Tough and Feraly

 While I have the run of my house, there is one room I've never been inside. It's the lair of the Garage Band, Chevy and Nikolas. They've got a huge room to play in, with cat trees, and caves and boxes and toys all over the place. And because I'm not allowed in there, it's the one place I want to be!

Behind The Scenes

Living in Southaven for over thirteen years meant I acquired a lot of extra cats, mostly feral from a nearby colony. When we finally moved in July 2020, I had no choice but to make our outside cats, Jesse, Nikolas and Chevy - dubbed The Garage Band by Michelle our petsitter - indoor cats. Florida has a lot of flying predators, not to mention a few that slither or crawl with big sharp teeth.

The Garage Band have adapted. They are offered time on the Catio, and we also do our best to offer them stimulating toys. I'm astonished to discover that they don't play like my indoor cats. Unless it's battery powered and moves on its own, forget it. Not interested. I honestly didn't realize that outdoor cats would not be interested in playing with toys. It makes sense that their days would be full trying to survive, eat and find shelter. Play for them might be toying with a rodent before dining. Despite the fact that all three were fed three meals, and had cozy beds in our garage, they still clung to their homeless roots.

Anyway, when Jesse got stomititis five months after we moved and had to recover in our Cat Apartment, he lost his position with the Band. Nik gave him a lot of grief. So now Jesse has a loft apartment over the refrigerator while Nik and Chevy have the garage to themselves.

We put  a screen door on the garage entrance to the hallway to keep the rest of the Wonderepurr Gang from access to the Band. Back in 2017 I saw Chevy roll Herman and that was it for me. I don't fully trust him. He's sweet to Ray and I, and has never bitten us, but he's feral and he's also FIV+. Nuff said.

Rabbit tends to ignore the Garage Band, but occasionally curiosity will call his name and I will find him spying like a mischievous child on Nik and Chevy. Since Chevy is highly vocal, he will eventually rat out the AssRabbit.