safe haven for the cats so that they too could enjoy the lovely new garden too. I was really just looking for something which was raised enough so the cats could escape from the yipping beast below. We also have yet to get a cat flap fitted to the back door so once the cat are out they are our until someone opens the door to let them back in. So a a trawl of the internet produced this lovely outside cat house. Ideal as you can see because the cats can climb up the little ladder and disappear inside their new home safe and sound away from the Tini monster. There were lots of designs to choose from but for me it needed to have a cat flap, and be raised so it would work as a cat shelter in the rain and let the cats feel safe enough to venture into the garden. I could not resist having the option with  little window even though the cats are probably not that bothered about watching the world go by. Another great thing with this design is that I can leave dried food outside for the cats without it getting wet, although there is no protection from the dogs who both love to snaffle the odd munchie cat biscuit if one presents itself. So I guess the big question is has it solved the problem? Well despite the fact that we are in summer supposedly (!) the cats have been doing the cat thing and staying outside overnight so most mornings when I open the back door to call them I can hear the cat flap swinging open as they climb down the stairs from their penthouse palace. So it solves the no cat flap yet problem. They also appear quite comfortable sitting inside the house even if Mr Tini is barking up at them, which he does still do on some occasions. I think they quite like sitting there looking out of their little window in a na na na na na kinda way! So yes it works to an extent... the dog will still chase them and if they break into a run then at least they have somewhere extra safe to escape to.  But I knew I was never going to be able to stop Mr Tini from chasing anything that runs fast he is a terrier after all. I have so far resisted the urge to make some curtains for the penthouse cat house even though when it was delivered it was one of the things that the lovely chap said a lot of people had done. Now then where did I leave the sewing machine.......