Neighbors Provide Cats with Shelter

There is a gray cat that comes to visit my yard daily; this cat belongs to a neighbor that resides two blocks away. Normally the weather is mild and the cat can play or sleep in my yard, but yesterday the lightning, hail and wind storm was fierce and occurred an hour after this tabby came to visit.

Rain Clouds rolling in

Happy cat in the garden 

My husband says “Sylvester is in the yard and he will never make it home before the storm." We agreed to provide the neighborhood cat with shelter in our garage. My husband picked up the cat and runs through the rain, I follow with a bowl, water and fresh pan of litter. When the neighbors’ cat was safe in the garage I called his people to let them know he was okay. They had no idea that there was a storm because they were at work and thought their cat could find their way home or take shelter in brush or under somebody’s deck or porch.

I told them that the weather was very bad, strong wind, hail, and rain and that my garage was the best shelter for the cat. That we would let their cat out when the storm passed. My neighbor said okay.

Neighborhood cat brought kittens to our garage for shelter 

Know that our roof and car had hail damage from this storm. It was very bad and I am thankful that the neighbor's cat was in my garage. 

My other neighbor two doors down always leaves her garage open about 18 inches so cats can take shelter when the weather is bad.  

Do you provide neighborhood cats with shelter in an emergency?

My 4-Year-Old Cat Died Suddenly

My cat was a normal 4-year -old orange and white short hair tabby that lived indoors and did not have any cat diseases or so I thought. There were no warning signs of sickness but that did not mean that my cat would not die suddenly.

We rescued Dini when he was a baby kitten. He was the first kitten I saw in the trash bag that was dumped in the grassy section of the highway. My husband and I parked our car on the side of the road, crossed the highway carefully and walked slowly to rescue the orange and white baby cat that was meowing and looking very scared. I prayed as I approached the kitten that he did not run into the highway traffic.

Dini / photo taken a few days after we rescued him

We reached the trash bag and kitten extended its paws toward me, It was so small that I put it in my coat pocket then learned that there were other kittens in the bag. We rescued all of them and looked around to see if there were more before taking them home to bottle feed, help go to the bathroom and remove the fleas. My husband and I did not sleep for 10 days because these babies needed our care.

Photo of all rescue kittens on day they were weaned to mushy solid kitten food

The kittens survived and Dini (short for Houdini) was a normal 8-week old kitten even though he was the runt. He had the energy and the courage of a lion and we should have named him Romeo because he was so loving. This kitten kept us entertained because there was no room, cage, the carrier that would confine him., He would slide under doors, open cages, carriers, doors, and cabinets. He would study it by watching me. hence his real name Houdini.

Dini / at 5 weeks old

Dini and littermate Larry fascinated with the vacuum cord. This was the day we bought cord covers to keep the cats safe.  Dini is a one-year-old here.

He absolutely did not like being away from me so he would slide under our bedroom door to snuggle up next to me. I would awake with a kitten on my head. Like I said, Dini was a healthy kitten and 4-year-old cat who brought joy to our lives. He was talkative, played with his toys, played with other cats, loved to eat and even retrieved his plastic cat ball.

I work out of my home so I am with the cats 24/7 so if Dini was not feeling well I would know. But this cat was never sick, not a day in his life until he dropped dead at 4-years-old. Dini died from cardiac arrest from complications of an enlarged heart and suspicion of cancer.

I have read the cats will hide their sickness from their owners and from other cats, I also read that when cats have the same diagnosis as my Dini that they generally die suddenly.  

When a beloved fur-kid die suddenly it breaks your heart.

Here are a few articles that I published about Dini

When Cat Opens Cabinets and Crates

Meet Houdini my Rescued Kitten

Neighbor Took My Cat

If you have an outdoor cat that does not have a collar and this cat goes for walk in the neighborhood your neighbors may think the cat is a stray and if your cat likes visiting your neighbor, snacking at their food bowl, lying on their porch they may take your cat, assuming it is a stray.

My cat is social, she has her outdoor routine which is primarily hanging out in our yard and gardens but she does go to visit a few neighbors. Normally she is gone about an hour but today she was gone for 12 hours and I was worried and searching for her.

At first, I thought she was upset with me because when I left the yard to go into the woods she meowed in protest. I knew my husband was going to be able to console her and groom her in less than an hour. I had to go to the woods and the chance of her following me was low because it is not something that she does. She does protest whenever I leave the yard but gives up and goes to sit on the patio furniture so I did not worry about her. 

I got back from my errand about noon and saw that my cat was not in the yard. My husband said he had not seen her and this is not like her to be gone that long. We were worried, we searched for her by looking in all her kitty spots, called her, walked around the block to her favorite spots. None of my neighbors saw her.

A photo card of my cat in the garden

My cat was gone without a trace.

My husband said he would sit out on the patio and wait for her to come home. We did not want to go to bed without her being home because we must lock the cat house at night due to the wildlife.

When she was gone for ten hours I thought she must have been taken or killed. These thoughts go through your head because there are so many people in the world that abuse animals. Two hours later I went outdoors and called her name again and I hear her calling out in the distance. She is running through my neighbor's yard and she leaps into my arms. My cat is home she is safe and she is groomed! She is one fluffy cat that smells like she had a bath.

I think it is really bizarre that a neighbor would take my cat and groom by giving it a bath and brushing.   No doubt they wanted to keep her because her collar with a tag is missing. Lucky for us that my cat was smart enough to run out through an open door. I do not know where my cat went, if she was picked up by a neighbor or if she visited a neighbor and they took her inside their house. 

Know that my cat has a collar, name tag and a microchip so I think that people should respect that. The only time you would take a cat in is if seems lost hangs out at your house and never goes home is a good sign that somebody may have moved and left their cat behind or the cat is lost. A cat that is abandoned or lost is a reason to take an animal into your home, but as soon as you are able you must check for a microchip and place a classified ad in your local newspaper to report the lost cat and make every attempt to find its owner.