Letting cats outside safely
shimla
15 years ago
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joepyeweed
15 years agosheltiemom
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Let's Let The Cat Out Of The Bag!
Comments (26)Just wanted to go back to the worm castings stuff: 1) Composting worms (eisenia foetida) are not the same worms in the garden or yard. Different genus and species altogether. Nightcrawlers (the ones in the yard) will usually die in a composting system unless you happen to be lucky and have the euro nightcrawler (eisenia hortensis) in your yard in a very mild climate. They usually get driven out by the lumbricus genus worms, though. 2) Castings will depend on the food given to the worms. You will only get consistent castings content by using a consistent feed mix. Composting will yield varying results. Don't confuse castings tea with worm bin leachate. Totatlly different stuff. Leachate can be phytotoxic. It can also be beneficial. Depends on what you compost. 3) Castings have a high pH. Mine are always above 7 and most often hover around 8. I made tea a couple weeks ago with rain water (pH 5.5) and the tea still came out with a pH of 8.3. I used a teaspoon of molasses, 4 gallons of water, 2 cups of fresh castings, and an air stone. I haven't checked to see if the molasses will raise pH on it's own. Molasses encourages microbe production in the tea. That's what I read anyway. When I made a mix of just 1/2 gallon rain water and 2 teaspoons of castings, the pH was still over 7. 4) The EC on that tea was so high my blue lab truncheon was maxed out. I've read the only bad thing about castings is the salt content. Now I am a believer. I'll let you all know if I can find the perfect ratio of castings for hydro, but I imagine it will have to include an outside nitrogen source to be a good nute solution....See Moreis it safe to let it stay out in the cold after it rooted?
Comments (5)I have successfully rooted just one rose this summer, Polarstern, a HT. Its parent generally does not need winter cover here in Iowa to overwinter. It is about 4 inches tall w/ lots of new leaves and a couple tiny branches sprouting. I have had it in full sun now for about three days w/ no ill effects. It is in a 4" pot. Can I plant this in the ground and mulch well, and will it make it through winter? Should I plant it now, or wait until we get a freeze. If I left it in an unheated dark shed instead, how would that work? I am guessing I'd need to water all the time and put the plastic liter pop bottle over it, but w/ roots above ground that would seem a harsh environment? Thoughts please!...See MoreOutside Cat(s) Left Alone?
Comments (6)it's fine to do that. A lot of cats have worse lives than that. You're on the right track to make sure they're BOTH neutered. We had a feral female we fixed after many litters, she lived approx. 6 yrs outside, with us feeding her twice a day. She was a sweet happy feral cat. But she was feral till she died, we never could get closer than 2-3 feet to her. I never petted her, wish I had a chance to. An entrance to a sheltered area is a good idea. Make sure no other critters are coming into the garage. You can make them a nest area in the garage, best to use straw rather than blankets/fabric. Straw can be changed out occasionally, and blankets can harbor fleas, etc. The area you may hit snags in is feeding. As long as no critters find the automatic feeder, you're in good shape. If the food gets bugs or an animal finds the food, that could be bad. You don't want them to only have access to food that's infested with bugs (we had a huge problem w/that at one time which we solved by feeding in disposable bowls that we tossed out daily after meals, which won't work for you) or to have a critter at the feeding area that could fight them, ie raccoon, porcupine, etc. (Not even sure if those animals fight but it's something I'd consider). So you may need to be creative there. If you can touch the cat, you can give it flea treatment if necessary, too. If you go to http://www.alleycat.org/, there's a lot of info on successfully hosting feral cats. Neutering is key. Please consider fixing the tom too. Ask for neutering help from your local humane society, they often have low/no cost clinics for ferals. If you have to pay out of pocket, at least fixing a male is inexpensive. Thanks for caring for a feral cat. If after some time passes, you're missing/worrying about them when you're back home, you may end up taking them home & bringing them along when you go to camp, and let them roam those times. Then you'll want to be sure they're both vaccinated & flea-free. Here is a link that might be useful: Alley cat allies...See MoreCat Safe Flea Repellent
Comments (8)I'm guessing the DE isn't helping because of the rain. The vet said that the Advantage takes awhile to work through their system, too. (I didn't treat prior to last week when I noticed they got bugs). I am still finding one or two on my cats when I comb them. There might have been a little "user-error" with the product, too. My one cat used her back paw to scratch the medicine the second I applied it, distributing it across her fur. (I washed her paw as well as I could right after this so she wouldn't lick it). I have to wait 30 days to retreat at which time I'll make sure they don't touch it. My one cat loves getting combed so I can get her thoroughly and the other I'm only able to get a few pass-throughs. I've got DE nestled into my carpets right now in case of emerging eggs. I haven't noticed any in the house and have been doing the vacuum-a-million-times ordeal. Yes, I have wild animals around here. I had a woodchuck living under my front deck (cats are in the back). I haven't seen him in the last couple of weeks. I bought a trap to catch him but got distracted catching the stray cat and then the woodchuck disappeared. We also had an infestation of moles in the early part of the season (which was what lead me to get the DE to begin with). They've all been exterminated early season by the cats as far as I can tell. Wouldn't these still be dropping fleas in the kennel, though?...See MoreNancy in Mich
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