We're Not Calling It A Cat House....

The Bengals are getting their outdoor Cat Run! (I was calling it a "Cat House" but that was creating problems of its own) I met with my Builder this morning, and we planned it all out. He'll build it next week for me. For us. This is looking out into the area where it's going to be.

Here's the view from the other side. It's going to enclose from the edge of the deck, completely enclose the shed, go off a bit into the woods, and up to the driveway.

They will have a Cat Door into the shed, where they can have a nice place to hide, and there will be trees for them to climb, things to perch on, a small pool, grass to stalk thru. It will be roofed, of course. These Kitties can CLIMB.

To get TO the Cat Run (Leopard Run?) there will be a Tube, running from just the left of the Garbage House, at rail level, out to about the end of the deck, where the enclosure will start. Bengals love running thru tubes and have several already inside the house, so this will be no big change. We'll watch Magic's diet so we don't end up with a Pooh and the Honey pot stuck situation.
Here's a view from Inside the porch. This is one of their current Scream Porches, which they get at thru a window, or the kitchen door, if it's open.

I've had this idea for a long time, and it's only partly Mim and her Pee Issues that is prompting it now. Bengals ARE bred from leopards. Small leopards, true, the Asian Leopard Cat. It is not always true, there are may Bengals who are happy as indoor kitties, but Venus, Mim and Magic want OUT. They can't roam free, it's not safe. Especially for F1 Magic who has NO claws on any of his feet. I want them to live as nearly as possible tho, to the way they would like to be living.

We, as humans, bred these guys. Good idea? Perhaps not, but they are HERE. It's something to think about if you decide to get a Bengal. Especially an early generation one. They aren't that far off from Leopards. What cat isn't tho? The Royals, King Lear the Huge and Little Queen Mab are happy as indoor kitties, tho they will be getting the second Scream Porch for themselves, once this is built, accessed thru a door in their stairs. (My Spooky House has a LOT of doors. I have not been thru all of them)

Great Lakes Bengal Rescue (and ALL Bengal Rescues) need homes for Bengals. Forever homes and foster homes. But don't adopt a Bengal on a whim. Don't consider this unless you are in a position where you KNOW you are going to be able to take care of one for up to 20 years. Wait until you have a home of your own, when you're done with school, when you can afford spay/neuter, shots, vet care. When you have a place where, if you need to, you can adapt it for their needs.

Because, trust me, that's the way it is. Not the other way around.

Until then, if you want to be with Kitties, Bengal or otherwise, you can foster. You can volunteer at a local shelter. You can cat sit.

Trust me. It will be worth the wait.

Love and Leopard Run,
Lorraine