The Biggest Problems Are yet to Come

This year’s round of shelter repairs is currently well underway. Paving of the sheltered area under the eaves is finally finished and we’ve already undertaken our next challenge - fixing the only cat room in the front yard. Not until the workers began to rip out the ceiling were we aware of its true condition and the real reason why that huge bump had formed in it months ago.  The old saying “You never know what lies beneath” takes on a whole new meaning during repairs at Felix shelter.

Like all of the other auxiliary rooms, the one in question has originally been made of reeds and rammed earth, with random bricks scattered here and there. The ceiling sagged down because the roof was leaking water and not only that, the rammed earth and reeds became wet and heavy, which has caused one of the beams carrying the weight of the roof to frighteningly bend down in the middle. That particular beam lies on top of the walls and supports the structural roof beams so it can't be replaced, as the entire structure would fall down otherwise. Nevertheless, it can stay as it is without causing any additional problems. OSB sheathing has already been placed above, and an insulating layer of Styrofoam will be attached beneath. After that, special nets will be adhered to both the inner walls and the ceiling and Bavalit, which is a kind of mortar, will be applied afterwards. New electrical installations of cables, plugs and wall sockets will replace the old ones and the best news is that all of the costs of renovating that room in the front yard are covered. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning…

The biggest problem is the roof of the auxiliary rooms itself – half-rotten and cracked in places, it must be replaced entirely, not a single part of it is worth saving. The only cat room in good shape is the last and the biggest one in the backyard, as it was built out of normal building materials just before I moved in a few years ago, so it’s still quite new. Raising enough money to replace the roof sounds like science fiction at the moment, but if we miraculously succeed, there will be plenty of hard work ahead. Additional layers of bricks will be added onto the existing walls and after that, the wooden frame will be placed on top of the bricks to allow the concrete to be poured into it. Once the concrete frame is finished, it will be ready to carry the new roofing. Roof beams and rafters will be set in place to make a new roof structure, which will then be covered with an insulation layer and the final step will be putting up new roof tiles. With this new roofing, all of the auxiliary rooms will be ready for next winter.

However, if the lack of funds prevents us from accomplishing what we have planned, Felix kitties will be facing an extremely uncertain future.  We can try and put a nylon cover under the old roof that is already leaking in multiple places, hoping  that the water won’t continue soaking the ceilings of the  auxiliary rooms, but this patched up roof can’t reasonably be expected to  endure another snow.  The longer we wait, the greater the risk we run that this rotten roofing will collapse in on the cats and everything will fall apart. It’s been said a long time ago that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…

Please, help us if you possibly can! Felix kitties look pampered and happy, without a care in the world, but their lives will change dramatically if the roof above the rooms they eat and sleep in caves in. Some of them are very old or chronically ill, while others are very young, they have all been through a lot before they arrived here, and now the question is just how many hardships these delicate, brave little creatures can endure in their lifetime. After all of the misery, fear, violence and hopelessness they were forced to experience, they have found their safe haven that gave their lives a completely new dimension.  It would be so unfair to let anything shatter their hope again…

Together, we can make their fairy tale last! Every little bit helps!

Still at the Beggining

Everything always takes longer than expected, and even the best-planned project usually takes at least twice as long as one thinks it will. In short, the sheltered area under the eaves that was supposed to be paved weeks ago is not finished yet; first the bad weather and then the holidays caused a delay in accomplishing the goal. Until this new sheltered place is completely fixed, everything else will have to wait. There's so much more to be done and time is passing by way too fast!

Renovating the only cat room in the front yard will be a big challenge, as all of the furniture needs to be moved into the sheltered area under the eaves that the workers are currently working on, and all of the kitties are supposed to move there as well. It will probably turn out to be much harder than we now imagine, in light of the fact that cats are not easily organized and most of them certainly won’t be delighted with the idea. However, despite all of the inconveniences, what needs to be done will be done.

Raising funds for shelter repairs never goes smoothly. I am well aware that only heartbreaking images of starving and mangled animals attract attention and that the rule “the worse, the better” is crucial to successful fundraising, but in a very old-fashioned way, I don’t want to make things more dramatic than they really are. I won’t tell stories that Felix cats are dying of hunger, as they are not. I won’t tell stories that I finance them out of my retirement pension only, as I don’t. I would never ever talk about giving up on them as I consider it utterly irresponsible and unthinkable. Telling the truth may not always be clever in a world full of sharks, but there’s no such thing as a half-truth, or a white lie or a justified lie, a lie is a lie is a lie.

Shelter repairs may seem boring and unexciting, there are no heroic actions or saving lives in a literal sense, Felix kitties are chubby and relaxed, so the conclusion drawn is that there’s no emergency here. But there is! Just a small part of the roof was renovated last year. The ceiling of the cat room mentioned above is sagging, the outdoor fence posts are crumbling, the entire chain link fence is barely holding up and almost all of the walls on the property, which were originally made of bricks and rammed earth, are soaking wet inside. Damp patches are forming both on ceilings and walls in the house and pretty much everything is falling apart. If the building starts to collapse in on us, no one here will be happy and relaxed anymore and we'll be in serious trouble.

Please, take a look at our project! We have accomplished a lot already, but more needs to be done; it's not only risky, but it’s dangerous to stop halfway through. Once we're over these hurdles and everything's been repaired, the shelter will just need to be maintained in the years to come and the Felix kitties will be safe forever and we can continue saving lives.

Worth supporting, don’t you think­­

I triggered a (partial)payout for these needs:

Dear friends and donors, I've just requested my eight payout of 365 euros today, on April 9th, 2013. Spring hasn't sprung yet and the real work cannot begin until the weather gets nice, and then we'll have a hard time deciding what to do first. There's so much to be done...

Thank you so much for all your help and support! You never cease to amaze us with your kindness and generosity. We are immensely, boundlessly grateful to each and every one of you!