We have three cats : Milo, Merlin and Emma. They are all ex-feral cats that we brought inside over the last 3 winters.
Milo was our first, whom we brought in in early 2022, during a "polar vortex". We had been feeding him regularly and he would come and go, but one day we saw he had an injured paw, and we knew we had to help him out. We took him to be neutered and given rabies shots, and were originally planning to release him again once the cold subsided but he told us he wanted to stay ... he is now our good friend, and the eldest of our kitties.
The second was Merlin, who started coming around our house when he was about 6 months old in the summer of We again couldn't stand to see him out in the cold that winter, so by December of 2022 he too became part of the family!
Emma is our third. She began coming around also in 2022, but was far more skittish so we kept her as our "outdoor cat" for a year or so.
But again, a terrible cold snap and snowstorm in January 2024 led us to bring her in when we saw she was suffering, and so now she is part of the "indoor family" as well.
They are all healthy, neutered/spayed and disease free, and although Emma is still adapting and so is a bit more shy than Milo and Merlin, they are all very sweet and friendly.
Taking care of them requires simply making sure they are fed once in the early morning and once in the evening, and that their litter boxes are cleaned out regularly.
Emma does require a bit of supervision during feedings, because she is still a bit shy and eats only a bit at a time. The "boys" tend to eat her food, so some supervision is required.
Care of the house is also quite simple and straightforward, as there will be no garden or yardwork necessary that early in the season. We do have some plants that need watering, but that's about it. We would also ask you to vacuum regularly to keep up with things.
You do need a car to be able to get around, do your grocery shopping etc..
Our lovely, comfortable 3 bed 1.5 bath home is tucked away in a spacious subdivision and is literally surrounded by the State Forest. There are some homes nearby, but there is plenty of space between homes and it is all very quiet and private.
Our 3 acre wooded lot abuts right against the forest and the Ice Age Trail, so it is perfect for those who love to hike or simply long to be in a quiet place and enjoy watching the birds, squirrels and chipmunks, deer, oppossum, turkey and racoons from our lovely picture windows.
Spring time here is an exciting and beautiful time. Our gardens start to come up, and the trees begin to green while the tree frogs sing their hearts out! It is a spectacle to behold! A variety of lovely songbirds also start showing up, some for their summer residence, and some in passing as they continue their migration north.
The hiking trails that you can access by walking up through the woods on an old Potowatomi Native American trail are quiet enough to feel the silence of the forest but not so remote that you will feel isolated. If you are not completely familiar with spending time in forests like these, this is a nice half-way spot between deeper wilderness and the developed park areas closer to the nearby towns and cities. There are a few spots where cell service is spotty, but not many, and in any case, you are never more than a few minutes away from a road.
We are looking for someone to stay with our cats for ten days, from early on April 24 to May 3 (or from April 23 to probably May 4 as we will be arriving late on May 3).
This is our first time even contemplating doing something like this... we actually have already asked some neighbor children to come and feed the cats once a day, but when I learned of this site the other day I realized we could also post this opportunity, and see if someone comes forward who would be interested. Since the cats do need a bit of supervision during feeding time it would be better to have someone who could be here also when they eat in the mornings.
It also would not be a bad thing to have someone actually stay in our home. This is a very quiet and generally safe area, but it would be nice to have someone staying here when we are gone for an extended period, just to keep an eye on things.
We look forward to this new way of being in the world, and to sharing our little sanctuary in exchange for keeping an eye on our kitties while we're away!