Renovating With Cats - Keeping Them Calm And Comfy.

[FeralHearts]

So a few of you know that last year I had begun renovations when a bunch of health issues occurred with the Ferals that I care for. Three of them we're brought inside permanently and the renos had to stop to allow for that.

Well it eventually had to begin again - and so it is.

The upstairs flooring isn't an issue, sure lots of noise but they will hide and be far enough away from the action for it not to be that big of a concern. The downstairs is dry wall mudding etc and I have a plan in place for the dust. Not perfect - but I think I can make it work. (Suggestions welcome here too)

Right now some of the repair work we've manged to muddle through - though the internet has been spotty and probably will be for a bit. (Hence why I've not been here a lot of replied as fast. I can read half the time but not post) *sigh* Hopefully that will be fixed soon.

It's the kitchen that I think may be more of an issue. That's happening in 4 -8 weeks. The process for me has been stressful but for them... yikes.

There us a doorway being filled in and a wall being removed and rebuilt half way. It will be completely gutted, so cabinets gone etc. The noise and voices of a lot of new people will absolutely stress them.

I can put them in a back room but there is no avoiding this kind of noise and disruption. I have Gabepentin and I do plan on giving them that - at least for the days the walls are being done and the day of the tear out. I have a speaker set up for them so I can play them music to help.

Any other ideas? These are still very,very skittish cats and easily spooked and stressed with anything new. I mean if the doorbell rings they head for the hills - even after a year. Same with new voices, back door opening too. Gonzo.

 

[jcat]

I used Feliway diffusers when we had replacement windows put in (last cat plus two we were looking after) and got a new roof (current cat). They were plugged in about a week before the work started in rooms as far from the work as possible. We also played soft music, but didn't use tranquilizers.

 

[FeebysOwner]

There are insulating blankets that can be used to help drown out some of the noise, in addition to the music you plan on playing. If there is primary wall/door separating them the rest of the home, I would buy those blankets and temporarily affix them to the walls and another to the door so that you can easily open it.

 

[FeralHearts]

I used Feliway diffusers when we had replacement windows put in (last cat plus two we were looking after) and got a new roof (current cat). They were plugged in about a week before the work started in rooms as far from the work as possible. We also played soft music, but didn't use tranquilizers.

Thanks, jcat . Good idea! I had forgotten about the Feliway. Charlie will be separated from the retired ferals during the construction as he only seems to care for about 10 minutes and then has the "Okay I'll just sleep now" attitude. Feliway turns him into Mr. Angry pants, so I often forget about it.

The girls I think would do well with it. I might test it beforehand to see and maybe then I don't have to use the Gabepentin. I hate the thought of using it but I know that extreme stress can trigger illnesses so I worry.

XOXOXO

There are insulating blankets that can be used to help drown out some of the noise, in addition to the music you plan on playing. If there is primary wall/door separating them the rest of the home, I would buy those blankets and temporarily affix them to the walls and another to the door so that you can easily open it.

FeebysOwner - o,O I never even thought of this. I can do this. The door is weird as it doesn't quite fit. I had removed the door during original renos and got rid of it. When Mia first came in I stole the door from the basement washroom and put it on the room to create a safe room for her. lol (Creative problem solving I say!) ;-) It doesn't really fit lol one of those bi-folding doors with slits but I could easily afix a noise reduction blanket to it.

XOXOXO

Should I also put some boxes in there? Dark areas for them to hide and feel secure?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Should I also put some boxes in there? Dark areas for them to hide and feel secure?

That certainly wouldn't hurt!!! You could even add an noise reduction blanket over top of the boxes for added insulation??

 

[FeralHearts]

That certainly wouldn't hurt!!! You could even add an noise reduction blanket over top of the boxes for added insulation??

Yesh! That would be helpful too as it's going to be sooooo noisy for a few days.

XOXOXO

 

[FeralHearts]

Day 2 of Kitchen Reno. I want to run away from home. The reno itself isn't too bad really. I can somewhat manage okay and the crew I have are so awesome so I lucked out there. I still want to run away though. 3 more weeks or more to go.

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Wow. You really can't herd cats. I'm bloodied from head to toe.

I built the nervous ones a comfortable fortress - yeah they have no appreciation for any of it. I don't think any of us are shocked by that though. lol *nods*

From Day 1: Yesterday

Charlie - oddly enough - if being great. He's been locked in my room, sleeping like the king that he is for most of yesterday - today kinda. He and WL were the only two yesterday that I could Gabapentin. The other two flat out refused any attempts.

The funny part of yesterday was that Charlie and WL are the two that still haven't established "something" with each other - WL runs from him - he chases as he looks at her as prey. It's been the cause of many issues... but... yesterday however HAHAHA they both sat within two feet of one another to stoned to actually care. I'm hoping that after this is all done maybe they'll remember this and go "Hey - you're okay. We can be kinda friends." Maybe.

Day 2: today

Wow. The girls did not want to go in the backroom today either. I've actually had to put a bunch of stuff in front of the door as they can open it and did a few times yesterday causing me to have to go locate them and put them back. *sigh*

The music and blankets and Feliway do help them - but they would so much rather be in their normal hiding spots. WL loves the closet under the stairs, BH loves beside the couch and Mia wants to be in the basement closet. Thing is I can't let them do that since the doors will be open and all it will take is for one of them to get really spooked and *poof* gonzo!

All of them have the Gabapentin today and while I hate doing that to them - it's way too noisy with the walls being taken down and some being built. It scares me so I can only imagine what they are thinking.

----

So while it's not going great - it's going ok.

My real concern is the upheaval has done a number on their appetite. They're barely eating. I think I might try some tuna in water tonight and see if it stimulates them.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Last year I moved and brought 3 feral cats with me who I had been caring for outside in my yard for many years. It was time for them to retire too!

After we had been in our new home for a few months, there were projects to be done. We needed to have 3 french doors that went outside replaced. Of course one of them was in the room where the feral boys stay. It was supposed to be a 2 day project! Ha. It turned into 2 weeks.

I decided it was best to put them in my finished basement and leave them there. I knew there was no way I could corral them all each day. I would be torn to shreds. I used Feliway plug ins, played soft music and had lots of hiding spots.
After 2 days, they had adjusted and really liked the space. My basement is a walk out so there were windows for them to see out.

Is it possible to find a place to put them and leave them there for a few weeks? Just moving all of their things into one space?

We still have a kitchen remodel to do too. I am dreading it. Not only for myself, but for the cats. Hopefully your project will go smoothly and the cats will adjust to all of the noise.

 

[FeralHearts]

You feel my pain with renos! :-)

LOL@ two days project... yup ... never works out the way it's planned. Not ever.

Aren't retired Ferals interesting wee ones?

When you go to do your kitchen reno come find me - I'll be your shoulder! I've decided a Kitchen reno is not something for the faint of heart.

Sadly this is the only safe area for them - it's not a very big room and the door on it doesn't fit so I have to lock it with heavy items against it - because yup -they have the strength of goddess and can push things away from the door that a grown man would have trouble moving. It's actually impressive.

I thought about putting them in my room with Charlie but he's terrorizing one of them still so I wasn't sure that would be good. The rest of the house is fairly open so it's limited where it's safe for them while the contractor is making noise, dust - and of course, they are going in and out of the house.

Herding them every morning is no fun for sure, and yes I'm pretty bloodied, but once the contractor is gone and it's safe, usually around 3 pm, we make sure everything is clean and let them out with me for the night to play and be with people. ("We" meaning neighbour or my mom when I'm at work.)

There is a window in the room and I've made sure that they have a nice big cat tree right there so they can look outside if they want ... but mostly they just cower in fear in the hidey-hole I made them.

Part of me wants to simply let them go hide in the normal spots they each have when freaked out as they seem far more comfortable with that - but with the door opening in and out I do worry something will spook them really bad and then I will have missing babies. *sigh* Can't win.

Feliway - check
Music - check
Hiding spots - check
Noise-reducing blankets - check
No Gab today as I really hated medicating them and today shouldn't be too noisy. Taking down the wall Monday and part Tuesday was - wow - yeah even freaked me out on Monday.

Day 3:

-Woke up to no hot water. The gas company has decided to change out my neighbor's meters - no notice to me and told them Friday night. I did have a convo with them on Monday after finding out from the neighbor - the guy I spoke to was a bit of a jerk. When I asked about it today he said nothing on their end so hmmmm.
-The internet went down again and I'll finally have a tech out on Sat night.
-Found out the contractor and electrician got into a spat yesterday.
- I'm shredded again
- Mia expressed her anal glands on me - so cold shower it was and new clothes.
-A lightbulb in the basement exploded and shattered everywhere.
-Can't find WL (BH and Mia are in the room) so my mom is over now on the lookout so she doesn't end of in trouble somewhere in the house. Charlie is trapped in my bedroom crying. :-( I can't trust them all in the same room right now for extended periods as he's taken to harass WL the past few months. BH (Braveheart) he knows better than to mess with her and they have established a tolerance as he has with Mia too.

Yup - and that was all this morning between 7:00 and 8:30. I'm actually laughing right now and thinking - just wow - holy cow LMAO

 

[FeralHearts]

A kitchen reno is a lot like camping - but without any of the fun perks like fresh air, camp fires and smores. So camping in a bad way. Like camping when it's raining and storming the whole time lol.

I have to say day 3 had me laughing so had with everything that went sideways there were tears from laughing so hard. I laughed and laughed. The cats probably thought I'd lost my mind.

Day 4 and 5: I donated blood and flesh again on Thursday - but not Friday! :-) They seem to be doing okay but I can tell they are stressed a bit.

There is hot water!

Braveheart ignores the beautiful cubby I build for them to tuck away in and squishes herself underneath a set of drawers that I have no idea how she gets under. Mia doesn't seem to care too much. WL is displeased a lot.

After days of not really eating very much, they finally had a fairly decent appetite yesterday and this morning. (Day 6 ) I double fed them this morning as they were so hungry.

I thought we were going to get them a breather today and tomorrow but that's not the case. One of the guys is coming to do some more drywall today and then tomorrow the sub-floor is getting ripped out and replaced.

Charlie had two asthma attacks yesterday, which I was prepared for. He was so pent up with energy he did zoomies all through the area I was trying to keep him out of... where most of the drywall dust is. I pretty much had to wipe him down.

For an asthmatic cat with a heart condition that boy has got quite a pair of lungs. The neighbors can hear him crying / yowling when I put him in my room for the day.... and he does this sometimes for nearly 2 hours! Poor thing.

All things considers I think they are doing okay.

There sadly as no creative solutions to this. The ideal thing would have been to have build a catio for them to be in outside all day, but I work and I wouldn't want them out all day unsupervised.

 

[FeralHearts]

Well so far so good - kinda. We are on day 9 now. Work has been going on every day without a rest period - which is fine really.

Charlie had to stay in my room again for the night on Sunday and I got ZERO sleep. He cried - in a way like only a siamese can cry - for the whole night. The floor was started and I had to be careful of anyone/thing walking on it.

It had to be the same way last night so I had to use the gabapentin for both his sake ... and mine. He was less agitated and slept for most the night.

I've done my best to keep the dust down and have been changing on the furnace filters every week and will continue to do so for at least a few weeks after it's all complete. Wow. I knew the dust was going to be fierce but wow.

My plan was that once this was done, do the drywall in the rec room area and then have the ducts cleaned shortly after. In other-words getting the dusty crap out of the way ASAP. Doesn't look like there will be enough time to do that before winter hits as there is too much stuff to sort and organize to be able to do it. So it looks like that will be done in the spring. In the meantime, I'm cleaning as much as I can to limit the dust in the air for them and will keep changing the furnace filters.

The girls seem to be doing okay. Making sure they eat enough with the upheaval has been the hard part. The one who has the skinny gene - Braveheart - is eating okay now. WL is so-so and Mia who needs to lose a LOT of weight is snacking here and there. Charlie is eating like there is nothing going on.

My three concerns for the kitties during all this seemed to be going okay. (Dust levels, eating, and stress - in no particular order.) Not ideal at all but workable.

I really wish I could control that dust more though. *sigh*

The base of the cabinets are being installed today - so we are getting there. The hardest parts look complete. Despite all the issues.

 

[FeralHearts]

Things are going well with the cats - not so much with the renovation.

Found a bunch of lazy, carelessness caused problems yesterday. A cut right through on of the front facing panels on the island, which there is no way they didn't see and what makes me upset is that you would have had to have seen it, as it's 2 inches long, and install it anyway. Screws that have missed the studs and been removed and tried again, stripped screws. Wthelk. Emailed the contractor last night - nothing yet. The piece can't be replaced easily as it would mean taking up the new counter and structurally it wouldn't be as sound putting it back so not sure what I'm going to do here.

Charlie has taken to hoping on the counter - since it's open and I'm like "No kitty." I have to take him down. I was worried this would become a fascination to him so hopefully I can teach them not to jump on the counters. The stove is induction so it's a least a little bit more safe if any of them hop up - still - not a safe place for them to be really.

I wish I could have left the kitties out and about this whole time as they are doing much better with the upheaval when left to go to their own regular safe spots. You can tell they feel more secure. I'm sadly going to run into this same issue when the rec-room is drywall begins it's finishing as it's right in their area and I'll have to move them.

Edit to add: Contractor just emailed me back and told me not to worry. He's knows about it and it's being handled. So we'll see.

 

[FeralHearts]

Day 17:

The cats are doing pretty good. Out of sorts a bit but not near as bad as I thought.

Charlie cried in the litter box yesterday. (I think) Thankfully he has an appointment on the 9th for his stress-induced crystals / UTI 6 month follow up. (Poor kitty.)

White label has made some surprising changes. She's the only one of the girls that became accustomed to the in and out and noises and strange people. At the start of the week, she started to stay out of her safe spot all day! In a way, I think this as good for them to have all this noise. WL has started to see that noise doesn't mean something bad will happen and that she is safe in here.

As for me - well - there are delays - 1 expected and 1 that was a miscommunication (not on my end) that's resulted in a nearly a two-week delay. Not a big deal though and you sort of expect these kinds of "opps". I can manage easy. Might be a good thing too as it gives me more time to clean and sort.

There are a few mistakes - mostly minor. things like the wrong cupboard door was placed up - fixed- but still. A few measurements were off but not any that are a major deal. Now when the appliances come - if anything if off that will be a major ordeal. So I'm praying not. Front-facing piece was repaired but I can still see it. Probably because I know it's there. It was a good repair job but it never should have been put up like that. There is one area that I look at and get heartbroken over. It's not damaged or anything just really hard to access and it's a large enough space that it's irritating to see the wasted space. At some point - many years from now as I can't afford to correct it atm - I think I'll have pay someone else to come in and redo the entire section. I think what's truly upsetting is that I wasn't listened to for the solution I knew should happen. They are great finishers, nice people and it does look fantastic. It appears well built so it should last. So that's good.

All in all - everyone is doing okay.

 

[FeralHearts]

Day 24!

So everyone is kinda doing okay. Kinda.

Charlie has Crystals again though and his blood-work shows I need to change his food again as it's not doing well for him even though it helped his allergy.

WL seems to have adapted fine to all these people coming and going. No one else has. Though they really did do better when allowed to go to their familiar hiding spots rather than the room. Unfortunately there were certain days where allowing that would have been unsafe for them.

The used nothing I made for them to help keep them comfy which makes me laugh in a way as it's typical cat move!

My stress level hit the roof yesterday after learning Charlie had Crystals (they think this one might be food related - probably a little stress too) and then I come home and find out they've install the island on top of a float floor rather than removing the portion of the float floor it was going over and also that they install a massive custom cabinet over the float floor - again without removing that section. I'm not sure what's going to happen as a result of that. I know when I had installed the floor a few years ago the guys did leave a lot of expand room but I'm still not sure what will happen. Going to research that.

Appliances are delayed a third time because a few other things weren't arranged right.

I really wish I had had the cash to build a catio and have my mom come babysit them while I was working. Then again would that have reduced or increased their stress?