Mama Rosa, a lissome super-mouser tortoiseshell, has been living in the backyard tool shed since last April or May. When she became abundantly rotund, we fixed up an old ‘hut’ previous generations of cats had used as a shelter. Placed on the deck beside the kitchen door, the hut now has a small, warmly-padded cardboard box that will fit her alone and a bigger one for her and the kittens with a heating pad in it. (It’s still dropping to 28 degrees at night around here.) With plastic sheeting covering the sides and a shingled roof, the hut’s waterproof and Mama Rosa can see out to watch for intruders.
We’re not sure exactly when the kittens were born, but we found them St. Patrick’s Day inside an old carrier top in the yard, curled up in dried leaves, and carefully transported all six of them to the hut and their new box. Luckily, Mama Rosa didn’t mind them getting handled briefly by humans, and has happily settled into the bigger box where she can stretch out to feed all of them.
Beautiful colors, but gosh, they look like mice themselves. Glad that’s just temporary.
Abishag, Ira and Kezia 