What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[Space Chick]

To start my tale, I need to tell you about my cat family.... Sabrina is 5, Harry is 4 and Sophie the kitten is 7 months! She's a 7 month old minx is what she is

 

We have been giving her supervised garden access, slowly introducing her to the outside world.

 

Well hubby was on supervision duties and said that she had darted over the back wall!!

 

He'd never seen a kitten move so fast, she darted over the wall and ran down the back of the houses.

 

Now, we live backing onto woodland and farmland, directly behind our house is a path, then a 15 foot slope down to the stream with trees, then a 15 foot slope up the other side onto the farmland.

 

I go out and start calling her, Sabrina comes running up to me and starts meowing at me. I fuss Sabs and ask her if she's seen Sophie...she keep meowing at me, so I take that as a yes, and go out of the gate.

 

I walk down the path behind the houses, all the way Sabrina is two steps behind me meowing at me. So I get to three doors down and my neighbour is in her garden "Have you seen a long haired tortoiseshell and white kitten?" I ask her "There's a cat behind you" she replied "Yes that's Sabrina my big black cat, I'm looking for Sophie my little tortie and white kitten" I reply "No, I haven't seen that cat" she says.

 

(incidentally, she says, digressing from the tale, what did my neighbour think I'd say "Oh Thankyou, I'll call off the search for my kitten and I'll take this cat instead )

 

So Sabs is still meowing her little head off and starts walking back towards our house.... I think to myself... I think she's trying to tell me where she is... So I walk past our house, following Sabs, Sabs still meowing, get two doors up the other side and Sabs stops and stops meowing.

 

I call "Sophie" and hear a little meow. I look and directly below just where Sabs is sitting on the other side of the stream is Sophie "Meow" she says, an air of desperation in her little kitten voice!

 

With that I see Harry running towards us. He meows at Sophie, who gingerly crosses the stream to our side, but she stays at the bottom meowing pitifully obviously too nervous to climb up the slope.

 

What I see next I think will stay with me forever as one of the most precious cat related sights I have ever seen. Harry climbs down the slope to her, licks her several times on the head, then walks behind her and nudges her up the slope. He stayed with her and helped her up, pausing occasionally to lick her head in encouragement!!!!

 

So Sophie returns to the back of our house. I pick her up..... Give Harry and Sabrina a great big chin tickle each for being such protective big family cats..... Sabs for telling me where she was, and Harry for helping her! Then I bring Sophie back in the house, telling her that her outdoor privileges have been revoked for the remainder of the day

 

I know I need to let her have her freedom at some point.... Bu she didn't half scare us today

[Groovychook]

Ahh, that's such a heart warming tale. How sweet that the other two wanted to help her.

 

What a lovely little furry family you have!

Thanks for sharing it

[Gertie]

So glad you found her & to hear a story where cats are not just independent creatures. I wondered to myself the other day if they do 'help' each other. My little tabby Mogu was being brutalised by some tomcat on the block & my big tabby Bertie jumped into the fight, beat him up & saw him off!

[Lavenders_Blue]

What a lovely ending to the story, your cats are clearly very fond of each other. I hope you had a nice large glass of something chilled to recover!

[Space Chick]

I am very pleased in that they are all genuinely fond of each other. Sabrina and Harry are mother and son, so have always been close, but they really did accept Sophie with open paws when she arrived