As you might have noticed from my posts, I love animals and share my household with several, including two cats–the Purrhana (he purrs and then bites you) and Coco Chanel, pictured here.
All creatures crave routine, and when routine is disrupted, we can expect a reaction. Over the past few months, we have had a parade of contractors in our house working to repair some significant water damage from an upstairs bathroom. Our cats normally hang out upstairs for the most part because they’re not fond of our two Australian shepherds, who stake out most of the downstairs as their domain. Because of the critters in our neighborhood (barn owls, coyotes, etc.), you can’t have outdoor cats here. So we thought we would be kind and open up access to the attic so that the kitties could shelter there when things got noisy and disruptive.
Big mistake. Big, very expensive mistake.
Although we live in California, we do get some chilly nights (chilly meaning the 30s), which causes our forced air furnace to do its thing. It’s kind of a noisy affair, with the air rattling some of our registers (yes, I know I should fix that). Recently, it became eerily quiet, and when I put my hand up to the register, no air. The upstairs seemed unusually warm. The poor contractors didn’t complain but I suspect we were making things very uncomfortable for them.
Armed with my trusty flashlight (note to self–a light in the attic would be nice, as would some Attic Dek flooring), I ventured out into the attic. Much to my dismay, there were bits of insulation everywhere and the ductwork was a disaster. I did a quick internet search, and apparently, I am not alone, although the culprits for this type of mayhem are usually critters–rodents, raccoons, and so on. But there were a few horrific accounts of cats actually getting stuck in ductwork. Ours just shredded it instead. Apparently, the animals are attracted to the warmth and the nice crinkly covering of the ducts makes a nice scratching post.
I contacted our HVAC guys, who came out to inspect. They delivered the bad news. Most of the ductwork would need to be completely replaced, and the ticket was going to be about $2000. When you’re already renovating two bathrooms (the water damage from the upstairs got the one below), you don’t want to be spending money this way.
What I do find curious is that this is not the first time we have let the cats into the attic. We live two houses away from agriculture, so rodents are just a part of the landscape. Whenever we hear some tell-tale scurrying in the ceiling, we let the kitties into the attic. The scurrying stops rather quickly. But maybe the disruption from the contractors made them a bit vengeful. At any rate, their attic days are over.
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