It is not an easy task to adequately accommodate house or race cats in a safe and clean human environment. Cats are by nature wild animals, which prefer to life in the wild. Modern man has destructed much of the natural surroundings of wild cats, especially in the course of the last century, even at such an extent that there is very little safe space left for them (at least in Western Europe).
Additionally, many people no longer consider domestic and/or race cats as wild animals anymore nowadays, but rather like to treat them as nice pets and furry friends, which need to be cuddled and taken into the family hood for company and relaxation.
As mentioned before, animal well-fare and - health are two of our main objectives in our cattery. For this, appropriate accommodations and facilities have been constructed and are well maintained in De Hoendrik to comply with our cats basic needs :
A. Minimal spatial requirements and privacy are the primary needs of each captive animal and play an important role in the captive reproduction. Each cat at "De Hoendrik", irrespective of its age or gender, is given plenty of room and sufficient privacy to achieve this condition. As such, we have constructed heated indoor facilities, which are connected with large outdoor runs. All our cats have free access to move within the group they belong to (cats and tomcats)
1. Cats and tomcats are housed in different adjacent indoor- and outdoor facilities. All cats at De Hoendrik may have both auditive and visual contact among each other. Physical contact among the males and females is regulated by a wire fence (Bekaert) and/or transparent window(s). All indoor facilities can be heated and/or ventilated, as to our judgement, and crisp air can be made available to each indoor facility at all times. As such, stress caused by bad odour or high temperatures can be monitored by opening the windows or through ventilation.
2. Feline females are kept separate into two different groups : 1. nursing mothers and 2. cats which are without any kittens at all.. Both feline groups are housed in different sunrooms to assure sufficient privacy to the mothers and their growing kittens. Special birth crates have been constructed by us in order to keep the mother and her new-born kittens hidden and safe. This kitten box measures 50x50x50 cm and is made out of thin non-water absorbent hardboard plates . This box has one circular doorway in the front door, for the ease of walking. The box can be opened in front and/or at the top for easy maintenance or when the kittens are allowed to leave the nest. Mother and kittens always stay on the first floor of our house from the day the kittens are born until they are approximately 5 to 6 weeks old. Females without any kittens are not given any access to this part of our house to keep interspecific competition at the minimum.
3. The kittens remain on the first floor until they are strong enough for taking their dinners, drinking and mobility. They are then moved downstairs to a sunroom which is exclusively preserved for the mother and her 6 weeks old kittens. The mothers are free to leave this room whenever they please.
4. Tomcats are being kept in an outdoor facility which measures 200 m² and which is surrounded by a wire fence of 3 meters high. Studs have their very own tomcat-tower, where they can play hide and seek, and which also serves as a shelter during rainy days. Apart from this, our boys also have an other shelter where we have put a few well-isolated igloos (Dogloo) for resting and safety. In winter time, however, all our tomcats are taken inside and housed in heated sunrooms, with small sliding doorways to the adjacent outdoor pens. For any further information on the small cat igloo's, consult the website http://www.livestocksupply.com . These isolated units have proven to be useful and very practical when it comes to guarantee the tom cats security and well-fare.
B. Minimal hygiene standards and appropriate captive feline management are at the base of a good health
1. Industrial floorings and/or any other sorts of tilings have been made at the Hoendrik, in both our indoor as outdoor facilities as well.. Floors are cleaned at least once every week to guarantee that no pathogen organisms can persist or settle in our cattery.
2. All our outdoor facilities are fenced using plastic coated wire mesh of 3 meters high, manufactured by Bekaert Ltd. in Belgium . Visiting neighbouring cats are kept at a safe distance using electric fencing at the perimeter of the outdoor facilities. A similar electric fencing line is installed at the top of this construction to prevent our cats from escaping. The electric fencing system, we have been using all the time, is called Hotline P Eagle100, and has proven its merits in the past several years (see pictures) in our cattery. Admittedly, physical contact between our cats and those of our neighbours is practically impossible, reducing the risk of transmission of infections diseases considerably. Consult the website
http://www.hotline-fencing.co.uk/products.html for any further information on our way of electric fencing and materials being used. Additionally, there is no need to cover our outdoor facilities with expensive wire nettings thanks to our way of electric fencing. Foreigner cats can not enter this facility and our cats are not able to leave the outdoor pens by surprise. Our method of electric fencing is not only very economic, but also very practical, because falling leaves of trees nearby and/or snow in the winter cannot pile up on top of the fencing.
3. Self cleaning litter boxes (Littermaid) remove all feline droppings automatically and dispose these in an airtight and odour-free container 10 minutes after each cat visit. We rely on these automatic cat toilets for convenience, safety and reliability. All our Littermaids are emptied twice every day by us. We have approximately 10 such units in our cattery. We have found out that 1 Littermaid is sufficient to adequately remove the droppings of two adult cats. For any further information on this subject, consult the Littermaid commercial video as demonstrated on the American website at
http://www.littermaid.com/media/video.htm or visit the Belgian Littermaid 4website at
http://expoline.ibelgique.com
C. Climbing- and scratching-poles and other similar artificial and natural substitutes : a must for an optimal cat exercise and movement.
Cats are by nature skilled climbers. They don't like anything more than hide out and catch their prey and/or one and an other. They show the same behavioural treats in captivity as in the wild. Because there is hardly any prey in a human surrounding or hardly any natural provision for climbing, we felt the necessity of providing them with artificial ones in their housings, such as climbing- and scratching-poles which have been made after our own designs, clambering barrels, cardboard boxes, old furniture, etc. These objects were given to them to explore their hunter's instinct and exercise to their full potential.
1. Climbing poles, fabricated from strong PVC-pipes, that have been wound with water resistant cord and equipped with sitting and sleeping platforms are just what cats need. All our climbing and scratching poles have been made from decent materials, to support the stability of the construction and guarantee a long life.
2. Tomcat tower, a large hut on poles, made of impregnated wood, where the tomcats can hide and sleep is one of our latest new developments. These towers are also used when females come to visit our cattery. Cats will always look for privacy, which is guaranteed in these outdoor facilities.
3. Large pots with flowers and plants have been placed in the outdoor facilities to give this large facility an attractive look, and moreover, to provide the cats with some really great places to hide in, between and behind. 4. Last but not least, several sunscreens and huge sun umbrellas have been placed around in the outdoor runs for shading and for protection from overwhelming sunrays during the summer (June/…/August). Also, the large pots with the native plants, which are placed around, have been used at this advantage.