Preaching to the Choir....

I have a lot of old salvaged items in my barn. Both IN the barn and parts OF the barn. One of the things I use a lot of is scraps of PVC pipe of different sizes. I have used the in everything from gutters to gates.

One of the handiest uses is as a cat feeder.

I have a door that separates my "old" barn from the "new barn that is about 90% completed. Right inside this door (about 4 feet) is a shelf I made to do all sorts of things. It works as a good place to get everyone's breakfast ready to, as I found out this week, as a "beauty salon" for using the hairdryer on newborn goats. The top of the shelf is around 48" from the ground. It ended up like this because it is on the top of a pallet. I attached the shelf with a couple of hinges so it will fold up out of the way when I need it to. There is a chain on each side to support it when it is in the "use" position.

Just bellow the shelf, on one side of the pallet, I made a hay feeder out of about 3' of "combination" hog and cattle panel (the kind with small holes at the bottom and bigger ones at the top). I put a piece of plywood over the pallet so the hay wouldn't come through. The panel was cut so the the bottom touches the plywood and the top is about 16" away from the wood. I wired and stapled it in place.

It works extremely well. It will hold enough hay to last one goat several days, and allows for them to only take a little bit at a time, so there isn't much waste. I use this pen as a "maternity ward" for the first few days after the kids are born, so it comes in handy.

On the other side of the pallet is my cat feeder. I found that a 4' PVC pipe was the PERFECT size for use in a pallet. I cut a length of the 4' pipe at 19" (every pallet will vary), and the cut that pipe in half - lengthwise. What I had then were two plastic "half pipes" that fit into the inside of the pallet. I situated the pallet so that the "bottom" side was toward the cats, and stood the pallet up on end (the boards should be going across, not up and down). This made it possible to leave the bottom board on and wedge the pipe into the pallet on either side of the center 2x4.
I attached the pipe with two screws into the pallet on each half. What I ended up with were two 19" (approximately) "dinner trays" that were about 2 1/2" off the floor. The "Purrfect" height for the cats!

Every morning, I get the cat food in a coffee can, and put half in each side. They dive right in before I even get finished dumping it in. After the first minute or two, the "jockeying for position" ends, and they all settle in for a nice, quiet breakfast. I usually try to feed these fur balls first, so they keep quiet while I'm doing the rest of the chores.

There's nothing worse then a hungry, yowling cat following you around every morning, wanting to be fed - unless it's a chicken with an attitude.....

This morning, I finished with the cats and was feeding the goats when I turned around and noticed all six cats munching away at the trough, with their tails all sticking STRAIGHT out behind them. Since I NEVER have an "ornery" thought, I don't know where this came from, BUT.....

The first thing I though of was a Pipe Organ in a church.... I wondered how it would sound if I started "playing" those tails. I imagined all kinds of "heavenly" chords emanating from the barn. We'd have a "Cat Choir". Sure, it would take me awhile to learn how to play, but WHEN I DID.....I could just fill the feeder to the brim and I could "play" all day!

A recording contract would be a SURE thing! Everyone would want to hear what we had to offer! We'd make MILLIONS! We'd go on tour, Our goats would have Nanny's (wait.....never mind....), we'd be able to afford grain for the chickens, the cats would get better food.....

Just then, my bubble burst. I realized that the world already had that "yowling cat" sound - in country music......

I only had six notes anyway.....