Young Feral Mom, Cat Room-ceiling Tile Securement

[RLG]

Any suggestions: 12x12 room-closet w/door. Top shelf is 16" from stupid flimsy tiled ceiling that any curious or scared cat might pop up. Must secure, I understand. See pics...any cheap ideas will be gratefully thought about..
Room suggestions. I've carpeted (almost) the two shelves that will be cleared, she'll have disguised cage/den with towel/clothing with her scents, separate feed/water/litter spaces, some hiding ability

 

[Margret]

The ceiling tiles are the kind that lie on top of some kind of frame, right? I can think of three possibilities off the top of my head. You could glue or tape the tiles in place. Glue has the disadvantage of being fairly permanent; you may want to replace that ceiling someday. Packing tape is less permanent and quite sturdy, but when it comes time to remove the tape, part of the tile might come away as well. The third possibility is to put more things on the top shelf, so the cat can't get at the ceiling. Totally reversible, and fairly easy to do. I suggest that you label the boxes, however, so you don't forget what it is that you stashed up there. It may be time for a midnight trip to the grocery store, to ask for some empty boxes when they're re-stocking the shelves.

Margret

 

[RLG]

Thank you. I thought of the tape but can't quite visualize it's totality. I don't care about tiles. Maybe leaning toward very sturdy blockage at half the top shelf and tape (a lot of it) the other half. Thanks for your thought

 

[RLG]

I want to give her ability to climb to top for her sanity

 

[Margret]

Okay, then, your biggest problem is how to hold these light-weight ceiling tiles in place long enough to tape them. Since you aren't worried about potential damage to the tiles, I suggest some drywall anchors to give you something you can either grab onto or hang a weight from. $0 - $10 - Hollow & Drywall Anchors - Anchors - Fasteners - Screw one anchor into the center of each tile you want to stabilize. If you have two people, one person can use the anchor to hold the tile in place while the other person uses some wide packing tape to tape the tile to the frame it's resting on. If it has to be a one-person job, hang something heavy from the anchor and that should make it stay put while you install tape. Or, if you can devise some heavy weights that you can tie to the anchors, so close to the ceiling that they won't swing and become cat toys themselves, you won't need tape. This will make the tiles heavy enough to stay put in spite of the cat.

Margret

 

[Margret]

Hmm. I just had another idea. Can you remove the tiles, temporarily? Go to the bank and get a roll of pennies, AKA copper weights. Ask someone at Home Depot what kind of glue to use, then glue pennies all over the top (usually hidden) sides of the tiles. When the glue has dried, replace the tiles. They should now be heavy enough to stay in place, and they look exactly the way they did before.

Margret

 

[RLG]

Thanks. I think I've got it covered. The guy at Lowes showed me some thin steel wire to secure it down and I'm getting guerrilla tape. Thank you for your support. It got me to the store

 

[RLG]

Hmm. I just had another idea. Can you remove the tiles, temporarily? Go to the bank and get a roll of pennies, AKA copper weights. Ask someone at Home Depot what kind of glue to use, then glue pennies all over the top (usually hidden) sides of the tiles. When the glue has dried, replace the tiles. They should now be heavy enough to stay in place, and they look exactly the way they did before.

Margret

That's quite an interesting suggestion. I've considered a similar idea, however, I don't see myself glueing all those pennies -lol. I could put some type of books up there cuz they do pop up and I could place some books in the corners and use my tape n wire etc. Thank u so much

 

[Margret]

You're welcome.

I consider hardware stores to be, um, creative craft shops? Something like that. I tend to wander around looking at things, trying to think how they might apply to whatever project I'm currently involved in. That is, I window shop. It drives sales people crazy; they don't know what to do with a woman who responds to "Can I help you find something?" with "No, I don't know what I'm looking for. I just know that I'll recognize it when I see it."

Gorilla tape is good stuff. That should work just fine for you. Make sure you don't leave any of the adhesive exposed; it's likely to rip some fur from any cat who comes in contact with it.

When is the new kitty coming? You do know that we're going to want lots of pictures, right?

Margret

 

[RLG]

She's being weened and spayed so about two more weeks. Thanks for the sticky tape info. and I just wandered Lowes, took pictures of stuff, they gave me a box and I'll buy soon. She's a young feral. I visit her tomorrow.

 

[RLG]

You're welcome.

I consider hardware stores to be, um, creative craft shops? Something like that. I tend to wander around looking at things, trying to think how they might apply to whatever project I'm currently involved in. That is, I window shop. It drives sales people crazy; they don't know what to do with a woman who responds to "Can I help you find something?" with "No, I don't know what I'm looking for. I just know that I'll recognize it when I see it."

Gorilla tape is good stuff. That should work just fine for you. Make sure you don't leave any of the adhesive exposed; it's likely to rip some fur from any cat who comes in contact with it.

When is the new kitty coming? You do know that we're going to want lots of pictures, right?

Margret

Any suggestions on food? She's just been eating Royal Canine kitten chow as far as I know but I was feeding her canned variety-good ones and turkey

 

[Margret]

Any suggestions on food? She's just been eating Royal Canine kitten chow as far as I know but I was feeding her canned variety-good ones and turkey

No; it's too long since I've had a kitten to raise. StefanZ ?

Margret

 

[Margret]

I just thought; if she's coming to you immediately after spaying, you probably should go with the big boxes on the top shelves, for the first few days at least. Those gigantic leaps could be hard on a healing incision.

Margret

 

[RLG]

Ahhh, good point

 

[StefanZ]

Re the food. Both you are giving are good and should be enough.

In the RC series, their Mother and baby is a good one, perhaps even better than the kitten variation. Goats milk if she wants milk, some cheese, plain yoghurt... These three are also good calcium sources.
Egg yolk, minced meat (but not from pork / pigs). Chicken hearts and other intestines.

"Any suggestions on food? She's just been eating Royal Canine kitten chow as far as I know but I was feeding her canned variety-good ones and turkey"

 

[RLG]

Re: minced meat? Raw/cooked. Does grocery have these?