The Kitty-Coopacabana.

Out with the chickens.... in with the cats.  After my husband power-washed the inside of the chicken coop, I thought maybe it would make a good 'screened-in porch' for Mickey and Sweet Pea.  I don't want them running around outside anymore..... Sweet Pea isn't a smart outside cat, and Mickey goes exploring too far away from the house (Marco Polo Mickey).

The chicken coop has a concrete floor, two walls of wood and two walls of chain-link fencing, plus a tin roof.  Not to mention the extra layers of chain-link and chicken wire all over the fenced-in parts.  We have big painted letters in there over the roosting bars which spell out "Coopacabana...." my salute to Barry Manilow.  I had told my husband a few years ago that if we ever got a rooster, I would name him Manilow. (We never got a rooster, and the hens were perfectly happy without one.)

I fixed up the inside of the coop with some of the cat-furniture... little chairs, a wicker table, a full-size wicker chair with a broken leg (perfectly fine for cat-naps as long as you're a cat), plus their toys and a small carpet, and their soft pillows. Food and water dishes, on top of the wicker table so they're not on the floor to attract ants........ and the Coopacabana looked like a fine place for Mickey and Sweet Pea to have a cat's-eye view of the yard but not be able to get into mischief out on the property.  We also left the tall wooden ladder in there, so the cats could climb on that like the chickens used to do, and I put a litter box in the corner. All the comforts of home.

I used the carrying crate to bring them out to the coop..... one at a time.... and within minutes, both cats were on the ladder, on top of the roosting bars, and peeking into the nesting boxes (which I had softened up with old towels).  Success!  I now have a safe screen-porch for the cats......  and both Mickey and Sweet Pea seemed to love it.  I kept checking them throughout the day--- no meowing, no howling, no whining....... and when I went to take them back into the house because I thought it was getting to be too hot out there, neither one of them wanted to leave their "room with a view."

Sweet Pea and Mickey were inside the coop looking out, Gatsby was on the outside looking in.  I can't let Gatsby in there--- he would eat all of the food in a heartbeat..... plus he has the run of the whole property anyway.  Gatsby is a seasoned outside cat, unlike the other two.

The neighbors thought I was a little nuts when they saw how I decorated the inside of the coop for the chickens.......... when they see how I've fixed up the coop for the cats, they will definitely be thinking that I've been out in the sun much too long.  But it's working... for now.  Mickey and Sweet Pea get to be 'outside' but are still safe, and it gives them a break from the house.

Cats.  No more cats.  No more cats.  No more cats.  And no more chickens.  And no more dogs.  Not even a goldfish. I am done, done, done, done with housepets.  I keep repeating all of that so it will stick..........